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Witchington #1
Witcha Gonna Do?
An unlucky witch and her know-it-all nemesis must team up in the first of a new, spicy romantic comedy series from USA Today bestselling author Avery Flynn.
Could it possibly get any worse than having absolutely no magical abilities when you’re a member of the most powerful family of witches ever? It used to be that I’d say no, but then I keep getting set up on dates with Gil Connolly whose hotness is only matched by his ego. Seriously. I can’t stand him. Even if I also can’t stop thinking about him (specifically kissing him) but we’re going to pretend I never told you that part.
So yeah, my life isn’t the greatest right now, but then it goes straight to the absolute worst hell when I accidentally make my sister’s spell glitch and curse my whole family. And the only person who can help non-magical me break the spell? You guessed it. Gil the super hot jerk.
Now we have to work together to save my family and outmaneuver some evil-minded nefarious forces bent on world domination. Oh yeah, and we have to do all that while fighting against the attraction building between us because I may not be magical, but what’s happening between Gil and I sure feels like it.
Could it possibly get any worse than having absolutely no magical abilities when you’re a member of the most powerful family of witches ever? It used to be that I’d say no, but then I keep getting set up on dates with Gil Connolly whose hotness is only matched by his ego. Seriously. I can’t stand him. Even if I also can’t stop thinking about him (specifically kissing him) but we’re going to pretend I never told you that part.
So yeah, my life isn’t the greatest right now, but then it goes straight to the absolute worst hell when I accidentally make my sister’s spell glitch and curse my whole family. And the only person who can help non-magical me break the spell? You guessed it. Gil the super hot jerk.
Now we have to work together to save my family and outmaneuver some evil-minded nefarious forces bent on world domination. Oh yeah, and we have to do all that while fighting against the attraction building between us because I may not be magical, but what’s happening between Gil and I sure feels like it.
312 pages, Paperback
First published December 6, 2022
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,740 reviews
December 11, 2022
this book actually deeply angered me. it started off with “hi *waves*” and i almost immediately closed the book, very unserious behavior. this book talks you as the audience and i wasn’t aware i was 12 again. i think it was very cheesy and shouldn’t be in an adult romance book. everything about this book is just corny and doesn’t feel adult at all. this book felt like i was reading a ya book that wanted so badly to be an adult. as if the author is 17 and wrote what she thought adults interacts like. also just incase i don’t say this enough…the writing style is atrocious to say the least. the double agent plotline was literally useless being ass we never got to see who he was working for and in general i didn’t care for the romance, it was very bland.
November 2, 2022
This cover is so alluring! I loved the previous works of Avery Flynn. When I heard she tried another genre, plotting a YA fantasy romance, I was so curious to devour it!
But unfortunately, this story, the entire world building, the characters didn’t work with me. I tried to get into the main plot but I’m overwhelmed with too much extra information. The Council, The Resistance, The Misfits, the double agents, goblins, trolls etc. Instead of giving us a well described world building, the author directly pushes us into the universe and filling our brains with too much details as if she has to finish this book as fast as she can do for starting another one!
Even though there’s so many information, the book is not long enough for us to absorb all of them.
The main characters are victims of enemies to lovers trope who have blind dates for three times which end with disastrous consequences.
Tilda Sherwood is member of powerful family of witches with no magical ability. She’s outre, outsider of her community, getting used to pitying looks of everyone.
Gil Connolly is super jerk, know it all archenemy who is forced to date with Tilda for his secret agenda. He is double agent working for both Resistance and Council. The Council has his family as captives and he’s reluctantly working with him to save them. He’s secretly scrutinizing her to give reports to the spies. Both of sides want him find some information about Tilda to dethrone the Sherwood family.
And he realizes Tilda is not a simple outre without any magical power. Because she’s more than that. And her family keeps her powers secret to protect her.
Now Tilda accidentally glitches her sister’s spell and curses her whole family. Only one can help her to break the curse is her nemeses/ crush Gill. They have to work together to save them families and they try to resist the attraction they feel for each other.
Overall: it’s still fast reading. I hope there would be more elaborated world building. I didn’t like the characters either. So I’m giving my solid three stars! It was still easy to read and enjoyable but I was expecting a little more!
Many thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for sharing this digital reviewer copy with me in exchange my honest thoughts.
But unfortunately, this story, the entire world building, the characters didn’t work with me. I tried to get into the main plot but I’m overwhelmed with too much extra information. The Council, The Resistance, The Misfits, the double agents, goblins, trolls etc. Instead of giving us a well described world building, the author directly pushes us into the universe and filling our brains with too much details as if she has to finish this book as fast as she can do for starting another one!
Even though there’s so many information, the book is not long enough for us to absorb all of them.
The main characters are victims of enemies to lovers trope who have blind dates for three times which end with disastrous consequences.
Tilda Sherwood is member of powerful family of witches with no magical ability. She’s outre, outsider of her community, getting used to pitying looks of everyone.
Gil Connolly is super jerk, know it all archenemy who is forced to date with Tilda for his secret agenda. He is double agent working for both Resistance and Council. The Council has his family as captives and he’s reluctantly working with him to save them. He’s secretly scrutinizing her to give reports to the spies. Both of sides want him find some information about Tilda to dethrone the Sherwood family.
And he realizes Tilda is not a simple outre without any magical power. Because she’s more than that. And her family keeps her powers secret to protect her.
Now Tilda accidentally glitches her sister’s spell and curses her whole family. Only one can help her to break the curse is her nemeses/ crush Gill. They have to work together to save them families and they try to resist the attraction they feel for each other.
Overall: it’s still fast reading. I hope there would be more elaborated world building. I didn’t like the characters either. So I’m giving my solid three stars! It was still easy to read and enjoyable but I was expecting a little more!
Many thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for sharing this digital reviewer copy with me in exchange my honest thoughts.
October 26, 2023
✨Sometimes less is more and this was The Most.✨
My personal rating is 2/5 but a lot of that is bc stylistically this is so not something I would ever pick up again and a lot of it is me things. I can see where people will like this but I found the writing style, info dump, detail overload to be so LOUD.
Fourth wall breaks, quippy asides in parentheses, and so so many rhetorical questions dominated the prose. I would’ve appreciated more dialogue and less details. Please lord less details. The narration got an idea and ran a 5K with it. I also would’ve liked to not have Gil’s POV. This is nothing new from me, but I felt like his sections were so heavy-handed and left nothing to the imagination or mystery. I also just didn’t think his inner monologue sounded much different than Tilda’s.
They both used the word fuck SO much like this: “So fucking beautiful,” “such a fucking perfect dick,” “so fucking adorable.” Another personal choice but I hate that with a passion and it was repeated SO MUCH. It cheapens the sentiment for me nine times out of ten. I love the word fuck but I can’t abide the amount of times it was used to convey points that had already beaten us over the head with a frying pan. So while this won’t make it a bad book to other people, it made it supremely annoying to me.
