e-Audio, 12:16:07
Narrated by: Renee Dorian & Ali Andre Ali
Release Date: September 27, 2022
Published by: Simon & Schuster Audio
Read from: October 2-4, 2022
Stand-alone
Source: Netgalley (I received a copy of this book from Netgalley and the Publisher in exchange for a just and honest review. This did nothing to influence my review.)
TW: Recounting death of a parent by car accidnet (no detail) on page, one of the MCs’ mothers is an addict (drugs) who is still currently using, she appears on page, child neglect (in front of the character/ on page)
For Readers Interested In: Contemporary Romance, Witches/Wiccan, Astronomy, Magic, YAWillow has never felt like she belonged anywhere and is convinced that the only way to find a true home is to travel the world. But her plans to act on her dream are put on hold when her aloof and often absent mother drags Willow to Salem, Massachusetts, to wrap up the affairs of an aunt Willow didn’t even know she had. An aunt who may or may not have been a witch.
There, she meets Mason, a loner who’s always felt out of place and has been in and out of foster homes his entire life. He’s been classified as one of the runaways, constantly searching for ways to make it back to his mom; even if she can’t take care of him, it’s his job to try and take care of her. Isn’t it?
Naturally pulled to one another, Willow and Mason set out across Salem to discover the secret past of Willow’s mother, her aunt, and the ambiguous history of her family. During all of this, the two can’t help but act on their natural connection. But with the amount of baggage between them—and Willow’s growing conviction her family might be cursed—can they manage to hold onto each other?
From the New York Times bestselling author of Love & Gelato comes a poignant and romantic novel about two teens trying to find their place in the world after being unceremoniously dragged to Salem, Massachusetts, for the summer.
*MY THOUGHTS*
I’ve read every Jenna Evans Welch book and this one seemed like all the others. Teen goes to a new place, learns new things about herself, and finds love at the same time. But even still, this one was also differemnt. This time it’s set in the states and she puts both the MCs through the ringer. If this hadn’t been about a subject I’m not fond of, I think it would have been my favorite.
Willow has been bitten by the travel bug for as long as she could remember. She’s even been to Paris already and that wasn’t enough. She’s been trying to get her mother to let her do her senior year abroad, but all her plans are thrown off when her mother reveals a secret that sends them both to Salem, Massachusetts. There she meets Mason who’s been in foster homes his entire life, who’s been looking for his mom since he knew where to look. Willow’s mom keeps all details of her secret wrapped tight, so they go across Salem looking for details and trying fit the pieces together for Willow. And little does he know it, but Mason too.
When I read the synopsis and it mentioned Mason being in foster care, I didn’t stop to think what that might mean. Many of my old followers know this, but my newer ones might not, so I’ll repeat it again. I have an uncle who battled addiction most of his life. At one point his daughter went to stay with other people in her life because of it. He got help after he was in his 60’s. It was almost too late. Because of this, I really think this could have done with a trigger/content warning page. I had a pretty hard time reading this because of the mention of Mason’s mom. I had to reach out to Twitter and see if someone had read this to see how far into her addiction it went. I don’t want to read anout something like that in my fiction. It’s my way to escape he world, and this brings a bit of my trauma right into it. So please, I’m begging you, please put a warning on things like this next time.
The romance itself was cute tho. I loved the way they worked together to try and solve that mystery. It was a fun little romp through Salem. Definitely not what I was expecting. BUt I live the scavenger hunt/ National Treasure feel. It was intersting to see all the places they would find things too. The first clue was pretty cool. But I can’t lie, when it got to the end I was in tears. I knew how it ended, but I still wasn’t prepared. I think finally learning the journey was a little much for me. Add on to the fact that I was still sad from what Mason was going through, and yeah. You should be able to see why I was in tears lol
The characters were ok, but I really hated Willow’s mom lol But as it turns iut, she wasn’t that bad. Yes her excuse was still dumb (imho. Because why wouldn’t you cherish what you have now? I digress) but I know there were good intentions behind it. Mason was a good kid, but he had some things to work through. And that wasn’t his fault. None of the adu;ts in his life were truthful with him and I didn’t like that. Someone should have told him what was going on. I don’t think it was right letting him find out that way. Willow was my favorite. I really enjoyed her character. She seemed moody, but she was a teen. But when she started finiding out more about herself and her family, she truned into a different person. Growth. I enjoyed reading her. She still had some growing up to do, but again, she was a teen. That’s how they all are.
This could have absolutely done with some content warnings and I wouldn’t have had to skim some of the scenes, but for what I did read, I enjoyed it. Otherwise this is another solid book of Welch’s that I enjoyed. Same sort of formula that works for her, but sill different enough from her others that it didn’t feel like I was reading any of her previous works.
Overall, I give this
