"I have no idea what I did," I said. "But, holy hell, I did a damn good job of it." - The Scapegracers
5/5 starsI received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Very minor spoilers within. This book is everything I would have killed to read when I was a teenager. It’s very girl power, very witchy and very queer and I loved every second of it. I can’t wait for the second book in all honesty, I think it’s gonna be killer… perhaps quite literally. I love books with mean girl type characters who genuinely care for each other and look out for other girls. I love it even more when they’re Witches. The Craft film was my jam, although admittedly that didn’t quite end as fairytale found family as I would have liked. This book gave such craft vibes I devoured it, and to make it even better the found family/girl friendships were solid and supportive at the end. Our main character actually reads as a teenager, which I think we miss out on sometimes in YA fantasy books. Sideways is a lesbian witch who loves her power, who wants to be seen as powerful and show off to her peers. She wants friends. She wants a place to belong, she goes to parties, she charges for spells. The other main characters, our three other coven members and the love interest Madeline, were all equally real and fleshed out. Yates, Daisy and Jing were a beautiful diverse collision of different personalities. We don't really know a whole lot about Madeline, other than that she's a bit mysterious which... ok ok you got my attention. I'm weak for a mysterious girl. I also loved Mr Scratch. Hands down one of the most fun and interesting takes on witch mythology I’ve seen. The plot was slightly predictable, but not necessarily in a bad way, and one part of the ending did manage to surprise me which was nice. More than anything though, this book is FUN. Between the Halloween parties and the spell casting and the intrigue of the Witchfinders and the spell books, it all wraps into a very enjoyable book. The only thing I wasn’t really a fan of was how inconsistent some parts where. I don’t know if it’s just me or not but quite often there wasn’t really a separation between scenes, and some things that happened (such as Sideways showing up bloody and upset to her parents) weren’t really appropriately handled. I think the reaction from her dads should have been more worried and intense than it was, rather than just letting her not tell them anything about what happened and run off again with the same people she was with when she got hurt in the first place. Especially when her dads seem to care so much about her and her well being, it just didn’t sit quite right in the flow of the story. Overall though, a strong read. AND there's a beautiful piece of cover art, as the cherry on top of the cake of characters you care about and a plot that's intriguing. I can't wait to see where this goes, how the Madeline/Sideways angle pans out, and how the Witchfinders are handled. I want to see more different covens, I want to know more about the spell books, more about the wider background of the witch community. I want to see Chett get destroyed. That last one is perhaps the most important.
4 Comments
Bekahbooks
24/2/2020 09:06:15 pm
I really love the format of your review! This books sounds really interesting! 😁❤️💙
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Lauren Shaw
24/2/2020 09:55:41 pm
Thank you Bekah! If you read it I want your opinions on it! ❤️
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Lauren Shaw
25/2/2020 08:22:28 am
It’s so fun 👏 let me know what you think if you do read it!
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