ARC Review: Trust Fall by Lynn Painter

 

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Better Than the Movies, Lynn Painter, comes a rags-to-riches rom-com about a small-town girl whose family inherits a fortune and moves to New York City, where she meets a big-city boy hiding an explosive secret.

Julia is just a small-town girl from Nebraska who loves her peaceful life. But when her elderly next-door neighbor—who just happens to be a secret multi-millionaire—leaves everything to Julia and her family after his passing, Julia is swept away to live in a historic brownstone in New York City and attend an elite private school for the super-rich.

It should be a dream come true. Wrong. Julia doesn’t fit in at her new school; worse, she’s failing. Enter Damion, the mysterious and handsome tutor who will get Julia back on track. Except Damion has a secret. He is the great-nephew of the man who left everything to Julia’s family. Damion doesn’t buy for a second that the person who was like a father to him would leave his home to strangers. And he’s determined to prove it.

To uncover the truth, Damion schemes to earn Julia’s trust. Not an easy task with Julia unsure about this rich boy with a rebellious personality. But the more time Damion spends with Julia, the more his plan begins to backfire. Because he is falling for the enemy—and the enemy is falling for him.

As Damion and Julia figure out where they belong, can they see past their differences and act on their feelings, or will the trust Damion has worked so hard to gain fall apart?

Title: Trust Fall

Author: Lynn Painter
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers

Expected Publication Date: September 29, 2026

Review:

Thank you to Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this title to read and review. The opinions expressed here are my own.

I love me some YA Painter. It's always so easy to read and so much fun to watch. Don't got into this one thinking about her adult books because it's definitely firmly in YA. Is there kissing? YES! But that's about as much as you'll get for sexy times. Which is just what I'd expect from YA romance.

Julia and Damion are enemies, though Julia doesn't even know it. She and her family have inherited Damion's uncle's house and all he wants to do is prove they are grifters who duped his uncle out of his property and money. But the more time he spends with her, the more he sees she's not who he thought she was, nor is her family. And then he finds himself falling for her when he had no intention of that at all.

Julia is a spark plug. I love her attitude. But I also felt so badly for her because the kids at her new school were so mean to her. The bullying was ridiculous. And no one did a thing about it. Though there were times Damion definitely supported her and shot the bullies down.

I liked how the relationship between Julia and Damion grew. Painter did a good job building their relationship and chemistry. The more time they spent together, the more they wanted to be in each other's presence. And Painter does a great job showing how teens navigate all the angst they are up against.

I really enjoyed the side characters in this story, as well.

The pacing was done well, very typical for a YA story. There's depth to the plot but not too much to hurt your brain. 

If you love Painter's Better Than the Movies series, this one definitely has a similar vibe to it and you should give it a try!

Author:

Lynn Painter is the author of Better Than The Movies. She writes romantic comedies for tweens, teens, and adults, and when she isn't reading or writing, odds are good she’s guzzling energy drinks and watching rom-coms. 

Obscure facts that might make her sound interesting (but probably don't): 

*She can fit an entire cupcake in her mouth. BOOM.

*She threw up all over herself on the first day of 2nd grade.

*She once saw Kelsey Grammar hailing a taxi in Manhattan, so she's pretty much an NYC native who is best friends with celebrities.

*She has a one-inch vertical.

*Her love for spaghetti is brighter than the sun, stronger than The Rock.

*If you see her doing anything crafty, it isn't her; she has literally set things on fire with a hot glue gun and has the motor skills of a preschooler. No offense, preschoolers.

*Her 4th grade teacher moved her desk out into the hallway because she wouldn't shut up. Like, ever.

*She held the record at her elementary school for finding the most bats (vampire, not baseball) in a single year. The little dork located - and alerted authorities to - four potentially-rabid bats.*

So technically, if you think about it, she might've saved hundreds of lives with her nerditude. #hero

*She was the only one to ever find any bats because everyone else had better things to do at recess.

