I received an audio arc of this book via Netgalley, all opinions are my own.

I loved this book! I'll be 100% honest, I did not care for The Hazel Wood, and it honestly only just occured to me that the same author wrote both books. This is a tad dark, but still fits in the YA bucket.

I'm normally not a fan of alternating timelines, but this is an example of how to do it right. This follows Ivy and her mother Dana through some mysterious events. Ivy's POV is told in the present day while Dana's POV is told in the past. Eventually the POVs meet up in the present as secrets and lies are uncovered and Ivy learns about things that Dana and her beloved Aunt Fe were part when they were teens.

I thought the magic was well explained as the girls (Fe and Dana) learn to use their natural gifts as well as those they develop with their friend Marion. I thought the character development was great and the world building was well done. Albert did a great job with the creep factor when it was needed and definitely gave this book a little bit of a horror vibe.

This book has all of the things I'm looking for, it has a little bit of a mystery element, the pacing was good, the narrators were great, I enjoyed all of the characters, the plot was creative and engaging. I didn't want to stop listening to this! If you are looking for a quick read this summer I highly recommend this!

🎧 📖 Our Crooked Hearts by Melissa Albert ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you @flatiron_books @melissaalbertauthor @netgalley and @macmillan.audio for the #gifted ARC and ALC of #OurCrookedHearts

🌙𝐵𝑜𝑜𝑘 𝐵𝑙𝑢𝑟𝑏: “ Secrets. Lies. Super-bad choices. Witchcraft.

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.”


🌙𝑅𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑒𝑤: This cover is life!!! I don’t usually read fantasy -that’s slowly changing this year- but I had to read this one because this cover is a whole vibe!
I was pleasantly surprised with Our Crooked Hearts. I enjoyed the premise and character development. Very fast paced and easy to follow, this dual story line had me turning pages.

🌙𝑁𝑎𝑟𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛: Chloe Cannon and Emma Galvin did an excellent job narrating Our Crooked Hearts. Their voices matched the characters, their tone and even whispering from time to time added to the mystery and witchy vibes.

🌙𝑃𝑢𝑏 𝑑𝑎𝑡𝑒: June 28th 2022. Pre-Order Now!


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I really couldn’t finish this book. The story was ok but characters were flat.
I really had high hopes about this book because it sounded like it would have been something I would love but unfortunately it wasn’t the case. .

When this first started, I was concerned. It felt EXTREMELY young adult - like straight up high school drama levels of young adult - and I cannot handle that even remotely.

BUT - then the story got going and it was honestly great! This story was all over the place as we follow a girl discovering that her mom is more than she appears - but what exactly is it? We hear from both Ivy (in the now) and her mom (in the “then”) - so we’re getting the current story as well as what led up to the current events which made it that much more interesting.

Thanks to NetGalley, I scored an audio copy of this one and the narration was fantastic! Multiple narrators for the different POVs (and timelines) really made the story that much more realistic.

This is one of my most anticipated releases of 2022, and I’m happy to say I am NOT disappointed. Not even close. If you enjoy the supernatural-type witchy vibes, I’d pick this up!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I was so happy to receive the audiobook because this book was one that I found to be a slow burn with terrifying twists. Melissa Alberts writing is so beautifuly woven, I enjoyed the POV of the mother and daughter at the same age. This witchy book has twists and turns that will keep you up all night. I highly recommend this book for anyone looking for a ride.

Okay so this one took me a bit to get into, but once it grabbed me it didn’t let go! This was such an intense story of mother/daughter witches, secrets, and darkness.

My favorite thing about Our Crooked Hearts was getting to hear both Dana and Ivy’s stories, at around the same age, as we learn more and more of how Dana’s past is affecting her daughter Ivy’s present. I’ve always been very fascinated in the “why” behind who people are and the choices they make, and I think the author does an incredible job at depicting that very thing with a horror/thriller and supernatural twist. I also love a good motherhood story so that added an extra intrigue factor for me.

As I mentioned before, the beginning was kinda slow in my opinion, and I didn’t feel super invested until about 40% in, but I am so glad that I kept going because it truly redeemed itself. If you like creepy and witchy books DEFINITELY read Our Crooked Hearts!

