I thought this book was super cute. It really pulled me in right away and kept me hooked until the last page. My main issue was the fact that there seemed to be so much build up but very little action. I think it was a good first book in the series as it brought in a lot of different elements and sequences that need to be resolved. I just felt like there was still something missing for me.

Overall, if you like magic, covens of badass witches, a mysterious witch-hunting group, and all the gay teen angst you could possibly want, this book is for you.

Eloise “Sideways” Pike is her small town’s resident outcast lesbian who dabbles in witchcraft; she’s worked hard to cultivate her reputation of “don’t bother—this one bites.” When Jing, Daisy and Yates—the three most popular girls at their school—invite Sideways to their Halloween party, Sideways is adopted into their tight-knit clique and finds herself with genuine friends for maybe the first time ever. Over the course of a week, the four girls uncover perilous tensions and strengthen their bond, all the while cursing boys who don’t treat women right.

The Scapegracers is a novel that aims and succeeds in subverting high school stereotypes, especially in “mean girls” versus “outcasts.” It explores the dynamic of intense female friendships, featuring a group of friends who would do anything for each other, regardless of their differences in experiences and identities. Sideways is unapologetically herself—she’s prickly, she’s feral, she’s self-proclaimed nasty—and her newfound group of friends love her for it, just as she loves them for who they are. The fact that there’s a healthy dose of queer characters and representation presented in the characters is the cherry on top of this witchy, atmospheric novel. I absolutely look forward to seeing what Clarke does in the next two books of this series.

Arc provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review, all opinions are my own

A book about a lesbian girl that's an outcast for being an all around weirdo and looking like a Satanist. A book about a lesbian girl without friends that finds that the group of popular girls are actually great.

It's a book about female friendship and... Not much more? I mean, there are witch hunters but they're next to nonexistent and I'm never properly worried for the witchy girls because it doesn't read like a pressing issue for them. Now, this is apparently the first book so it's probably going to be expanded upon but still, it was more of a contemporary read and I wish that it could have been more.

The friendship between the girls is amazing because Sideways really starts to feel like she has friends and she loves them but honestly I hate entitled rich girls, which the popular girls are, they're all eDgY and are always filled with so much energy that they could just punch someone. I didn't enjoy the writing style because of how aggressive the girls sounded when they were described.

It's not a bad book or anything but it just wasn't for me. Recommend if you like magic and female friendship and queer girls


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Am sorry to the author and the publishers for such a low rating but I didn't like this book at all. The characters were so childish and mean that I didn't want to continue reading about them. They all seemed mean in the pretense of being "cool". The magic or runes weren't properly described. The plot felt a little confusing initially and the main character seemed to flaunt magic when she didn't have full knowledge of it herself and was in a learning phase. Misusing of magic for entertainment didn't gain any brownie points either. Maybe it was me who has passed that phase of reading typical teenage characters, but I was not at all invested in the plot or the characters or even the magical ability.

Badass teenage coven!? Count me in. I was so excited about this book and thankfully was not disappointed! The Scapegracers is a fun, exciting, and thoroughly enjoyable read. It has a dark and spooky vibe, which I lived for, and reminded me a little of The Craft. The atmosphere was fully immersive and made me forget where I was in real life while reading, which is one of my favorite feelings in the world. The characters in this book were fascinating, and I’m honestly not sure if I actually liked any of them, but it worked. Our narrator, Sideways, had a snarky voice and she put on such a tough exterior to cover up her insecurity in navigating her emotions and new friendships. Her new friends, Jing, Daisy, and Yates, were a different version of a typical popular highschool clique which was a cool choice. While Yates was a sweet and loving friend, Jing and Daisy were a little terrifying. I did have a little trouble visualizing what they all looked like, but their personalities were extremely vivid and strong. Their banter was hilarious and sarcastic and felt like a real friendship. I wish the development between the trio of girls and Sideways would have been a little stronger because it felt a little zero to sixty, and I would have enjoyed really seeing them bond and be vulnerable together to become the kind of friends that they became by the end. I loved the diversity in the cast and there is a ton of good LGBTQ+ rep. The magic system in this world is a little muddy, but the specifics that were there were fantastic. I would have liked to see the coven really discover how the magic works instead of just guessing and letting things happen. The idea of their “specters”, or a type of magic soul, was so cool, as well as the idea of the Book Devils in their spellbooks. They mentioned other covens and there seems to be a big magical history in this world that we have only tapped the surface of, that I am excited and hopeful to learn more about. I was fully engaged in the plot the whole time and the ending twist was great. It made me really pumped to continue with the rest of the trilogy. This book is a good read for anyone who likes witches with a spookier edge, and since the release date was pushed back to September, it will be a perfect fall read.

