Seventeen-year-old Ivy has just started her summer, and already she's been in an accident and encountered a bizarre stranger in the middle of the night who seems to recognize her. When she tells her mother, Dana, about her bizarre encounter with a young stranger, her mother responds by disappearing after claiming she needs to take care of something. After years of confusion and a struggle for answers about herself, Ivy begins to dig through her mother's past and discovers that Dana has a great deal of secrets including magic, dark forces, and a spirit that won't stay gone.

Author Melissa Albert has to be educated in magic practice and witchcraft because her writing seems to be mostly factually correct and full of real protective practices. While the beginning of the book is a bit convoluted, it is because there is simply so much to explore in the story of Ivy and Dana. The book bounces back and forth between the present and past, but Our Crooked Hearts doesn't suffer from this back and forth as many books written in this style can. The story flows beautifully, even if its between decades.

Our Crooked Hearts is genuinely suspenseful and fascinating. I definitely recommend picking it up for your summer time reading.




Our Crooked Hearts is available June 28, 2022 from Flatiron Books.

A dual timeline, mother-daughter story involving secrets and witchcraft - sign me up! I am a fan of the first Hazelwood book by Melissa Albert and I loved to see the direction she took with Our Crooked Hearts. It is still within the darker fantasy realm, but is more witchcraft focused and less fairytale spin-off. Readers feel as left in the dark as the main protagonist, Ivy, as she struggles to understand her mother's detachment and bizarre behaviors. As she begins to uncover the secrets and lies of her mother's past, pieces begin to fall into place that definetely had me going - say whaaaat?? The story is told from Ivy's perspective in the present day suburbs, and her mother, Dana's, perspective in the city "back then" (the 90s).

Lies, love, deception, dark magic, teen witches, and a spooky old library - it's got it all. How far is a mother willing to go to protect her daughter, and how far is a daughter willing to go to uncover the pieces of her past?

Thank you so much to NetGalley & Flatiron Books for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The premise and cover of this book immediately drew me in, and I could not wait to start this. This was creepy, exciting, and so unique. I couldn't put this down. I'm predicting that Melissa Albert will have a lot of new fans from this book alone!

I was very excited to read “Our Crooked Hearts” by Melissa Albert. Loved the previous books by this author, so I was ready for a new story.

This story is told mainly from the present day (daughter) and the past (mother), with some other perspectives as well. It took a few chapters to get into the “right now / back then” type of chapters but once I did, I loved it.

The type of magic described in this book was unique. It was something that was in the background until nearly the end; the story and the relationships between mother and daughter and between friends is really the crux of this story. It felt like we were leading to something, like a snowball rolling down a hill and gaining size and momentum. The ending left me partially satisfied but also sad, and I wonder if there will be a sequel one day.

It was unclear to me whose side we are supposed to be on. I think we are supposed to be on Ivy and Marion’s sides, but really I just feel bad for Dana the mom. Ivy is an annoying little kid with too much power and no control. Dana’s life was described in such detail that it felt real and made me be on her side.

I recommend this book and I look forward to hearing others perspectives!!

Melissa Albert just keeps on delivering mind-blowing stories.As a kid who was fascinated with mythology and magic, this read like a cautionary tale about not messing around with powerful magic and it chilled me to the bone.

The story is captivating from the first chapter - who is the strange woman in the woods and why is Ivy’s mother so weird and nervous? Then the action never stops. This is truly a book a could not put down, and in fact stayed up most of the night to finish it.

This will be devoured by Albert’s fans and will certainly appeal to teens and adults alike. Highly recommended.

Firstly, I want to congratulate everyone involved in the cover choice for this book. I absolutely would have selected this for my daughter when she was of high school age based on the cover and description alone.

This novel should hit the target audience of 14-18 perfectly, but I truly enjoyed it myself. The characters were well developed and the story was mesmerizing. I’m hoping for a sequel!

