Aisha Reid’s "Forty Words for Love" is a poignant exploration of romance and personal growth. The novel's lyrical prose and richly developed characters create a compelling narrative. While occasionally slow, it offers deep emotional insight and a satisfying, heartfelt conclusion.

This is a book that really grew on me despite a rough start. Forty Words for Love is a magical realism YA novel about the treatment of refugees .

Forty Words for Love does one thing that I cannot stand. Saeed creates a rich world with magical elements but does not explain how this world works. Forty Words for Love gives the reader rich, lavish writing and fascinating characters, but you are scratching your head trying to figure out this world.

Sadly, this wasn't really for me. I never ended up connecting with Yas or Raf as characters, and I honestly just had a difficult time following the thread of the plot. I never ended up getting into the story.

I love the cover though!

I did not finish this book.

I tried twice (at different times), but it was hard for me to get into it. I’m not sure why, but it was just not for me. However, the blurb is so intriguing and I have seen good reviews of this book, so I might give it another chance later on. It’s just a DNF for now.

Loved the friends to lovers aspect. Was a really interesting read and I enjoyed it would recommend. Was a bit skeptical of the magical realism but it made me a fan

First things first, the cover is GORGEOUS. A++
The actual story was adorable, and I really liked the friends to lovers romance. Raf and Yas had a very Romeo and Juliet thing going on (just without the dying and what not), and I was rooting for their romance from the start.
Magical realism is a tricky genre in my opinion, because the world building aspect is already built in, but it's the why the magic is there that needs to be built upon. We don't really get too much backstory on where the people of the Forest come from or what their magic fully entails. We get glimpses of information but not enough for me to really care about their struggles. It didn't really feel like the Golub's were a different species, but just regular displaced humans. There are so many flaws in the way the Golub "don't leave the permitter" logic works and how the small town survives in general that I just felt very disconnected from this story.

Its a cute story, but I think it truly falls on the younger side of YA and I was definitely not the target audience for this one.

A really good YA novel, with great characters and plot! I would definitely recommend to anyone who thinks it sounds good!

I received an e-ARC from the publisher

Thank you to execution and the publisher for granting me free access to the arc of this book. I wish I like this more than I did to be honest. The promise was there, the exexution however was a bit underwhelming.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book.

This one's for those who are healing from grief or those who are trying to at the very least. Though I know not everyone loves magical realism, this might be a book to check if you enjoy it!

I went into this thinking I was going to absolutely adore this. That did not happen. The slow burn romance really had me wanting more. The magical realism always wasn't my favorite addition to the book. This is definitely a story for some people and not others.

This cover is so gorgeous and I was a little intrigued by the synopsis to give it a try. The world building was a little confusing for me at times. I thought the romance was really cute but it was more on the slow side which left me just wanting more at times. I love the social commentary woven into the book. It would be a great book to discuss.

Yas, a native to Moonlight Bay, and Raf, a refugee from Golub, have been best friends forever, despite the town’s division over the Golubs who have taken up residence there. When Raf realizes that he has romantic feelings for Yas, a series of events occur making him believe that he can never act on them. The other plotlines of the tale concern the lack of tourism in Moonlight Bay (the locals blame the Golubs for turning their bay from a beautiful lavendar/pink to a dreary gray) and the brainwashing cult-like behavior of the Golub leader.
For me, this book was very hard to get into (it took me several tries of starting and setting aside for other books). Once Raf started to question the leader, and rebel against all he was taught, the book got interesting.

This is a touching young adult tale about love and belonging. Though it's a bit confusing to follow the magical aspect of the town, the aspects of belonging, love and community are all clear.

There was nothing wrong with this book, but it wasn't for me. I need to stop reading magical realism books.

- thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an arc to review!

- though the premise was cute and promising, i felt underwhelmed with this story. it was saddening to me, because the premise itself was so endearing, but the execution fell flat and the novel suffered for that.

This was a sweet coming of age magical realism book about forbidden love, trust, growing pains, and how to heal from unexpected tragedy.

Okay, this was a weird book. This story follows Yasmine and Rafay after a tragedy has destroyed their small town. Rafay is not from Moonlight Bay, their little town. He came there 10 years ago when his hometown was destroyed. Circumstances have led Rafay to believe that he couldn't fall in love with Yasmine, but sometimes love is stronger than circumstances. When Rafay's world starts to fall apart due to lies, he finds that maybe what he has put aside really shouldn't have been. With a bit of fantasy mixed with a teen romance, this story was very interesting. Thank you, NetGalley, for the eARC. 4 stars.

Unfortunately this one was not the right fit for me. I’m not a strong fantasy reader to begin with so probably should’ve known better for myself but was intrigued by the layers of racism and other difficult topics but I couldn’t get into the writing personally. I can see how people can enjoy it but I DNF’d 16% I won’t be sharing my review formally elsewhere as I don’t have a fair review to provide otherwise. Thank you for this arc