The plot and characters are fun! Lesbians and witches are seriously two of my favorite things! Lol And that cover!! I requested this book half because the gorgeous cover and half because ‘LESBIAN WITCHES!!’

But, unfortunately, this book is going to be a ‘did not finish’ for me. Maybe it’s just not my thing. I’m not sure but I just couldn’t connect. It felt like reading a teeny-bopper text thread or something. The lesbian bit was a tad over exaggerated. As a queer person myself I felt that it was just there as a side plot or prop and kinda cringe. There was just nothing to the story. No depth or chemistry. It just didn’t live up to the promising synopsis. I do think that it will definitely appeal to the younger demographic of YA, as for myself, I am in my late 20’s and this book is just not quite at the maturity level I would’ve expected for the content.

4 angsty STARS ★★★★✩
This book is for you if… you dig dark teenage witch vibes with a significant amount of gay and bi angst. It’s very high school-esque but satisfyingly so.


⤐ Overall.
This was kinda cool tbh? I went into this hating everyone and now I love... them all? The big strength of The Scapegracers is the way the characters are diversifying and become more likeable with every chapter.

At first, they just are a bunch of stereotypes: the mean girls, the outsider, the mysterious stranger, the jocks. Over time, their personalities stretch out from chromosome to all the colours of the rainbow, which is probably one of my favourite aspects of this book.

I've sometimes had slight trouble with the narration. In specific moments, the world building lacks details - both in relation to the individual circumstances of certain characters or the concrete details of a certain situation. A little more storytelling and description would make for a fuller picture. That's what accounts for the missing star in my rating.

The way the Vade Mecvm Magici is portrayed - a powerful collection of volumes featuring spells and magi - gave me absolute marauder feels, except it was Queen Minerva speaking herself.

They have persoality and bite and I am here for it.

What I love most about this book are the incredible vibes, which were dark, angsty, witchy and significantly gay. I couldn't get enough of it.

Friendships in high school are a great thing: they happen quickly and without much ado. They can be iron clad and fragile at the same time. That's what makes them so great.

The second biggest highlight are the many truths that are spoken by the characters, sometimes with a significant portion of humour:
‘I dodged my feelings by flipping her off.’

and other times bluntly as a backed baby ass:
‘I guess my point is that teenage girls aren’t supposed to be powerful, you know? Everybody hates teenage girls. They hate our bodies and hate us if we want to change them. They hate the things weÄre supposed to like but hate it when we like other things even more, because that means we’re ruining their things. We’re somehow this great corrupting influence, even though we’ve barely got legal agency of our own.’

⤐ What’s happening.
‘‘Why would you go by Sideways?’ He grimaced, looking between Alexis and I like we were twin bugs. ‘It’s because I’m not straight.’ I shot gun hands at him.’

That's Sideways for y'all. She's worked hard to establish her don't bother - this one bites social disclaimer, but literally over night she is part of a group of teenage girls that are as mean to as they are protective of each other. They form a coven that quickly gets more serious than Sideways would have ever dared to dream and she loves every minute of it.
Con:
⇢ insecurities gnaw at her more than ever
⇢ comfort zone under attack
⇢ with more power come more enemies
Pro:
⇢ people who give honest compliments
⇢ evenings are no longer occasions to be lonely and mopey
⇢ hot new witch in town with significant gay vibes

_____________________
writing quality + easy of reading = 3.5*

pace = 3*

plot/story in general = 5*

plot development = 3.5*

characters = 5*

enjoyability = 4*

insightfulness = 4*

The Scapegracers is exactly what you could expect from its premise. A lesbian witch who is an outcast in high school finds her coven through the most popular girls. I loved how this book subverted the « mean popular girls » trope. One of the big points of this novel is the emphasis puts on friendships and relationships.

I loved Sideways as the main character. I loved to recognize myself in her flaws and her insecurities but also in her love and how she was lead with love through the entire novel. I loved Clarke’s prose and her way to extract the beauty and meaning out of the most mundane and common teenage experience.