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and author for a digital copy of this wonderful and witchy novel. This is my honest review.

A very suspenseful and strange book, that I thoroughly enjoyed! It is a coming of age tale, where Ivy is the main character. I loved the exploration of all the characters, and the multiple viewpoints and timelines aided in that. It was supernatural and mysterious. Would definitely recommend and will look into other books by this author!

This book was one of those books that I read any chance that I had because I was compelled to discover what had happened in the past and what was going to happen to the protagonist Ivy as a result of those events. What did her mother do to her? Why was she being followed and haunted by this mysterious woman? Where did her mother and Aunt Fee disappear to? Why couldn’t she remember her best friend Billy? If you like mystery, suspense and the supernatural and strange this is the next book to read.

This book drew me in right from the beginning. It was mysterious, dark, and full of magic. The characters worked well together, and I loved the dual timelines.

The only thing I didn’t love was that it was told in first person, as that can get confusing with both dual timelines and multiple points of view. However, the first person was done well and I could keep up and follow along without an issue.

This book would have been a one sitting read for me if I hadn’t started it right before bed. As it was, I read until I could no longer process the sentences I was reading and then promptly picked it up and finished it the next morning.

If you enjoyed The Hazel Wood duology or just gravitate toward darker reads in general, this is a fantastic coming of age story. I loved the grittiness of learned magic along with the flashbacks of defiant youth. Melissa Albert never fails to capture city life with rose colored (albeit bloody) glasses. All of her books plant you firmly into the story and every character is fleshed out with a personality all their own. I've already got a copy on pre-order and if you enjoy witchy fiction, I would highly recommend this book.

Years after it began, Ivy and Dana's shared story will come down to a reckoning among a daughter, a mother, and the dark forces they never should’ve messed with.
If you want a dark, magical book you've found it! I am always looking for dark themed books because I am THAT October baby! This one hits my sweet spot just right. Dual POV from the mom and the 16 yr old daughter. Past and present timelines but not hard following the storyline. I really enjoyed it!

This book has all the right elements! It’s a dark, thrilling read full of magic and intrigue. If I was going to complain about anything it was only that the end wrapped up a little too easily and nicely but I still felt like it was fitting.

I don’t normally love books with alternating timelines but when they’re done well as this one was… it’s magical when they come together and everything just clicks. I would definitely recommend this book to just about anyone.

Thank you to Flatiron Books for providing an e-arc of this fantastic Melissa Albert novel via Netgalley.

Wow.

Our Crooked Hearts is a rollercoaster. Part magic, part thriller, part coming of age.

The book follows Ivy, a teenager who feels there is something... off... in her life. As she unravels the mysteries of her past, she finds more than she bargains for that upends her entire life.

This is a dual timeline book. One part current, Ivy's timeline, one part her mother's timeline when she was a teenager. I loved reading the juxtaposition between Ivy's teenage interpretation of her mother and then reading her mother's teen years and how she became the way she is.

This is a must read for those who love creepy, magical, badass female characters coming into their own.

“Think of it: sixteen and brimming with power, after being told all your life you were powerless.”

I feel like this one started pretty slow, but kept picking up steam until I had a hard time putting it down.

Our Crooked Hearts is told from the perspective of Dana in the past, and her daughter Ivy in the present. I enjoyed Ivy’s narrative the most and wished there was more of it. The book opens with Ivy and her boyfriend driving home from a party when a young woman runs across the road and into the forest. They follow her and Ivy swears she hears the stranger say her name. And then things get weird.

Magic, witchcraft, folklore, this book is an ode to the magic women make. It gave me some Practical Magic vibes but a little darker and more sinister.