✨
This book didn’t quite seem to know what it wanted to be. It was all at once a contemporary witch romance, dystopian romance, and heist plot. The world-building was lackluster and very confusing. I can’t help but get caught up on things like that, so if you’re gonna be logical about it…just don’t lol. It was very confusing to know how much of the modern world (as we know it) existed and how much paranormal/fantasy/dystopian vibes regular humans got on the daily. People were literally exiled and tortured??? But the Super Bowl is still a thing? Also I couldn’t even begin to tell you why they were enemies?
✨
I do hope this goes through another edit before it’s published bc damn there were so many incongruities. Her boobs were like ten different sizes, the first sex scene was damn near impossible, and the ending was just… Also Gil kept saying “I got you” but please change it to “I’ve got you.” He sounded like he was trying to be a hip grandpa. He got you what??? Also a lot of words and phrases were continuously repeated (top of mind is ever-loving hell). And if you thank the fates instead of a god (as well as other instances), how do you have a godmother? Or maybe there are other deities?
I was especially sad about the boobs bc most curvy* characters have chests way bigger than me, so I felt seen! Until like two chapters later her tits were melons.
*The book uses curvy so that’s what I’m going with here! I knows there’s discussion about the word compared to the representation on the page, so we basically got thick, dimpled thighs and soft stomach.
✨
I did really like the sex scenes, as they were explicit and a little dirty. They were also creative, except that may be a detriment for poor Tilda because sweet Jesus the strength she must’ve exerted to piston herself up and down on his dick, both feet on the wall, while HE was pressed up against it???? Like she was pressing him against a wall, clinging to him like a spider monkey, while also bouncing on that dick, basically suspending herself in mid air?? Witchy Ninja Warrior my god. And then she was so shy the next day like honey you yo-yoed on that dick like a champ. Walk that dog. Own it.
✨
Overall, I’m just not the audience for this book. Nothing about it really worked for me, but I can see the bones of a story that would. If this were a movie though, I’d totally jump its bones. The concept for book 2 sounds very fun, but again, stylistically I just can’t do it.
⭐️⭐️.5/5 🌶🌶🌶/5
Superlatives:
Favorite quote that could moonlight as a cult classic movie title: “That Clit of Hers”
Most relatable: “Fleshy thighs”
Favorite detail that absolutely should have been deleted: Unicorn shifters who keep their horns in human form 🦄
Wildest shit to happen: Everyone just turning to ice for 75% of the book???
Thanks to the publisher for an eARC. All opinions are honest and my own.
My personal rating is 2/5 but a lot of that is bc stylistically this is so not something I would ever pick up again and a lot of it is me things. I can see where people will like this but I found the writing style, info dump, detail overload to be so LOUD.
Fourth wall breaks, quippy asides in parentheses, and so so many rhetorical questions dominated the prose. I would’ve appreciated more dialogue and less details. Please lord less details. The narration got an idea and ran a 5K with it. I also would’ve liked to not have Gil’s POV. This is nothing new from me, but I felt like his sections were so heavy-handed and left nothing to the imagination or mystery. I also just didn’t think his inner monologue sounded much different than Tilda’s.
They both used the word fuck SO much like this: “So fucking beautiful,” “such a fucking perfect dick,” “so fucking adorable.” Another personal choice but I hate that with a passion and it was repeated SO MUCH. It cheapens the sentiment for me nine times out of ten. I love the word fuck but I can’t abide the amount of times it was used to convey points that had already beaten us over the head with a frying pan. So while this won’t make it a bad book to other people, it made it supremely annoying to me.
✨
This book didn’t quite seem to know what it wanted to be. It was all at once a contemporary witch romance, dystopian romance, and heist plot. The world-building was lackluster and very confusing. I can’t help but get caught up on things like that, so if you’re gonna be logical about it…just don’t lol. It was very confusing to know how much of the modern world (as we know it) existed and how much paranormal/fantasy/dystopian vibes regular humans got on the daily. People were literally exiled and tortured??? But the Super Bowl is still a thing? Also I couldn’t even begin to tell you why they were enemies?
✨
I do hope this goes through another edit before it’s published bc damn there were so many incongruities. Her boobs were like ten different sizes, the first sex scene was damn near impossible, and the ending was just… Also Gil kept saying “I got you” but please change it to “I’ve got you.” He sounded like he was trying to be a hip grandpa. He got you what??? Also a lot of words and phrases were continuously repeated (top of mind is ever-loving hell). And if you thank the fates instead of a god (as well as other instances), how do you have a godmother? Or maybe there are other deities?
I was especially sad about the boobs bc most curvy* characters have chests way bigger than me, so I felt seen! Until like two chapters later her tits were melons.
*The book uses curvy so that’s what I’m going with here! I knows there’s discussion about the word compared to the representation on the page, so we basically got thick, dimpled thighs and soft stomach.
✨
I did really like the sex scenes, as they were explicit and a little dirty. They were also creative, except that may be a detriment for poor Tilda because sweet Jesus the strength she must’ve exerted to piston herself up and down on his dick, both feet on the wall, while HE was pressed up against it???? Like she was pressing him against a wall, clinging to him like a spider monkey, while also bouncing on that dick, basically suspending herself in mid air?? Witchy Ninja Warrior my god. And then she was so shy the next day like honey you yo-yoed on that dick like a champ. Walk that dog. Own it.
✨
Overall, I’m just not the audience for this book. Nothing about it really worked for me, but I can see the bones of a story that would. If this were a movie though, I’d totally jump its bones. The concept for book 2 sounds very fun, but again, stylistically I just can’t do it.
⭐️⭐️.5/5 🌶🌶🌶/5
Superlatives:
Favorite quote that could moonlight as a cult classic movie title: “That Clit of Hers”
Most relatable: “Fleshy thighs”
Favorite detail that absolutely should have been deleted: Unicorn shifters who keep their horns in human form 🦄
Wildest shit to happen: Everyone just turning to ice for 75% of the book???
Thanks to the publisher for an eARC. All opinions are honest and my own.
November 22, 2022
Avery Flynn’s first book in the Witchington paranormal romantic comedy series uses the frenemy to lover trope and is set in Wrightsville, Virginia. Tilda Sherwood is a member of the most powerful family of witches. However, she is a null and has no magical abilities. She handles her family’s social media presence. While using a matchmaker, she keeps getting set up on dates with Gil Connolly. When she somehow causes her sister’s spell to glitch, she needs to turn to others for help.
The story is a light and humorous read. It alternates points of view between Tilda and Gil. I enjoyed the unpredictable humorous moments that endeared the characters to me. Tilda and Gil are dynamic characters who are better defined than I initially expected. Both change and grow as the story progresses and they discover new aspects of themselves.
