e-Audio, 09:51:45
Narrated by: Chloe Cannon & Emma Galvin
Release Date: June 28, 2022
Published by: Macmillan Audio
Read from: July 10-12, 2022
Stand-alone
Source: Netgalley Audio
TW: Animal torture/death, Blood and Gore
For Readers Interested In: Witches, Romance, Paranormal, YATHE SUBURBS, RIGHT NOW . . .
Seventeen-year-old Ivy’s summer break kicks off with an accident, a punishment, and a mystery: a stranger whose appearance in the middle of the road, in the middle of the night, heralds a string of increasingly unsettling events. As the days pass, Ivy grapples with eerie offerings, corroded memories, and a secret she’s always known—that there’s more to her mother than meets the eye.
THE CITY, BACK THEN . . .
Dana has always been perceptive. And the summer she turns sixteen, with the help of her best friend and an ambitious older girl, her gifts bloom into a heady fling with the supernatural, set in a city of magical possibilities and secret mystics. As the trio’s aspirations darken, they find themselves speeding toward a violent breaking point.
Years after it began, Ivy and Dana’s shared story will come down to a reckoning among a daughter, a mother, and the dark forces they never should’ve messed with.
*MY THOUGHTS*
When I saw that Melissa Albert had another book coming out, I was super excited. And then when I heard it was supposed to be like The Craft?! Yeah I needed it in my hands expeditiously. And man, that description was spot-on.
This eerie book had one of my favorite things going for it: the non-linear timeline. Although this timeline wasn’t great, I know what it meant for this book. With it being such a huge part, it sucked that I didn’t like it as much. But it’s mainly because it was confusing. I found myself rewinding and re-listening to some parts because I was so confused. But after finishing it, I’m not sure if that’s what the author wanted, or if it was just actually confusing. (It could also be the fact that I was listening to this on 1.75 for the most part….) But other than the timeline, the rest of the writing style was great. I was hooked. Albert somehow told the right parts that made this story not only weird, but also creepy.
Now y’all know I’m usually not a fan of witches, but this one was really good. I think maybe because Albert wasn’t really holding back any punches. Like she didn’t make the witches have a wand and then say one word and that’s their spells. She actually made them scary and had their spells actually have a creepy factor in it. Definitely wasn’t what I was expecting from a YA book. And I think that was the best part. It wasn’t what I was expecting, so when I got it, it meant so much more.
I don’t really want to say any more than that for fear of spoilers, but if you like witchy happenings, gory and creepy, and the vibes from Riverdale and The Craft, then this is for you. Yes you’ll have to pay attention to the weird timeline and POVs, but the way you’ll be sucked in by the descriptions and awesome writing style, I think you’ll be fine. If you read it, let me know what you think!
Overall, I gave this
