I am a huge fan of fantasy, but a big baby when it comes to anything with ghosts so this genuinely spooked me for a minute there. That said, it was just the right amount of creepy for me - I was enthralled and could not put the book down, but I didn't lose any sleep once I finished.

When things in Ivy's life start to go sideways, she begins to think she doesn't know her mom as well as she thought she did. Our Crooked Hearts follows two timelines, one following Ivy in the modern day and one in 90's Chicago with her mother at Ivy's age. I was hooked from the very beginning, trying to piece together Dana's history and it's relevance in the modern day.

Check out Our Crooked Hearts if you like witches and ghosts and 1990's Chicago; complex mother-daughter relationships and lifelong friendships; love and betrayal and more.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an ALC in exchange for an honest review.

I listened to Our Crooked Hearts this week and it had me completely immersed in an atmospheric, witchy world.
This is a fantastic slow burn mystery complete with hidden dimensions and dark magic. I loved the dual timeline/POV storytelling that completely sucked me in.

#FirstLine ~ We were going too fast.

I really enjoyed this book. I loved that it was filled with mystery, magic and interesting characters. I loved that it bounced back and forth between present and past filling in the story piece by piece. I enjoyed the fact that I never knew what was going to happen. I was totally engrossed in the story from start to finish. I was pleased with the ending too. Just a great overall book that keeps the reader engaged and engrossed!!!

Melissa Albert has done it again. Hidden magic, star-crossed lovers, a complicated mother/daughter relationship, and a rogue occultist... What more could you want?

Flipping between The Suburbs (Right Now) and The City (Back Then), "Our Crooked Hearts" tells the story of 17-year-old Ivy Chase (Right Now), whose suburban life is plunged into chaos when a naked teenage girl appears in the middle of the road one night.

We soon learn how this naked teenager in the woods is connected to Ivy's mother, Dana, who once was a teenage girl in the city who messed with the wrong kind of magic.

I very much enjoyed this audiobook. The narrators were pitch-perfect to match the prose.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the ARC!

This was a weird, trippy, engaging tale of mothers and daughters, of secrets and best friends, and most of all - of magic. I am not usually a fan of complex stories on audiobook, as I have a harder time fully engaging when I'm listening - but this time around, I am so glad I chose the audio version!

I really loved the dual narration and think it worked perfectly for the story. Normally, I prefer a single narrator and only minor voice modifications to indicate character or perspective switches because I find multiple voices and accents to be distracting. Here, the two voice actors were such perfect embodiments of how I imagined the characters that the duality - with all its distinctinctions in not only maturity and age of the character but also in tone and even volume of the reader - really enhanced the two perspectives.

I loved the complex world-building, both in terms of the way magic was portrayed and in terms of the interpersonal relationships between family members (both biological and chosen). It was a clever and intelligent story that wove in so many elements: the power of friendship and family, the nature of truth, the interplay between duty and obligation, the lies we tell ourselves to survive, and the justifications we give to underpin the decisions we make...

It was a brilliant and complex tale and I thoroughly enjoyed it!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for providing me with this ARC and audiobook.


Description from NetGalley:
The suburbs, right now . . .
Ivy’s summer break kicks off with an accident, a punishment, and a mystery: a stranger whose appearance in the middle of the road, in the middle of the night, heralds a string of increasingly unsettling events. As the days pass, Ivy grapples with eerie offerings, corroded memories, and a burning question: What if there's more to her mother than meets the eye?

The city, back then . . .
Dana has always been perceptive. And the summer she turns sixteen, with the help of her best friend and an ambitious older girl, her gifts bloom into a heady fling with the supernatural. As the trio’s aspirations darken, they find themselves speeding toward a violent breaking point.

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.

The narrator did a good job with voices, but towards the end the reader does need to pay more attention to whose POV we are getting. I loved all of the relationships between the different women, especially for Dana. The dual timeline was a great way to tell this story. It is on the slower side for pacing, but that feels natural as Ivy discovers more of what is going on.

Overall: 4/5

Our Crooked Hearts sucked you in deep from the start. What seemed like an innocent teenage girls start of summer, well as innocent as a teenage girl can be, you wonder at the little hints this story starts out with. With a grander story about magic and not the nice side of it, you get to learn the twisted tail of the cons of magic.