I received an early review copy of the audiobook Our Crooked Hearts by Melissa Albert from Netgalley and Macmillan Audio from Flatiron Books. This in no way alters my opinion on the following review.

Teenage Ivy is living a somewhat unhappy life, but after a strange occurrence involving a naked teenager who seems to know her in the woods and odd behavior from her mother, she soon realizes there are many secrets she has to uncover from the people closest to her.

After Ivy's mother and aunt disappear, and the strange woman from the woods makes more appearances, she begins to uncover the truths long hidden. Tension rises and an old friendship long forgotten comes to life. She must process these truths and betrayals to save the ones she loves.

In the past, Ivy's teenage mother and her friends are playing with magic they don't understand. They soon realize there are more sinister things in this world than the backlash after using magic. After one fateful night, a greedy friend, and two spells gone wrong, Ivy's mother makes a split second decision that will affect not only herself and her friend in the future, but also endanger her daughter.

Darkly fascinating and fantastic, this multiple point of view novel seemlessly changes back and forth between mother and daughter, between 'back then' and 'right now' while it slowly and tantalizingly uncovers truths and lies. You end up with two separate stories (and a short peek at someone else's) in one book and it is an extraordinary work of talent by the author. Never before have I read a book that does this so well. In addition to this, Melissa's prose are to die for and her work is such a well-written emersion that you can literally taste and feel what's happening in the story.

The narrators, Emma Galvin (one of my fave narrators) and Chloe Cannon, are phenomenal. Perfect choices for their roles. Not only is the book a five star read, but the performances also are. I highly recommend this dark magical take to anyone who dares to uncover it's secrets.

"A book worth hiding is a book worth tugging from a dead woman’s cooling fingers…"

--------------------

What would you do to protect your secrets? To keep your children from repeating your mistakes?

When strange things start happening to Ivy, she learns just how far her mother has gone to protect her from finding out her past. We get the story in alternating chapters with one time point narrated by Ivy in the present moment and one by her mother Dana when she was a teenager. Dana and her friends became occultists practicing a very dark form of magic and whatever they have conjured she would do anything to hide. Ivy on the other hand wants nothing more than to the know the truth and she will stop at nothing to get there.

I like that this one focuses a bit on the impact of magic, the idea that witches must live in balance. Young people playing with magic can get them into serious trouble if they don't know the consequences. We see a darker side of what just a toe dip of magic can do. One timeline was very 'The Craft' while the others was more 'Hocus Pocus' but surprisingly they pull together nicely.

I did this one on audio and the narrators were really great.

Thanks to Macmillian for access to this audiobook. All opinions above are my own.

Are you looking for a slow-burn witchy story about how the actions of a parent can come back to haunt their children?

Meet Our Crooked Hearts.

Pros: 
-Dual POV (mother's past, daughter's present)
-Gritty story telling
-Everyone is a little questionable in their morality and seemingly unreliable 
-Creepy atmosphere
-The obvious care put into creating Dana's storyline 
-Complicated family dynamic

 Cons:
-There were some parts of the book that were obviously there for character/world building that dragged on and made it hard for me to get back into the story
-I didn't get a sense of what our characters' personalities were really like outside of these events
-I understand why the mom would have concerns for the children, especially Ivy, but her lack of involvement with them still seems odd

Dear witchy friends, I have a book for you 👏 🖤

Our Crooked Hearts had everything I could have wanted - magic, a gothic building, the occult, deep female friendships, and unsettling tales. It was messy and angsty, full of longing. Ivy longing for a deeper relationship with her mother, herself, and the boy across the street she can’t help but search for every time she steps out of her house.

The chapters switched between Ivy and Dana, and as you progress through each part, the writing starts to change. Part 2 was so lyrical, I felt like I was reading a dark fairytale. Part of me wishes the whole book was written this way but I think it’s containment makes it even more special.

It’s hard to fully review this one without giving away alll the magic between its pages. I hope with my whole heart that we get a prequel or even a sequel. There’s so much I’d love to see explored. From the generational magic to certain relationships, I could stay in this world forever.

