DNF 33%

The start of this novel was incredibly hard to get through with the alternating points of view and timeline jumps from the past to the present, but I understand why both are necessary to get the story across.

That being said, the slow pacing combined with the incredibly triggering content that many other reviews mention made me put this book down. From the synopsis, I hadn't expected such mature and dark themes, and I wish there were a more prominent trigger warning available to readers that could be easily accessed rather than having to search through other readers' feedback or the author's website. I am glad I looked into the trigger warnings prior to attempting to finish this book.

I did enjoy the realism in the language, behavior, and emotion that Dan, Liss, and Alexa have. The writing style, although difficult for me personally, fit the genre and tone of the story well.

A very Wicked Magic indeed! It was fast paced, the plot unfolded perfectly. At times I felt it was a little boring and slightly repetitive in writing style. Overall it is a rewarding read! A must read I say. No spoilers, go read this.

3.5 Stars
*I received an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

TW: https://www.sashalaurens.com/content-warnings

This book deals with some incredibly heavy subject matter as shown by the content warnings, so it's hard to say that this was enjoyable per/se, but I found the story engaging. The characters are each dealing with their own trauma/mental health struggles and I appreciated how it was done.

The characters are definitely flawed and some people may have an issue with that because the characters don't have the healthiest of friendships. I found that this worked for me though because it meant I didn't choose sides or really like either one better than the other. Also I wanted to point out that Dan is Mexican-American and Alexa is a girl who likes girls.

The issue I had with the characters is that there are 3 main characters, and we get alternating perspectives from all 3, but it felt like there were really 2.25 main characters. Alexa's storyline felt so removed from Dan and Liss' for the majority of the book that it didn't feel cohesive and it felt like she was mostly there for plot convenience.

I really enjoyed the atmosphere and witchy "vibes" of the story. I thought the magic was interesting although not super well explained, but that was fine because this is more paranormal than fantasy in my opinion. The actual mystery/plot was interesting and engaging but the ending of that was pretty lackluster in my opinion. This is definitely a story that focuses on the characters. The actually writing also felt odd to me at times. There were just some passages that felt awkward to read.

Overall I enjoyed this story. If you want a detailed plot driven fantasy this isn't for you. But if you're okay with a very loose magic system and an exploration of trauma and messy friendships set against a witchy backdrop I'd say give it a shot.

If you tell me a book is like The Craft meets Sabrina, I’m going to want to read it. That is the case with A Wicked Magic. From line one of the description I was all in. But did the book live up to my internal hype? Sort of.

Read my full review here: https://booksteahealthyme.home.blog/2020/07/28/book-review-a-wicked-magic-by-sasha-laurens/

If you wish to read a happy story about cute little witches, then this is not your book! This is about dark magic, demons, curses and kidnapped lovers. It’s not just hocus pocus. It’s about friendship and what can happen between two best friends when they find a Black Book and… a boy.

OMG! I really loved this book. Every page was a delight. I love the author’s writing style. You will fall in love with the book quickly. The characters are so different from each other that it’s easy to feel for them, but in the same time to scream at all three. Alexa is my favourite and Liss is the least. And everything could be great if they just talked!

In conclusion, it’s one of my favourite books with witches. And I can’t wait to read more books by Sasha Laurens.

DNF 59%

Unfortunately, I just can't get myself to finish this book. I love the concept, but the story just isn't grabbing me. If I'm honest, the main characters are annoying me and the only story I really want to read about is Alexa's. Also, I love the talking cat. A Wicked Magic is a darker read and I can definitely see why people would enjoy this book. Only for me it's taking too long to get to the plot with a little too much drama. I normally don't mind slower books, but this one just isn't working for me.

I did like the world this author created and even the magic, I just wished that aspect the story was explored more than it is in the first half. I'm sure plenty of readers will enjoy this book, but it's just not for me!

Before I go on, I should also mention that although this doesn’t have CW/TW at the start, the author does have a list on her website and I would definitely advise reading it because you pick up the story:

Self-harm, including depictions of self-harm
Suicide and suicidal ideation
Mental health issues (depression, obsessive behaviors, anxiety and alcoholism)
Violence, body horror/gore, blood
Child abuse (Depictions and references to parents inflicting physical harm on teenage children; emotional abuse; and references to negligence)
Abduction, kidnapping
Depictions of and references to sexual interactions between teenage girls and adult men
Drinking and drug use, including by underage characters

A Wicked Magic ended up being very different to what I expected! It’s being compared to The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, which I don’t watch because I’m too scared, and The Craft, which I did watch when I was in middle school eons ago and I can still remember how much it TERRIFIED ME. So I was definitely prepared to encounter bone chilling monsters and rituals! That said, it didn’t end up being half as terrifying as I expected (lucky for me, I guess?).

