Conceptually, I was very interested in reading a story where the cost of magic was forgetting, as there's something so delightfully melancholy about the sacrifice of the past for the future, but I sadly couldn't finish this one. The style of writing is too flowery, saccharine and simplistic for my tastes.

Breanne Randall has mastered the craft of telling a story which captures the small town charms, the coziness of family dinner rituals and threads that bind the found family and sisterhood amidst broken dreams and messed up magic systems, with a fiesty heroine and enemies to lovers vibes!! Phew!! Didn't think my first sentence would be a paragraph by itself...

Calliope Petridi. Eurydice and Thalia (named after Muses, of course!) guard the Dark Oak, a mysterious, magical and powerful plague, which is guarded generationally by three sisters, whose magical invocation reaps memories. With a missing mother and aunts, the threading binding the oak are fraying and it is upto Calliope to keep it together without sacrificing her memories such that she loses her sense of self.

Sparks and sizzling begin when Calliope binds herself to the powerful, enigmatic shadowcraft coven leader, Lucien. Armed with holes in her memory, a rift between the sisters, doubts as to her nemesis' true motives, Calliope grows as a witch, sister and becomes her own whole person, confronting her past and accepting grace for her misgivings.

Some stories leave you flustered, and other stories don't have mystery in them, this book is just right - you are left wondering and yet, when the curtains peel back, it is completely satisfying and you are left with a content feeling of having a read a nourishing tale.

A million thank yous to Breanne for the beautiful tale and special thanks to Random House Publishing Group - Ballentine and NetGalley for the magnificent ARC!

Before I delve into this review, thank you, Breanne Randall and NetGalley, for having me on your ARC team. I fell in love with Breanne’s first novel, so I was very excited to read her new adventure. I ended up enjoying this book, but I’m not going to sugar coat it, this one was extremely hard to grasp me. I had to power through the first 30-40% because it dragged on and it is severely wordy. That being said, once I got about halfway through, I was glad I kept at it. There were parts I screamed, “okay, get on with it,” or “I feel like I’ve read this same thing over and over again,” or “why is it necessary for me to know this? This offers nothing to the story.” However, once I got used to the unnecessary “chatter,” it flowed nicely and I was able to forgive her for it. Calliope, as the main female character, was not as frustrating as most FMCs can be. I truly enjoyed the fact that she was accepting of everyone and didn’t fly off the handle during some of the more intense revelations. She was understanding of the situations and why some of the characters acted as they did. I enjoyed watching Lucien evolve, as well as Dissy and Thalia. The book ends with a few unanswered questions, so I am eager to continue the journey with the Petridi sisters and Deniz siblings.

I really enjoyed this book!

it took me a while to get into it, and i was confused by all the characters right off the bat, but i adjusted (probably a me thing anyways LOL)

The story was slow, but not in a painful way. there was a LOT of “will they” “wont they” back and forth in every aspect. who’s telling the truth…. who’s hiding secrets… a lot of mystery shrouded the whole thing, which kept me intrigued.

i wish the explanations of all the things seemed to take place in like… 2 pages? I feel like the ending was a smidgen rushed, and i would have LOVED even more lore, backstory, and fleshed out information between Calliope and Lucien.

I also would have loved more Calliope and Lucien!!!!! The way this story ended was UNFAIR and had my jaw on the floor. a perfect set up for a sequel, imo. but i’ll be sad if the MCs are anyone other than Calliope and Lucien

I will say, idk if it was just the formatting or what, but there were a LOT of giant blocks of texts at once, which is a silly complaint to have, but it did make it harder for my adhd brain to pay attention to come points.

thanks netgalley , for this arc! time to go (respectfully) stalk the author while i wait for an update on a sequel

Thank you to NetGalley and Dell for the arc! This was a big miss for me, and I finally threw in the towel at around 200 pages. The story was full of cliches, the dialogue seemed forced and/or shallow, I couldn’t connect the characters, and the romance bored me. Very not for me -2 stars

Spells, Strings, and Forgotten Things features three witchy sisters, a sentient Grimoire, a spooky tree, and a shadow daddy (“shadow daddy” is even written in the pages of this book, truly).