I’d also like to start a petition to have Emma Galvin narrate every witchy, creepy book. She does such a great job 🙌

If you want a dark, murky tale of magic, memories, and revenge then you need this. And probably The Hazel Wood bc Melissa Albert’s writing is too good to not explore more.

The book is told in three different POV, most of it is mainly two POV - Dana and Ivy. The story is dark and atmosphere is creepy which I did enjoy.

The writing was okay, it didn't grip me.

The characters were flat and I didn't find myself invested in any of them. The male characters in the book were less developed than the female characters.

The story/plot was really slow paced and boring in the beginning, it wasn't until I was 80% in the book that things started to get interesting and pick up. When I got to the ending it felt rushed and weird for a lack of a better word.

Overall, I don't think this book was for me.

Albert writes fairy tales with teeth. Our Crooked Hearts is no exception. Ivy is a normal girl she breaks up with her boyfriend at a party and they encounter a mysterious woman in the middle of the night on the drive home who knows Ivy's name. From that moment Ivy realizes her understanding of the world and even her own life is not complete. How can you tell what is true when your memories can’t be trusted?

Ivys mother is not like other mothers. She’s sharp, and cold, and strange things happen that she predicts. Even her own children are a little afraid of her. Dana is a woman haunted by a past and secrets she keeps locked tight within. But some secrets won’t stay buried.

Alberts cutting descriptions create powerful imagery. Full of darkness, magic, and glorious power. This book is a treasure that should be savored.

In a stunning follow-up to her Hinterland books, Melissa Albert has once again written a beautifully crafted dark fantasy. This tale spanning two generations of female witches tells of magic and how quickly it can turn on you. As Ivy uncovers more and more about her mother's past, she discovers just how far the woman would go to shield her from danger.

While I really enjoyed the rotating perspectives and the way the author traveled back and forth through time to tell a rich and detailed story, the narrators were not it for me. (Side note: At regular speed this book felt too slow for me. At 1.5 the voices did not feel right)

Wow - this was such a great read. This was easily one of the top 5 YA books I have read this year. I loved the mother/daughter dynamic, and the added element of magic is always a win for me. The characters were deeply flawed, which I loved. I really enjoyed bouncing back and forth between the mother's story and the daughter's story and then seeing how they came together. This was a real win for me, and I will definitely be adding it to our library!

Our Crooked Hearts follows Ivy and her mother Dana in duel timelines, the before and after of an event from Dana’s life (that I will not reveal it’s a big spoiler). I usually enjoy duel timelines but lately I have found that they’ve become a popular thing to use in books and often don’t really make sense to the actual story, but it definitely made sense and was done really well here. There were often hints at things that happened in the past or would happen in the future, it made it fun to try and gather these hints and try to figure out what was happening. The switches from past to present were also very seamless and didn’t feel confusing at all, there were never any instances where I wasn’t sure which timeline I was in. I really enjoyed how slowly the two timelines met at one point and it all made sense and fit together. The timelines were used expertly and effectively.

I also really loved the witchy vibes but in a summery coastal town setting. It felt different from most witchy books that always take place in the fall or early spring. It was very refreshing and worked well with the story. For fans of The Craft or Bunny, this has more modern witches and teenagers messing with magic that they don’t fully understand, with a unique story that I think you’ll enjoy. The writing was well written and descriptive, it really helped to transport you to this town. I really felt like I was there, driving down backroads on a summer night, or wandering around a 7/11 to escape the heat. Melissa Albert is very talented at descriptive writing and Our Crooked Hearts is no exception.

It is a YA story which I know some people don’t like, however you can really tell when an author actually understands that age range, and here I found the dialogue never had that cringy, definitely written by someone who isn’t a teenager, type of writing. There’s no weird ‘teenage slang’ that no teenager would ever say, it always feels very real. In Our Crooked Hearts as well as The Hazel Wood, the teenagers always feel just like real teenagers. They real grown people but they also make the dumb choices and mistakes that teenagers do, she never makes them feel weirdly adult or way too immature that they’re not believable. When it came to the actual individual characters, I thought Ivy was a fairly good protagonist but I did wish Dana was a bit more flushed out. I found she lacked much personality and her friends seemed to overshadow her which was disappointing because I think she had a lot of potential. While I think the characters were believable as teenagers, I also think they could’ve been more developed. I would’ve loved to see Billy have more of a backstory and for him to be more than just a love interest and an aid to Ivy and the plot. I would also have loved to see more Hank, what was he doing this whole time lol.

