I couldn't really get into this story. The odd narration made it difficult to listen to, and the story itself was not super engaging, even though I was intrigued by the premise.

While the audio was a bit stilted, I fully attribute that to the synthetic narrator and not the actual writing. Scelsa is able to weave together a variety of characters, witchiness, history, and humor into a fun new romance. Reading this novel (well, listening) was an utter delight, and I can't wait to read more from the author.

Queer, witches, Salem, this book had me written all over it. I loved the tarot card usage, and I highly enjoy cynical characters. I'm not against pot use, I myself use medical cbd products. But the amount of time Eleanor was high (which was a LOT) was excessive. It's clearly a negative coping strategy which needs some help.

I'm not familiar with tarot cards so I can't speak directly to if they were used "properly" but they definitely were interesting.

I listened to this book via synthetic voice audio. Personally I'm not a fan of the synthetic voice and very well could have enjoyed this book more if I read it.

*Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the gifted synthetic voice audio. All thoughts and opinions are my own*

I really wanted to like this for so many reasons! Queer witches, depictions of Salem that made me miss it, teens navigating trauma... unfortunately the execution was lacking substance and nuance. Right off the bat, the love interest felt impersonal and lacked any kind of spark. It was like instalove but not even in the usual way. Eleanor knows nothing about Pix and she's talking about how much she likes her and about their first kiss, yet there's nothing natural about their relationship progression. They don't get to know each other and it feels very surface level.

My other big issue here is with the amount of weed Eleanor smokes ~as a coping mechanism~. I'm the last person in the world to care about casual drug use in teen books or in general, but it's never addressed that what Eleanor is doing is using it as a coping mechanism and that it's a real addiction. Even worse, when she meets Pix she cuts down on in and even says it's because of her, which is huge red flag territory in addiction terms. This felt like a replacement of one thing for another and it's one thing to have this in the book and then address it, but it's never addressed at all.

Most of the characters just felt a bit flat to me and I couldn't connect to them, and even the witchy Salem aspects couldn't draw me in enough to care, sadly.

This is personally the kind of book I love. I was drawn to it from the cover and the description and it did not disappoint. I love witchy stories that are set in Salem, MA and are Halloween related so this was great. The romance was a bit expected but still cute.

Awfully cute. I'm glad I gave it a shot even though it was a YA. The characters were cute and the relationship sweet- plus the witch stuff was written so well! This is a nice fluffy halloween read right alongside Cemetery Boys and Pumpkinheads

Salem is the home for all things witchy and it's where this novel takes place. Eleanor works at a super touristy witchy shop and tries to work through some emotional trauma by avoiding it and trying not to think about it. But she's sent a mysterious tarot card reading book that is incredibly detailed and beautifully illustrated, the trauma of losing her first love/best friend spirals to the forefront of her mind and forces her to conflict it. And a series of complicated plot points ensue: she meets a real "witch" Pix and is introduced to their coven, she makes friends again, she goes out. There's hope of healing and a new romance.

Recommended for anyone craving a sapphic romance, a witchy read, a tarot card inspired narrative, a coming of age story

I received a free voicegalley of this book for an honest review. Great YA title! The story follows teenage Eleanor as she is recovering from a particularly difficult year in high school. She and her mother moved to Salem to be near her mother's friend who has been helping her cope with Lyme disease. She also works in a witch themed gift shop owned by said friend. Two things happen at once that set the story in motion. While working on day, the shop receives a handmade book about the cards of the major arcana of the Rider Waite tarot desk. Despite being a professed skeptic on all the "witchy stuff", Eleanor takes a real interest in the book. The second thing to happen is that two girls that she has never met come into the store and Eleanor is immediately drawn to the one called Pix. Will Eleanor be able to overcome her past to see the magic of her future? Read (or listen) to find out.

The autogenerated narrator was too off putting for me to get past the first chapter. I’m sure this is a good book but the format kept me from finding out.

