After seeing this amazing cover, which honestly took my breath away with its beauty, I was expecting to read a more earth-shattering YA fantasy book that would lift me off the ground! Don’t get me wrong, the sweet, lighthearted romance story of Raf and Yas still warms your heart. But I found the world-building of the book a little strange, and the slow burn execution made for a dragging reading experience. I didn’t want to put this book aside without finishing it, so I pushed myself a little harder to reach the finish line.

It's definitely not a bad reading experience, but as I mentioned before, it didn't meet my expectations. So, I'm giving it a solid three stars. I still want to explore more works by the author, and I hope my next reading will leave me more satisfied.

Many thanks to NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Penguin Young Readers Group/Kokila for sharing this digital review copy with me in exchange for my honest thoughts.

Honestly, this was just okay. I'm not the biggest fan of magical realism so this was a little off putting. I didn't really care for the characters or world. Did DNF at 65%.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Forty Words for Love is one of the most beautiful and enchanting stories I have read this year. The tale of the struggling town, its magical waters and forest, and the journey the characters go on was truly enthralling. I hope we get more from this author soon.

I wish I had been more entranced by this because I could definitely feel the magical air in the writing and the word that was built... however, I just didn't seem to care about the people or the town as much as I wanted to. It felt very detached and maybe that was just me because I do feel like the writing style and the main POVs were very well done.

I didn't really know what to expect to be honest, but overall it was a cute and lighthearted slow paced journey. I did like the coming of age story where Raf and Yas struggled with wanting to be with their families while also wanting their lives to be in their control and want to create change... but the rest of the story felt sort of detached in my mind.

I have no doubt this will connect for a lot of readers, but for me I just felt detached and it didn't give me as much connection as I wanted.

I'm not a huge fan of magical realism so this wasn't quite for me, but it was really sweet! I thought the world was definitely interesting and I loved the symbolism and the romance.

Thank you to Penguin Random House for sending me an arc of this in exchange for an honest review.



I probably should've DNF'ed this but i had hope this story would end up making me enjoy it but i sadly didn't.

DNF at 25%. I requested this arc purely because of the cover. What gorgeous art! Alas, I could not make myself keep reading. I was so confused with the world building (somehow a clan came from a tree? Or something? And they can't leave it?), and I kept waiting for something to happen beyond the first chapter. Instead, I got a lot of random info-dumping about things that didn't seem to matter. There was hardly any dialogue, and no plot. I'm sure it picks up later in the book, but I couldn't bring myself to care enough to keep reading.