Lori

The book is easy to fall into as I really liked the practical magic the author presents. I loved the sort of cottagecore life with some great descriptions of food. This would be a good fall time read as the atmosphere is there.

The story is pretty good but it doesn’t focus much on the villains of the story and they were pretty interesting. Similarly, the side characters and other sisters don’t get much page space. If these two things were different it would definitely be a four-star story for me.

One last gripe is that the romance was both good and not good enough. It was good in that way that the characters felt like there were truly getting to know each other and I could see with more time that love could be there. Not good enough is that the author tells us that they are madly in love with each other. I think this wasn’t exactly needed for the ending and I just wish the author gave more time for us to get there with the characters.

This book despite having an interesting story was boring. The pacing isn’t steady and some scenes are stretched out. Maybe it’s writing that really puts you off. A lot happens though out the book but I was often uninterested. The characters especially children had some overly adult speech. Like not older by a bit but like a 12-year-old speaking like a 30-year-old. For what should be a heart wrenching story I never really feel connected to the characters or the story and again this may be due to the writing.

I thought this book would also be about life in the U.S and how being there would not be the American dream that it’s presents as. Most of the book instead focuses on the darker side of Mexico and the danger of traveling as a woman and as minors. I get that the author wants to talk about darker issues but they make Mexico seem like a hellhole with no redemption. The book ends once they reach the U.S. and there is a small part to say the main character got a job and the other characters are ok.

It’s not a bad book but it fails to make a point. A blurb on the book likens it to The Grapes of Wrath and I can kind of see that but at least The Grapes of Wrath made great social commentary and had scenes of community and hope.

This sounded like we would get a book about a devious force influencing regular people, similar to Needful Things. I was hoping for a more modern version but this book was a mess. The beginning is weird and you start with the main character finding his family’s home dishevelled and the family left in a disjointed mental state. He doesn’t attempt to call for help and just tries to clean the house.

The book then proceeds to jump back in time to how these people ended up in this state. This for me was the worst part of the book as we are shown little of how the characters are indoctrinated or influenced. There are so many scenes that repeat ‘open your eyes’ and talk about the videos that they are watching. This is repeated until close to the end of the book.

It’s hard to tell if the author is trying to make a statement about social media or politics but in either case nothing lands. The last part of the book is at least interesting but goes nowhere. The main character makes some really stupid mistakes.

This book wasn’t as good as I thought it would be. It is one book that I see on so many top book lists so I might have been influenced. Overall, the story is good but the point of view you get is only though the main character and she was dry at times.

The author does give some reasoning behind this new world but I kind of wish that they had left this a mystery. Since you get some information, it really made me wish we got more time on that period of transition. It just seemed so interesting especially when you find out that other countries didn’t fall into this same regime. In the last part of the book, you learn about pearl girls (if I remember right). These girls are sent to other countries to entice women to join their order by presenting it in more positive light. This is just a snippet at the end of the book and I really wanted more time with these ideas.

The main part of the book was slow paced for me. The author takes time to introduce you to this world but it takes up almost two thirds of the book. I feel like there could have been other ways to consolidate information into less scenes. The story is interesting but being fed information bit by bit made me bored not more interested.

There are some great scenes in the book and there is things to like but at the end of the book I did wish there was more from the characters and the story.

I was looking forward to reading this book as the description was right up my ally. This was not a woman for woman book that I thought it would be.

The main character can be strong but often folds under others. The other women start to use her after a series of misunderstandings. There is no fight in her. Even at the end of the book it takes a lot to open her eyes again. The reasoning why she is not as involved in the community is largely due to her cutting herself off from them. Through out the book I found the reasoning was held together by a string.

What could have been a great feminist story came out like a crime against women.

I like the story and most of the side characters were great but the main character is so boring. She mostly just follows along with the reader. I was way more interested in the other characters. I thought that this book would be another I discovered I’m a witch type story but, in this case, she knows but doesn’t practice. I will say the main characters reasoning for not having practiced magic at least made sense.

This is one book where I did wish it was longer as the ending was rushed. I wouldn’t have minded if there was a second book to finish off the story instead of the way this was done. To book was both interesting as the main character learns about her powers but it’s missing that magical charm for a cozy witch book.

I’m mixed on this book as it was ok but I would maybe consider reading another book in this world if the author came out with one.

This was not as atmospheric as I thought it would be. The cozy, Halloween, witch vibes were missing from this book. The sisterly and familial bonds are also lacking. The book started off so well especially once the first vampire is introduced but form there the plot muddles though family issues and figuring out what’s happening.

Even once they found out more about their powers, they don’t lean into it. This book left me wanting more. There are good parts but not enough to float the story.

I went into this book with the understanding that it would be whimsical and possibly fun. But the author over kills each element of the book.

The witty banter is nonstop and is forced upon you. the whimsical nature of the book can get cartoonish while the metaphors get tedious. The romance, bird talk, and competition is all too much. This book could have been better if it was toned down which is hard for me to say about a whimsical book. The main female character was also hard to take at time as she was sometimes a very capable and fast thinking person to a complete dolt.

I don’t know if I want to continue to the next book although it does sound interesting.

I really enjoyed this book although it felt incomplete to me. It did take me a little while to get though but that’s mostly due to the fact I had other unfinished books and a small part to the way the story is told.

I have really come to love this author’s work as she is phenomenal at setting an atmosphere, building tension, and making you feel claustrophobic. I did originally think that this would be a body horror novel but its more psychological. This is not a bad thing. In fact, I loved the inner monologs and distorted point of view.

One downside to the book that I feel like most readers will agree with is that the story can get boring as a lot of it is simply about her living in the hospital, dealing with tests, and managing the treatment. This is a double-sided sword for me as I both loved and found it boring at times. Getting into her head space is well done but sometime I want more happening.

In the last half of the book is when things really start to take off and get messed up. I don’t know if it was just me but the ending felt incomplete. I really wanted there to be more. When I saw the ending page I couldn’t believe it. Still, I really liked the book and the writing was great.

This book is worse then the last. Its doesn’t really address the issues of the friend group not actually being good friends. The plot is also very confusing with many concurrent storylines. Good luck to anyone who hasn’t read the first book as this book just expects to have read and remembered it.

Two big disappointments for me was the romance and the love interests ghost fiancé. The romance is severely lacking. I don’t mind taking things slow but there is nothing there to work with. The ghost fiancé story line could have added to the romance or at least added to the overall story but we get so little time on it and it’s treated like an annoyance then an interesting story line.

The beginning quickly sweeps you in and I did like the ending but its everything in between that stops short. Its not terrible but it’s boring. The story could use some cuts as the middle of the book spends too much time training the main character. During the training, concepts are often over explained or repeated.

One thing I didn’t like about the book was the reasoning of why the main character never read the book to teach her magic. Like not once did she pick it up and even look. Like she’s a book lover and works in a bookshop and never picks up a book about learning more about her magical abilities. Like she’s almost 30 and she never found time. Ok, rant over. Seriously why though…

This could have been a great book as the author can write but slow pacing and bad reasoning really put you off.