I told her how I »d tried to bless the acne off my back once and how that had failed because it was too mundane for the universe to bother with

The Scapegracers is an ode to girl gang, to the power of girls and to their magic. A positive aspect of this novel was to sum it up, for us, readers, to have the opportunity to see friendships romanticized and our relationships with other teenage girls, the one we think do not look like us, do not even look at us, redefined. The dynamics between the characters are complex and handled with richness and care.

Through the plot, this coven challenges rape culture and it is refreshing to see girls taking back what is theirs in the first place. I truly loved the way magic was a vector for girl’s empowerment and a catalyzer of what is considered as « ugly »: their pride, their violence, their need for revenge

I was worried because I have been severely disappointed last year with my reading of These Witches Don’t Burn by Isabel Sterling which dealt with the same themes, sapphic witches, and I was afraid that this book would not live up to my expectations. However, this book was the kind of slow-pace quiet and focused on character book I really needed. The magic was really spooky and complex, its effects on the girls and its instability made me wanting for more, more magic, more show-offs. The strong sisterhood that is this coven was really appealing and really well done. I loved how the girls were committed to each other and it was really sweet to seed how supportive of Sideways’s faith in magic they were, before embracing their own magic.

The romance was sweet but not really deepened enough for me to have a true opinion about it. It could not challenge the strong friendships and intimate relationships that link Sideways, Jing, Yates, and Daisy. They are the true power of this book.

Sure, the book has its fallouts as it depicts the same upper-class mean girls, who always seem to be above consequences and a little bit out of touch with reality. I sometimes mixed up Yates and Jing and Daisy because their personalities are very similar but with time, each one grows on you. Actually, this clique really made me think of Foul is Fair, one of my favorite books. However, it does not suffer the comparison, we found there too merciless girls who would set dudebros and threats on fire for their girls in the blink of an eye. Hungry girls, ambitious girls. Witches.

« Can girls not be soft and still be powerful? »
« Girls can. Girls are. »

I’d recommend it to people who want to read an #Ownvoice atmospheric book, with strong bonds and friendships and magic. I can’t wait for the second book and to dive deeper into this world.

I received a copy of this novel from Erewhon books in exchange for an honest review.

2/5 -DNF

The cover and synopsis drew me in. Witchcraft, LGBTQA+ representation, female friendships...sign me up!

Unfortunately, the story fell flat. From the beginning, the writing was dense and confusing with far too many descriptors. In the first fifty pages alone, I'd imagine a good ten or so could've been cut. I liked the idea of Sideways (that's her nickname) channeling this magic and coming into a level of power that she didn't previously know she could, it was all a bit thrown together though. The incident that leads them to seek revenge in so vague that it makes you wonder what the point is.

The characters are all static, I can't honestly say I cared much about any of them. This is a big part of why I didn't finish this book. The rambling conversations that don't further the story were frustrating and slowed the pacing along with the overly dense prose. About halfway through, with the entire process being a struggle to connect, I didn't feel like it would ever happen and I decided to put it down.

Honestly, I really wanted to like it. Perhaps with another round of editing, some of these issues could've been addressed. Regardless, the idea was great but the execution left something to be desired.

I am fiercely in love with this book! It is one of my favorite reads of 2020.

I call down the screaming cosmos and I cry for chaos. We want something impossible. We want something the papers can't explain, something so wild and gorgeous that nothing could doubt it, not ever.

The Scapegracers is about Sideways, an outcast teen witch, who is befriended (although that word sounds too soft for them- adopted? stolen?) by a trio of the scariest and coolest girls in school. It's about making a coven, about ignoring established institutions and rules and building a family. It's about goth girl gangs cursing bland dudes who want to control them. It's about queerness, and desire, and the feeling of being wanted (platonically, socially, romantically) for maybe the first time. It's talking books, and ink demons. It's about power, and taking power. It's parties in abandoned houses, and queer dads and thrift store treasures, and the simple shattering joy of someone braiding your hair. It's spraypaint, and nail polish, and blood.

The Scapegracers is lush, creepy, angry, loving, and so, so decadent.

ARC provided by #Netgalley and Erowhon Books in exchange for an honest review. Many thanks! #Scapegracers

It has been a long time since I’ve put a novel on my did not finish pile, and that is because I usually hold out hope that the story is going to get better. This novel did not and about halfway through it, I faced facts: I would not be finishing this story.

The biggest issue with this novel is the two-dimensional writing and static dialogue. These characters have no substance to them; they flounder in the story that has virtually no plot. There are lackluster personalities and a pitiful attempt to make the novel something good. It has a great premise to it but the dialogue is choppy at best. The dialogue is dated and fails even more with the poor pacing and lack of personality. There is nothing to draw the reader in, nothing to make the reader invested in the characters.

