4 Stars | Content Warnings: Grief, Loss of a parent

Thank you to the publisher (Wednesday Books) for sending me an eARC through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review!

This book was so adorable! As a general fan of contemporary novels, I don't think I have ever seen anything like The Charmed List! Julie Abe combines everything you look for in a sweet, fluffy summer read while adding aspects of magical realism. I'd especially recommend The Charmed List to younger teens that are looking to get into the young adult genre, but are not too sure where to start!

Readers follow Elissa (Ellie) Kobata as she tries to navigate through her summer after a prank gone wrong completely destroys all of her plans with her best friend Lia. For the longest time, Ellie dreamed of going on a road trip with Lia, checking items off of her "anti-wallflower" list along the way. Now? Ellie isn't sure whether or not Lia wants to talk to her anymore. She doesn't even know if she'll ever come out of her shell and show the world who she really is. Just to make matters worse, Ellie is now forced to go on the road trip with Jack Yasuda, the boy who went from being her childhood best friend to the one person she cannot stand. At this point, magic is the only thing that can save her summer.

What to look out for:
-I think it's safe to say that I love any mention of a pet in books, especially when the pet in question is a dog named Mochi.
-References of popular YA books and authors! (Just to name a few, Spin the Dawn and Jade Fire Gold!)
-Food descriptions, need I say more?
-The best trope of all time, best friends to enemies to lovers

Release Date: July 5th, 2022

Thank you to #Netgalley and Wednesday Books for a copy of #TheCharmedList in exchange for an honest review!

I LOVED THIS BOOK!!!! This book was fantastic and I was not expecting it. I thought the book would be enjoyable to read but didn't anticipate how it would captivate me. I felt like the magical realism (which I didn't actually realize was part of the story) was really well done in this book, sometimes that can be too much but the author did a great job keeping it real. The Charmed List was a fun YA read that mixed in some heavier topics. The friends to enemies to lovers storyline was fun to navigate. I hope this is an eventual series because I would love to read more about the magical village and Ellie and Jack's future relationship. Not to mention their siblings!

Perfect summer read that everyone will love. The characters develop in a nice arc and you feel connected to them as they grow. Well written and fun

I feel bad saying this because I know it was someone’s dream to write. But I didn’t think this book was very well done. I enjoyed the premise and I wanted to like the book. But instead, I found it hard to suspend enough disbelief when I felt like the story was so poorly plotted and presented. I didn’t understand the relationships between any of the characters because they weren’t given any background to speak of. I didn’t buy the depth of purported emotion because it wasn’t explained well. I’m sorry. This one didn’t do it for me.

I’d like to thank NetGalley, Wednesday Books, and Julie Abe for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review! This book is a cute and light-hearted read that I enjoyed a lot.

The Charmed List follows Ellie as she sets out to complete her summer “Anti-Wallflower” list. She ends up stuck with her old best friend, Jack, on the way to a Magical convention. I really enjoyed seeing Ellie and Jack interact while stuck together and watching their relationship unfold!

My favorite part of this story was definitely the magic. Everything about it was super cute, from the magical village to the cottage, and it kept me intrigued. The descriptions were also really vivid and I enjoyed the writing style a lot.

This book is a fun and magical read that I recommend for when you need something light-hearted.

A truly delightful read with a fantastic mix of magical realism. I enjoyed the characters and would read more by this author.

Such an adorable contemporary romance with a little bit of magical realism mixed in. I truly enjoyed this book, and would recommend it for anyone looking to read an easy to read friends to lovers novel.

This was a sweet story about a teen trying to overcome her insecurities and finally come out of her shell. Her world is one in which magic exists; it is magic that can improve your day but not change the world. I loved the world created in this story. Who wouldn't want a cupcake that can give you courage?! It was optimistic even through the emotional trials of high school society. The characters are great, their lives intricately woven together. The road trip itself is fun, full of hope and discovery and adventure! A fun read!

While it was fairly easy to guess what was going to happen in this book, it was still a delight to read. The characters were great and I quickly got invested in the love story - my only wish was that it was longer!

This was an absolute adorable read. A real coming of age and realizing sometimes things are out of your control but it’s the ride of getting back to where you once were that is exciting and memorable.

This book follows Jack and Ellie as they are both punished to take a road trip for their families. They haven’t spoken in almost four years, after being the best of friends. It was fun to see their walls go down and let each other in once again like they used to in the past. This book was extra special because there was literal magic involved. Although not heavy magic, the light and airy kind. It was sweetness overload at times.

I really enjoyed their journey, their discoveries of where they are now and memories of where they used to be and of course the possibilities of futures to come with one another. The families were great, and it was fun watching them all interact with one another. Sometimes grief hits everyone a little differently but I feel like if you let people in, they help with that grief. This was a very uplifting adorable book.

This is a best friends to enemies to lovers kind of story. This is why I wanted to read it.

But I felt this was flat. I finished the book, because I feel I owe it to the author when I've been selected to review, but it was hard for me to finish. It's a little clunky, some things were added for no reason, and I didn't really feel the chemistry between the two mains. This seems more like an older middle schooler type book than young adult.

I really wanted to like this, too. Cute summary and book cover.

Thank you for the the opportunity to read and review!

The Charmed List is one of those rare books you don't want to finish because you never want it to end. It perfectly blends a sweet YA story with magic. Ellie is tired of being the predicable friend, so she makes a summer Anti-Wallflower list. She's determined to try new things and have the best summer. However, when one of her list items goes terribly wrong, she's stuck spending her summer roadtrip with her arch nemesis Jack. This story is full of magic, love and friendship. I honestly love this sweet story so much!