This story drips with spells and oozes with blood and recipes for disaster. What a compelling listen. The only criticism for the audio would be that Dana's side was a bit quiet so had to manage the volume a lot while driving. But I love the eerie feeling this whole book provided.

Seemingly haunted by something in her mother's past, Ivy learns about past and present dilemmas that only a bit of magic can handle. I personally could not connect with this book,it was maybe too witchy for my taste. I do believe it was written well and that it may be of liking to people who enjoy this sort of witchy book.

Love, Love. Love this book!!! And a fabulous narrator too! Perfect transitions between past and present twine the lives of the charecters through magic and facing a the consequences of a terrible magic past.

Our Crooked Hearts is a bit of a mind f-(you can guess the rest of that word). Ivy is a teenage girl with a strange mother, who at times is a bit scary. She is strange and does and says weird things that normal people just don’t. When a girl ends up running out of the woods naked in front of the car Ivy is in, she is set on a journey to learn the secrets of her mother’s past and why that very naked girl from the woods knew her name.

This story was creepy at parts. There are dead bunnies just showing up in driveways and a feeling of being watched by someone or something. There is also the next door neighbor boy that Ivy had one awkward moment with years ago but still hangs on the edge of her mind. Ivy is in a family full of secrets, all of which seem to surround her mom and a big event that happened when her mother was a teen.

I had a great time uncovering the background story of Ivy’s mom when she was a teen and found her witch powers. I was intrigued by how it all went wrong and why Ivy might know her mom is different never really clued in to how different until some very weird stuff started happening around her house and he mom just went MIA. Now she knows there are some big memories she lost and so many secrets that her family is barely hanging on by a thread.

Such a good book. I really enjoyed all of the story and how well the magic was kept feeling real and not overdone. I remember falling in love with The Craft back in the day and this reminded me a little of that show. I have not read Melissa Albert before but I will have to check out her other books after this standalone novel.

Narration:
I’m a big fan of Emma Galvin since listening to her Divergent narration. I have since heard her do other books and I’ve enjoyed them all. Chloe Cannon however is a new to me narrator and I think she captured the voice of Dana so well in her teenage years. Really great to have 2 narrators on for each PoV making me, the reader, feel so in tune with each different voice of the story. Dana was definitely the edgier of the two narrations. I was able to listen at my usual 1.5x speed

I was excited for this modern YA fantasy but I had a hard time getting invested in either of the two plots in this dual timeline summer story full of family secrets and magic. Recommended for fans of Edgewood or The river has teeth. Enjoyable on audio with narration from Chloe Cannon and Emma Glavin. Much thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for an advance listening copy in exchange for my honest review.

This is probably one of the best books I've read this year, and one of my favorite witch books I've ever read. I didn't come into this book with high expectations. There's always a girl-power witch YA floating around, and I expected this to be another forgettable novel: decent, but nothing remarkable. Our Crooked Hearts more than exceeded them. It was creepy, it was unique, and it was amazing. The story begins with Ivy and her boyfriend driving home, when the boyfriend swerves to avoid a naked woman that has run out from the woods. From there, it just gets more compelling-- a dead rabbit in front of the house, a jar with blood that Ivy's mother has buried in the garden, things that Ivy has seemingly forgotten ever happened. This novel is a perfect mixture of Sabrina's Chilling Adventures and the Craft, drawing from decades of witch media while still managing to remain unique. I adored this, and I'll definitely keep my eye out for anything else Melissa Albert writes.

Our Crooked Hearts was dark and broody and just what I hoped for from Melissa Albert. Supernatural elements roll through gritty contemporary settings like a slow fog, coloring everything in shades of creepy and disturbing. Having both Ivy and Dana's POVs was a fascinating counterpoint; at times revelatory, and at times jarring, as we try to decide what to hope for most. This contemporary fairy tale reads like a thriller, and by the end readers will have bitten their nails to the quick.

I listened to the story on audio, and wasn't wild about either narrator, but this is, of course, a very subjective preference.

