Cake Craft is a great, witchy, queer novella with just the right amount of paranormal. Short enough to read in one sitting and meaty enough to stick with you. Really well written.

This quick but substantial read was a lovely collection of short fiction. The title story (also the longest of the pieces in the book) had just the witchy vibes I love. My only issue was that the scope of the story seemed bigger than the length of the novella allowed. I think it would have worked better either as a longer piece, or with fewer topics attempting to be addressed. It felt just a little rushed and shallow at parts. The fact that there were supernatural elements was the only reason I found it convincing enough to enjoy.

The other stories here were also delightful and unique. They deal with heavy topics, so heed the trigger warnings. (By the way, LOVE the fact that there is a list of trigger warnings for each story. It made me feel much safer going into them, because I could prepare for what they contained.)

Overall, the writing was great & flowed well, lyrical without being overdone or difficult to follow.

This book was okay. The main character was very fun but I personally just did not really connect with this book. I personally hate to see modern references in books and this one had a few of them which were not my favorite.

Dark, sexy novella with really accurate and raw look into mental illness. The writing in this was pretty fantastic.

Cake Craft is a gothic treat of a book. Our heroine is Kat, a woman haunted by her past, failed relationships (particularly her divorce) and with a tendency to put her feelings into the cakes she eats. Meeting Stella, the granddaughter of a man she once knew (unfavorably), Kat finds a new purpose in life. Drawn to Stella, she begins to realize her own worth and uncovers new passion.

This book is as sweet as the cakes it contained. While light on story, Blake imbues the characterization with nothing short of absolute beauty. She beautifully constructs the trauma and healing of Kat, sells the romance with Stella and shows a positively lovely, wonderful acceptance and joy by the end. Quirky, delectable, with an eccentric cast and a positively delightful read.

(Thank you to netgalley for providing an advanced copy)

I really liked how real and raw this book was. There was such an accurate portrayal of mental illness and trauma through our main character kat. The writing was also so well done. I loved the way certain things were described through the eyes of kat. I could see everything so clearly in my mind. It reminded me in someways a bit of midsommar? A traumatized main lead finding comfort and healing in a group of eccentric woman was such an enjoyable read to me.

Side note, I didn’t know this had other short stories after our main one wrapped up. They were so eerie and dark and i love this authors style of writing. I think House Proud was my second favorite.

This was alright, just a bit bland to me. I thought more focus would be on Arthur. Plus I thought he would *actually* be the devil, so I might've went into this book with the wrong expectations.
It's quite good in terms of being a sapphic gothic novel, and has that small town rainy atmosphere. This book is mainly about Kat regaining her power after her experience with her ex-husband, so if that sounds good to you, then I would recommend it!

cw: binge eating

Damn, I LOVED this! It was totally relatable to see a clueless queer person in their 30s. It felt like gothic Bridget Jones in the best way possible.

I liked the writing for the most part, but some descriptions felt juvenile and did not work for me. Kat was a very relatable character, especially with the binge eating at every minor inconvenience and hating on business guys. The final thing I have to say is that the pop culture references seemed out of place. Overall, it was a pretty decent read.

This was a short but wonderful look into our mc and her life thus far. She's older and divorced which is a fantastic little slice of some representation. I think quite a few reader's will definitely click with her. She's bisexual and really and honestly has no clue what she's doing. And we get to be there for the ride. It was simple but wonderfully executed, I think it's something I'll love to think about and most definitely recommend.

Normally I find novellas to fall flat. Usually due to not enough time to get to know the characters, or the plot being super rushed. This is not the case for this story.

30 year old Kat, our bisexual and newly “divorced” lead finds herself inexplicably at the memorial service of Arthur, a resident of the nursing home she worked at a decade earlier. She feels herself drawn to Stella, his granddaughter, as well as other members of the family. Arthur always referred to them as witches, and the more she is around them the more she starts to believe this.

This novella is strange, but it’s also funny, magical and when it ended I was filled with a deep satisfaction and outlook on even my own life.

Big thanks to NetGalley and Nyx Publishing for providing me an ARC to review.

It took a while for me to click with this novella, but overall I enjoyed the vibes, in which had more "women's fiction" themes than what I was expecting (the heroine is trying to get over a divorce).

I liked the short stories in the end, especially the last one!

DRC provided by Hannah-Freya Blake via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I loved Blake's writing very much and thought that the more I delved into the story the more I enjoyed it.

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

- this was a solid collection of short stories, with the descriptive writing and an intriguing, adult protagonist, i found myself liking the story as it went along. it was quirky and delectable, and i feel readers who have that kind of taste in books will enjoy this novella.

I really enjoyed this feminist novella (queer witches and cakes, what else ?) and the gothic short stories were interesting. The whole book is beautifully written and I'd love to read more from this author !

This book was brilliant and it gave me all the feels. These short stories are powerful and have delightfully vague endings.

This book was just the right amount of dark and humorous for me, and I loved the writing. I did however, wish there was more. But overall a really solid novella!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me a free ARC. This is my honest review.

I didn't quite connect with this novella. The writing was excellent but the plot tended to meander. I didnt quite relate to the characters. It was an "almost but not quite" read for me.

I was given this arc for an honest review by Hannah Freya Blake and this book is available for purchase April 27,2023.

This is a unique premise with an older heroine which I love. It’s marketed correctly. It just was not my cup of tea. It’s well written. And a quick novella read. Honestly I might be just hyper critical because there is zero things wrong with the book. I just didn’t click with it.

I really believe you should give it a try and prove to me I’m the the big moron who needs to re-read it.

Thank you to the publisher for allowing me to read this eARC.

This was my first time reading anything by this author and I enjoyed it very much. The dark themes were written very well and I felt that the details were fleshed out nicely.