thank you to netgalley for the advanced reading copy. I really enjoyed this and will be getting copies for my shop.

This was an interesting new twist on Oberon and Titania's story. I liked the idea of fae living secretly among mortals, acting as one of them. We get a pretty good idea of who Oberon and Titania are now from their opening chapters, what their lives are like. I didn't feel really invested in their story at first, but as the book went on I got more wrapped up in it.

Unfortunately this book fell flat and was not for me. It seemed like it lacked story despite so much being said. I had high hopes for this as a midsummer nights dream is my favourite Shakespeare play, but this was far from a good modern retelling of it.

I really REALLY wanted to like it, but I felt my DESIRE for wanting to like it overrode my actual feelings. I was way more excited about the idea of the book than the story because it felt a little too forced. I think there could have been a little more mystery or metaphor.

I had to DNF this book at 43%.

I was interested when I read the blurb and saw that the characters Oberon and Titania were going to be the protagonists of this story;however, if not for their names and constant mention of the events in the Shakespeare play, they could have been just about anyone else. The plotline also fell flat and by the 40% mark I wasn't invested in finding out if they succeeded in reversing the potency of the perfume.

My thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and author for the e-Arc of the book.

Thank you to the publishers, author and NetGalley for the free copy of this book.
However, this was a DNF for me. There was content I wasn't comfortable reading, and the story overall was flat. I know there's some people who will enjoy it, I'm just not one of them.

Thank you to the publishers, author and NetGalley for the free copy of this book.

This felt a little too choppy for me to really enjoy. It had a lot of promise but didn't really hit it for me unfortunately!

“Potent” is a modern day tale of Titania and Oberon. While I did not love this book, I also did not completely dislike this re-telling. I had a hard time connecting with the characters , felt I was missing something, and found myself wishing more background/history was weaved into the tale.

Unfortunately this book fell flat and was not for me.

There was a lack of world building and character development, I didn’t feel like they were their own unique characters, rather more forgettable than memorable. I was hopeful for the Oberon and Titania retelling, but it seemed like this was more of a ‘what happened next’ type of story rather than a retelling.

The dialogue was not my favorite, it seemed almost choppy/jumpy? Moods changed, people cursed out of nowhere, and there was not a good flow to the dialogue.

Several things I think really caused me to not enjoy the read:

1. While I LOVE LGBTQ+ representation, and totally love using non-standard pronouns, I felt like it was moreso added in to be added in, instead of added in a way that felt purposeful and entwined with the character. Puck didn’t have any flavor if that makes sense? I feel like it would have been better if in general for all characters, there was more character development/description/getting to know the character.
2. The way Orberon’s mental health issues were portrayed. I truly love books that portray mental health struggles and help expose society to these issues, but this one personally wasn’t for me. Maybe others aligned with this type of portrayal, but it missed the mark in my opinion.
3. The modern world. This is a personal thing, but I personally did not like the makeup influencer daughter angle, the references to modern actors/actresses, etc. made it seem like name dropping almost?
4. The final thing I will mention is the several negative references to body size. I love representation of all body types, and would love to see more characters with larger bodies but the several mentions of “they are skinny [curse word] and need to put you down because they are threatened” was extremely cringey. If we are going to write about different body types and their struggles, I think personally I receive that better when it isn’t focused on being mean and catty. Not my vibe at all.

Overall, I feel like it had potential, but either due to the length or the writing style, it fell flat with world building, investing the readers in the characters, and portraying the semi-political issues the author was trying to portray.

This was an entertaining read! Building off of Shakespeare's Titania and Oberon, we meet Tati and Obe, Faerie royalty turned earthly celebrities within their own rights. The story begins with Oberon, now Obe, as he is on the brink of losing his mind after years in the moral lands - and centuries after last being with Tatiana, who now calls herself Tati. I found it compelling and fun to see a new iteration of the drama from the famous play be set in modern times with much higher stakes as the flower's powers have been mass manufactured and distributed across the world. I did want to see more characterization from both Titania and Oberon as they seemed flat and we didn't get into their heads often about the other person and how they felt about them. There was a good deal of dialogue and movement but the story could have benefitted from more internal dialogue and growth as well.

Overall, I felt this book had several modern whimsical elements that makes it feel like a timeless read. However, there was a lot of history and background that I think should have been explained a bit more instead of mentioned as a one-off. For example, the Faerie realm could have been explained in more detail in terms of how supernatural beings fit into it and how they were related. The name-dropping of notable fae and deities was really fun but I wanted to see more of it!

