The Summary

Because she hasn't visited her magical town of Thistle Grove in years, Emmy Harlow is a witch, but she isn't a very powerful one. Gareth Blackmoore, the heir to the most powerful magical family in town and a habitual breaker of hearts and destroyer of dreams, has very little to do with her self-imposed exile and a lot to do with her convoluted family past and desire to make her own place in the world.

But as a spellcasting competition for which her family participates as judges draws near, it turns out that tradition (or the genuinely spectacular parental guilt trip that goes along with it) is powerful enough to convince Emmy to return. She's determined to fulfill her obligations to her family, spend time with her best friend, Linden Thorn, and return to her normal life in Chicago.

On her first night back, Emmy meets Talia Avramov, a badass expert in the darker magical arts who has recently gone through a difficult split with Gareth Blackmoore. Talia had fallen for the charm, only to find out that Linden and Gareth were seeing each other secretly. She and Linden are now seeking retribution. There is only one last query: Is Emmy in?

My Review

It's quite cute. In actuality, I enjoyed this one. While this book featured a fantastic romance, I was pleasantly surprised to see how well the magical fantasy components were executed. This book, in my opinion, was very well balanced.

I liked how Emmy's reappearance, Thistle Grove's enchantment, and the ghostly vibe of the community were all introduced right at the beginning. We also encounter scions from every magical family early on, and Emmy's reasons for avoiding this location become clear immediately away.

I was highly impressed by Harper's writing's depth. Her nuances are perfect, and her writing is very polished and entertaining to read. The worldbuilding and imagery in the language are really rich. The book's elaborate, frequently archaic syntax meshes well with modern idioms. Without a doubt, readers who like language and setting will enjoy this book.

Unluckily, the reading is rather slow and descriptive. I was truly excited to pick it up until about halfway through. Thankfully, it picked up again toward the conclusion, but the focus on little details irrelevant to the conflict made me stop caring about the story and the interactions between the characters.

I was pleased with the characters, actually. The portrayal of the other characters is likewise extremely good. The characters have such great chemistry that you can't help but hope that they will somehow end up together. The concept of people marrying witches becoming witches themselves hasn't really crossed my mind, but it was in this book. I thought that was a good concept.

I found that Talia and Emmy have a great relationship. Emmy and Talia's exciting chemistry is a big part of what initially draws them together. But after seeing Talia's frail side, it was obvious why Emmy would also become emotionally invested in the relationship. Although the relationship may use some improvement, I still believe it significantly advances the story.

Overall, I found this to be really fascinating and would undoubtedly read the remaining books in this series.

My ratings score:

★★★★★ Fantastic! Made me go through a lot of emotions & the entire book is incredibly beautifully done! 

★★★★ Memorable! Despite its shortcomings, this book was incredible and taught us a lot. 

★★★ Good work! Nothing particularly remarkable, but still nice.

★★ Meh... Mediocre with great room for improvement.

★ Extremely Poor.