The physical world-building was well done. I could easily envision the Sherwood home and garden as well as the shops in town. However, one aspect of the writing didn’t work as well for me. At times, Tilda would talk to the reader. Despite this, it helped this reader escape the real world for an enjoyable evening. Themes include family, friendship, lies, deception, secrets, resistance, power, romance, and much more.
Overall, I was entertained and enjoyed the book. If you’re looking for a lite and charming paranormal romance tale with plenty of humor, some action, and a few steamy scenes, then this might be the book for you.
Berkley Publishing Group and Avery Flynn provided a complimentary digital ARC of this novel via NetGalley. This is my honest review. Opinions are mine alone and are not biased in any way. Publication date is currently set for December 06, 2022.
---------------------------------------
My 3.07 rounded to 3 stars review is coming soon.
The story is a light and humorous read. It alternates points of view between Tilda and Gil. I enjoyed the unpredictable humorous moments that endeared the characters to me. Tilda and Gil are dynamic characters who are better defined than I initially expected. Both change and grow as the story progresses and they discover new aspects of themselves.
The physical world-building was well done. I could easily envision the Sherwood home and garden as well as the shops in town. However, one aspect of the writing didn’t work as well for me. At times, Tilda would talk to the reader. Despite this, it helped this reader escape the real world for an enjoyable evening. Themes include family, friendship, lies, deception, secrets, resistance, power, romance, and much more.
Overall, I was entertained and enjoyed the book. If you’re looking for a lite and charming paranormal romance tale with plenty of humor, some action, and a few steamy scenes, then this might be the book for you.
Berkley Publishing Group and Avery Flynn provided a complimentary digital ARC of this novel via NetGalley. This is my honest review. Opinions are mine alone and are not biased in any way. Publication date is currently set for December 06, 2022.
---------------------------------------
My 3.07 rounded to 3 stars review is coming soon.
November 6, 2022
Wow, this book is EXHAUSTING.
It's been a minute since I've read Avery Flynn, but has her writing always been this... extra?? Wow, Witcha Gonna Do was trying so hard to be clever and funny and light that it skipped the characters/plot/relationship development.
Witcha Gonna Do is trying to do an enemies-to-lovers trope, but these two characters start off the story with some weird background relationship tension that the readers are just expected to get on board with. I didn't quite understand even how these two met and started having their animosity, and it all just was overwhelming to understand.
The author also throws these multiple secret society group-type things at us (The Resistance, The Counsel, The Misfits, and on and on). The book sounds like both a contemporary book and a paranormal/dystopian book. There is 4th wall breaking and a real YA vibe but sex on page and lots of adult content. The book has NO CLUE what it is or what it's trying to do.
IMO, this book is a light read but a flop.
*Copy provided in exchange for an honest review*
goodreads|instagram|twitter|tiktok
It's been a minute since I've read Avery Flynn, but has her writing always been this... extra?? Wow, Witcha Gonna Do was trying so hard to be clever and funny and light that it skipped the characters/plot/relationship development.
Witcha Gonna Do is trying to do an enemies-to-lovers trope, but these two characters start off the story with some weird background relationship tension that the readers are just expected to get on board with. I didn't quite understand even how these two met and started having their animosity, and it all just was overwhelming to understand.
The author also throws these multiple secret society group-type things at us (The Resistance, The Counsel, The Misfits, and on and on). The book sounds like both a contemporary book and a paranormal/dystopian book. There is 4th wall breaking and a real YA vibe but sex on page and lots of adult content. The book has NO CLUE what it is or what it's trying to do.
IMO, this book is a light read but a flop.
*Copy provided in exchange for an honest review*
goodreads|instagram|twitter|tiktok
August 13, 2024
Chapter 1:
Hi *waves*. That’s me.
no
I felt so mean deciding to give this a 2 star, but let’s be real: If I wanted to be a bitch, I’d just give it one.
EDIT: i actually did give it 1 star.
The thing with this book is that at not point was it pretending to be something it is not, yet the thing it was… yikes.
Not a problematic ‘’yikes’’, but a cringe worthy ‘’yikes’’. Think of the most annoying millennial you know and now imagine them in 2x speed. Enid from the new Wednesday show said ‘’I write in my voice!’’ and this is that millennial’s voice on crack at 2am on a Tuesday. The author does not lack language comprehension; she simply decided to use the worst writing style in the world: Write it Like a Diary and Add Shit You Would Only Send in a Text.
The sheer amount of ‘’ugh’’s and ‘’Fuck. My. Life’’s I had to sit through.
Hi *waves*. That’s me.
no
I felt so mean deciding to give this a 2 star, but let’s be real: If I wanted to be a bitch, I’d just give it one.
EDIT: i actually did give it 1 star.
The thing with this book is that at not point was it pretending to be something it is not, yet the thing it was… yikes.
Not a problematic ‘’yikes’’, but a cringe worthy ‘’yikes’’. Think of the most annoying millennial you know and now imagine them in 2x speed. Enid from the new Wednesday show said ‘’I write in my voice!’’ and this is that millennial’s voice on crack at 2am on a Tuesday. The author does not lack language comprehension; she simply decided to use the worst writing style in the world: Write it Like a Diary and Add Shit You Would Only Send in a Text.
The sheer amount of ‘’ugh’’s and ‘’Fuck. My. Life’’s I had to sit through.
March 21, 2023
This is a Witch Romance, and this is the first book in the Witchington series. I found this book to be a fun book to read, and I really loved the characters in it. The beginning of this book I found to be a little boring, but when it got going I really loved it so much. I loved all the Witchy stuff in this book. The romance was a hate to love, and I enjoy how the romance was done. There were a lot of cute and funny parts in this book. I was kindly provided an e-copy of this book by the publisher (Berkley) or author (Avery Flynn) via NetGalley, so I can give an honest review about how I feel about this book. I want to send a big Thank you to them for that.
May 1, 2023
Witcha Gonna Do by Avery Flynn
Witchington #1. Paranormal romantic comedy.
Tilda is from the famous Sherwood family, the most powerful family of witches. Using a matchmaker to find a significant other, Tilda is set up with Gil Connolly, her nemesis. Trying again: Gil. Trying a third time: Gil. Is the universe saying something or is it the family matchmaker? When Tilda accidentally screws up her sister’s spell and puts the entire family out of commission, Tilda is glad to have Gil in her corner to help fix the magic gone wrong.
Highly entertaining and great storytelling. I’ll loved the tree that wilted when Tilda didn’t follow Gil into the coffee shop.
Excerpt:
“Not only do I have the magic of your basic couch cushion, I also attract nasty smelling trees.”
