Love and Other Wicked Things by Philline Harms

 
Love and Other Wicked Things by Philline Harms
My Rating: ★★★★

I received a copy from Wattpad Books through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Oakriver is a quiet town that secretly houses a magical community. Rhia is from the latest generation of Greenbrook witches in town, and she is one of the many who are gifted with Earth magic. When her grandma has a vision about a dangerous unfamiliar witch coming to town, Rhia doesn’t think much about her warnings. Why would she hang out with whoever this dangerous witch is anyway? Then she meets Valerie Morgan, a fire witch who is reading Tarot and using magic out in the open. She’s going against every rule Rhia has grown up with, and it’s getting on her last nerve, but she can’t help but feel a connection to this new witch in town. By the time Valarie gets caught up in a dangerous web of magic while trying to get closer to her mom, Rhia is too invested to let Valarie or Oakriver go down in flames.

I absolutely loved this book. We follow Rhia and Valerie, who are both witches, but they are witches with very different backgrounds. Rhia has grown up in a family who openly practices magic and is very loving and accepting while Valerie’s dad is not accepting of her fire magic. At all. In fact, he won’t even call it what it is! To top things off, she really just wants to learn more about her mom, but her dad has spent her life acting like her mom never existed. The only thing she knows about her mom is that she died in her hometown: Oakriver.

We have an excellent cast of characters. Other than Rhia and Valerie, we have Rhia’s family and Valarie’s roommate. We mainly get to know Rhia’s sister, Sage, and her cousin, Holly. I absolutely love them. They’re such fun and sweet characters that I wish they were members of my own family. There’s also her longtime friend, Tristan, who is hilarious and doesn’t possess any magic of his own. Plus, Valarie’s roommate, Quinn. I loved them from the start and I wish we got to see a little more of them, but I’m happy with how much they appeared in the story. I love that each of these characters are so realistic that they could easily walk in through the door, but they also have a touch of magic for the story.

The story itself is fun. It’s a slow burn kind of story that is mainly carried by the characters. For some reason, I thought it was building up to something way bigger than what it was actually building up to after I read the summary, but that was my own fault. It turns out I took the saving the town part of the summary and built it up in my head somewhere between reading the first page and getting to the halfway point of the book! However, even then, I was very happy with the book and enjoyed every minute of it. I do think what happens with Valarie toward the end of the book and how that’s resolved could’ve been much bigger, but otherwise, I’m happy with how the story turns out.

All in all, this is an excellent story with a wonderful cast of characters. There’s magic, a little bit of mystery, and a lot of platonic and romantic love. The overall story is cute and fun, but there is a little bit of trauma and confusion along with a big secret hiding just around the corner. All in all, it was an excellent read and I’m looking forward to checking out the author’s other works.

All Our Hidden Gifts (All Our Hidden Gifts #1) by Caroline O'Donoghue

 

All Our Hidden Gifts by Caroline O'Donoghue

My Rating: ★★★★★

When Maeve Chambers finds herself punished with in-school suspension, she never expected that meant she’d be cleaning in her school’s creepy basement. However, Maeve quickly discovers that there’s some cool stuff hidden there, like an old Walkman that somehow still works and a deck of Tarot cards. In fact, she’s very drawn to the Tarot cards and spends that night learning how to read them. Her fun new hobby quickly goes south when she draws an eerie card that isn’t normally in the deck while doing a reading for her ex-best friend, Lily. When Lily disappears, Maeve becomes a moving target at school because it’s suspected she did something to Lily with that eerie Tarot card. However, Maeve quickly learns that it’s all somehow connected to that strange card, and now she’s determined to save her former best friend.

I absolutely loved this entire book. We follow Maeve, a student at a Catholic school who seems to never be good at anything. She’s the youngest in her family and born a while after her closest sibling, she struggles in school, and she doesn’t stand out in a crowd. When Maeve saw a chance at getting some popularity, she quickly dropped her best friend, which is a decision she still regrets. Things begin to get interesting when she becomes the new owner of a set of  Tarot cards left in the basement of her school. For the first time, Maeve has found something she’s a natural at! It’s all fun and games until her ex-best friend goes missing after a strange reading and a heated argument. Armed with her Tarot deck, Maeve dives face first into the supernatural world she never knew existed until she came across that Tarot deck.

We have such a great cast of characters here. Maeve is relatable in the sense that she feels like she’ll never have anything going for her, so she’s just trying to fit in even though she chooses a super judgemental and less than nice crowd to run with. Lily has always marched to the beat of her own drum and appears to not care what others think of her. Fiona is an excellent friend with a heart of gold who is supportive while dealing with racist remarks and actions directed at her and her family. Roe, Lily’s older brother, is a sweet and thoughtful musician who is exploring his gender expression and possible identity in future books. And then we have Jo, Maeve’s older sister, who is dealing with the rising anti-LGBT+ movement as an open lesbian and college student.