The writing itself was fairly easy to read as it’s not overly descriptive. There are alternating POVs and switching timelines between their junior and senior years and while that could’ve been confusing I thought the shifting scenes were written smoothly. Although this didn’t end up being as scary as I thought, Laurens definitely knows how to create a sinister atmosphere and it almost felt as if this town was shrouded in a bubble of creepy darkness. There were also some scenes that made me wish I had come across the part earlier on in the day instead of at midnight when I was actually reading because my toes curl in fear!

Our three MCs, Liss, Dan and Alexa, were interesting but difficult characters. All of them were far from perfect and at times it was so frustrating to see how toxic their relationships were. They were all dealing with heavy personal issues that I felt eclipsed the magic/witchy aspect of the book and in that sense, it really didn’t feel like I was reading a YA paranormal fantasy but more a contemporary with some magical elements. When I say that some scenes can be quite triggering I really do mean that because this story is overflowing with heaviness–even I had quite a difficult time reading at some points because of it. By the end though, all of them experienced significant growth and it was clear that the author really wanted to turn this dark and depressing story around into something more hopeful and positive. I do appreciate how the author explored teenage friendships though; despite the initial toxicity between the three, I think Laurens painted a very raw and realistic picture of female friendships and the internal struggle that a lot of young girls experience.

That said, because the focus was really internal on the girls, the pacing was quite slow from the beginning and I felt it slowed down even more in the middle as they try to work through their issues while trying to unravel the mystery. This “journey” takes up a big chunk of the story and since I was expecting some big reveal and epic magical battle after the long build up, I was a bit disappointed to find that the battle was very short and the bad guy was beat without much of a struggle. If I’m honest, it was a little anti-climactic. Although the chicken in me is glad that this wasn’t as scary as I expected it to be, I also wish that we got more magic in the end.

A dark, magical tale of friendship, found family, and magic gone wrong.

I really enjoyed this book from start to finish. Laurens does an amazing job exploring the complexities of friendship, and the importance of found families. She also creates an interesting world of magic, and witchcraft that doesn't overwhelm her readers.

What I enjoyed most about this book was the complex relationships between the three main characters. Friendships are messy and complicated, and it was wonderful to see the characters navigate what it's like to go from friends, to enemies, to allies and finally find their way back to friendship. More importantly Laurens had them really work through those stages so the characters could better understand each other, what happened and why, and figure out how they could move forward and be friends again.

I also really enjoyed how Laurens dealt with depression in this book. It was a very honest look at how depression manifests for some and I appreciated seeing that honest portrayal. That being said it was also very dark and some readers may find this portrayal triggering based on their own experiences.

The only reason this wasn't a five star read for me is I felt Laurens' world building could have been a little more flushed out. There's so much about magic and witches that is not explained and it would have been nice to have a little more information. That being said, readers learn about magic and witchcraft through the main characters and they have very little information themselves, thus the level of world building feels appropriate for this book.

Because so much is left unsaid I would love it if Laurens wrote more books in this world. More books are not necessary but I think Laurens has created a world that could certainly be expanded upon if she chose to.

I LOVE the author, just don't love the book. The plot, the characters and the narration just didn't appeal to me at all. I wanted to DNF it MULTIPLE times throughout the reading process but pushed through. Maybe stories with witches aren't for me??

Dan and Liss were best friends, inseparable, until one fateful night changed everything. Liss moved away and Dan was left to torture herself over the events of that night, that is until she meets Alexa. Alexa seems to understand Dan in a way Liss never could, knowing when she needs to talk about things and never taking ‘im fine’ for an answer. Then one night Liss appears, she wants to talk to Dan about that night, the night that Johnny was taken from them. As Dan gets pulled into Liss’ orbit again, Alexa has to deal with her own problems, secrets her aunt was keeping that turn into Alexa’s own. But secrets have to come out, and it’s only when all the girls are honest with each other and themselves that they realise they will need to work together to save Johnny from an evil bigger than they had imagined.