Excerpt:
“Then there are the builder gnomes who love to be helpful whether you ask for it or not. The other week, a gnome added a bay window to Mrs Stuckley’s house while she was napping. She’d never asked for it let alone hired the gnomes for the job. Still the gnome crew wouldn’t leave until she paid the bill in M&M’s. But never the red ones.”
Excerpts from Witcha Gonna Do by Avery Flynn
Witchington #1. Paranormal romantic comedy.
Tilda is from the famous Sherwood family, the most powerful family of witches. Using a matchmaker to find a significant other, Tilda is set up with Gil Connolly, her nemesis. Trying again: Gil. Trying a third time: Gil. Is the universe saying something or is it the family matchmaker? When Tilda accidentally screws up her sister’s spell and puts the entire family out of commission, Tilda is glad to have Gil in her corner to help fix the magic gone wrong.
Highly entertaining and great storytelling. I’ll loved the tree that wilted when Tilda didn’t follow Gil into the coffee shop.
Excerpt:
“Not only do I have the magic of your basic couch cushion, I also attract nasty smelling trees.”
Excerpt:
“Then there are the builder gnomes who love to be helpful whether you ask for it or not. The other week, a gnome added a bay window to Mrs Stuckley’s house while she was napping. She’d never asked for it let alone hired the gnomes for the job. Still the gnome crew wouldn’t leave until she paid the bill in M&M’s. But never the red ones.”
Excerpts from Witcha Gonna Do by Avery Flynn
October 1, 2023
I really enjoyed this witchy romantic comedy. A perfect read for fall, with a nice amount of spice. Really looking forward to more books in this series.
October 15, 2022
This book literally had the following sentence on the first page: “Hi. *Waves*. That’s me”. Yes, there was an honest to God action written as an online RPG and the main character introduced herself to the reader by saying hi. Like she was talking to us. Were it not an ARC I had to review, I would have closed the book and pretended I’d never started it. Unfortunately, I don’t DNF, especially when it comes to ARCs, so here we are.
I understand informal writing, I do, but some things are okay when you are writing Twitter threads with your headcanons, not when you are publishing an adult romance book. Traditionally, I might add. So this book passed multiple copy edits and several people tought it was greatly written. It’s one of the worst things I’ve ever read, as far as writing style is concerned, so I don’t understand how anyone could find this okay.
The author was trying too hard in so many ways I’ll just write this part as a bullet point list to make it easier for both me and you:
- She was trying too hard to be funny. She wasn’t, everything felt just so cringeworthy I actually wanted to scream and throw my Kindle at the wall;
- She was trying too hard to shove it in our faces how sex positive she and her main character are; it’s more than okay to be sex positive, but when you push it this much, you just make it feel like you want people to clap for you for being so progressive;
- She was trying too hard to make us care for the romance. The chemistry wasn’t there. Like, at all. I couldn’t care less for Tilda and Gil as individuals, let alone as a couple.
- She was trying too hard with the fantasy bits and failing spectacularly. The world building is not original, but I wouldn’t have cared if this was mainly a romance book. I have overlooked wobbly world buildings before, if the characters and the romance were good enough to hold everything alone. In this case, they weren’t.
Overall, the book felt extremely childish and unpolished. I don’t know if any major changes are going to be made before this hits shelves, but as I read it, it was truly awful. I am going to make another bullet point list to enumerate the horrors of this book:
- As I said, the writing style was atrocious. I don’t want to read anything written like this ever again. Please put a warning somewhere on books written this badly.
- The magic system and world building were basic and the two organisation Gil worked for were mentioned but never explained and at some point they just started to feel useless. It was like someone told the author she had to include some kind of uber villain and whatever to give this book a fantasy plot, when it would have been more than enough if it were a “basic” romance with a fantasy background.
- The characters had zero personality. The author clearly missed the first class of Writing 101 when they tought the “Show, don’t tell rule”. She probably missed all the following classes, because my God was this book bad on every account.
- The fantasy plot, as I said, was ridiculous and I don’t understand why she had to add it. The romance plot was equally ridiculous and the relationship was built on literally nothing at all. Which is maybe why they added the fantasy plot, now that I think about it. It is what it is, nothing about this plot was good.
I would prefer to stab myself than ever reading book two in the series and I don’t recommend this book at all. If you are looking for a cute witchy romance (why does this come out in December is another mystery), continue looking, this isn’t it.
I understand informal writing, I do, but some things are okay when you are writing Twitter threads with your headcanons, not when you are publishing an adult romance book. Traditionally, I might add. So this book passed multiple copy edits and several people tought it was greatly written. It’s one of the worst things I’ve ever read, as far as writing style is concerned, so I don’t understand how anyone could find this okay.
The author was trying too hard in so many ways I’ll just write this part as a bullet point list to make it easier for both me and you:
- She was trying too hard to be funny. She wasn’t, everything felt just so cringeworthy I actually wanted to scream and throw my Kindle at the wall;
- She was trying too hard to shove it in our faces how sex positive she and her main character are; it’s more than okay to be sex positive, but when you push it this much, you just make it feel like you want people to clap for you for being so progressive;
- She was trying too hard to make us care for the romance. The chemistry wasn’t there. Like, at all. I couldn’t care less for Tilda and Gil as individuals, let alone as a couple.
- She was trying too hard with the fantasy bits and failing spectacularly. The world building is not original, but I wouldn’t have cared if this was mainly a romance book. I have overlooked wobbly world buildings before, if the characters and the romance were good enough to hold everything alone. In this case, they weren’t.
Overall, the book felt extremely childish and unpolished. I don’t know if any major changes are going to be made before this hits shelves, but as I read it, it was truly awful. I am going to make another bullet point list to enumerate the horrors of this book:
- As I said, the writing style was atrocious. I don’t want to read anything written like this ever again. Please put a warning somewhere on books written this badly.
- The magic system and world building were basic and the two organisation Gil worked for were mentioned but never explained and at some point they just started to feel useless. It was like someone told the author she had to include some kind of uber villain and whatever to give this book a fantasy plot, when it would have been more than enough if it were a “basic” romance with a fantasy background.
- The characters had zero personality. The author clearly missed the first class of Writing 101 when they tought the “Show, don’t tell rule”. She probably missed all the following classes, because my God was this book bad on every account.
- The fantasy plot, as I said, was ridiculous and I don’t understand why she had to add it. The romance plot was equally ridiculous and the relationship was built on literally nothing at all. Which is maybe why they added the fantasy plot, now that I think about it. It is what it is, nothing about this plot was good.
I would prefer to stab myself than ever reading book two in the series and I don’t recommend this book at all. If you are looking for a cute witchy romance (why does this come out in December is another mystery), continue looking, this isn’t it.
December 21, 2022
people warn you about the books with ugly covers but i genuinely think that we should start warning people about the books that have really pretty covers but everything inside them is horrendous
December 23, 2022
Witcha Gonna Do? is a light, sweet, and funny rom com set in a fantasy world where there are witches, unicorns, and other supernatural creatures. This book is surprisingly spicy at parts.