One thing that I absolutely loved about this book was the use of neo-pronouns. I found it incredibly fun to see in practice how neo-pronouns can be used and I doubly love how they were used for Puck. Such a great decision! Puck is a wonderful trickster character and faer perceived androgyny is a staple to faer character and the use of fae/faer does a great job in subtly reinforcing that concept. Also, the way fae/faer was not just a small mention that occasionally showed up but an actual plot point and recognized made me incredibly happy.

This book was a modern-day update to the story of Titania and Oberon. I enjoyed the character tension of the second-chance romance, but I feel like most of the character development happened prior to the events we read about in the book. It would've been more powerful to see the change rather than the final result. Mostly I'm glad that the authors used verbs other than "poofed" for Puck past the first few chapters. Fae deserved better verbs.

In this modern take on Titania and Oberon, we get a story of family, love, and reconciliation.

Tati Hastings is Hollywoods number one star. Engaged to a charming man, mother to 3 daughters, and almost divorced to her abusive ex-husband Bradley- everything is going perfectly. Obe is a multi-millionaire tech tycoon who has spent a century slowly going mad over the voices in his head telling him he is worthless and deserving of Titania’s hate. His only safe space through the centuries has been Titania, and he’s been without her love for over a century.

When a new perfume comes on the market that makes people fall in love with the first person they see, Titania and Oberon are the only ones who can fix it. After all, the essence in the perfume is from the same flower Oberon used centuries ago on Titania when she dared to love someone other than him.
It’s a race against the clock to find a cure to the perfumes trickery, and Titania and Oberon have to move past centuries of hurt to save the world. No pressure.

-Dual POV
-Lovers to enemies to lovers
-Reimagining of “A Midsummers Night Dream”
-Fae and magic

This book was just alright for me. The story had an interesting concept, but the execution was a little lack luster. The characters of Titania and Oberon weren’t well fleshed out and didn’t have many redeemable qualities. It felt like the authors had a lot of ideas of how they wanted the characters and story to go, but they didn’t follow through on them and really expand the story. It also felt like the story was a little jumpy, with things resolving before they practically began. It just needed that extra punch that I like in a story to bring it past a 3 star review.

If you enjoy classic re-imaginings and spins on classic stories of fae and magic, you’d probably enjoy this one. But for the average reader, its just an average book.

As always though, thank you to Netgalley and publishers for my ARC. I’m always appreciative of it.

In this contemporary reimagining, the characters Oberon, now known as Obe, and Titania, or Tati Hastings, are brought into the fast-paced worlds of cryptocurrency and celebrity culture.

The novel seamlessly blends elements of fantasy, romance, and corporate intrigue, making it an engaging and multifaceted read. What sets this story apart is its clever integration of timeless themes into the modern era. Obe's role as a billionaire cryptocurrency tycoon adds a unique and relevant dimension to the story, while Tati's fame as an actress and charismatic public figure brings a contemporary twist to her character.

The reconnection of these two iconic characters due to a common threat – the misuse of the flower that once influenced Titania – adds an exciting layer of conflict and intrigue. The narrative skillfully weaves together their past, present, and the challenges they face in the modern world.

The character development in "Potent" is a standout feature. Both Obe and Tati are complex and relatable, and their interactions are filled with chemistry and tension. Their individual growth and the rekindling of their connection make for a compelling and emotional journey.

The writing style is engaging and descriptive, immersing readers in the worlds of cryptocurrency, celebrity culture, and the enchanting realm of the fairies. The story is well-paced, keeping readers invested from beginning to end.

Overall, "Potent" is a delightful and imaginative reimagining of a classic tale. It successfully captures the essence of Shakespearean themes while placing them in a contemporary context, making it a captivating read for both fans of the original play and newcomers alike.

This unfortunately, just wasnt it for me...

It was written decently, but not thoroughly if that makes sense? It seemed like it lacked story despite so much being said. I had high hopes for this as a midsummer nights dream is my favourite Shakespeare play, but this was far from a good modern retelling of it.

This was an extremely flat read.

Thanks to Tea with Coffee Media and Netgalley for providing me with an ARC for this book.

I really don't like giving bad reviews but this book really didn't work for me at all. I wanted to DNF this from about 25% onwards, but mommy didn't raise a quitter so I kept at it, even though it was the biggest struggle for me to finish this.