ARC Review: Survival Show (Survival Show #1) by Juno Dawson

 

American Idol meets The Hunger Games in this campy, dystopian satire about a teen betting her life that her singing talent can make her a star from the celebrated author of This Book Is Gay, Juno Dawson.

The world just seems to take and take from Taryn Beck, but there’s one thing it’ll never have: her voice. Only when she’s singing does Taryn feel like she can escape her reality—free from the aftermath of the War, free from the Scottish refugee camps where she and her family now live, and free from the responsibility of making ends meet for the sake of her sick brother.

Taryn’s voice is her one ticket out, and that’s why she enters to be a contestant on the world’s most watched television program: Starmaker, where kids from the New Peace Global Alliance compete for the chance to join an all-singing, all-dancing pop group. Rise to the top, and a life of luxury, stardom, and money awaits.

There’s only one small catch. The lowest ranking face a televised public execution. Starmaker thanks their participants for their noble sacrifice to Project Population.

Taryn’s about to sing for her life.

Title: Survival Show (Survival Show #1)

Author: Juno Dawson

Publisher: Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing/Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers

Publication Date: August 4, 2026

Review:

Thank you to Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing/Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this title to read and give my honest review. The opinions expressed here are my own.

I didn't even read the blurb for this one before I requested it because it's Juno Dawson and I really have loved all the books I've read from her. Then I got approved and read the blurb and thought to myself, Hunger Games and American idol merged? I'm so glad I signed up. I was ready for all the gruesome fun and gory details.

This book, on it's own, is absolutely dystopian. Set in a future where lands have been washed away by the sea, countries have merged and/or been renamed, and most people are hurting just to stay afloat, we meet Taryn Beck. A girl with a fantastic voice who just wants her brother to be ok. She enters Starmaker, a TV show contest where contestants sing and dance their way to the top, or get eliminated, literally. All she wants is to win the whole thing so she can afford the medication her brother needs to survive. But things aren't always what they seem and there's a true sinister plot behind the show and Taryn is determined to bring them all down.

Things I enjoyed from this book:

The premise! I love the idea of an American Idol type show where contestants sing and dance to advance or get put to death. It definitely had a Hunger Games feel to it throughout. While I've read many books that have a Hunger Games type theme, I've not read anything this unique.

The character diversity! For the most part, I found the characters intriguing. I like that Dawson chose so many different people to represent for this story.

The politics! Of course a dystopian novel would not be dystopian without political intrigue and villains who want to always stay on top and keep the little man down. I definitely felt the cast system in this book.

Things that could have been better:

The characters themselves. I liked them enough, most were relatable. But for me they just were not fleshed out as well as they could have been. It was hard for me to keep them straight many times and then when I did remember who they were, there wasn't anything truly unique for most of them to make them stand out.

The progression of the story. I found the pacing off in this book, It wasn't that it was very slow, but there were parts where I felt like I had to push through and didn't feel like they really leant anything to the actual story line.

The world building. When I read a dystopian book, I have to know why it's dystopian. While we are told why to a certain degree, we are not ever shown why. It's like Dawson threw it at us and then said, "you'll just have to believe what I'm writing." I can usually suspend my disbelief and picture the world, but the details and the reasoning for the war that happened making the world the way it is now just wasn't clear to me at all. I struggled to understand why I would care about anything that was happening to Taryn or exactly how her family was in the position they were in due to events of the past. Plus, the timeline was a bit confusing to me. It seemed like this war was pretty recent, that Taryn remembers the time before it all. But she's only 17 and I had a hard time believing this was true.

The romance. Yep, could have done without this. Honestly, there was almost no point to it. And I didn't feel any of the chemistry or emotional attachment needed to really make what happens towards the end (I won't spoil it) even make a difference in Taryn's story. The whole tale could definitely had been told without ever having any romance at all.