This is my first Avery Flynn novel. I was surprised by how casual and informal the writing style is. The first lines of the book are literally “Hi. *Waves.* That’s me.” It’s a little too informal and casual for my liking. It feels a little immature, which made me constantly question the age of the two protagonists. That said, the style adds to the humour of the story, and it will definitely appeal to those who appreciate that type of writing.
The best part of this book is the hilarious world-building. There are gnomes that will build up parts of your house without permission. Tilda’s best friend is allergic to her own magic. There’s a dragon’s blood tree that’s attracted to the heroine and won’t leave her alone. There’s even a resident grumpy unicorn. All that said, the suspenseful bits, such as the mysterious “Council”, don’t get a lot of time on the page. Gil is a double agent working for them, which is revealed in his first chapter, and I was hoping for a little more oomf in that part of the storyline.
Because the book is so heavy on the worldbuilding and the humorous content, it also suffers in the romance department. Gil and Tilda go from enemies to lovers almost instantly, and the “love” word gets thrown out when they barely know each other.
So, while this book is strong in the worldbuilding and infuses humour into the language, characters, and scenarios, I was a little underwhelmed by the romance and the general plot of the story.
*Thank you to Netgalley, the author, and the publisher for the ebook to review*
This review appeared first on https://powerlibrarian.wordpress.com/
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My 2022 Reading Challenge
This is my first Avery Flynn novel. I was surprised by how casual and informal the writing style is. The first lines of the book are literally “Hi. *Waves.* That’s me.” It’s a little too informal and casual for my liking. It feels a little immature, which made me constantly question the age of the two protagonists. That said, the style adds to the humour of the story, and it will definitely appeal to those who appreciate that type of writing.
The best part of this book is the hilarious world-building. There are gnomes that will build up parts of your house without permission. Tilda’s best friend is allergic to her own magic. There’s a dragon’s blood tree that’s attracted to the heroine and won’t leave her alone. There’s even a resident grumpy unicorn. All that said, the suspenseful bits, such as the mysterious “Council”, don’t get a lot of time on the page. Gil is a double agent working for them, which is revealed in his first chapter, and I was hoping for a little more oomf in that part of the storyline.
Because the book is so heavy on the worldbuilding and the humorous content, it also suffers in the romance department. Gil and Tilda go from enemies to lovers almost instantly, and the “love” word gets thrown out when they barely know each other.
So, while this book is strong in the worldbuilding and infuses humour into the language, characters, and scenarios, I was a little underwhelmed by the romance and the general plot of the story.
*Thank you to Netgalley, the author, and the publisher for the ebook to review*
This review appeared first on https://powerlibrarian.wordpress.com/
Book Blog | Instagram | TikTok | Website | Twitter
My 2022 Reading Challenge
December 3, 2022
Super cute and a bit crazy.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Enemy-to-lover romances are always a tad bit crazy it seems. I mean, how can they not be, with all of those feelings racing around? Love. Hate. Animosity. Jealousy. Love…
This one is a tad crazy too! Flynn weaves a story full of magical secret societies that admittedly are a bit tough to keep track of. We get an insta-love setup but are really not sure why the frenemy feelings exist other than she has a major crush on him.
But the story in itself is fun, wacky, hot, and steamy, just like we like it! The characters could have been a bit more developed in terms of the backstory, but there is plenty to enjoy and have fun with as you dive into the magical life of Tilda, her icy family, and her hot crush, Gil. Plus, it sounds like there is a setup for another book to come…
Overall, Witcha Gonna Do? is an enchanting read set in an imaginary world filled with interesting characters. It just needs a bit more refinement to bring it all together.
* copy received for review consideration
* full review - https://amidlifewife.com/witcha-gonna...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Enemy-to-lover romances are always a tad bit crazy it seems. I mean, how can they not be, with all of those feelings racing around? Love. Hate. Animosity. Jealousy. Love…
This one is a tad crazy too! Flynn weaves a story full of magical secret societies that admittedly are a bit tough to keep track of. We get an insta-love setup but are really not sure why the frenemy feelings exist other than she has a major crush on him.
But the story in itself is fun, wacky, hot, and steamy, just like we like it! The characters could have been a bit more developed in terms of the backstory, but there is plenty to enjoy and have fun with as you dive into the magical life of Tilda, her icy family, and her hot crush, Gil. Plus, it sounds like there is a setup for another book to come…
Overall, Witcha Gonna Do? is an enchanting read set in an imaginary world filled with interesting characters. It just needs a bit more refinement to bring it all together.
* copy received for review consideration
* full review - https://amidlifewife.com/witcha-gonna...
January 27, 2023
I hate that I'm rating a Avery Flynn book so low since I've really liked her in the past but this book just wasn't for me. In all honesty if it wasn't an ARC I wouldn't have made it through the first chapter. I don't DNF books but if I'm hating something so hard in the first chapter or two I'm not going to continue and I just think of it as reading a sample.
This book started off with the heroine talking to the readers and it was so odd. It took me by surprise - not in a good way - and had me pausing and putting the book down. It luckily didn't do that much more throughout the book but it certainly wasn't a great way to start off. Even without the whole breaking the fourth wall thing the writing seemed very juvenile and for a paranormal book there wasn't enough world building. It actually got confusing at times with the mentions of The Council and The Resistance since they were just thrown out there with little to no explanation on who exactly they were and why they were such a good or bad thing.
As for the romance, it didn't help this book at all because it felt pretty nonexistent. I think the entire span of the book was no more than a week and yet the heroine and hero were in love in that time? Yeah, not buying it. Especially since they started off as "enemies." Though, that wasn't any more believable since there wasn't a clear reason they didn't like each other and they quickly changed their minds about their hate.
Overall, I can see where this book could be a fun and easy read but for me it just didn't work. I'll still happily read whatever Ms. Flynn comes out with next, but nothing more from this series.
ARC kindly provided in exchange for an honest review.
This book started off with the heroine talking to the readers and it was so odd. It took me by surprise - not in a good way - and had me pausing and putting the book down. It luckily didn't do that much more throughout the book but it certainly wasn't a great way to start off. Even without the whole breaking the fourth wall thing the writing seemed very juvenile and for a paranormal book there wasn't enough world building. It actually got confusing at times with the mentions of The Council and The Resistance since they were just thrown out there with little to no explanation on who exactly they were and why they were such a good or bad thing.
As for the romance, it didn't help this book at all because it felt pretty nonexistent. I think the entire span of the book was no more than a week and yet the heroine and hero were in love in that time? Yeah, not buying it. Especially since they started off as "enemies." Though, that wasn't any more believable since there wasn't a clear reason they didn't like each other and they quickly changed their minds about their hate.
