Solid 5/5 stars!! I loved loved loved so much about this book that I read it in under 9 hours with a few meal breaks and interruptions from kids thrown in there. I barely made any comments which showed proof of how smooth it felt. If you are a fan of clean YA romantasy standalones then this is the story for you!
Here’s the blurb:
A contemporary fantasy brimming with tremendous empathy for the natural world and all its creatures. The moody Pacific Northwest is the perfect setting for this book, a romantic adventure mixed with some of the cleverest magic I’ve read in a long time. Iris, Pike, and MacGuffin the owl stole my heart―I loved getting lost in the woods with them.
A strikingly tender enemies-to-lovers romance told in the cozy love language of warm fires, s’mores and small acts of kindness, juxtaposed with wild magic and a treacherous hunt through the ethereal woods of the Pacific Northwest. I devoured every word of this rich and emotive novel.
Here are my live thoughts while reading:
The prologue felt crisp, clear and grounded me to the setting and Iris’s dilemma. When chapter two starts two years later it switched from third person past tense to first person present tense narrative. I’m glad since my current work in progress is also in first person narrative so it helps to learn the style of prose. Iris seems to be in a new home/town with a wolf named Winter as a pet and a nemesis named Pike who doesn’t know she’s a witch.
Oooh why is the owl stalking her?!?
The simplicity and clarity of the story and her intentions is refreshing. Sometimes there’s a bit too much repetition to hammer in the info, but overall I love this fluid read so far. It’s very obvious what’s about to happen so if there’s an unexpected twist that gets me, I’ll let you know. No spoilers of course.
At the halfway mark, their relationship feels to be moving quickly, but I’m on board. I love how the stakes are raised with the curse and Cassandra coming. (I love how the one bed trope changed to the one tent trope.)
The setting is so beautifully simple in the forest but so appropriate with Mother Nature surrounding them. I love the factor of her connection with animals and being a Lunar. It’s perfect.
In chapter 25, she switched her decision a bit too quickly to feel believable
Ooh… super satisfying ending. I barely Have any thoughts because it was just perfectly tied in a bow and was such a pleasant, light hearted read.
If you’d like to read a book about Mystiers, similar to witches, check out Scorched, coming out in March but ready for preorder now.
Cassie Swindon 