I really thought this was going to get a 5 until the last 50 or so pages. The story just fell apart for me. ( )

2/5 stars

underwhelming from beginning to end ( )

It’s meh.
I wanted modern day witches doing modern day witch stuff and it only really happened in like the 2nd to last chapter.
Nor is a crappy main character. She does stupid shit all the time that makes no sense. Ugh ( )

It's a short read.
I liked the premise and the beggining of the book was very strong with this dark fairytale vibe, thou it was too much telling and little showing, but the vibe of the book changes when the story actually starts with Nor, the main character.
To be honest I didn't feel connected with none of the characters, they felt kinda bland and nothing special to me, and in the second half more characters interact with Nor and I couldn't remember who they were, I think they were mentioned in the begining but can't really recall them from there.
I really liked the setting and the atmosphere of the book.
Fern was an interesting villain but her motivations were extremely vague and hard to understand, she was just bad because she likes to be bad.
The magic system (if there is one) didn't make sense, at the beggining they tell you each witch in the family has only one power and suddenly Nor has like 10 with no real reason behind that, and then her mother was looking for her but still I don't understand why.
The build up to meeting Fern was interesting and what I enjoyed the most, seeing how she progressed and how that affected the Island and Nor.
I thought the book would take another direction, after all at the begining they tell you that each woman in the family falls in love for 3 days and then their lover leaves them, so I thought this book would be about Nor falling in love and finding a way to break that curse. There is romance in the book, but it has nothing to do with the curse and then at the end there is a love triangle that came out of nowhere.
The final showdown was a let down for me, but I must say I enjoyed what happened after that, the book takes an interesting approach and is open ended for a possible sequel involving witch hunting.
I enjoyed this book and it's atmosphere, and it's a quick read, so if you have nothing else to read, I recommend it to read it in a cloudy day near Halloween. ( )

I absolutely adored "The Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender" and was excited to see Walton had release another book. This is a very different book than "The Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender" but I still enjoyed it. I love Walton's writing style, although this book is not quite as unique and beautifully written as Ava Lavender, it's still very well done.

Nor is the descendent of witches and has a painful past. She spends most of her time trying to not be noticed and trying to ignore her magical abilities. However, when her mother returns to terrorize the island Nor has to rethink her life and step up to the challenge.

I loved the island setting and the interesting characters. The storyline involves magic and a theme of good vs. evil. Additionally, the book does feature a character who has historically had issues with self-harm and is trying to find meaning and self-worth in her life.

I read this in a couple days and really enjoyed it. It is a bit slow at points but things really pick up at the end. The books is a bit open ended which made me wonder if this is going to be part of a series. I hope it is, I would love to read another book with this world, characters, and setting.

Overall I would recommend; I enjoyed the small town setting and the malevolent magic. Just remember this is a very, very different book from "The Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender", it’s well done for what it is and I would recommend to people who enjoy paranormal YA books. ( )