So first of all, A HUGE, GIGANTIC, EARTHSHATTERINGLY BIG thank you to the publishers for reaching out to little old me and offering me a free copy of this, my most anticipated book of all of 2019! I have never before felt like a bookish rockstar but the day I got that email I did. lol They even sent me a nice little pin. I'mma cherish it forever.
Anyway, that being said, this book was a small disappointment for me in the long run. As you can see, I rated it 3 stars - a bit of a drop from the author's last book, which I gave 5 gimungous stars to and couldn't stop raving over and devoured in one sitting.
The writing was still very beautiful, but not nearly as much as in The Wicked Deep. I would have thought a book about witches would have been MORE magical, but this one turned out to be less than the first. More rooted in reality. Kind of a bummer.
I think that the Oliver chapters were filled with some of the most gorgeous prose, but sadly, the Oliver chapters were small and far in between.
Onto the story. I predicted that outcome. I've seen The Sixth Sense so I guess I could sense that's where we were headed with the story. There was also (just like in her last book) the giant element of Insta-Love, but this time it was less endearing than before and more glaringly YA and teenie bopper and less believable.
I have to say that the beginning and the ending were very strong. Gave me chills. Everything in between fell a little flat for me though.
There also wasn't much of an actual plot between the pages. Also the black witch's recipe pages didn't really add much to the story in my opinion.
Do I still think this was a good book? Yeah. I liked it well enough.
Am I going to be screaming its praises to the high heavens like the last book by this author? That'd be a big heck no, old pals.
Hopefully with the author's next book (which whatever it is I will undoubtedly read because I have such high hopes in her abilities) she'll focus more on developing her plot and romances and make those as strong as the way that she is able to weave words so beautifully together.
That's about all I have to say on this one. Thanks again for the free copy. Also, the actual design of the book is stunning. Just felt like that should be noted on too.