Tropes: enemies to lovers, “the power of three will set us free”, forced proximity kinda?, tortured anti-hero MMC, hate to love you, dark family secret

What I liked:
* Initially, the magic system. Sacrificing a small memory to light a candle seems innocuous enough, but which memory will Calliope give up to save her family and her town? It eventually boiled down to a plot of convenience, but I still like the idea of this magic.
* The cozy elements, like the sisters’ tea and book shop. The small town gave off Gilmore Girls vibes.
* The incorporation of Greek foods, including recipes at the end of the book.
* Calliope’s struggles to feel difficult emotions were relatable. When she does finally let grief in, those scenes were moving but brief.

What I didn’t like:
* It’s a book filled with over-explanation and little left to the imagination. With some subtlety, I think it would’ve been made for me.
* Redundant, repetitive language. Little muse. Apples. Viscous. Every spell is an ancient spell or an Ancient Greek spell. Okay. I get it.
* The dialogue is clunky at best, bizarre and unnatural at worst. For a brooding MMC, Lucien sure does say a lot.
* All of the action - except the climactic scene - was abruptly introduced and abruptly solved. Generally the transitions between scenes and shifts in tone were jarring.
* I would liked to have seen Lucien’s side of the story at the climax. There’s a lot left untold and it could have been compelling.

Overall I enjoyed the read - witchy books in October hit different. My thanks to Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for the ARC. This review is also published on Goodreads.

I wanted to love this book, but really couldn’t get into it. I didn’t feel a connection to the characters and found myself wishing we got less of the POV of the FMC qnd more of her sisters and the MMC. Overall it was a fun fall read but definitely fell short for me.

This book was so lovely, cozy, mysterious, romantic, and interesting. The concept of having to sacrifice a memory to perform magic was intriguing and thought provoking. I loved the sisters and they complicated differences, and the way them, and they found family, all came together when needed. Their setting is perfectly cozy and a little spooky and I loved every minute. Lucien was absolutely a dreamy, complicated man who I ended up really loving.

If Practical Magic and Charmed got married, moved to Stars Hollow and had a baby… it would be this book.

Full of magical sisterhood, a compelling enemies to lovers plot, the newest shadow daddy in literature, and cozy small town vibes, Spells, Strings and Forgotten Things absolutely won me over! The concept of sacrificing memories in order to do magic was incredibly interesting and definitely had me going back and considering which memories of my own I would be willing to let go of for the opportunity to cast a spell.

A book about the bonds of sisters, familial love, heartbreak, traditions, & the importance of memories. Calliope (Opie) with her sisters Eurydice (Dissy) & Thalia have been on their own since their mother left when Opie was a young girl & never returned. They possess light weaver magic passed down through generations, but it can only be used by sacrificing a memory. Thalia refuses to use her magic, Dissy rarely uses hers, & Opie relies on her constantly because who cares if it’s just a small memory, right? They’re charged with protecting the Dark Oak, a source of great power, that combined with their differences on whether or not their magic should be used are the untwined threads of our story. There were a few characters around the sisters who I fell in love with, but Danny was definitely my favorite- sassy, honest, & just amazing!
We have our MMC, Lucien, who is sarcastic, purposefully abrasive & a huge pain in the ass, doing what he can to get under Opie’s skin, he’s also a user of dark magic, which the sisters have been taught to fear.
The tension between Opie & Lucien was palpable & their irritated, witty banger was fun. Lucien also gave Opie a nickname & I am a sucker for a nickname! 🥰
Lucien also came with a fun group of side characters, some I enjoyed & others… not so much 😡. The sisters have a complicated relationship & there was definitely friction, but as anyone with siblings knows, no one can push your buttons or piss you off quit like your siblings, but at the end of the day you still love them. Breanna announced that this will be a series, with each series also being able to be read as standalone & I look forward to the next book in the series! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

One town, three sisters, and a magical legacy that comes with a price—memory. Breanne Randall tells a story of magic, sisterhood, and the sacrifices made to keep a town safe from the evil that lurks there in Spells, Strings, and Forgotten Things. Despite her positive relationships, Calliope has never been willing to divulge all of her secrets to anyone. She is bound to a handsome man using dark magic after a stroll through the woods. Their relationship? Raw, passionate, and brimming with all the subtleties of both dark and light magic. There was a strong tension between them. They accepted each other for who they were, flaws and all, and their love felt both dangerous and tender. This is a must-read if you enjoy a blend of magic, sisterhood, and a sensual, forbidden romance.

Breanne Randall does it again! Loved this book so much, and am really excited for this to be on my shelf as a trophy

*spoilers ahead* I received Spells, Strings and Forgotten Things as an ARC from NetGalley. I’ve been following the author for a while on Instagram and I was excited to get to read this early.