I loved each and every one of these characters and how fleshed out they each were with Lily as the exception since she went missing. I am looking forward to seeing these characters again in the second novel, especially as they get closer (or further) apart from each other and slowly awaken to the hidden supernatural world. I know it seems like a lot of characters to be so well developed and heavily featured all in the first book, but Caroline O'Donoghue wrote these characters and how they each enter the story so well that I don’t think anyone can get overwhelmed.

Each of the plots and themes are absolutely phenomenal. I found myself not wanting to put the book down every time I picked it up. It’s so rich in characters, themes, plots, and overall storytelling that this has quickly become one of my favorite books that I’ve read. I’m also excited to check out the author’s other books outside of this series because they are a truly talented writer. Speaking of which, I’ve already picked up the next book in this series and am very excited to start it soon.

Death Comes to Marlow (The Marlow Murder Club #2) by Robert Thorogood

Death Comes to Marlow by Robert Thorogood
My Rating: ★★★★

I received a copy from Poisoned Pen Press through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Judith has been enjoying her post-murder mystery life to the best of her ability. However, fate seems to have other plans for her. First she gets into a fight with a swan while on her morning swim, then she gets invited to Sir Peter Bailey’s pre-wedding party. Judith has never actually met Sir Peter, so it’s certainly a random invite, but she attends the party only to be one of the many guests out and about when he’s crushed by a cabinet. One thing leads to another and Judith finds herself on the hunt for the killer when she and her two friends, Suzie and Becks, are the only ones who think Sir Peter was murdered.

After reading the first book in the series, I was very excited when I saw that a second installment was on the way. We continue to follow Judith, a 77-year-old crossword setter and now amateur sleuth. Through her, we also follow her two new friends, Suzie and Becks. I really enjoyed Judith, Becks, and Tanika. The three are very different characters at a range of different ages who are extremely interesting in their own ways. I really hope to learn more about Tanika as the series goes on since she’s not in Judith’s friend group… yet! Though, I think that she is in a way and I love how Judith, Becks, and Suzie have grown protective over her.

However, I found that Suzie was pretty annoying this time around. I hope that Suzie finds her footing because it seemed that she rarely held even half of the shared brain cell, and not in a fun way. I thought she was funny in the first book, but she was grating on my nerves this time around. However, she was pretty cool on the radio show she volunteers at, so I hope that we see a little more of the Suzie that we got to know back in the first book as the series continues.

The mystery itself is a pretty interesting one. I wasn’t sure who the killer was for a while, and then once I had come to my own conclusions, I later learned I was half right. I was so sure the other party was a red herring, but all the signs were there all book long, so it all makes sense. I also loved seeing Judith and her friends run their investigation with Tanika’s support. There is one major detail in the murder mystery that makes absolutely no sense to me, but I don’t want to spoil the story, so I’m not going to go into details. However, it is the only detail that doesn’t make sense while everything else sounds plausible.

There is another mystery plot that was interesting, and that’s the secret messages in the crossword puzzles that Judith has noticed while solving. I think it was a fun storyline, but it was out of place in the book. I think it might’ve made more sense in a different book or if the details had something to do with the main mystery that Judith is working to solve. While I do think that the crossword puzzle mystery was ultimately pretty cute, it was sadly out of place and made me feel like I changed the channel mid-movie.

All in all, I really enjoyed this book and had a lot of fun reading it. The story gets rolling right away and we get to know a little more about each of the core characters while learning a lot about the new characters that entered the picture. Suzie was getting on my last nerve at times and the crossword puzzle side plot was out of place, but otherwise, I enjoyed reading this and look forward to where the series goes next.

Just Like Heaven (Smythe-Smith Quartet #1) by Julia Quinn

 
Just Like Heaven by Julia Quinn

My Rating: ★★★★

Honoria Smythe-Smith is the youngest of her siblings and has always tried her best to fit in with her closest sibling, Daniel. When Daniel started bringing his best friend around, she tried to fit in with Marcus as well. The rest was history… at least until Daniel had to flee the country after a night of gambling gone awry. Three years and a bad leg gash later, Marcus is knocking on death’s door with Honoria and her mom to the rescue. The longer Marcus and Honoria are together, the more they realize their feelings are no longer platonic.

When I saw that the Smythe-Smiths had a spin-off series, I knew I had to read them. I love the main series, but a series following the various members of the famous Smythe-Smith quartet? Count me in! In this series opener, we follow Honoria and Marcus through their rotating perspectives. Honoria is getting ready to perform in her family’s annual musicale as well as start her third year of hoping to find a respectable husband. This time around, she’s got her eyes set on a Bridgerton, which Marcus approves of… sort of.

