Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this ARC in exchange for my honest review!

After reading all of Kayla Cottingham’s books, I can positively say this was my favorite one. It’s so sweet and fluffy. I loved literally every character except of the obvious bad guys. All the villains were written to be so horrendous you can’t help but hate them. I even got a soft spot for Klaus, even though he is kind of a jerk. Literally everyone in the little family unit was great. Santiago, Ariel, Adelaide, & Kieran were so cute! And Ash! Had me giggling and kicking my feet! In the beginning I wasn’t sure what to think of Briar but after reading more you see why she acts the way she does. The grumpy/sunshine trope can be annoying to me sometimes but they grow on me.

This one had a good amount of twists in the plot that kept me interested. This was such a cute book. If you want a quick read that will make you smile I highly recommend.

Cute, cozy story with witches and magic. Great story with found family and breaking crazy old curses. Delilah is fun, witty main character and it was a blast following her story and being forced to help break another families curse. It brings so much backstory and easily get to know the characters in this stand alone and has a fulfilling ending.
Thank you NetGalley and Delacorte Press for the opportunity to read this e-arc.

This was a prefect read for me!! I loved the cozy vibes but also the clear adventure plot and loved the world building and the massibe cast of characters. I had such a fun time reading this story!! I loved the rep and also the adventure focused read. I would love to spend more time in this world with the side characters and just really loved this one!! if you are love cozy vibes but need mroe of a plot in your story check this one out!

This was just so completely cozy with an unexpected humor that made me laugh out loud more than once. Delilah is such a wonderful protagonist. She's unabashedly herself and doesn't let anyone question her worth. And her relationship with Briar is just so sweet. It starts out with a very hilarious "get out of my school" type of vibe before morphing into a friendship, then just the sweetest, most awkward love story. I loved seeing their relationship blossom into something more. I also really enjoyed Delilah's relationships with her mother, Kiernan, and the others on the ship.

The writing was very lush and descriptive, inviting the reader into the world and painting an almost Ghibli-esque picture. While some people might not enjoy it, I did enjoy the mix of partially modern technology alongside the more magical aspects. Again, it's giving Ghibli in the best way.

The thing that kind of stopped this from being a 5 star was that there were some awkward transitions in certain chapters. Places where it felt like things were wrapped up a little too quickly or at an awkward moment before heading off to the next point. Also, aside from the curses, I feel like magic sort of only played an incidental role, especially in Delilah's case. There were some explanations of the magic in the world and how it works, but I don't really think it ended up amounting to as much as I was expecting it would. The focus of this story is definitely on the relationships between characters, how you can make your own family, and healing from past trauma.

Overall, though, I highly recommend this if you want something cute, sweet, sapphic, and cozy.

This book is so incredibly endearing and made me feel so warm and fuzzy inside. It has the feel of classic whimsical fantasies, but it's also so incredibly queer.

Kayla Cottingham is a master at writing witches and curses and magical boat road trips and cat familiars and magic.

Truly lovely. The magic system was unique and fun. I really enjoy experiencing the scents of others' magic and curses with Delilah. I would also like to find out how I can get my own Cinnabar. I need him.

Sapphic YA Beauty and the Beast road trip with three cursed seventeen year old witches, two boring 25 year old staff members, and a mute immortal witch. Break your curse or die trying (or lose your magic or live forever in silence or become a monster). It's hard out there for a witch.

The story was very cute! A little more towards the lower end of YA, minus one use of the f word as profanity. Some of the characters and relationships could have been more fleshed out and there was some clunky info dumping at times, but all in all, this was a quick, easy read about magical teens with bad parent(s) who find love and choose their own families.

Thank you to NetGalley, Kayla Cottingham, and the publishers for allowing me access to the e-Arc.

4.5 stars

I was definitely intrigued to read this book because of it being a queer fantasy romance with witchy vibes. I mean if that doesn’t convince you to read then maybe the found family vibes. I really enjoyed this story. I thought that it was unique that the main characters all had curses that needed to be broken. The fact that Delilah the main witch character could smell curses was so interesting.

I highly recommend it!

I had a genuinely fun time reading this book. It falls somewhere between a cozy fantasy and a National-Treasure style mystery. Delilah's coming-of-age adventure might be set in a world of magic, mysteries, and curses, but her experiences are ones that we can all relate to. I loved seeing how accepting this world was of queer relationships and how that acceptance and the changing times played into particular subplots. All-in-all, its a fun, easy-to-read, and heartwarming story showing us what it means to be family. 3.5 stars, rounded up to four.