A Wicked Magic is told from three perspectives; Dan, Liss and Alexa, and flits between the present as well as giving us flashbacks to the events leading up to Johnny’s disappearance. Each girl has their own trauma they are trying to deal with: Dan is depressed, depressed enough to hurt herself, she longs for happiness and some semblance of normality but doesn’t know if she deserves it, or if she would even notice it if it hit her in the face. Liss is caving under the pressure from her parents, her home life filled with an absent father and alcoholic mother is not as idyllic as the outside world seems to think it is. She longs to be the best at everything, even if that means putting her friendships second. Alexa has been living with her aunt after her mother decided that she didn’t want to deal with her anymore. She is terrified that Lorelai will realise that Alexa is a burden she doesn’t want to deal with, and that fear of abandonment leaks into her friendship with Dan. I will say there are a lot of trigger warnings in this book, mainly coming from the characters trauma: Self harm, depression, drug use and under age relationships.

The author manages to add a 4th character to the book with the setting. Her descriptions of the Northern Carolina coastline were atmospheric and extremely creepy in parts. Dark twisty roads, damp and dangerous beach caves and just enough of a small town setting to give you that eerie vibe. Her descriptive writing of both the setting and of magic had me gripped from early on in the book, and there were definite ‘heart beating out of my chest’ moments thanks to the atmosphere her writing created.

This book was so much darker than I expected it to be. Throughout the book we follow two story lines, the present, where the girls are trying to find out where Johnny is/ who has him and the events leading up the night Johnny disappeared. This is masterfully done in my opinion, as most of the way through the book you are kept questioning what actually happened that night? Was Johnny’s disappearance intentional? Do Dan or Liss know more than they are letting on? We get our answers before the end of the book but I liked the mystery is gave the story, never quite knowing if I could trust people completely.

My main tagline for this book was ‘called it.’ Susan will tell you I had a pretty close guess for some major plot points, BUT I didn’t see this as a bad thing. The author left us little crumbs of information throughout the book, little hints here are there and I just latched onto them. It wasn’t predictable in the sense that you knew how the book was going to end 20% in. But Laurens just gives you enough information to make some educated guesses. There were also a few twists that I did not see coming at all, parts had me like WTF!?!

If you like dark atmospheric books, filled with real and twisted characters and magic then this is definitely the book for you!

The cover of this book captivated me the moment I saw it and the synopsis made it even better. I loved the atmosphere of the book since it is set on a small town it matches great with the witch's theme, so it ends up being a little creepy, mysterious, and… witchy. I feel that Sasha, the author, did a great job at setting it up and it really helped with the storytelling. That said, by the end of the book I was skimming through that a little because it felt a little repetitive.

The beginning of the book was a little confusing to read. We see how Dan and Liss become witches at the end of their sophomore year and then we jump to their senior year. I had to go back to make sure what year I was reading about to avoid confusion in the following chapters. Also, even though the chapters are long they don’t feel so because there are different POV switches in them and they are so clearly divided that they basically count as a sub-chapter (is that a thing?). This helps them not feel as tiring as other long chapters I’ve experienced in other books.

Dan, Liss and Alexa were amazing characters. Did I like them all? No, I didn’t like Liss at all. But all girls had great character development, even though it felt a little slow. The three main characters are in a situation so different from the other, and yet they all are dealing with their own brand of loneliness. My favorite was definitely Alexa, I loved the fire inside her and her development, but I also related to Dan on several things.

The end was a little bit of a letdown, I like it more when the characters actually work to defeat the villain instead of it just sort of… happening. I feel that the villain was not focused enough to be interesting and it made the end lack emotion.

After numerous attempts to read it, I just cannot get into the writing. I ended up not finishing this book mainly because the characters fell a little flat for me, and I felt that it was quite slow and repetitive. I did not feel myself connect to any of the characters, and the plot just seemed to stall out and I kept waiting for something to happen. I did really like the premise and the magic element was well done though. I can see where an upper middle school or high school audience who is interested in magic and darker stories may get in to this one, but it just wasn't for me.

This book unfortunately was not for me and I had to DNF it. I was intrigued by the plot but found myself struggling to connect with the writing style and thus, put it down. I think this could be a book for a lot of different people, but I was not one of them.

If you like reading about friendships, dark magic, demons, curses, and kidnapped boyfriends then this book is for you. The book is about best friends who find a book of dark magic and a boy who comes between them until they have to find him and figure out what evil is taking other teens.

This book help me out of my reading slump that I have been in for the last couple months. The author's writing style kept me wanting more and turning the pages to see what was going  to happen next.