Then there is the plot or lack thereof. It is not clear what the plot of the story is. It had a good beginning, but it was thrown out, it seems by trying to build up the feministic approach of the story, by the idea that girls need to stick together. A promising idea but it should not have taken away from developing what could have been a great arc to explore.

Unfortunately, it just did not do it for me. I wanted to like it, I loved the premise, but the shallow, two-dimensional characters just failed to keep me invested in the story.

4’5. “There’s a reason why every cheesy Medieval grimoire you see in movies requires fifty-something props. Feeling witchy is a large part of successfully being witchy, and nothing makes you feel powerful like surrounding yourself with gigantic dripping candles.”

The Scapegracers is exactly what you need: an lgbt book about a coven formed by four teenagers having fun with magic.
First of all, I absolutely ADORED this book. The Scapegracers is intense, exciting, and it doesn't let you stop reading for a moment. When I first got the arc I was kind of scared I wouldn't like it, because I was afraid it would be way too similar to the movie The Craft, and it did remind me of that story but it's absolutely not the same!

There are so many good things in this book. One of my personal favorites was the characters. I totally fell in love with Sideways, Jing, Daisy and Yates. Each one of them have a very strong personality and are so well written I was even sad when they weren't in a chapter. And I love how they're genuinely good with each other and have each other's backs constantly. The loyalty between them made me so happy. Also, the diversity in this book!! I've never read a story with as much representation as this one. And obviously, I love a good magic and witches kinda story, and the fact that I actually learned stuff about witchcraft made me love it even more.
Something that really hook me was the writing. The narrative was easy and familiar, which helped a lot with imagining the situations. There were some parts in the book where I got a bit lost, because I wasn't sure what the context was or I didn't understand why something was happening, and that's the reason why I haven’t given this book a full five stars, but in spite of that, the story was well developed.

There are so many references to pop culture too, which I personally LOVE to find in books, and the clique really gave me those teenage movie vibes, not only The Craft but also Jawbreakers, Mean Girls... and those movies I adore.

In general, I really enjoyed the story and I literally can’t wait for the sequel!

Thanks to Netgalley and Erewhon Books for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

This book was the girl gang coven book I have been waiting for all these years. The Scapegracers takes the idea of girl covens like in The Craft that abuse their powers and spins it on its head. It's about girls supporting girls and tackling issues girls face. It's a bit of a slow burn as it leads up to something bigger in the sequel, but this book packs its own punch anyway. There's humor, dynamic characters, meaningful conversations, and all the dark concepts that you want in a book about teenage witches. Fans of the Weird Sisters from The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina will love this book.

As for the diversity and LGBT themes, it's packed with them but also handled in a graceful way. The characters have realistic dialogues and reactions, along with woes. The ambiance of small town life and dealing with finding yourself when you feel like you're being crushed by how inescapable the constraints of your home is are represented so well.

The one criticism I have on this book is that it rests on the double-edged sword of purple prose. It's common in fantasy to have purple prose because lush descriptions make the story feel like it's woven in magic itself. However, too much of it can be distracting to the actual plot as the reader focuses more on the imagery than the action. This book wavered back and forth on the edge of this blade throughout. I enjoyed the author's style and tone so much, but at times I needed to go back to reread because I was so caught up in the spell of pretty words that I didn't follow what actually happened. I also saw a few editing mistakes, but that's a rather minor detail.

Truthfully, I'm eagerly awaiting the sequel to this book. It leaves off in a place that left me thirsting for more of what happens since things were just getting to an elevated state of risk.

Scapegracers is a book very intense ! I get caught by the moment Sideways was tripping in magic and has no problem in be a weirdo. The other girls-Jing,Yates and Daisy-are lovely and sharp and all the things in between. Makes me wanna be one of them . And all the representativeness in this book,it's amazing ! And all covered in a American Horror Story palette than make this be one of the most spooky and scary books I ever read. Sometimes things happen a little too fast, but there is nothing that gets in the way of reading ... definitely it is one of those books that you can see a movie and or series being produced from it. I loved the setting, and the way it was so scary at times that I had to go under the covers, and the description of witchcraft is also very well described. it has a rich feature that makes it easy for us to visualize everything. I believe that the sequence will bring a slower and more explanatory step, which was what was missing in this volume, but apart from that, it is a young, funny, intense and scathing book, and has everything to be one of the darlings of 2020/2021.