This book had me hooked from the first chapter. I loved the dual pov format and clues were slowly revealed to help you piece together the mysteries. All of the characters were deliciously morally gray and played key pieces in the story, so no energy was wasted keeping track of side characters. Albert's writing style is deeply beautiful and delightfully creepy, and the pacing was perfect-there is plenty of action and plot development and intrigue to keep you on the edge of your seat, but making you work your way through the story to solve the mystery. There were many plot twists, betrayals, and revelations. The romantic subplot at the end was unexpectedly beautiful... for as little time as it got in the story, it had me tearing up by the end of the book. I also loved the ending... it ended on a good note, but left just enough mystery to let you fill in the blanks on what the future holds.

This book in 3 words: Fierce. Creepy. Enticing. 

Ivy is seventeen and trying to enjoy summer vacation. With a very bizarre encounter, she starts to uncover things aren't (and never really were) what they seem.

I refuse to give stuff away - this book is so good. A unique fantasy-ish story with a plot unlike any other and defiant and dominant women as our main characters. Told from dual POVs (yessss to the 90s vibes), this is all about making tough decisions, pushing boundaries, and doing what you must. 

When I received an ARC of Our Crooked Hearts, I legitimately screamed. I'd heard about it a month or so prior and was so excited to read it. I was left with a more amazing story than I originally prepared for. The opening chapter of Our Crooked Hearts is 10/10 - it grabbed me and made a lasting mark on my book-loving soul. 

I've not read a book like this in a long time... I 100% recommend. It's perfect for readers up to their eyeballs in fantasy/witchy things as well as the novice. Truly magical goodness for a wide array of readers. 
I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I have read The Hazlewood series, and I have to say this book was a lot more fun!

There have been a lot of good books published lately featuring witches, but this might be my favorite. It was just the right combination of creepy and intriguing with plenty of twists and turns in the plot. I thought the characters in this book really shined when compared to those in the authors previous works.

Anyone who likes books with haunted libraries and spooky mysteries is going to love this book!

This book gave me The Craft vibes but it was somehow creepier. I loved the magic both beautiful and dark. The story is told in two timelines the present focuses on 17 year old Ivy whose summer starts with a bizarre encounter when her boyfriend almost hits a naked woman who dashed in front of their car. The second timeline is the past when Ivy’s mother Dana was a teenager and discovered magic. The story unfolded in a fun way and was filled with dark twists. This is a story of magic and betrayal and revenge and I wish it wasn’t over since I loved it. I personally preferred the Ivy chapters as the story got going - the first couple of Ivy chapters were a little slow.. I struggled to connect with Dana the same way but her story was still super interesting.

Have you ever wondered what happened to the characters of The Craft twenty years after the events of the movie? Then this is the book for you. Dana and her friends get mixed up in some mystical drama as teens, the effects of which reverberate throughout their lives and eventually change the life of Dana’s daughter, Ivy. It’s basically The Craft: Where Are They Now?

What I liked about this: Albert has such a unique and quirky writing style. I’ve not really seen anything like it before and it was refreshing to read. The tone of this story was darker and creepier than I’ve come to expect from most YA, and that is fantastic. Also the magic felt realistic (at least as realistic as magic can be), and the stakes of messing with it were appropriately dire.

What didn’t quite work: I had a hard time connecting with any character other than Ivy. I think my issue was Dana - while not the primary “bad guy” - felt overly villainous. I would have liked more of a balance between “kid that is growing up” and “mom who feels the need to protect her,” whereas the mom here just made all the wrong choices. Additionally the other characters weren’t developed to the point where I felt attached to them at all (which is a shame because I wanted to be!)

My mild critique aside, this was a really interesting, thrilling, spooky (those damn rabbits!), witchy read, and I’m hoping we get more of this universe in the future!

(Thank you to Flatiron Books and Netgalley for an advanced copy)

Our Crooked Hearts is a compelling piece of fiction that I could not stop thinking about in between reading it! The book is written from multiple perspectives, both in the past and in current time. The characters are well developed and you really get an insight into how the flaws of each person are a result of their personal circumstances. Overall the book has a message about love and trust that is important for readers in today’s world.