Speaking of Marcus, he’s practically a Smythe-Smith himself due to spending so much time with the family. He barely had any family to begin with, and now he’s all alone in the world and missing his best friend who has barely written since he fled the country. Marcus is shy and very serious, and he hates visiting London, but it’s something he’s willing to do so he can keep his promise to Daniel. The promise in question? Make sure Honoria marries well. It’s a promise Honoria has no idea about.

I absolutely loved this book. While Honoria and Marcus aren’t the most entertaining characters nor do they have the type of chemistry that’s on fire, it’s a romance I can get behind. They’re both sweet, kind, and caring characters who genuinely care for the people around them. I particularly enjoyed Honoria’s relationship with her family, and how she enjoyed practicing for the musicale despite being a terrible violin player. It’s fun to watch how each of her cousins react differently about the show while she’s determined to make it fun for the family that are no longer performing as part of the quartet. I also loved that Marcus appeared to be ultra serious and stand-offish but that he’s actually just shy and socially awkward. It was also nice to see how much he cared for the people around him.

While the romance isn’t on fire, it’s soft and sweet. It was so much fun to watch the pair fall in love and then realize that they had fallen in love. It’s even funnier to watch them interpret the other’s interest in each other as the exact opposite of what they actually feel. I had a lot of fun reading this, and it was even funnier to see an old favorite character again. Lady Danbury is one of my favorite characters, so I’m excited to see her turning up to the muscales in each book.

Magic, Lies, and Deadly Pies (Pies Before Guys Mystery #1) by Misha Popp

Magic, Lies, and Deadly Pies by Misha Popp

My Rating: ★★★

Ever since Daisy Ellery left home, she’s been determined to never let anyone get close enough to make her want to stick around one place for long. Not only does she have the ability to use magic, but she also runs a small and secret business called Pies before Guys. Daisy is very picky about her clients because she uses her magic and pies to kill men who abuse others. Between her main job, she also bakes and sells pies infused with her magic to brighten their days. Everything seems to be going well when someone tries to blackmail her. Daisy must either kill three women on her blackmailer’s list or they’ll out her for murder. Now she finds herself in quite the pickle, but she knows she must protect these women and find her blackmailer before time runs out.

I thought this cozy mystery had an interesting premise, so I knew I had to read it as soon as possible! We follow Daisy, a woman from a long line of Ellery witches who used their magic for good. Because of this, Daisy feels like something went wrong when she was born because she likes to use her magic to help people by killing the men who abuse them. It would be frowned on by her ancestors, so she is filled with shame while knowing that she is still helping women get out of terrible relationships.

I enjoyed the first half of the book a lot. There is a great cast of interesting characters, such as Daisy, Frank, and Melly. Then there’s a small cast of unsavory characters, some of which Daisy works to eliminate. We got to know some of these characters pretty well, and I found that I really liked Frank. Sure, he’s a cranky old man who is rough around the edges, but it turns out he’s also a really caring and solid guy. I also found Melly to be quite interesting at first, though it seems that she lost quite a bit of steam and brain cells as the chapter flew by.

We also have a small love triangle that seems to fizzle out, or so I thought. Daisy is pursued by two people: Noel and Melly. She had quite a bit of chemistry with Melly at first and I really thought that should be the end game, but then the chemistry evaporates and never returns. Plus, the Melly we get to know and the Melly we see as the main plot gets rolling are almost two different people. Daisy has crazy chemistry with Melly 1.0, but absolutely no chemistry with Melly 2.0, so that was interesting to watch happen. Then there’s Noel. I really thought he was quite boring and one dimensional, but as the book goes on, it turns out there’s a lot beneath the surface. It took a while for it to be revealed, but it’s there! He and Daisy don’t have much chemistry, but he seems like a good guy and he’s got an interesting backstory that made me more interested in him as a character.

As I said, I really enjoyed the first half of the book! However, it started to lose me around halfway through. There was a lot going on once Daisy discovered who her blackmailer was, and it made me start to lose interest just because there was so much going on. We have the blackmailer plot, a romance, a pie contest, two pie businesses, and Daisy’s past catching up with her. I think I would’ve liked the book better if it didn’t have so much going on at the same time because I really like the overall plot and the core characters.