This book was SO GOOD! First and foremost, I love that it is an LGBT+ book that is actually written by a queer person. I know writers of all sexual orientation can capture emotions and turmoils of an LGBT person but no one can get the grit and feelings as someone who has actually LIVED all these emotions in there life. The friendships within this book are something that so many relationships strive for - loyalty, fun, honesty and so much more. It is so refreshing to see that each character is handling there thoughts and emotions of being queer in different ways. None of the girls handle it or feel that same way about it which I love, it makes them each so much more relatable. Also, the fantasy within this book was done SO WELL! Everything felt so natural and cohesive. I will definitely be purchasing this book for myself! Thank you Net Galley and Erewhon for providing me with this ARC.

I had much higher hopes for a book that stars someone named "Sideways" but overall, this was pretty predictable. Magic exists, girls get revenge, etc.. And, of course, none of the girls in the coven is actually what they appear to be on the outside.

eARC provided by publisher.

3.5 | “We want some chaos. We want havoc. Bring us hell.”

One of the epigraphs of this book is a Jennifer’s Body quote (“Hell is a teenage girl”), and I feel like that tells you a lot about this book.

Sideways (it’s a nickname - thank god) Pike finds herself at the party of three of the most untouchable girls in her year. At school she’s mostly known for her witchery, and that’s exactly why she was asked here, to perform some magic during the halloween party. Freak everyone out. Sideways enlists the help of said untouchable trio - Jing, Daisy & Yates - and by doing so, unravels the magic the other three girls all hold inside, and binds the four of them together.

“The magic snapped back like a rubber band. It struck hard and all at once … A jagged, painful pulse reverberated from my lungs to my core, and I heaved in a breath through my teeth, wheezed a cough. There was a whistling in my ears loud enough to rupture my skull.”

I love how visceral magic feels. Sideways senses it in her entire body, and the writing is so reflective of that. At times it was a little overdone, but overall I think it really contributed to the atmosphere, this sense of magic being a full body experience. It brought it really close, and made it almost tangible. I think the style is one of the things that really won’t be for everybody, but it was for me.

“‘Can girls not be soft and still be powerful?’
‘Girls can. Girls are.’”

I’ve seen some people comment on the immediacy of their friendship, but I think an event like the one they went through together is exactly the kind of thing that binds you together. And I believe in the magic of this created world enough that I can imagine if you feel magic the way they did, you’re not just going to walk away from the person who instigated it. The closeness of the girls was one of the things I liked most about this story. They’re all very different, but the way they care for each other and take care of each other without flinching, without hesitation, really appeals to me as a reader. I liked that they weren’t clean-cut, but a little (or a lot) ragged at the edges. I liked their anger, and how justified they felt in it. I liked their loyalty.

“Feeling witchy is a large part of successfully being witchy, and nothing makes you feel powerful like surrounding yourself with gigantic dripping candles.”

Lastly I want to point out the worldbuilding. It’s one of the things I feel ambivalent about in this book, but I’m going to start with the positives. The ideas we got - regarding covens, and spellbooks, and devils, were really interesting and exciting to me. I love when magic changes overtime, so the idea of older versus modern witch covens and traditions I think is really cool. Really liked Mr. Scratch as well - a lot of Calcifer from Howl’s Moving Castle vibes.

And a small thing I wanted to point out that I very much enjoyed - the chapter titles. Not enough books make good use of them these days, and I really liked all the references. Very fun.

“There was something repugnant about the absence of rage in me. I wanted my fury back.”

Then in terms of negatives… Starting where we left off: the worldbuilding did take very very long to really get a grip on. Really just the last quarter of the book we were introduced to these concepts that I think the story as a whole would’ve really benefited from being introduced earlier. Especially because they are so fascinating! I want to know more about them! I want these girls to know more about them! Show us what they mean!

Secondly, and I think most importantly, the plot feels flimsy. I called the ‘reveal’ in the first chapter and I don’t know if I was meant to, but if I was, then it just feels frustrating to have to wait until the absolute last moment to have it be revealed to our main characters. There are all these things happening that could be forming a plot, but they’re threads that kind of dangle. They’re not pulled tight, like the author didn’t have a good grip on them. When Sideways gets kidnapped by some weird, religious family, it’s obviously terrifying and dark, but we hear almost nothing of it after she escapes. It’s left almost entirely untouched until the end of the book, when all the threads are suddenly pulled taut, supposedly coming together, even though it feels messy and unearned.

