Welcome to Well Read Book Review. For the month of November, get ready for the ending of fall with a witchy fantasy, a doomed romance for the seasonal blues, and a challenge of the best pumpkin spice lattes.
#1 – “Witchlings” – Claribel A. Ortega
Every year, in the magical town of Ravenskill, young witches participate in the Black Moon Ceremony, and are placed into covens in order to come into their powers as full-fledged witches. Seven Salazar is beaming with excitement as she hopes to be put into House Hyacinth. She’s worked harder than anyone to get the best possible placement, and to avoid being a Spare, a leftover witch with lesser powers, looked down on by everyone. On the night of placement, Seven isn’t placed into House Hyacinth, she’s a Spare. If this isn’t already bad enough, when her and the two other Spares attempt to seal their coven; it doesn’t work. They’re stuck as Witchlings, and they’re going to lose their magic forever. Seven invokes her only option. The three Spares must find and defeat the Nightbeast. If they do, they will gain their full power. If they fail, guess what happens.
4.14 Average Stars on Goodreads – This book was really good, it shows good themes of overcoming hardships and teamwork, but the main character, Seven, was a jerk in the beginning. Seven explains that everyone has to be happy with their covens in order for it to seal, and yet, she complained as soon as she got her coven. The other two girls in her coven, Valley and Thorn, were both completely fine with their covens, and Seven is the entire reason they had to kill the Nightbeast. Also, the character designs are very interesting. The three main characters, plus some of the other characters seem to have very similar to a show, Owl House. The main characters resemble three of the main characters. Seven resembles Luz, Valley to Amity and Thorn to Willow. I thought it was odd due to the similar personalities and story. Overall, a really good book with a great story, but in the beginning the main character is a little bit of a brat. Three stars.
Tags – Middle grade, Fantasy, Witches, Magic, Fiction, Paranormal, YA
Cannot be found in the library
#2 – “If He Had Been With Me” – Laura Nowlin
Autumn should’ve been with Finn that night. It was raining, and he and his girlfriend, Sylvia, were fighting. No one knows what they were arguing about, and no one thinks it’s important. They don’t know there’s a third side to the story. The story that leaks between the facts. They don’t know the cause of the argument is crucial.
3.79 Average Stars on Goodreads – It’s been a while since I read this book, but I know I loved it, until the end. I loved the book when I read it, although I don’t think I’d rate it as highly as I did if I reread it today. The emotions felt real, and Autumn went through something that a real teenager could. Something I have a problem with is the ending. At the beginning of the story, Autumn is 14 years old, and she’s 18 years old by the end. I didn’t know that by the end she was 18, and was really surprised by her thoughts, and what happened to her at the end. Overall, when I read this I really liked the book, but when skimming through it again, and really thinking about the story, some of the things that are mentioned or occured seem a bit old for Autumn. Three stars.
Tags – Romance, YA, Fiction, Contemporary, Friends to Lovers, Mental Health, Realistic Fiction, Coming of Age
Cannot be found in the library
#3 – “Pumpkin Spice and Everything Nice” – Katie Cicatelli-Kuc
Lucy Kane HATES pumpkin spice lattes, and this is a problem for Briar Glen, where everyone loves all things autumn. Lucy works at her mom’s coffee shop, Cup o’ Jo. As fall begins, the two get ready for the busy season. All is well until they see what’s opening up across the street. A Java Junction, a multinational coffee chain, that they have no chance against. Before meeting the owners of Java Junction Lucy already decides they’re terrible people, but things come to a head when she realizes that Jack Harper, the new kid and Lucy’s secret crush is the son of the owners. If Cup o’ Jo is going to survive the fall season, Lucy will have to set aside her hate for pumpkin spice lattes, and make the best one the town of Briar Glen has everseen.
3.03 Average Stars on Goodreads – I really liked this book. I managed to finish it within a little less than three days. I was really expecting a romance story, but was surprised when Lucy was so resentful towards Jack. As the story progresses, she slowly hates him less and less, and by the end they seem to be good friends, but Lucy has a crush on him, and he clearly has a crush on her, and yet, in the end, they are just friends. I think this story would’ve been better if they confronted their feelings for each other. I thought that Lucy was a well thought out character, and did have real character development, and realizations throughout the book. I didn’t like how pushy her mom, and best friends were. They were looking out for her, but from my point of view they were too worried about lesser problems. Three stars.
Tags – Romance, YA, Fiction, Contemporary, Halloween, Cozy, Contemporary Romance
Can be found in the library