Together We Rot by Skyla Arndt

 
Together We Rot by Skyla Arndt
My Rating: ★★★★

I received a copy from Penguin Young Readers Group through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Wil’s life turned upside down the day her mom went missing. People in town say her mom just got up and abandoned their family, but she knows something bad happened. Whatever occurred, she knows it has something to do with the Clarke family. Unfortunately, Wil’s accusations ultimately end her friendship with her long time best friend, Elwood Clarke. Obsessed with stalking the Clarke family while hoping something leads to her mom, Wil gets much more than she bargained for when Elwood runs away. It turns out the Clarke family are members of an old cult and her former best friend is their next human sacrifice.

This book was an absolutely wild read. We follow Wil and Elwood as their lives continue to take a turn for the unexpected, only now it has a supernatural twist neither of them could’ve ever predicted. Wil is a stubborn and ill-tempered teenager whose grief has only fed into her anger. Her dad has disappeared into the bottle while hardly anyone in town listens to her shouting that the Clarke family had something to do with her mother’s disappearance. Meanwhile, Elwood is a long-time victim of verbal and physical abuse just trying to keep his head above the water. His entire life has been mapped out for him, only he never realized that included his parents and their cult sacrificing him in the woods.

I wasn’t sure what to expect once I started the book because it was dragging along for a bit, and Wil seemed like she was trying too hard to be “hard.” However, once the story gets rolling, it really gets rolling. I gathered early on that Elwood was our deepest connection to the supernatural even before things started happening given how strange his family was. I don’t want to say too much on this front because I don’t want to spoil anything, but phew. This was an excellent read and while it does have classic tropes one finds in the young adult genre, it also has a lot of heavy themes that make sense to the story rather than appearing for the shock value.

Plus, there is an interesting cast of core characters. While we don’t follow Wil and Elwood’s small group of friends, they strap in for the wild ride and I really liked all of them. They are excellent and supportive side characters that really help bring things together. I was really surprised that I liked one of the characters, Lucas, as the book continued. He is definitely a character that snuck up on me. I also like that we get to see a little more below the surface of some of the important players everyone fights against.

The supernatural plot is excellent and different from anything I’ve read before. Who and what is Elwood, and why must he be sacrificed? What is this cult about anyway? I had several questions and about half of the answers were truly explosive. Once the ball gets rolling, this is an excellent story with a lot of world building and backstory that doesn’t feel like it’s going overboard. Everything unfolds in due time, and none of it seems off the wall or out of place. I also really enjoyed the character growth we see despite these characters going to hell and back. This is a very strong debut novel and I’m looking forward to what the author publishes next.

Radiant Sin (Dark Olympus #4) by Katee Robert

 
Radiant Sin by Katee Robert
My Rating: ★★★★★

No one knows exactly how dangerous the Thirteen can be than Cassandra. They protect their own at all cost, and then they protect Olympus with everything they’ve got. Cassandra’s parents played with fire to further their ambitions and lost their lives in the process. Unfortunately, the reality of what they were up to when they lost their lives still affects her and her sister well into adulthood. It’s why Cassandra is determined to get out of Olympus. When she takes on the task of entering a very public fake relationship with her boss and using it to gain information on what a new and dangerously powerful person is up to, she’s on it. How can she say no when the payment is two tickets out of Olympus with enough money to start over without struggling?

This time we follow Cassandra and her boss and long time crush, Apollo, as they go undercover of sorts for a week-long party. I was not expecting their chemistry to be on fire, and boy, it was! These two were sizzling off the pages from the very start. It’s clear the pair have had a thing for each other for a long time, but neither of them has let the other know. Cassandra plans on getting the hell out of Olympus with her sister. Plus, she really doesn’t have plans to get too tangled up with the Thirteen. Meanwhile, Apollo’s heart beats for Cassandra, but he refuses to let it be known. He doesn’t want his position Apollo and as her boss make anyone feel like they have to date him. It’s why he plans to never let her know he’s interested.

However, things change when Apollo asks Cassandra to be his plus one for a week-long party. He needs someone as sharp as he is to help uncover what’s going on with the new powerful players in Olympus. It requires them to publicly pretend they’re dating, and faking a relationship quickly becomes reality when they each let their feelings for each other slip out. The story has some of my favorite tropes: fake dating, there is only one room, there is only one bed. Phew! It was so great to go from one disappointing book in the series to an absolutely excellent one.

Of course, the week-long party brings a lot to the table. There’s deceit, backstabbing (both literally and metaphorically), and relationships all on the line. Plus, it was a fun mystery because what exactly is going on, and what is the point of the seemingly strange party events? With the other plus ones slowly going missing and none of the Thirteen being concerned by it, Cassandra has her hands full in more ways than one.

It was also a delight to see more members of the Thirteen as well as getting to see them interact with one another. While many of them may have claws, some of them are pretty solid people, Apollo included. A sizzling romantic mystery that world builds and provides more character building? I absolutely loved it!