Spells for Forgetting

(2.5 stars rounded up to 3) I really wanted to love this one. The writing is really atmospheric, the witchiness is wonderful (though I could have used more) and the use of multiple perspectives and time jumps kept me engaged with the story. However, as other readers have mentioned, the characters felt flat and it was often difficult to tell their perspectives apart, and the “reveal” at the end was what I had suspected all along. I also hated the epilogue scene - it felt pointless. Additionally, I found the lack of consistency in the world-building, plot, and characterization too distracting really enjoy it. Let me explain what I mean.

In the opening, Emery mentions how cell service ends as soon as you get off the ferry boat, and how it bothers the tourists. But then, for the whole middle of the book, she and Dutch are calling/texting without issue. There's no mention of wifi. Then, at the end, when it is convenient for the plot, August suddenly has service issues again. She could have addressed this by mentioning that people had wifi, but she went out of her way to talk about how disconnected the island is. I find this to be lazy writing.

Similarly, Lily dies under mysterious circumstances, and even though we are told repeatedly throughout the book how everyone on the island does magic, no one ever seems to mention or investigate this. Given Leoda's perspective at the end, this is probably supposed to be intentional. But Jake has grown up on the island; surely he would at least recognize that the combination of weird details likely means magic was involved? That none of the characters seem to consider this once again feels too convenient, and frankly, lazy again.

There are other examples of this throughout the book. I had so hoped that this would be a favorite read of 2022, so perhaps I am being too harsh; but I was really disappointed with the reading experience.