Overall, I can see where this book could be a fun and easy read but for me it just didn't work. I'll still happily read whatever Ms. Flynn comes out with next, but nothing more from this series.
ARC kindly provided in exchange for an honest review.
January 2, 2023
The main female character is annoyingly childish and naive. Her chemistry with the main guy is awkward and seemed overly intense in a forced way. An excessive amount of nipple descriptions and the word "core" was used too frequently.
July 11, 2024
RTC coming tomorrow I’m so glad this book is over omg 😟
୨୧‧₊˚ 🎞️ pre-review ✧˖°
I only picked this up because of the cover 😭
୨୧‧₊˚ 🎞️ pre-review ✧˖°
I only picked this up because of the cover 😭
November 2, 2022
All I want to read in September and October are books with magic in them. Give me all the witches, secret societies, and magical stories and I’m a happy girl. I love throwing in some lighter witchy reads though, especially a good witchy romance. Last year I loved The Ex Hex and Darynda Jones’ Betwixt and Between series. I was already let down by the sequel to The Ex Hex , The Kiss Curse, this year so I was really excited to get to Witcha Gonna Do?. I mean there is romance, a heist, and magic, what more could I want!
The answer is alot. There was so much I needed more of from this book and quite a bit I needed less of. For starters is this Witchingdom set in a Modern US? It sounds like it does, I mean there is a Superbowl, but at the same time it doesn’t. Where are all the ‘normal’ people? I have so many questions on the world itself. What exactly is this place that people can be banished to? More of a flushed-out world would have been nice. The magic system was not very well established either. We were basically just thrown into it without much information, I’m still not sure what Tilda’s actual talent is besides being ‘all powerful’. The physical descriptions felt inconsistent, the romance scenes were ‘meh’, I couldn’t keep The Committee/The Council straight, and the heist aspect felt rushed.
Finally, I really didn’t like the way this was written. Our main characters Tilda and Gil literally tell us allll of their thoughts. They had so many rambles that I honestly would lose track of the actual story. More dialogue and less telling would have at least taken this up a star. I don’t mind the occasional breaking of the fourth wall, but it did not work here.
I really wanted to enjoy this book and the idea behind it is good. But I just cannot recommend this one. I couldn’t get a good handle on this chaotic story and while I know this was a setup for a series, I was left with way more questions than answers. I won’t be picking up the second book and hope this one gets cleaned up a bit more before pub day.
Witcha Gonna Do? comes out December 6, 2022! Huge thank you to Berkley for my advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion. If you liked this review please let me know either by commenting below or by visiting my instagram @speakingof.books.
The answer is alot. There was so much I needed more of from this book and quite a bit I needed less of. For starters is this Witchingdom set in a Modern US? It sounds like it does, I mean there is a Superbowl, but at the same time it doesn’t. Where are all the ‘normal’ people? I have so many questions on the world itself. What exactly is this place that people can be banished to? More of a flushed-out world would have been nice. The magic system was not very well established either. We were basically just thrown into it without much information, I’m still not sure what Tilda’s actual talent is besides being ‘all powerful’. The physical descriptions felt inconsistent, the romance scenes were ‘meh’, I couldn’t keep The Committee/The Council straight, and the heist aspect felt rushed.
Finally, I really didn’t like the way this was written. Our main characters Tilda and Gil literally tell us allll of their thoughts. They had so many rambles that I honestly would lose track of the actual story. More dialogue and less telling would have at least taken this up a star. I don’t mind the occasional breaking of the fourth wall, but it did not work here.
I really wanted to enjoy this book and the idea behind it is good. But I just cannot recommend this one. I couldn’t get a good handle on this chaotic story and while I know this was a setup for a series, I was left with way more questions than answers. I won’t be picking up the second book and hope this one gets cleaned up a bit more before pub day.
Witcha Gonna Do? comes out December 6, 2022! Huge thank you to Berkley for my advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion. If you liked this review please let me know either by commenting below or by visiting my instagram @speakingof.books.
January 6, 2023
I REALLY enjoyed this dual POV, this title was a perfect example of how this technique really works for the story, and as someone who doesn't read a ton of paranormal romances but manages to love witchy titles, this one had me swooning from the start. Gil + Tilda have such electrifying chemistry that added in with the magic makes this book a must-read. I love that their secrets should keep them apart, but are what draws them together, an irresistible love that simply creates magic, for two people who are born into witchdom.
As an outré, Tilda has no magic ability, even though her family is one of the most powerful in all Witchington. Gil is leading a double agent life, working for The Council AND The Resistance to uncover the truth about her + the Sherwood family, and free his own family in doing so.
The banter of their enemies to lovers, can't possibly fall for each other because of their family obligations relationship made me want more from them with each page. I loved that it wasn't simply a romance but had an added Ocean's Eleven heist vibe all for the sake of protecting their families that I'd never seen done before.
Flynn captured my heart with this one, and I simply cannot wait for the next book in the series. The perfect amount of beautiful people, with the perfect amount of steam, I'll definitely be looking into her backlist as well after how much I loved this book!
Thank you to Edelweiss + Berkely Romance for me eARC to read and review in exchange for my honest review, I have had so much fun recommending this one as a bookseller! Head over to my bookstagram for the AMAZING mural I found for the coordinating bookish post @booksaremagictoo where I share more of my book recs!
As an outré, Tilda has no magic ability, even though her family is one of the most powerful in all Witchington. Gil is leading a double agent life, working for The Council AND The Resistance to uncover the truth about her + the Sherwood family, and free his own family in doing so.
The banter of their enemies to lovers, can't possibly fall for each other because of their family obligations relationship made me want more from them with each page. I loved that it wasn't simply a romance but had an added Ocean's Eleven heist vibe all for the sake of protecting their families that I'd never seen done before.
Flynn captured my heart with this one, and I simply cannot wait for the next book in the series. The perfect amount of beautiful people, with the perfect amount of steam, I'll definitely be looking into her backlist as well after how much I loved this book!
Thank you to Edelweiss + Berkely Romance for me eARC to read and review in exchange for my honest review, I have had so much fun recommending this one as a bookseller! Head over to my bookstagram for the AMAZING mural I found for the coordinating bookish post @booksaremagictoo where I share more of my book recs!
December 30, 2022
So many lines in this book made me physically cringe. For a 27 year old woman, Tilda talks like a 16 year old which was annoying. Gil’s character is one dimensional and his inner monologue sometimes hurt to read (like the one time he said he wanted to “snap, crackle, pop” whoever possibly hurt Tilda) The word “orgasmic” is used an inappropriately amount of times (and usually it does not relate to sex, but a muffin instead) I put the book down about halfway in.