If you’re a fan of love and romance, bad decisions, and second chances, you should read Improbable Magic for Cynical Witches. Though magic is in the air, the witchiness of the story is an aside from its heart. (Though the witchiness is great, no doubt!) It’s a perfect example of teenage angst and that feeling that everyone is watching you and everything is about you—but in reality? You’ll have to read to find out.
When we meet Eleanor, she’s cynical, not just about magic, but about everything else. After being labeled an outcast by her classmates because of the fallout from her relationship with her best friend Chloe, Eleanor drowns out life in a puff of smoke and living her best hermit-like life as she can. She receives a handmade tarot guide in the store mail where she works for her mom’s best friend, and her life starts to change in magical ways. She meets Pix, who invites her to a coven meeting. From there, Eleanor begins her journey to find herself while keeping what haunts her from her new friends. Eleanor must take a leap of faith in all things friendship and love.
I listened to an audiobook with a synthesized voice recording through NetGalley, so it took me a bit to get into the book. (The Harper Collins whispermark scared the life out of me until I figured out what it was.) This is not a reflection on the book but how it was delivered. However, by Chapter seven, I was hooked. Eleanor had secrets, but she wasn’t divulging them to us. I kept trying to figure out how to rework my life to finish sooner. When I came to the end, I wasn’t disappointed.
The story is told using the Smith-Rider-Waite Tarot and is broken up into two timelines: pre-Chloe and post-Chloe. Eleanor is a flawed character and sometimes unlikeable, but aren’t we all sometimes? Especially when we were teens. I think that made her more interesting. In fact, most of the characters in the book have their flaws, for good and bad. I enjoyed this book, and I plan to purchase it when it’s released.
Content warnings: Drug use/abuse, sexual assault, bullying, toxic relationships, and chronic illness. There is discussion of marijuana use and sexual situations, so younger YA readers should be aware of that. They may have questions for parents.

Eleanor has gotten used to being the Salem Massachusetts's pariah now that she has lost Chloe. She dropped out of high school to work full time at a kitchy witch-themed gift shop so that her mother can rest when her Lyme's disease makes it too hard to function. Eleanor doesn't expect the mysterious book on tarot to be useful, nor does she expect a cute witch to pop up shortly after she starts thinking about fate and energy more. A romance blossoms, but it might be too hard for Eleanor to unravel her own checkered past and learn to hope again before it's too late.

This book does a remarkable job of following the tarot deck and explaining each card through Eleanor's life. Or perhaps it's all just a coincidence. It was a respectful book that pokes fun at Halloween and tourist culture without ever being mean. Having been to Salem in October, I can confirm: it gets pretty silly at times. I liked the mystery that evolved with the romance as Eleanor was able to open up and be more honest, but I admit it was pretty perilous at times. The character development was well-executed, and the tour of Salem was second to none. I was upset at first that the premise seemed a bit unbelievable, but -aha- unreliable narrator, so it worked out well. I will be recommending this book to my witchy friends. I'm not sure it will be appropriate for my students since it has a lot of smoking/getting high, swearing, and an assault scene (maybe more than one, but one really traumatic one), but these were handled tastefully and believably.

Predicting the future is hard, and knowing how to proceed is a struggle for us all. The difficulties of the narrator, as she works through her past to find her way forward, affect her choices and she looks to tarot to find her future path.

After hearing about Improbable Magic for Cynical Witches from another reviewer I was excited for the opportunity to read it early and give feedback. However, this novel was a pretty big let down for me. I enjoyed the first half of the story, because the author has a fun, whimsical, style of writing that drew me in. I loved the tarot card tie ins for each chapter and thought it gave the story some great character.
Unfortunately, the second half of this novel becomes pretty problematic and caused me to rate it 2 stars. First, the author leans into some hurtful stereotypes of lesbian and bisexual individuals, which was disappointing but forgivable. Then she reveals that a main character is a litteral stalker and justifies it because they "love" the character they stalk "so much". This behavior is later forgiven by other characters because the victim of the stalking was actually a terrible person, so it doesn't really matter. Even the adults in the story, who know what is happening, choose to ignore it rather than address it and get this individual help.
I was not anticipating this twist, and I really didn't like it.