Overall, this was an enjoyable book and it had a lot of fun elements. The magic systems were fairly easy to follow and the characters were likable. There was an undertone of breaking our inherited prejudices that is timely to say the least.

The romance between the main characters developed at a good pace and had a couple spicy moments that delivered well. The ending tied everything up nicely, but did leave some room for additional books. I’m curious about how that will play out.

Some parts I have some critique for:
1. Some of the big “A-HA” moments were a bit convoluted and felt a little rushed.
2. I felt the author leaned a little too hard into the inspiration for the book. I loved “inspired by” books but I don’t want it to look too similar. I love Pride and Prejudice but it was really in my face.
3. I wanted some closure for Isra. Maybe a little apparition moment. Something.
4. I also wanted their memories to return. I feel like that would be part of breaking the curse. I was disappointed that it didn’t happen in the epilogue.

Overall, I enjoyed reading this and I am grateful for the opportunity to read it early!

2.5/5 ⭐️

This was a cute book, but it fell a bit flat for me. The storyline was cute, but some of it was a bit predictable, or even felt a little repetitive. I also had such a hard time connecting to this story. I will never give up on the author though because I do love her writing! The first book was super cute. I did enjoy the magic system in this one a lot. The memory magic aspect was very intriguing.

This does have LGBT rep.

If you like the storyline and liked her first book I would still give it a try, I see the some people have really loved it!

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC. 💜

I didn't think this book was going to hit as hard as it did. I was obsessed and loved every minute of this. No notes!

Spells, Strings, and Forgotten Things is a heartwarming tale of love and sacrifice. It details family bonds that are complex in their own right, but still full of love. This book is a love letter to sisters everywhere. I love how strong each Petredi sister is in their own individual way. They each bring their own unique strengths and weaknesses in the mix. They all humble and empower each other in their own way. Families are so difficult and I love that this book didn’t sugarcoat that. With a theme of magic and a small town destination, it’s easy to get lost in the cozy atmosphere, but this book really is one emotional ride. It doesn’t shy away from difficulties while keeping a level of entertainment. This book was also super inclusive, showcasing characters from many different backgrounds. The author managed to display diverse characters without it feeling forced. I feel like each moment and character in this book flowed so naturally within the plot line and made a genuine contribution. Don’t get me started on our tortured male main character. Lucien is the perfect angsty male love interest. I loved reading through Lucien and Calliope overcoming ancient prejudices together and finding out people aren’t just black and white. I can already feel this book becoming the book of the spring in 2025

I had high hopes for this read. It was deeply descriptive and slow paced for my taste. It might be wrong timing or just not for me but it was hard for me to engage with the characters.

A Spellbinding Tale of Magic, Love, and Sacrifice
As a practicing witch, this book resonated deeply with me, weaving an authentic and moving portrayal of the complexities of magic. The story of Calliope and her sisters, each bound by their own struggles and secrets, was captivating from start to finish. The concept of sacrificing memories for magic was beautifully unique, adding emotional depth to every spell and decision Calliope made. The tension between her and the charming yet dangerous rival coven leader kept me hooked, as did the dark secrets and ancient magic lurking in Gold Springs.

The book explores themes of love, trust, and self-discovery, all while navigating the intricacies of family bonds and the painful cost of holding onto (or letting go of) the past. It’s a thrilling and enchanting read that will appeal to anyone who loves stories about magic and the personal sacrifices it demands.

Like the unfortunate side effects of heartbreak and magic, this follows calliope in a town called Gold Springs about 2 hours from where Sadie and her grandmother resided.
Calliope and her 3 sisters lost their mother 15 years ago when she hopped in a cab and never came back. Their magic is a finicky one where they were cursed centuries ago and have to forfeight memories if they want to cast spells and use magic. Calliope is the only sister who kept up with magic, Dissy didn’t use it often and Thalia swore it off after their mother’s warnings about the danger and curses that were bestowed upon their family.

During calliopes search on what omens were waiting, she did a dangerous thing and tried to repair the dark oaks enchantments by herself and ended up almost being swallowed by an evil shadow demon, she reached for anything to help strengthen her to ward it off and ended up binding herself to a shadowcrafter, one of the very family line that made the curse present on her family line.

They go through so many trials and tribulations, love, loss, rebirth in a sense. But one thing stands true is that their string of fate connecting the three sisters, and her string coursing through her connecting her to Lucien Deniz will never be broken.

I loved the bond between Calliope and her sisters. I loved the banter between characters. A good read!