November 3, 2024
If books were people, this book and “My Roommate is a Vampire” would definitely be in the same friend group. This was such a cute, quirky, fun witchy rom-com. There is sort of insta love, and while there isn’t any action or sense of plot until halfway into the book, I did enjoy getting to know the MC’s and the magical town more. I loved that both MC’s broke the fourth wall, making the book read more like that friend that spares no detail when telling a story.
This is the first in a series, and while the MC’s personal storyline is wrapped up nicely, I’ll be reading the second book when it comes out next year to find out what happened in the larger magical society.
This is the first in a series, and while the MC’s personal storyline is wrapped up nicely, I’ll be reading the second book when it comes out next year to find out what happened in the larger magical society.
Read
February 8, 2024Dnf
It literally started off with Hi. *waves.* That's me.
It literally started off with Hi. *waves.* That's me.
October 30, 2022
Review coming soon.
December 12, 2022
With a Gonna Do? is the best witchy rom-com I’ve ever read. I honestly didn’t expect to love it so much but oh my I’m so glad I did!
Being the first book I’ve read from Avery Flynn, it’s also my introduction to her writing and I adored it! She makes you feel as though you’re casting spells with the characters and getting into all sorts of troubles. It’s witty, full of delicious tension and has an incredibly delightful cast of characters. It’s fast to read and if you’re not careful you’ll be done in a second. But make sure you enjoy every second of it because it’s just that good!
Being the first book I’ve read from Avery Flynn, it’s also my introduction to her writing and I adored it! She makes you feel as though you’re casting spells with the characters and getting into all sorts of troubles. It’s witty, full of delicious tension and has an incredibly delightful cast of characters. It’s fast to read and if you’re not careful you’ll be done in a second. But make sure you enjoy every second of it because it’s just that good!
January 14, 2023
Yeah this was exceptionally bad
November 24, 2023
2,5
Bardziej podobał mi się świat przedstawiony niż romans
Bardziej podobał mi się świat przedstawiony niż romans
January 31, 2023
I'd been looking forward to reading this for ages, but it was so disappointing. The writing was so juvenile. It felt like an early 2010 Tumblr post that gets more ridiculous with every reblog. There were so many moments that had me cringing. Flynn tried too hard to have her characters come across as ~quirky~, and it ruined the whole story for me. The plot was also chaotic and all over the place. If Flynn streamlined the story, made it more cohesive, and wrote characters that didn't feel like caricatures, this would've been good, but unfortunately, it was a big mess.
January 10, 2023
What a cute story. Cute, but I felt the plot and pacing was a bit bland. At least the characters were adorable. Their interactions were hilarious.
September 12, 2023
Hi. *Cracks Knuckles* Yeah. That's me. I bet you're wondering how I got in this situation.
I haven't written a rage review in a long time (I've condensed myself lately to like 3-sentence maximum reviews) but with this one...we are so back, baby.
You may be saying "Hailey! Stop bullying authors!" And to this I say: "if they wrote good books I wouldn't have to bully them...but because you said that....I'm going to bully them harder."
So Witcha Gonna Do? is advertised as a cozy, "enemies to lovers", magical/paranormal rom com with some spice. Let's break that down. Is it cozy? Sure. The aesthetics of the cover really glow here, the sweaters, that shade of green, the blushy pink accents with the text, the punny title. It's set in a fictional small town- lots of cafes and libraries to set the scenes and that aids the cozy vibe that I think this book was going for. However, it was not enough to save it.
Is it enemies to lovers? Absolutely! Fucking Not! To begin, these characters have no personality beyond being cringe. A lot of telling and no showing. The romance was absolutely shaky, there was no foundations for any feelings these characters had for one another (be that love OR hate). No chemistry to be found. We are told (not shown) extremely early in the book that these two are nemesis', but we don't receive any reasoning for why that is. We don't even receive clear proof in the writing that they hate one another, if they're in competition for something, if it's one-sided. There are no answers. And in fact- you can throw the entire burning garbage bin of an "enemies to lovers" plotline out the window because by 15% in to this 300 page book- both characters instantly show that they are secretly pining for the other- and one of them asks the other to kiss them.
Is it magical/paranormal? By definition only- yes. But it is by no means good. The world-building is so flimsy I would only forgive this if the romance plot was really good. Womp womp, it's not. Everything is bad! The small town setting is akin to the iconic DCOM Halloweentown- fit with witches, gnomes, unicorn-shifters (nope, read that again: unicorn-shifters), eye of newt cupcakes, and WitchyGram. This in theory- can be really fun and cutesy- and it was! For maybe twelve pages. The magic system and the world building in terms of socialization, politics, governance, like anything that’s going on in this weird little magic town- is not drawn out at all. There was little to no world building at all- and the small amount that was present, was painfully unoriginal. Our main character (Tilda) comes from a powerful family of witches, except her whole thing is that she is not like other girls she’s weird and quirky and completely aggravating. And she’s not like other witches either- meaning, she has no powers. Frowny Face. This cues up a lot of self-deprecating cringey lines that also show off how unique Tilda is. Eventually (and by eventually I mean like five pages later) our MMC (Gil) says that Tilda actually has no idea what she really is- a spellbinder. Is it ever really explained what this is, why this is important or revelatory? No! We just move on.
Is it a rom com? Again, by definition- I’m sure it just barely meets the criteria. But to touch on the writing style- it may be the thing I disliked the most about this book. The Writing. Is. Atrocious. Like I'm not even being grumpy right now- it is honest-to-gods bad. Even though this book is categorized as NA, it reads as if the author is 15 years old, and is just roleplaying in a dungeons and dragons group chat like how they THINK adults sound and act like. And to a point- I can understand and appreciate informal writing. But this is written like a diary, with very little difference in the dual POV's. It was not funny, it failed spectacularly in that department from the get go. The book opened with the line I am about to present to you:
Hi. *waves* That's me.
It's seriously like an online RPG. This writing style is appropriate when you're composing twitter threads about your favorite superwholock headcannons, but not when you're writing an adult romance novel. It makes the whole thing seem incredibly juvenile, and it fills me with extreme second-hand embarrassment. I just wasn't aware that this adult smut book was meant to be geared towards 12 year olds or whatever breed of millennial that would take a bullet for Colleen Hoover.
And finally- was there smut?
Yes! there was! But it wasn't necessarily good. I don't even think a beyond genius level smut scene could have saved this book from the magical Halloween Town bus crash that it is. There was a point when Tilda was talking about how pretty Gil's penis was, which girl....have you ever seen one?? Talk about a spooky little creature. In any case, these spicy scenes also seemed to come out of nowhere. Like Tilda was in heat the whole time and Gil was just there, like a cardboard cut-out with a dildo strapped to his one-dimensional image.
This was unfunny, unimaginative, and written badly and without an ounce of discernable passion.
Very Bland!!