The narrators for the audiobook did an excellent job of capturing the atmosphere and taking these characters from the page and making them feel real. Listening to the story elevated the experience and added to the tension and mysteriousness. I had read the book already once on my own, but listening to the audiobook made me enjoy it even more than I already did. I would definitely recommend to anyone looking to pick up this title to listen to the audiobook alongside.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and gave it 4.5/5, the only thing I would’ve liked better was more character depth as I mentioned. The story was gripping and fast paced, with many twists and turns. I was constantly guessing at what would happen next and was each time shocked at what actually happened, and yet each reveal made sense and if you looked back you could see the clever hints hidden within the story. The audiobook was atmospheric and really just transported you right into the story. The ending wrapped it all up and was very satisfying. I can’t wait to read what’s next from Melissa Albert.

This book is the perfect prep for spooky season read/listen. My initial intrigue did not hold me through a slump of disconnection near the mid however the second half of this book was GRIPPING. Narration was also done so well.

Thanks to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for the audio of this!

I really enjoyed The Hazel Wood and this had a lot of the same vibes, despite telling a very different kind of story. A little dark, beautifully written, and full of female power, I really enjoyed this. I liked the dual timelines once I got into it and it was really interesting to see the witches/“workers” find their power. Recommend for fans of The Hazel Wood, The Once and Future Witches, and dark feminist fairytale vibes.

I will never get over the feeling of picking up a random book without really thinking about it, only for it to become your entire personality.

Thank you so very much to Raincoast Books for the ARC!

This is a book I lost sleep to. I simply could not put it down and read well past any time I should have been in bed. So, I suffered, but I'm happier for it. This book is delightfully creepy, deliciously captivating, and so desperately, beautifully written. Albert really does have such a magical way with words, underscoring terrible and dark moments with some of the most stunning metaphors I've read in ages. Even better, finishing this book came with an added sense of relief because ... I did not much care for Albert's debut. It was good, don't get me wrong, but I wanted so much more from it. So yes, I picked this up with a touch of wariness, and was instead swept entirely off my feet.

The storytelling structure of the book is endlessly fascinating to me and expertly woven together. We follow Ivy, a seventeen-year-old who accidentally stumbles upon a naked young woman in the woods who seems to know her. Then dead rabbits begin appearing in her yard, bites taken out of cookies she left on the table, her mother and aunt mysteriously vanishing when she needs them most to shed light on the secrets Ivy is inadvertently unravelling.

That's the NOW, but what about BACK THEN?

The story alternates between Ivy in the suburbs as she tries to figure out what in the world is going on, and her mother, Dana, as a young woman in the city. A sixteen year old who discovers magic and witchcraft. The ending of her POV is what sets up the core of Ivy's story. The consequences and the secrets long-since buried. I love it when stories do this, even more so when they do it well. It builds the tension in a masterful way and makes it easy to read another chapter.

Finally, may every girl find themselves a Billie. The boy had so little page time yet completely and utterly stole my heart.

I decided halfway through that this was a five star read, and it only got better from there. I genuinely cannot recommend this book enough and will absolutely be snatching whatever the author puts out next.

I listened to the audiobook for Our Crooked Hearts so it took some time to finish. I could tell if this had been a written copy, I would have devoured it. I wasn’t a giant fan of the narrator. Some of the flashbacks were unimportant and boring. That said, this book was so enticing. At first, you attempt to determine who the strange naked girl is and what she wants. it’s quite a mystery as to what happened in the past and why it’s even important. In the end, everything is disclosed. It was a wild ride! Thanks Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Honestly I couldn’t get to the end of this so I’m going to take it for now, I might enjoy it later though. I think the problem here is not pushing the release back to spooky season later this year! It’s also a little young for me but I think a very particular teen audience would love it more!