I enjoyed this story so very much.

It’s one that I want to have a bit of time to sit with before I make a longer review.

A story about the distance that seems to naturally occur between mothers and daughters but with a shift into a world of dark Magick.

✨ Review ✨ Our Crooked Hearts by Melissa Albert; Narrated by Chloe Cannon; Emma Galvin

This dual timeline story narrates a present timeline of Ivy and to her mom Dana in the past, both of whom are finding mysterious things happening to them. What is it exactly that Dana's hiding from Ivy and what is causing the strange things happening around them?

I enjoyed parts of this book, including the creepy witchy vibes that stretched throughout. The type of magic that existed here is fascinating, varying from practitioner to practitioner, which offered great flexibility in the way that the story could go. With that said, it also felt like the book was more artifice and action, and the fancy stylistic writing sometimes drew me out of the story.

I also found the dual timelines difficult to grapple with because sometimes they were more reflective than action-based which made it easy to lose track of who was narrating and what timeline we were in. The audiobook did change back and forth between narrators which helped but still I found myself confused at times.

I admit that by the end I was kind of ambivalent - things had happened sort of slowly and the wordiness put me off a bit. I'm glad I gave this one a shot, but I don't think this one was for me.

⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: YA; fantasy/magical realism
Pub Date: Out now

Read this if you like:
⭕️ YA witchy vibes
⭕️ dual timeline, mother-daughter storylines
⭕️ slow-paced magical stories set in a realistic setting
⭕️ dead rabbits

Thanks to Flatiron Books for the giveaway copies @itslizreading and I won, and to Flatiron, #netgalley, and Macmillan Audio for the audio version of this book!

This one started off entertaining, but got bogged down as it went on. There wasn't enough plot and the existing plot was very obvious from the beginning. I wish there had been a bit more development of the characters and the relationships. I definitely wanted to understand more about Dana and Ivy and Billy and Ivy.

The audiobook narration was great though and it was easy to follow the shifts in narrator/time because of the variation in the narrator's delivery. I did really enjoy the audio aspect of the book.

As a massive fan of The Hazel Wood series, I was so excited when I got approved for an ARC of the audiobook! All the things I loved about Hazel Wood are in this book, but turned up even more and even better. This is definitely a 5 star read, full of mystery, dark secrets, and supernatural/ occurrences. The dual timelines were perfectly done, and each section of timeline blended seamlessly. For example, introducing a new character from the past due to a friendship necklace in a photograph found in the present. THE DETAIL!

This story is told between 2 timelines- “The suburbs, right now” featuring 17-year-old Ivy, and “The city, back then” which follows Ivy’s mom, 16-year-old Dana, and her two friends, Fee and Marion. As the worlds collide into the present, they must face a dark presence that never should have been messed with. Side note: This is probably somewhere between a young adult and adult due to language, animal death, and overall darker tone of the book.

The development of all the characters in such a short time is really well done. As the story is told in 3 parts, you get to hear other characters perspectives which really helps round out the story. Melissa has such an incredible talent for weaving together a creative tale that grabs your attention from the first page, and holds it tight until the last. I’m already wanting to re-read it!

The only negative with the audiobook (maybe it was because it was an ARC version, I don’t know) but the narration for “The city, back then” from Dana’s perspective was difficult to understand at times. While the dialogue spoken between characters was great, it was the narration regarding details and thoughts that sounded almost mumbled in between the character spoken dialogue. There were things I missed multiple times and had to rewind and slow down the audio, turn the volume up etc. So that part was frustrating, but it didn’t have anything to do with the actual book. Just a heads up if you are planning on listening to the audiobook. I will borrow the finalized audiobook from the library, and if it was just the version I had, I will adjust my review.

To close out, I want to share one of my favourite moments that had me reeling as the realization of events began to play out and began to integrate characters outside of the core family.

(Ivy to Billy)
“I’ve had one conversation with you in my life. Last night. I’ve seen you around. I remember what happened in junior high, but last night? That’s the first time we’ve really talked.” He said nothing. Just watched me. “Except that’s not true, is it?” I said quietly “I know that now.”