Very Dry!
Like you know the scene in the beginning of Scream Queens where she orders a PSL for Senorita Awesome? This book is like an elongated version of that scene except they’re doing it in a serious way and not a satirical way.
If you’re interested this review should have my kindle annotations attached and viewable- where I collected the most cringe inducing lines I had to read with my own eyes.
I haven't written a rage review in a long time (I've condensed myself lately to like 3-sentence maximum reviews) but with this one...we are so back, baby.
You may be saying "Hailey! Stop bullying authors!" And to this I say: "if they wrote good books I wouldn't have to bully them...but because you said that....I'm going to bully them harder."
So Witcha Gonna Do? is advertised as a cozy, "enemies to lovers", magical/paranormal rom com with some spice. Let's break that down. Is it cozy? Sure. The aesthetics of the cover really glow here, the sweaters, that shade of green, the blushy pink accents with the text, the punny title. It's set in a fictional small town- lots of cafes and libraries to set the scenes and that aids the cozy vibe that I think this book was going for. However, it was not enough to save it.
Is it enemies to lovers? Absolutely! Fucking Not! To begin, these characters have no personality beyond being cringe. A lot of telling and no showing. The romance was absolutely shaky, there was no foundations for any feelings these characters had for one another (be that love OR hate). No chemistry to be found. We are told (not shown) extremely early in the book that these two are nemesis', but we don't receive any reasoning for why that is. We don't even receive clear proof in the writing that they hate one another, if they're in competition for something, if it's one-sided. There are no answers. And in fact- you can throw the entire burning garbage bin of an "enemies to lovers" plotline out the window because by 15% in to this 300 page book- both characters instantly show that they are secretly pining for the other- and one of them asks the other to kiss them.
Is it magical/paranormal? By definition only- yes. But it is by no means good. The world-building is so flimsy I would only forgive this if the romance plot was really good. Womp womp, it's not. Everything is bad! The small town setting is akin to the iconic DCOM Halloweentown- fit with witches, gnomes, unicorn-shifters (nope, read that again: unicorn-shifters), eye of newt cupcakes, and WitchyGram. This in theory- can be really fun and cutesy- and it was! For maybe twelve pages. The magic system and the world building in terms of socialization, politics, governance, like anything that’s going on in this weird little magic town- is not drawn out at all. There was little to no world building at all- and the small amount that was present, was painfully unoriginal. Our main character (Tilda) comes from a powerful family of witches, except her whole thing is that she is not like other girls she’s weird and quirky and completely aggravating. And she’s not like other witches either- meaning, she has no powers. Frowny Face. This cues up a lot of self-deprecating cringey lines that also show off how unique Tilda is. Eventually (and by eventually I mean like five pages later) our MMC (Gil) says that Tilda actually has no idea what she really is- a spellbinder. Is it ever really explained what this is, why this is important or revelatory? No! We just move on.
Is it a rom com? Again, by definition- I’m sure it just barely meets the criteria. But to touch on the writing style- it may be the thing I disliked the most about this book. The Writing. Is. Atrocious. Like I'm not even being grumpy right now- it is honest-to-gods bad. Even though this book is categorized as NA, it reads as if the author is 15 years old, and is just roleplaying in a dungeons and dragons group chat like how they THINK adults sound and act like. And to a point- I can understand and appreciate informal writing. But this is written like a diary, with very little difference in the dual POV's. It was not funny, it failed spectacularly in that department from the get go. The book opened with the line I am about to present to you:
Hi. *waves* That's me.
It's seriously like an online RPG. This writing style is appropriate when you're composing twitter threads about your favorite superwholock headcannons, but not when you're writing an adult romance novel. It makes the whole thing seem incredibly juvenile, and it fills me with extreme second-hand embarrassment. I just wasn't aware that this adult smut book was meant to be geared towards 12 year olds or whatever breed of millennial that would take a bullet for Colleen Hoover.
And finally- was there smut?
Yes! there was! But it wasn't necessarily good. I don't even think a beyond genius level smut scene could have saved this book from the magical Halloween Town bus crash that it is. There was a point when Tilda was talking about how pretty Gil's penis was, which girl....have you ever seen one?? Talk about a spooky little creature. In any case, these spicy scenes also seemed to come out of nowhere. Like Tilda was in heat the whole time and Gil was just there, like a cardboard cut-out with a dildo strapped to his one-dimensional image.
This was unfunny, unimaginative, and written badly and without an ounce of discernable passion.
Very Bland!!
Very Dry!
Like you know the scene in the beginning of Scream Queens where she orders a PSL for Senorita Awesome? This book is like an elongated version of that scene except they’re doing it in a serious way and not a satirical way.
If you’re interested this review should have my kindle annotations attached and viewable- where I collected the most cringe inducing lines I had to read with my own eyes.
December 5, 2022
This book is a fun and whimsical contemporary romance. As suggested by the title, there are witches in this story creating a light fantasy element in a modern world.
For some reason, this book gave me hints of "The House in the Cerulean Sea" by T.J. Klune but adult. Definitely adult. More than adult. I think it was the similarity in the charm of the different characters and their unique powers. The settings were also extremely cozy and charmingly described.
The romance in this book was steamier than I expected based on the cover (I know, I know...my fault for judging a book by its cover) but I'm not complaining. That being said, do not go into this book expecting it to have a PG rating because it definitely does not *fans self*.
I'm interested in continuing this series because it was a fun read and a very unique kind of read for the contemporary romance genre.
***I received an e-ARC of this novel from Valentine PR in exchange for an honest review.***
For some reason, this book gave me hints of "The House in the Cerulean Sea" by T.J. Klune but adult. Definitely adult. More than adult. I think it was the similarity in the charm of the different characters and their unique powers. The settings were also extremely cozy and charmingly described.
The romance in this book was steamier than I expected based on the cover (I know, I know...my fault for judging a book by its cover) but I'm not complaining. That being said, do not go into this book expecting it to have a PG rating because it definitely does not *fans self*.
I'm interested in continuing this series because it was a fun read and a very unique kind of read for the contemporary romance genre.
***I received an e-ARC of this novel from Valentine PR in exchange for an honest review.***
November 10, 2022
This was a REALLY fun witchy, small town enemies to lovers romance featuring Gil, who is trying to prove Tilda does in fact have magical powers in order to save his family. Meanwhile Tilda is a curvy girl who has accepted her lot as the only member of her powerful witch family without powers. Looking for love has proved difficult when she keeps getting matched with her nemesis Gil! These two had great chemistry and I loved their banter. Recommended for fans of the Ex hex series and the Fix it witches series. Much thanks to NetGalley for an early digital copy and @prhaudio for a complimentary audio copy in exchange for my honest review. I really, REALLY enjoyed the narration of this one, the male lead's voice is VERY sexy to listen to!
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