This book can be summed up by 'man with goatee tries to win back ex-wife'. And something about a perfume and evil sister which was just so like .. pointless?

There was like 0 world building. These characters could have legit been anyone - I didn't feel the connection to the Oberon/Titania story much at all, other than the fact that they have their names. There was like barely any character description, it all fell compeletely flat. The characters had no chemistry with each other, there was simply no feeling at all; no emotion that came through to me. This book made me feel absolutely nothing other than insanely bored and just annoyed looking at the page count, considering how many pages I still had left and when I would finally be done with this disaster. The dialogue was cringey and annoying and went nowhere. Oberon's mental monologue about how much he hates himself - like what for? And I felt myself putting the book down during the 'spice' as I was so bored of it at that point I wanted to legit do anything else than read.

Also I understand there is an increasing trend for the use of non-standard pronouns in literature, even though it's been done before I've noticed it more and more recently. I am not going to open the can of worms of whether I think this is a good idea or not personally, but what I will say is that, in my opinion, the use of non-standard pronouns within text should be at least explained, in the sense that I was expecting some 'feeling' then of what the character is like; some actual character description, which in this case we didn't get.
I think representation is cool and all and having a platform like a book to introduce these things to society is a noble goal, but as a reader I didn't really know anything about these characters other than the guy has a goatee, the girl is an actress and a cheat and the butler is using some different pronouns and genuinly, that doesn't make for a good read.

The plot, something about some perfume left me completely unimpressed; in fact - I remember there was some Sailor Moon episode about 20 years back where there was some evil monster sucking out people's souls via the application of perfume - I would have a rehash of that plot in a book any day of the week over this drivel. And then why did the sister hate the FMC that much? Something about someone killing her family? But in the grand scheme of things; as in where they are all immortal beings and have lived for who knows how many years - surely that's not the worst thing that happened to her? Not saying it's not bad (losing a loved one always is), but logically; living that long and having everyone die around you, I'm sure you would be realistically become somehow 'accustomed' to it, or at least found ways to deal with it that it wouldn't lead you to wanting to 'destroy the world'; as it's put in the book? Dunno, it's all very flimsy to me.

The only good thing about this book is that it was short and that now that I have finished I never have to pick it up again.

A unique spin on a classic tail with a modern twist. I loved how we got to see what the love of two timeless fae would look like in the modern world, with centuries of history together that they each still carry. I felt that their story could used some more background information. If one didnt have knowledge of Mid Sumer Nights Dream then some of the story would have been confusing. I also felt that the story moved to quickly at times and it did not flow at a pace that allowed for a good build up in them finding the cure and saving the world.

I thought this was a clever take on Oberon and Titania. It was modernized and made a few jabs at Shakespeare's famous play. It was quick but the ending felt very rushed. If there was an epilogue I would have gladly read it over and over again!

I received this from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. I am going to try and be nice as I do not like giving bad reviews but I did not like this. I was looking for a good read about the characters of the fae. This had too many political jabs in it. If I wanted to read about things in politics I would have chosen a nonfiction.

Obe and Tati reappear in this modern retelling of a Midsummer Nights Dream. Since I have read the play I enjoyed the book even more. Highly recommended. Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for giving me a copy of the book.

Book Review!! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

Potent By Tyler Wittkofsky @tylerwittkofsky and Kelsey Anne Lovelady @kelseyannelovelady

Thanks @teawcoffeemedia for the advanced reader copy.

Where do I begin, Potent was a fun retelling of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. It follows a modern day Oberon (called Obe) and Titania (called Tati) through some interesting situations. I have never experienced A Midsummer Night’s Dream before so I am sure some things got lost on me, however I feel the story was still enjoyable. Also good to mention that is a scene with spice which is nice to have in these romantic stories, though it’s not all romance so don’t let that deter you.

I enjoy the commentary on very real things and events happening in the real world without making the story focus on it. Puck is my favorite character and having a non-binary (fae/faer) character I think adds a lot of uniqueness to this story. Also who doesn’t like a troublemaker in faer midst. Also plus size representation as a beautiful main character is always a plus in my book!

I will say you will have to be in the loop somewhat about modern events such as the Amber Herd and Johnny Depp case, some tik tok trends etc. to get some of the humor and connections, but it’s refreshing to see modern real life events.

So overall I would recommend if you like these vibes: emotional scars, grumpy sunshine, being together is like gasoline and fire, turning men we don’t like into donkeys is a coping mechanism, I don’t like you but I need your help.