This magical realism young adult friends-to enemies-to-lovers romance is utterly, well, charming. Author Abe imagines a reality where some small percentage of the population is able to pull raw magic from a source to imbibe food or potions or salves for a little something extra: a boost of confidence with your tea or quicker healing for a rash. Those with magic tend to band together in small communities and those without are oblivious but benefit.

Artist Elie is looking forward to a road trip with her non-magical bestie Lia. the magical convention she and her family will be exhibiting at is near Lia’s relatives and Elie will have a chance to accomplish the goals on her new Anti-Wallflower list. But a prank gone wrong exposes Lia to magic and one of the consequences is Elie now has to make her road-trip with her former bestie, Jack, who has become her worst enemy in the years since he lost his mother and starting licking on her.

Worst of all, Jack has seen the List, has a near-photographic memory and recall, and now has something to hold over Elie. Instead, he seems intent on helping her check off items. Something (magical?) happens on the trip down the California coast: sparks of the friendship they once had and maybe something more?

Abe writes with empathy and honesty about family and friendship, trust and betrayal, trust and vulnerability. The world she imagines and builds feels wholly believable. The beauty of California comes through and Asian-American readers may see themselves in this story.

Supporting characters, like Jack and Elie's younger siblings (who are best friends like they used to be), and potential customers along the road, have depth and are finely drawn in few words. Even with the tropes of Forced Proximity and Just One Bed, the story is fairly chaste.

While the shift from dislike to attraction seemed pretty fast given how mean Jack was to Elie, and she may have been too quick to forgive, readers who can suspend their disbelief for magic all around us can let that go, too. The Charmed List is a sweet story and a quick read.

I received an advance reader's review copy of #TheCharmedList from #NetGalley.

I absolutely adored this book, I loved how they showed how they were once best friends until a tragedy struck and then Jack began to distance himself from her. There were so moments that I laughed out loud and some where I said “awww that’s cute.” This is a sweet,
Light, and fun read . It was a quick but it still holds your interest, and keeps you invested in these characters lives. i was definitely hoping for them to work om their differences, and be friends again. I definitely recommend this if you want a quick, lighthearted fun read.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this ARC publication for an honest review.

The Charmed List

Julie Abe

Publication: July 5, 2022

This was my first Julie Abe book and I really enjoyed it. It was a quick, fun read with a cute friends-to enemies-to something more mixed with some magical elements. While I loved the sweet romance between Ellie and Jack, I also applaud the friendship between Ellie and Lia. Sometimes the story felt really young even though the characters were teenagers, but that didn't take away from the storyline. Overall, the book had a nice, simple flow that made me laugh and smile. Sometimes that is all you need!

Great book! I loved the magic system in this book, it will appeal to fans of contemporary books as well as fantasy. The bookstores and shops and hotels in the book make me want to trace their road trip steps! Really fun book to add to your YA collection.

The Charmed List really "charmed". me at first. I loved how magical and sweet the world seemed. It was the perfect escape I was looking for. But the story became quite repetitive in middle. It seems like this one is closer to middle grade than young adult. There were many aspects that were fun and whimsical, but at times it felt a little immature even for YA. The Charmed List started our strong and also ended nicely too, just got a little scrambled in between.

This book is so cute. I’m a huge fan of Kpop, so I loved the multiple references to it in the story. I also really loved how the magic was presented. The characters were so great, and the ending was perfect. I will definitely read more by this author!

The Charmed List is a cute typical YA friends to enemies to lovers, with a magic twist.
This story is a little on the young side of YA, with some of the plot lines seeming a little immature to me. My biggest gripe with this story was Jack and how he treated Ellie after they stopped being friends. Maybe i've just over read it, but the "best friends then suddenly the guy stops talking to the girl and becomes super popular, while the girl suddenly has no friends" trope rubs me the wrong way. I didn't like how Ellie forgave Jack so easily for just cutting out their friendship and being a dick to her, and letting his friends be a dick to her. Thats not okay. Sure he was going through a bad time, but thats no excuse to treat someone that way. That boy needs to do a heck of a lot more grovelling to be forgiven for his attitude. Other than that though, their chemistry was great, the road trip really explored them rediscovering their friendship with cute little moments along the way.
I did love the representation in this book, with both main characters being Asian without it being "thrown in your face" or overly mentioned to the point it starts to become repetitive. The same with the lgbtq+ representation. Ellies best friend is mentioned as being part of the lgbtq+ community and its subtly mentioned without the author being all "hey look at this bisexual character, check for representation!" I love when identity and sexuality are written without a big song and dance. Anyway, i digress!
The magic system in this story is lovely. The whole aspect of the magical communities, the dust they collect and the magical items sold. I would have loved to have seen more of the magic explored.
Overall this was a super cute YA. The only reason it wasn't a 4* was that the way Jack treated Ellie overshadowed me liking the character .

Ellie and Jack were childhood best friends, always working together in classes and even wearing coordinating Halloween costumes each year. That is, until the death of Jack's mom. After that, he ignored Ellie and they started high school. Ellie was left to fend for herself. Luckily, Ellie finds a new BFF in Lia, a new girl at school.

All is well until Ellie decides to take revenge on Jack. Mistakes are made. And magic is exposed. That's when the story takes a turn. Jack and Ellie are forced to spend some days together. Will they reconnect? Or have they been apart too long?

A fun, but clunky storyline that gets lost in a few of its loops,