What I expected to be a witchy, cozy mystery was so much more. As the story unfolded, the mystery became much more sinister through the lens of feminism. This story revealed a unique perspective on motherhood and societal expectations. It had just the right amount of female rage I didn’t know I needed. I can’t wait to recommend this!

I apologize for being late with this review. I actually finished this months ago and somehow missed reviewing it here. 😬

That being said, it was the perfect eerie atmosphere. The dual mysteries with the past timeline and current situation were enthralling and ended in a satisfying manner.

It’s never easy moving to a new town when you’re young, but moving right before the start of her senior year was not what Liv had planned for. All alone in a new town and a new school was beyond intimidating for Liv, but on the first day of school, Liv, met a savior in Sam. Sam and Liv became best friends quickly and did everything together. Liv also met Eden on that first day and was attracted to the Sisterhood she shared with two others. Liv steered her away from them saying that they were bad news. When Liv betrayed Sam in the most horrifying way, their friendship was severed. Nine years later, Liv receives a note from Sam saying she needs help and doesn’t know who to trust. Liv, being at a crossroads, quickly returned home to help out her old friend only to find out Sam has gone missing. Liv finds herself leaning on Eden to find out information about Sam, but has she dug herself too deep? Is there any chance of surviving the Sisterhood? This book has a creepy vibe. Not a genre I would usually gravitate to, it did keep my interest from start to finish, even though I can’t say I really liked the story. The ending was on the unsatisfactory side, leaving me wishing for more, but I’m not really sure that it wasn’t the perfect ending either. Thank you to Bantam and NetGalley for an ARC of this book.

I received a DIGITAL Advance Reader Copy of this book from #NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I'm not 100% sure what to make of this book but I did enjoy it. I liked the dark witchy aspects of it but I wish that it didn't take as long to get there. I also liked the dual timelines so you could see the friendship between Liv and Sam falling apart.

The main thing I did not like though was the ending.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This was an eerie atmospheric mystery with fantasy elements. I was intrigues throughout but ultimately did not find the conclusion to be satisfying.

It was interesting but I wanted more. I felt like there were loose ends but not cliffhangers.

# Under Her Spell
# 10/30/2024 ~ 10/30/2024
# 3.0 / 5.0

This was a lot darker than it seemed it would be but that isn't necessarily a problem. However, I didn't really like the characters, or the ending. The dual timeline was well done though.

“Under Her Spell” by K. L. Cerra follows Liv and her search to find what happened to her high-school friend, Sam, who has gone missing. Her search brings her back to her hometown where most things have stayed the same, while others have changed greatly. Liv gets embroiled with The Sisterhood, a group of girls from school who were always closed off and close knit in the things they did. Liv realizes that to find out what happened to Sam may mean getting close to those Sam was around the most and hope she doesn’t get pulled under their spell along the way.

I thought the overall story was intriguing and had a lot of potential. The pacing was a bit slower than what I would have liked. I felt that majority of the story was spent setting up instead of finding out what happened to Sam. I did enjoy the flashbacks to Sam and Liv and how it did give life to Sam’s character and why it is so important to Liv to find out what happened.

I received this ARC from NetGalley for an honest review.

Liz returns home to see her best friend that she hasn't talked to in over 10 years after receiving a concerning note from her. She also starts to plan a wedding?

This is a spooky, witchy novel with a big message about being a woman in 2024. Not really my normal cup of tea, but I did fly through it. Overall, I get what the author was trying to say. There's really no winning as a woman these days. Perhaps, we never were winning and we're all just hyper aware of it now.

Unfortunately, that message is a little blurred by a slew of unlikable characters and some contrived plotting. Why would Liv start planning her wedding in the town she never visits? What was the point of the mystery from the past, and how does it have anything to do with what is going on in the present?

In the end, this story did get me thinking, which I always appreciate. I think it could be a really fun Halloween read for any woman about to embark on the journey of marriage and potentially having kids. I am right in that demographic and was terrified!

Thank you to NetGalley and the author for my ARC in exachange for this honest review.

Love a good spooky town mystery! Although the beats were easy to predict this book thrives in the atmosphere it creates. I wish we saw a little more of Liv wisening up as the book progressed but the book itself sits perfectly at the intersection of being a dumb kid and an adult all too aware of the worlds horrors

My second book by this Author and this book was fast paced and action packed. Some parts had a lot of witchy dark magic that puzzled me, but it fit with the narrative. Another bonus was kind of of a dual storyline which made for interesting overlaps. Thank you to Netgalley, Random House-Bantam and the Author K. L. Cerra for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The build-up and writing of this book really started off strong and it reminded me of a few other female empowerment books that I’ve read recently. However, the ending just didn’t give the punch that I needed. This story had so many amazing witchy vibes and a full-blown mystery, but the ending rang just a bit hollow. I still enjoyed the story and the writing was perfect for fall.