Out of the three girls, I really liked and was my favorite was Alexa. She was a very interesting character and I wanted to more of her in the book. My least favorite was Liss, she was really selfish and self-centered. She was always playing the victim and everything had to be about herself.

Overall, I really enjoyed and loved this book, I'm glad that I was chosen to read this debut YA fantasy-thriller. I am looking forward to more from Sasha.

A Wicked Magic really did give off The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina and The Craft vibes! Set in a northern coast small town really helped with the atmosphere of the book and added the overall witchy/occult vibe. The story was less about the magic though and felt more about the girls and their friendship. Don't get me wrong, there were magical elements, but I felt the focus was more about the three girls navigating their own circumstances and friendship amongst the magic.

I enjoyed Sasha's writing style. It had a lot of atmosphere within it, without feeling overly flowery or descriptive. It never felt drawn out or info-dumpy. I love that we got to follow all three girls - although I hadn't expected Alexa's perspective. Each girl reads differently too. Alexa feels edgier, more independent and older. Liss felt more selfish and self-centered. Dan always felt darker, more internal. But when they came together, despite differences in personalities, they all seemed to complement one another

Speaking of characters, I felt they were a mixed bag of enjoyment. Alexa was by far my favourite of the bunch. I found her storyline more interesting and I always wanted to go back to her. Dan was probably my next favourite. Dan, although was interesting, I found her darker moods and depressive state a little harder to read. Liss was by far my least favourite, although she had her moments. I just found her selfishness and self-involvement annoying. Everything was always about her and she was always the victim - despite it never being the case. I never felt sympathy towards her and I found myself wishing to be with another character during her parts.

The plot was interesting too. There seemed to be two separate plots in play, again one I found more interesting than the other. When they merged, as I figured they would, I was genuinely hooked - I needed to see the end and I needed it now! Honestly, for the first part of the book, I was mostly interested in the one and I desperately wanted to read the story from a side character because I was starting to worry we wouldn't get more from it. Honestly, I'd be happy to get a novella or something following Lorelei during her investigation.

Overall, I rather enjoyed A Wicked Magic. Would I have loved more magic? Yes, but I can always do with more magic. If you love The Craft, Charmed, or The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina and love stories with female friendship then I highly recommend this book.

Unfortunately for me, I DNFEed A Wicked Magic about 1/3rd of the way in.

There is nothing inherently wrong with the story or book itself, but at the moment I was having a hard time connecting and engaging with the book.. I found myself losing attention and ended up skimming most of what I had read.

So, at the moment I've decided to put this book aside and move onto other stories that will hopefully better capture my attention!

*I WAS PROVIDED A DIGITAL EDITION FOR THE PURPOSE OF A BLOG TOUR. THIS DOES NOT AFFECT MY OPINION*

[DNFed at 48%]

I was so excited to read a new book about witches, magic, evil demons and mysterious disappearances when I got accepted as a host for this book on a blog tour.

But I was majorly let down.

This book is super slow. And I mean, it was so slow, if the book could’ve sped up a little bit, it would’ve been over halfway through. When dealing with a book as mysterious and calculating as this one was, I was hoping for something a little bit medium-paced. But this one took its jolly ‘ole time, and I wasn’t really all that thrilled or swayed by it.

Another thing was that the characters were just horrible. All three of the main characters we were given were super problematic. For one, this book didn’t place a trigger warning ANYWHERE for self-harm, suicide or anxiety, yet this book was practically caked it mentions and scenes of it part of the way through. Not to mention, I couldn’t stand Liss’ character at all. She was completely self-absorbed and didn’t give a crap about Dan, yet she was so worried about losing her to Alexa.

I got tired of it all about 48% of the way through before I said no more. I was really hoping to be able to finish it, but with the pacing and problems with the characters, I couldn’t continue.

Drenched with creepy atmosphere and complicated looks at depression, loneliness, powerlessness, co-dependency, and friendship. Also there's a talking cat, which is A+.

A Wicked Magic really is like Sabrina in book form… as a massive fan of the popular TV series, though, I wish it had a little more magic and a little less drama. The book starts by introducing Dan, Liss, and Alexa, three high school seniors fighting magical disasters (and occasionally each other.)

