A Magical, Heartfelt Journey of Love, Family, and Resilience

Spells, Strings, and Forgotten Things by Breanne Randall is the kind of book that feels like slipping into your coziest sweater while sipping a perfectly brewed cup of tea. From the very first page, it wraps you in its warm, atmospheric embrace, balancing whimsical charm with just the right touch of eerie tension to keep you turning the pages.

Set in a quaint, Stars Hollow-esque town, the story follows three sisters whose bond is tested by family trauma, magical secrets, and a legacy that demands both sacrifice and bravery. The way Randall explores their fractured relationships, weaving together themes of forgiveness, trust, and resilience, is nothing short of beautiful. It’s not just a story about magic—it’s about the magic within relationships, the kind that’s built on love, vulnerability, and hard choices.

The world-building is richly detailed and immersive, from cozy tea shops and cascading plants to unsettling forest paths that crunch underfoot with ominous undertones. The sensory descriptions of food, tea, and pastries are so vivid, I found myself craving everything mentioned (bonus points for the recipe section at the end!).

Calliope, with her mismatched socks and sharp wit, is a standout FMC, bringing both humor and heart to the story. The romance? Chef’s kiss. A tall, dark, and brooding enemies-to-lovers arc that had me swooning and giggling like a fool. Lucien and Elea bring their own complexities, adding layers to the already rich tapestry of this book.

The magic system is unique and fascinating, particularly the idea of sacrificing memories to wield power. It’s such a poignant metaphor for the cost of growth and healing, and Randall executes it flawlessly. Watching the sisters navigate their strained relationships while uncovering hidden family secrets added so much emotional depth.

If you love stories with witchy vibes, complex family dynamics, and the perfect mix of cozy and chilling, this one’s for you. And Breanne Randall, if you’re reading this—please, we need book two yesterday! There’s so much more to explore, and I can’t wait to dive back into this enchanting world.

Read this if you enjoy:

Cozy, atmospheric settings
Witchy magic systems
Sisters navigating love and trauma
Recipes that bring the book’s flavors to life
This book isn’t just a read—it’s an experience. I’ll be savoring it again on release day, mini Bundt cake in hand!

Spells, Strings and Forgotten Things is a must read book for every season. I loved the way it was written. So so beautifully written. Loved every single second of it.

Quite an easy read to be honest. Really easy to listen to and get immersed into the story. I enjoyed it so much I’ve read it twice!

The cosy witch small town vibe really came through with this read and I enjoyed curling up with it over the weekend. While I didn't connect with the characters as much as I'd hoped, I loved the depiction of sisterly relationships, and the magic mechanics was intriguing.

I really enjoyed Breanne Randall's first book so was excited to read her latest offering. When Calliope inadvertantly ties her magic to shadowcaster Lucien she must work out how to repair the tie with her two sisters and protect the shadow oak and their town.
I loved this magical story of overcoming fear and stepping into your own power.

"Everything feels so hopeless," Calliope whispered.
"Hope doesn't have to be a blazing fire," Thalia said, her voice growing gentler. "Sometimes, it's just a flicker in the darkness, but it's enough to guide us through."

I've given this 3.5 stars on StoryGraph.

Calliope is the only sister who still does her family's Lightcraft magic, despite the curse of sacrificing memories. She uses tiny memories on things like drying herself after a shower and lighting candles.

The dark oak that the family has sworn to protect is calling out to her and she ends up bound to a rival Shadowcrafter - known to be power hungry. Lucien has his own reasons for helping - namely his sister.

I struggled to get into this, unfortunately - it didn't help that Calliope was distracted constantly by Lucien brooding/smouldering at her, which felt out of place.

The family dynamic with the sisters was good - Thalia forced to look after her sisters when their mum disappeared. Middle sister Eurydice trying to keep the peace.

Even Lucien's family were unexpected, his sister stronger than everyone thought.

Eventually Calliope realises she's been wasting memories but has to carry on to save the sisters from being lost. I was pleased she finally realised their importance!

By about 70% of the way through, I was intrigued by the story and the many many revelations. The relationship between Lucien and Calliope was....odd, he didn't do much except brood and look angry for most of it. I didn't enjoy their spice scenes and the contraception spell was jarring (I appreciate the attempt but a spell?!). His gentle actions felt more real than the brooding at her.