In addition, the writing of the characters constantly teetered on an edge for me. I know I said earlier that I really liked the writing style overall, and I did, but only just. Sometimes, the prose got too much, and I could feel myself cringe at it. Sometimes, the teenage-ness of the girls felt performative. Look, the author seemed to say, I know how teens these days act and speak. Look! Look! Look! I don’t want to have to look. I want to notice. I was on a similar edge when it came to the depiction of the girls’ queerness. I love them, I love having multiple queer girls in one gang, I’m totally here for it. But especially Sideways’ own inner monologue when it came to her attraction to girls felt sometimes a little bit too much like the author was like, hey, that joke you people on the internet always make about disaster lesbians, look! Here is one! She can’t think straight when she sees a girl! Again, I want to notice that as a reader, I don’t need it shoved in my face. And obviously I don’t mean I don’t want queerness shoved in my face. I’m saying that as a queer girl (though not a lesbian) I felt the depiction really was on the edge of being performative in its intensity.

As of right now, I am planning to read the next book in this series. I really hope it will flesh out the world and the plot, and be a more coherent story (and make this book a more coherent part of the series).

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for my digital copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Ever since watching Bewitched as a young girl, I have been fascinated by witches and everything about them. So when I saw a new series about teenage witches, I knew I had to give it a shot. I might be 50 years old but I still love young adult books and I still love stories about witches. I personally was not disappointed. Sideways Pike is one of the main characters and she is a teenage outsider who always happens to be a witch and a lesbian. When she is paid to do a magic gig at the party of the most popular girls at school, she has no idea it will literally change her entire life. Soon she has friends and a possible girlfriend...but she also has witch hunters and an inkstain within her skin that also happens to be a demon. Personally, I loved the girls in the book and I loved the storyline and all of the trouble they keep finding themselves in. I can see that many people do not agree and did not like it. I never go into a book expecting too much from it so I am almost never disappointed. Myself, I could personally see a movie coming from it and I would love to help cast it. These girls were something...

ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for honest feedback.

Rating: 2

This book sounded amazing; I'm a sucker for witchy reads, however, I did not enjoy this book. I feel as though the first person point of view does not work for this book; I feel like with such a character driven book that third person would have been a better approach. The characters felt as though they needed to be more developed, which could have been done through the third person point of view. I did feel like the description of this book is amazing and it is great that the book is covering some lesbian characters.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This had witches and it had lesbians. It also had good female friendships. These are all things that I love in books. There was a ton of queer rep, even if just briefly mentioned, in this book. Unfortunately, it didn’t all come together for me in a way that made me love the book.


The Writing
I think one of the things I had the hardest time with was the writing. It wasn’t bad writing, but its style wasn’t for me. The best way I can describe the writing is jagged. There were sentences that weren’t sentences, and sometimes they didn’t make sense.


The Pacing
The pacing, like the writing, just didn’t work for me. The pacing felt all over the place. This book felt like it was supposed to be character driven, and yet, I think that the pacing of it was less that and more of an action oriented book. I don’t know. Something just didn’t sit well, the scenes didn’t mesh for me. I felt lost.


The Plot
See, I loved the plot. I think the plot was one of my favorite parts of this book. I think had the characters been fleshed out more, more time spent on certain aspects of the plot and character development, this could have easily been a three or four star read for me. Instead, we get a plot that I loved. The whole idea of it was great, and yet, it felt so little time was spent on it. So little that sometimes I forgot what the book was about! And I think that this also may have been character driven, but again, I think, sadly, the book fell down on that.


The Characters
I liked the characters, don’t get me wrong. I just felt that they were underdeveloped and as far as character development goes I felt that there was very little. When I did love were the relationships they had with each other. I think the friendship was written very well, and I enjoyed that aspect of it. But I felt they could have all used some more individual development as well. I will mention that these are flawed characters, and they are great because of that.

Overall, the lesbian relationship had a spot in this, and I liked the development of it. It was creative, and I liked that there was a lot of queer rep outside that in this book.


The Worldbuilding
The magic was a bit underwhelming. It was sort of explained and sort of not. This book had an overall dark tone and atmosphere to it, which was great. It really did have atmosphere.


Overall

This was a 2.5 star book for me. It was almost a three, but I just couldn’t find a way to honestly give it that when I felt like skimming or skipping pages in the book. I think some people will love this book and eat it up, but I just didn’t enjoy it overall. It was an okay book.