Let’s start with the good:
* Folksy California town! I loved the homey feel of Dogtown—even though we spend more time with the characters than the town itself, I still think it presented a strong background for the eerie magic. Dan and Liss do a lot of hiking while trying to find auspicious locations for spellwork.
* AWM challenged the idea of what female friendship has to be. Not all witchy/coven books have to include the #GirlBoss, best-friends-forever mentality. Sometimes people mess up. Girls hurt each other. Not everyone is a perfect person all the time, and we all have to learn to apologize and forgive in turn.
* Initially I held quite a bit of animosity towards Liss and Alexa, as I felt they were both trying to manipulate Dan, but as we got more chapters in each characters perspective it added to my sense that this novel had more than a superficial understanding of female friendship, which is something I love explored in YA.
* I liked how AWM addressed Dan’s depression. Mental health portrayals in fantasy books are still so rare and important, so I was happy to note that her self-harm was made a consideration in a sensitive way. (TW for readers, the book includes descriptions of self-harm and depressive episodes)

And then, there’s the not-so-good:
* I had major issues with the pacing. I was very surprised that a book advertised as YA horror/thriller would be slow this way—I would have liked the first half to pass quicker and feel less repetitive.
* C’mon, where’s the magic??? I wanted more spells, more excitement! I think there’s value in introspection and friendship, but this, combined with the pacing issues, took away from the SFF categorization for me.

Overall, I’d recommend reading A Wicked Magic if you’re a fan of witchy books (like those on this recommendation list I made!), but know that it’s not entirely a thriller—it has all the heart and emotion of any contemporary YA.

Disclaimer: I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you to TBR & Beyond Tours, Netgalley, and Razorbill for this free copy. All quotes in this review are taken from the Advanced Reader Copy and may change in final publication.

Content Warnings for A Wicked Magic (from Sasha’s website)
Self-harm, including depictions of self-harm
Suicide and suicidal ideation
Mental health issues (depression, obsessive behaviors, anxiety and alcoholism)
Violence, body horror/gore, blood
Child abuse (Depictions and references to parents inflicting physical harm on teenage children; emotional abuse; and references to negligence)
Abduction, kidnapping
Depictions of and references to sexual interactions between teenage girls and adult men
Drinking and drug use, including by underage characters
First, I have to say that I appreciate Sasha including a comprehensive list of all of the content warnings in A Wicked Magic, and gave an option to send them something that may have been missing. Super duper helpful for those that take content warnings into account before reading anything, and is just a super great practice to implement moving forward. I know there are some discussions on whether people should take the time to do it or not, but how about this? Just do it.

Now, when I was reading the synopsis and saw that it was compared to The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina AND The Craft, well I felt like I was going to have all kinds of gothic, witchy, creepy, and terrifying vibes. The Craft freaked me out when I first watched it – like two years ago? – and I still haven’t finished Sabrina because some of the scenes have freaked me out. And I will say that there were some parts of this book that I felt like I couldn’t really read at night. I’m a huge baby, sue me. But I just stuck with trying to read this book in the day time as much as possible. Like, as much as possible and the moment the sun started to go down, the book went back into the shelves and I turned to something else.

I feel like Sasha did a pretty good job with this debut novel, and I’m curious to see if they are going to stay within the paranormal/thriller YA genre or venture into something else. YA thrillers tend to be a hit or miss for me because sometimes I feel like the thrillers aren’t as “thrilling” as they can be, but I also don’t venture into adult thrillers as much because they just don’t seem worth caring about. Meaning that the events that are going on in those thrillers seem to be superficial. This one was interesting though because it combined the magical aspect of witches, which of course… who doesn’t like witches right?

I also liked that Sasha explored the many facets of friendship, and how no relationship between two people are ever perfect. We have a “break up” of friendship between Dan and Liss because of a traumatic event that they both encountered, but then we also see them somehow come back together to take care of business. Based on what happened to break their friendship up, I could totally understand why it happened, why it would be difficult for them to even heal from what happened, and try to make things go back to normal. So the fact that they were able to reconcile someone, even if it was just to handle the task at hand – the main task of rescuing Liss’ boyfriend from where he was underground – that’s impressive in and of itself.

So again, I would just be careful with the content warnings that Sasha spelled out for you about this book. I know that some topics like child abuse and body gore are some of the things that I personally can’t handle and would not want to be surprised about, so if you’re the same I’d stay clear of this OR ask someone for the direct pages where your triggers take place. But if you’re okay with that, if you’re able to compartmentalize from real life, and just enjoy the journey as it goes, I think you’ll have a good time with this. Definitely give it a try!