The ending was intriguing - I'd liked to have seen how Lucien and Calliope continue. It feels like it's been set up for a sequel - not sure whether I'd pick it up, I suppose it depends on the premise.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced ebook copy in exchange for an honest review.

In the small town of Gold Springs, Calliope Petridi and her two sisters carefully guard the secret of their magic and the price they must pay to practice it: memories. Luckily, all Calliope wants to do is forget. But when an ancient evil awakens, the fragile thread that holds the sisters together breaks. As their magic slowly begins to fade, Calliope accidentally binds herself to the handsome leader of a rival coven infamous for their ruthless pursuit of power. Battling the sizzling chemistry with a man she can’t trust, Calliope must confront painful memories of her past, dark family secrets, and ancient magic in order to protect the town and all she loves.

I adored the characters so much, especially Calliope and Lucien - I related to them both in different ways and I loved learning more about them as the story progressed. They both made me reflect a lot on my own life and they will hold a special place in my heart. I loved the familial relationships - both blood and found - they were definitely one of my favourite parts of the book and I love how central to the plot it is. The side characters were great additions to the plot and I was intrigued to know more about them. I grew so attached to the characters and my emotions definitely suffered as a consequence.

The atmosphere that Breanne manages to create within this book was another favourite part about this book - the vivid descriptions that were used to create such powerful imagery was beautiful. I felt so immersed in the story and found it hard to put the book down. I appreciated how much information we got about the magic system as I definitely had a lot of questions about it but it was so fascinating to learn about and it helped me to be more immersed in the story.

At first, the pacing was a little slow whilst the scene is being set up, which is to be expected but once you get into it and the pacing increases, it was so easy for me to lose myself within this book. I loved how everything played it and I was interested and enjoying it the whole time.

I loved the writing style but I knew that I would as I loved Breanne's debut so I had high hopes for this one too. It was truly so beautiful and I cannot wait for Breanne's next book.

Thank you to Aria and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book, in exchange for an honest review.

⚠️ CWs: injury detail, alcohol use, cursing, blood, grief, sex, derogatory language; mentions biphobia, transphobia, death, bigotry, murder, bullying ⚠️

A cute, magical romantasy with a sprinkle of spice. I thoroughly enjoyed this book; the story, the characters, the themes, the magic, and last but not least, the enemies-to-lovers! It took me a minute to get into, but once I did, I had a blast.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book. A gorgeous 4 star read book from me. What an exciting plot, vivid storytelling and relatable, rich characters. I could put this book down – absolutely loved it.

Witchy and mystical! Spells, Strings and Forgotten Things revolves around a coven of sisters devoted to Lightcraft - the nicer side of witching and their mission to safeguard the Dark Oak. When Calliope, the most magical of the three, notices signs that something isn't quite right, she investigates and becomes bound to Lucian, a Shadowcraft bad boy with a penchant for unusual nicknames.

From the get go, this book is busy - there's a lot of things happening and it's all happening quickly. There's a lot of characters to get to know and this is done mostly through telling rather than showing. The premise is very Charmed! The relationships between the sisters is very relatable and the chemistry between the two leads is fantastic. Wasn't really feeling the Pride and Predjudice vibes with this one though. Less Mr Darcy and more Angel from Buffy!

My favourite part? The excerpts from the Tea and Tome recipe book! Can't wait to make the apple cinnamon cookies.

"Hope doesn't have to be a blazing fire...Sometimes, it's just a flicker in the darkness, but it's enough to guide us through."

I was given an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this so much I was slightly dismayed when I realised it isn't out for months! I was looking for some witchy reads to fill my October tbr, and this absolutely fit the bill.

I loved the relationships between the characters, particularly how Calliope and Lucien grow throughout the story. The representation of magic itself was intriguing and original, even if it did take me a few chapters to fully make sense of it. It can be difficult to keep witchy novels from feeling cliché, and this one had some really unique takes that blended cozy romantasy with the sinister supernatural.

If you're looking for a supernatural mystery (and one that pays homage to Greek mythology!) this is well worth a read.

Books with similar vibes - The Once and Future Witches by Alix E Harrow, The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna, Her Majesty's Royal Coven by Juno Dawson, and Hex and the City by Kate Johnson.