Huge thank you to @netgalley and @macmillan.audio for the ARC, and to @melissaalbertauthor for the incredible story

3.5 ⭐️
It was entertaining although I don't think I would re read this, it was fun and I enjoyed it but I didn't find it all that unique or standout, Especially to the point I would re read with my ever growing fantasy tbr; but I'm very happy to have read it. I liked the dual timeline writing style, having not only dual character perspective but a current/past time pov was really interesting; it is a book you need to give a bit more attention though because it took me a few chapters to fully get a grasp of all the characters and their place in past and present timelines.

Other than the incredibly detailed animal deaths, I enjoyed this but ultimately it was a fairly 'mid' fantasy book.... I had fun while reading but now that it's over I am pretty indifferent about the book and can't see myself rushing to recommend or re-reading anytime soon.

Graphic: Blood, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Gore, Injury/injury detail, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Violence
Moderate: Self harm, Car accident, and Confinement
Minor: Bullying and Alcohol

On the eve of Ivy's summer break, while her boyfriend is driving her home from a party, a mysterious figure darts into the road in front of them causing her boyfriend to swerve in order to avoid it. There's a minor accident as a result and Ivy's face gets a little banged up. More concerning to Ivy however is the figure that caused them to go off the road in the first place. What was that?

They stop and pursue the figure into the woods. It's a young woman and she seems out of place. The whole event is very strange, leaving Ivy feeling haunted.

Nevertheless, they return to the car and her boyfriend drives her home, where she proceeds to break up with him. Not the best start to summer break. Making matters worse, she actually gets in trouble with her parents because of the accident. As the hits keep on coming, she's now grounded. This is going to be a great summer.

((Insert dramatic teen eye roll here.))

Soon Ivy is going to be wishing her lack of freedom were her largest problem as she starts being plagued by a series of increasingly unsettling events. The figure in the woods isn't done with her. She doesn't know how she knows this, she just does. It's all connected. That's our present perspective. We also get a past perspective following Ivy's Mom, Dana.

When Dana was a teen, she and a couple of friends had a real The Craft-moment happening. I'm not going to say one of them was Nancy, but one of them had some Nancy-leanings. If you know, you know.

As the Reader it is very easy to become immersed in both of these timelines. Equally interesting is how they are connected and watching the two of them eventually bleed into one another.

I thought Albert did a great job telling this story. There were a couple of aspects that lost me a bit, some scenes towards the end had a fever dream-type quality to them and that's not necessarily my favorite to see in a narrative. With this being said, overall I found this story to be intriguing as heck. The moody, dark atmosphere was definitely a plus for me. I loved how full of magic it was. Witchy vibes for the win!

Also, I really enjoyed the relationship between Ivy and her Mom. It's complicated for a number of different reasons and watching Dana come to accept her daughter's strength and power was beautiful to me. Even though I didn't agree with quite a few of Dana's choices as a mother, I could definitely sympathize with her. I feel like Albert built her character out enough that it was easy to understand her motivations.

This was a highly anticipated release for me and it did not disappoint. I definitely recommend it to all who enjoy a dark, magical story with a bit of a mystery.

Thank you so much to the publisher, Macmillan Audio, for providing me with a copy to read and review. The audiobook is fantastically done!

This book is mommy issues, lack of communication, and witches and I really enjoyed it! Both timelines were really well developed and stood on their own. I loved seeing how they wove together later in the story. This book has some really important lessons about family, friendship, and betrayal. I was glad that Dana's choice to lock away Ivy's memories was never justified or depicted as a good decision. The mother was just as flawed a character as her daughter which was very refreshing. Marion's character was fascinating. Despite being undoubtedly flawed and selfish her interactions with Ivy added complexity to her character.

Though the characters are supposed to be flawed and a bit unlikable, Ivy's selfishness and stubbornness got on my nerve a bit. Her insistent refusal to even consider that her mom might have her reasons was very frustrating to read about. The romance also felt a bit out of place but because it didn't take up that much of the story it didn't bother me too much. I will also say that the narrator for Dana wasn't my favorite. When she was speaking as Dana her voice came across almost sultry, like she was reading a steamy scene in a romance book and it really threw me off.