Tag: Simon and Schuster

Forget Me Not by Alyson Derrick 🌟 Arc Review 🌟

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This book has my heart right now. Being gay and living in a small conservative town, an Asian mc who must deal with racism, just the attention to several big problems for many, many Americans living in this country right now. And, not just mentioning these problems but speaking about them in this story in such an honest way.

Stevie and Nora are in love. They have a new life waiting for them in California. However, all of that changes when Stevie falls into a ravine and has permanent amnesia about the past two years after she wakes up from a coma.

So, this is a story of friendship and finding out who your true friends really are. About finding yourself. This is a story about falling in love, and then forgetting everything and falling back in love with a beautiful human who never gave up.

If you can’t tell… I loved every piece of this book. It lives up to the hype and more. It’s my new moody read for when I’m feeling cloudy.

Out April 4, 2023!

Some warnings for racism, homophobia, and domestic violence.

Thank you, Netgalley and Publisher, for this Arc!

🌟 Arc Review 🌟 The Book Of Magic by Alice Hoffman!

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Thank you Netgalley and Simon and Schuster for this incredible arc!

Wow! This is an emotional roller-coaster of a sequel to Practical Magic! Alice Hoffman provides the reader with everything they need: love, friendship, romance, conflict, and throughout it all… MAGIC.

This story is about the whole family equally. Jet, Franny, Gillian, Sally, Kylie and Antonia… even Vincent! It was such a joy to read not to mention very heartwarming and heartbreaking at times… Beware: you will need tissues!!

Jet finds The Book Of the Raven which leads Kylie to England to break the curse haunting her family for generations. Of course, almost the entire family go after her and the adventure gets serious. There is a battle between right and left, good and evil, lightness and darkness. This story could be a tragedy but there is just so much love in these pages it’s hard not to feel it.

I definitely recommend this to fans of Practical Magic and Alice Hoffman!

🌟 Arc Book 🌟 The Bones of Ruin by Sarah Raughley

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Thank you Netgalley for this arc!!

Iris is an African tightrope dancer in a circus and the setting of Victorian London (which is so cool!). And, Iris has a secret she holds very close… she cannot die! However, she has absolutely no memory of who she is exactly and this search for her past becomes a big part of the plot. But when she meets Adam Temple everything begins to get more complicated and she is pulled into a tournament with many other characters that have really cool powers and abilities.

This book was so interesting and I’m curious to know where the next book will take me. However, I did not love the characters and the way they interacted. I feel like they just weren’t as complete feeling to me so I didn’t feel a strong connection and that made the dialog feel slightly forced at times.

I loved this world, especially at the time period, and do recommend this as a unique look at dark historical fantasy that is heaped in magic!

I’d like to add a trigger warning for racism that is taking place in the Victorian London setting, definitely part of this time period but I want anyone reading this to be aware of it.

Look for this coming out on Sept. 1st!

Sweet and Bitter Magic by Adrienne Tooley, ARC Review

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Too much love can be dangerous, but too little love can be a curse.

I’d like to start by saying this book has a great map! If you know how I feel about maps then you know how important this is imo.

Tamsin is a witch and will cast spells for the citizens of her village for a very particular price: love. More specifically, the love that person feels for another. She does this because of a curse that took her ability to love, and Tamsin needs and desires to simply FEEL again.

Wren is the opposite of Tamsin in so many ways. She is vibrant and full of feelings and possibly a little naive. She is also a Source which means she is full of magic that can supplement a witch’s own power.

When a plague comes, a sickness that can steal a soul and make the whole world volatile and vicious, everything starts changing for Tamsin and Wren. They begin to work together and start on a journey to the Witchlands to help stop this black magic.

This story is exciting, twisty and turny, and even full of not just magic but references to classic fairytales that make this book even more fun. I adored the light romance and the interesting conversations between Wren and Tamsin that included some funny comments. Overall, an enjoyable read that I would definitely recommend!