In the end I did not enjoyed this book - despite its "Charmed" vibes and inspired in a modern witch society, I just could not connect with the characters and the storyline in the ned just felt flat from me - it was somehow cozy but the same time the world was ending, so I just could not catch the right vibes. Calliope was a nice MC and there is a good love interest but was described way cooler than he actually his.

I read an eARC of this book on NetGalley so thank you to the author and publisher.

This is the latest book to join the cosy magical fantasy ranks, a wonderful genre that I hope we get more of! In this book we have three sisters battling against a hereditary secret and protecting their community from a historical evil. We have small town community, baked goods, woods, family bonds giving all the cosiness. But we’ve also got witches, magic with a cost and legacy feuds.

I really liked the setting in this one. The house, the woods, the small town. The way the heritage of the sisters shapes who they are. I also found the magic system intriguing. The sisters have to sacrifice a memory every time they want to use magic, leading to discussion about how does memory shape identity and knowing who you are. This was a magic system I don’t think I’ve seen used before and it brought a new lens to magic with a cost.

The feud between the two factions of witches was pretty interesting too. The history behind this and the long term ramifications of the descendants of those originally feuding was well explored and added some great colour to the book.

The vibes with this book were great and the way it looked into sisterly relationships was lovely too. The relationship between the three sisters is really central to the book and how bonding, trying to understand each other and working together can only make things better.

There was loads I loved in this book, the only thing that didn’t quite work for me was the romance. It went way too fast from enemies to lovers and some of the ‘spice’ felt a bit incongruous with the cosy nature of the book.

This is one of the best books I’ve read in a while. I love the story, setting and the characters.

I love a good witchy book and this ticked all the boxes.

It reminded me of the TV show ‘Charmed’ with a mixture of ‘Practical Magic’.

I can’t wait to purchase a physical copy of this when it’s out in the UK.

An action-packed witchy romance with cosy small town vibes (and a dash of spice?) Yes, please!

I feel like it took me a while to get through this one. It took a few chapters for me to really get into it, but I enjoyed it all the same.

A good small town witchy romance, with great side characters.
I expected a lot more in the terms of a sister bonds as that's what the book was marketed as but I felt it had more conflict and disharmony then the conflict with the 'big bad!.
I wanted to like the relationship between Calliope and Lucien but it had more of a 'the worlds ending' vibe compared to any actually genuine.
With that being said, I did enjoy it ( read it in 1 day) and looking forward to the sequel.

This was an interesting read that delves into repairing broken bonds, unravelling family truths, and finding out what you'll sacrifice for those you truly care about. From breaking their family curse to finding their partners in life this was such a wholesome read an i truly felt for the petridi sisters and what they've had to experience through their mum going missing and not knowing the true extent of the curse on their family.

Personally, i didn't love the spicey scenes but that is very much a personal preferences, but besides that I did love how lucien becomes a key member to the petridi sisters, and his sister becoming somewhat of a wider found family to calliope. An interesting take on family ties, and light and dark magic - the history between families that was revealed was unexpected but overall extremely well written with an engaging plot throughout.

Cosy, witchy vibes that are perfect for this time of year! I loved the characters and the storyline and I was fully hooked from the very beginning! A wonderfully created story!
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my ARC

Thank you to NetGalley & Random House Publishing for the ARC (my first ARC!!!) 🙌✨

SS&FT follows the story of the Petridi sisters, three Lightcraft witches, in the aftermath of their mother’s suspicious disappearance and her constant warnings that they need to protect their town. However, a coven of Shadowcraft witches have other plans, and their leader Lucien will stop at nothing to succeed. Will the sisterly bond between the Petridi sisters be enough to protect themselves & their town? Or will their own stubborness cause their downfall?

This book is the epitome of a Charmed x Pride & Prejudice witchy fantasy, which I didn’t initially gel with, but I was enamoured by the end! The sibling relationships throughout the book are so well written & realistic (and reminded me so much of mine & my sisters bond), the romance (the best romances have a shadow man love interest duh!) had me giggling and crying at one point, and I loved the inclusion of the family recipes at the end of the book.

A perfect book to get me in the October mood - Spells, Strings & Forgotten Things is out March 2025 🪄🧵