I really wanted to enjoy this book. When I found out while crafting my review that the author is Aboriginal, I really felt terrible that I did not enjoy the book.
From the start of the book, I felt confused, primarily due to the lack of world building. The author drops the reader into the book, 'in media res', but never backs up and gives readers information with which to ground themselves in the world. Apart from insufficient world building, the narrative lacks clarity when it shifts to the memories that Bell walks through. Because Bell often enters other memories without warning, the reader also has no idea whose memory they have entered.
This book had promise but ultimately underdelivered.
My actual rating is 2.5 stars but I am rounding up.

Thanks to NetGalley & Random House Children's for the copy in exchange for an honest review. It's a solid 3.5 stars.

Fair warning: Although this book is marketed as a romance it is NOT primarily a romance. There's literally a tiny little sliver of romance and it's almost nonexistent.

What a fun read! It's fast-paced with lots of world-building that you must pay attention to to understand. Bell is a fun and compelling protagonist and you can't help but side with her. I feel like the book suffered from being short, oddly enough, I think another hundred pages would've helped expand some of the world-building. I was surprised it ended so quickly.

Tricks was my favorite character, what a sweetie!

(I would've rounded this up to 4 stars but I feel like it needed another round of editing and more pages to help space things out--I genuinely thought things were going way too fast to keep up and I had to re-read sections to really understand what the heck was going on!)

Overall, I liked this story. I will say, though, that there is a lot going on and there are definitely things in the story that suffer because of that. For instance, the world was really cool but the chaos makes it so that the world and the setting is a bit hard to parse through at times. I also think that the whimsicality of the plot overshadows the coherent through-line of the story at times. Usually I really like a story that has a lot gong on, because it makes it really fast-paced and fun to read. In this story, I was surprised to find that I just found myself rereading parts and being a bit confused. The idea of this story was really compelling, and if you enjoy stories with a more aloof and whimsical plot, then you'll definitely enjoy this. For me, it was just hard to really sink into the meat of the story because I felt a bit unmoored. I would absolutely read more from this author or more in this world, though, because I think that it can only get better and I can see how interesting ideas could develop going forward.

Everything about this book I loved and will be buying it when it is out officially, Bell Silverleaf is one of the best fmc's of 2024 and that ending.... I hope this book is a series because I will need more

This book made me so excited! My heart pounded through every chapter which made me fly through this book. The plot was exciting and fast paced and the characters were interesting but relatable. I highly recommend this book and will be telling all of my family and friends to read it!