I can't tell if it was because of the robotic narrator of this audiobook or if it was the story itself, but I couldn't really get into this book. I wanted to like it so much; a witchy sapphic young adult book seems right up my alley. But unfortunately, I feel like almost nothing happened throughout this book (despite this not being the case).

Following two timelines, I feel like neither of the stories were strong enough on their own, and I found the moments that the story chose to switch timelines to be a little weird. Sometimes, it felt like the past was being told to me rather than being shown. I also wish that there was more of a focus on the witchiness of it all.

That being said, I did enjoy a lot of aspects of this book. I really liked the framing of each chapter with a tarot card, which was such a unique and fun way to include witch-related things. I also really liked the setting of the story; Scelsa did a great job with describing the atmosphere and making me feel like I was there. The side characters were also interesting, but I wish that they were explored more; even the character of Pix felt flat and disconnected throughout the story.

Overall, I had a good time reading this book, but it never quite clicked for me.

Unfortunately, this book was not for me. From the description, I loved the sound of the story; magic and tarot cards, and found family of witches. However, after the first few chapters, basically, all I knew about the main character is how much she enjoys smoking pot, how she buys it, where she smokes it, etc. This may be someone else's cup of tea, but it is definitely not mine and I don't think this should be such a prominent theme in a young adult novel.

I really enjoyed the creative use of tarot cards as a framing for this book. It reinvigorated a curious interest in tarot card for this reader. Small talk of drug use by the main character was distracting for me. I felt it was unnecessary, but respect that it was used as a coping mechanism for the main character. I just found it a bit heavy handed and distracting for the overall story.

The main character seemed to have a pattern of unhealthy obsession that shouldn't be romanticized.

I loved the setting, and think it would be even more exciting to integrate or explore the historical significance of that area on the characters. Reading this made me want to read more history books.

I also really appreciated the accepting family and friend portrayal.

This story was merely okay, it felt like nothing was really happening despite the twists and turns that were constantly happening. It not that I disliked it, but I didn’t liked it enough to recommend it to anyone. Just like a weekend movie, the one that you enjoy but never give it much though.
The characters were a little bit flat, and honestly boring.
I feel that the mistake here was that the author wanted to keep so much surprises that it was just exhausting trying to guess what was happening.
This book has magic, but (as mentioned in the book) it just felt like a cult. I feel like if there was something more that made the reader truly engage with the magic and the people of the coven, it would’ve been so much better.
I will give this book 3 stars, because, as I said I didn’t hated it, but also didn’t loved it.

I'm not sure I can actually give a review of this title. I don't usually read YA titles and thought I would give this a try DESPITE the narrator being a robot. While the digitally created narrator was better than some actors I've slogged through, it still wasn't great. I'm going to have to pay more attention when requesting audiobooks. I really couldn't pay attention to the story because the robot was distracting and then every so often, very softly, you'll hear something about Harper Collins Publishing in the background.

I love this book! A pamphlet to the Tarot major arcana is our guide to seeing Eleanor out of the last horrible year of her high-school life. With each chapter, we learn a bit more of the past that brought her to a screaming halt. And we get to watch the happy reawakening of her spirit.

You’ll love this book if you’re interested in a gentle romance, suffering through second-hand high-school drama, and enjoy watching tensions ease and new friendships form.

I am so grateful to the author and NetGalley for letting me review an early copy of this excellent LGBT YA romance!

Improbable Magic for Cynical Witches by Kate Scelsa was a great story. It is very much a young adult novel, but it felt very fresh. The audio book needs some work, but it was still listen-able. Would recommend to teens.