Thanks to Random House Publishing Group- Ballantine and Bantam & NetGalley for an E-ARC copy of this story.

This work has similar vibes to the author’s previous work, which I also enjoyed. However, I appreciated that the author chose not to make a romantic relationship a focus in this book (the right choice!) and instead leaned more into the atmosphere and oddness of the characters. I quite liked Liv as a protagonist, and I loved how strong and unique the secondary characters were in general. The eeriness and feeling that something just wasn’t quite right with Eden and Cora was portrayed well in both timelines and kept me wanting to find out what exactly was going on. The way Liv’s best friend was written in the past timeline provided perfect motivation for how Liv felt and her emotional turmoil relating to the how situation, which elevated the experience.

While this was centered around a mystery, the solution felt a little obvious to me. However, I loved how well the author did everything else and I enjoyed the ride so much that I didn’t mind. The magical elements were fascinating, and the explanation was interesting; that whole aspect of the work was quite creative.

If you like magical realism with a strong and darker atmosphere, then this is worth checking out. This was a great autumn read, and I highly recommend it. Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for allowing me to read this work. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.

A dark and surprisingly tense novel that encompasses women's role in marriages and female relationships.

Disclaimer: I read this through NetGalley as an advanced reader copy as well as followed along with the audiobook through the Penguin Random House audiobook influencer club. This is my honest and voluntary review.

I was reached out directly by the publisher asking if I wanted to get this book through NetGalley. I almost did not accept this advanced reader copy because the appointment didn't sound too interesting to me. When I found that it was about a missing friend in a bridal boutique it did not peak my interest. But I did read the authors first book "such pretty flowers" and really enjoyed that novel at the time I read it. So I decided since I like the office first novel that I would give this novel a try even though it did not sound like something I would like.

Honestly, I'm really happy that I read this novel. I did overall enjoy it. I did not enjoy it as much as I enjoyed the first novel, but this was a solid mystery thriller that kept me highly entertained and guessing almost the entire time of the book. I would not say that this book ends in a complete HEA. I think some people are definitely gonna have feelings about the way this book ended. But honestly, I enjoyed the ending.

I thought the way that the bridal shop was incorporated into this mystery thriller was super interesting and not at all what I was expecting. I really enjoyed the surrounding themes of women's role in marriages and independence. About how women are expected to give up so much more than their male counterpart when it comes to having children and raising a family. These are important topics that are not highly discussed in a societal way.

I found the characters to be pretty interesting. Our main character was absolutely an unreliable narrator, but this only added to further the 10th feeling of the novel as well as add to the mystery of suspense. You could tell she was not being quite honest with herself, and therefore, we couldn't trust her to be quite honest that she was narrating the story. The other people involved in the story gave off just the vibes that they needed to in order for the novel to progress with the right vibes.

I do feel like a few plot holes were wrapped up in a very abrupt and almost, dare I say, lazy way. It was slightly predictable at a certain point.

Overall, I will absolutely be reading anything else. This author puts out I feel like they're solid novels that are absolutely entertaining, if not a little predictable and with a few plot holes in certain areas

This thriller really had me guessing until the very end of the book. Read this is you like twists, a bit of the supernatural, and have any amount of smell rage.

What I liked about this book,

I loved the writing style. The writting was fast paced and all descriptions and bak story stayed succinct and moved the story forward. I never got bored with the amount of backstory we were given. The mystery is full of twists and there were hints in this book where I thought I knew where it was going and nit would completely flip on me. I really appreciated the feminist take, and the complexities of the topic, and the nuanced way it was dealt with and handled overall. I could,d not stop thinking about this book.

I think the "villains' of the book could have been developed a little more, they verge on being a little two dimensional an cliche, but since the overall story was good and fast paced I was able to over look it.

This is a slow burn. As in slooooooooooow. I kept waiting for something to happen but the pacing was just off. The writing was dark and atmospheric, but it was a bit disjointed. I was invested in the story from the beginning but quickly lost interest, it just didn’t move fast enough to keep me engaged. I found myself skimming quite a bit, waiting for something to happen.

Under Her Spell by K.L. Cerra was a perfectly fine murder mystery. At times, it felt a little cliche and the writing a little clunky. But, in the end, the tension and atmosphere were well-done and I don't regret having read it.

This was my first book by this author and now I'm very excited to go back and read her other book, this was so good. I devoured it in less than 24 hours due to how gripped I was by the story. I loved all the body and insect horror, the witchy aspects, it was fantastic. This almost read more like a horror novel than a mystery/thriller to me but I'm not complaining by any means.

Thanks so much to Random House Publishing - Ballantine | Bantam for the gifted copy for my review!

I really liked Liv. The story was interesting. There wasn't as much supernatural to the plot as I expected. I think this will appeal to fans of the movie The Craft.

The premise of the book was great- and the writing was good where my attention was caught and I couldn't wait to finish reading to see how it ended. Unfortunately the ending was disappointing as it left so many unanswered questions so it was such a let down.