Overall, this was a decent story, I found it fun but not amazing. This is my least favorite title I've read from this author (and Her Majesty's Royal Coven got 5 stars from me across the board for all the books). The pacing, world building, and overall character development of this book could have used a bit more tweaking for me. But if you're looking for a fun YA with high stakes and a good amount of drama, pick this one up!

Author:

Juno Dawson is a #1 Sunday Times best-selling novelist, screenwriter, podcaster, and a former columnist for Attitude Magazine. Juno’s books include the global bestsellers, THIS BOOK IS GAY and CLEAN. She won the 2020 YA Book Prize for MEAT MARKET. Her first adult fantasy trilogy HER MAJESTY’S ROYAL COVEN launched in 2022, becoming an instant best-seller.

She also writes for television and has multiple shows in development both in the UK and US. Her TV credits include DOCTOR WHO (2025) and THE BIRTH OF VENUS (2021). An occasional actress and model, Juno had a cameo in the BBC’s I MAY DESTROY YOU (2020), a recurring role in HOLBY CITY (BBC 2021) and was the face of Jecca Cosmetics Play Pots campaign.

With Dylan B Jones, Juno hosts the smash podcast SO I GOT TO THINKING, the UK’s biggest SEX AND THE CITY fan podcast with over two million streams to date.

Juno grew up in West Yorkshire, writing imaginary episodes of Doctor Who. She later turned her talent to journalism, interviewing luminaries such as Steps and Atomic Kitten, before writing a weekly serial in a Brighton newspaper. Her writing has appeared in Glamour, The Pool, Dazed and the Guardian. She has appeared on Pointless Celebrities, BBC Women’s Hour, Front Row, ITV News, Channel 5 News, This Morning and Newsnight.

Juno lives in Brighton. She is a part of the queer cabaret collective known as CLUB SILENCIO. In 2014, Juno became a School Role Model for the charity STONEWALL.

ARC Review: Eleven Houses by Colleen Oakes

 

The Mist meets Twilight in this epic romantic tale of a mysterious island and the houses that have stood for centuries to guard against the dreaded nightmare of beings waiting to strike from the ocean’s depths.

On a forgotten part of Nova Scotia, there lies an island.
On that island are Eleven Houses.
In those houses sit eleven ancient families.
And they are waiting…

Mabel is one of the last surviving members of House Beuvry, one of the eleven houses on the haunted island of Weymouth. Her days, like all the other teens on the island, are spent readying her house for The Storm: a once-a-decade event that pummels the island with hurricane-level wind, water, and waves. But that’s not all the Storm brings with it—because Weymouth Island is a gate between the world of the living and the dead.

When Miles Cabot arrives on Weymouth Island after the death of his mother, he realizes quickly it isn’t like other places—and Mabel Beuvry isn’t like other teenagers. There’s an intense chemistry between Miles and Mabel that both feel, yet neither understand—nor the deadly consequences that will come with it.

With the suspicious death of an island elder, a strained dynamic with her younger sister Hali, and the greatest Storm in years edging ever closer, Mabel’s life is becoming as chaotic as the weather. One thing becomes clear: if the fortified houses of Weymouth Island can’t stand against the dead, then she—and everyone she loves—will pay the price.

Fares Well the House That’s Ready.

Title: Eleven Houses

Author: Colleen Oakes

Publisher: Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers

Expected Publication Date: October 22, 2024

Review:

Thank you to Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers for sending me a copy of this book to read and give my honest review. The opinions expressed here are my own.

I've not read any books by this author previously but when I was sent the blurb to see if it was something I'd be interested in, I was sucked right in. The fantasy aspect with it's lore and promise of ghosts was really interesting to me.

The cover of the book is gorgeous. And yes, I will judge a book by it's cover. Whoever did the art really captured the essence of the story that unfolds in the pages of the book.

This book is 100% YA and reads as such. Usually I don't mind YA, but the characters in this book seemed particularly immature. I have a 17 year old child and that child is not as naive as these kids were. That being said, when you grow up on a secluded island being schooled in a one room school house, I suppose you may not be as mature as one might expect you to be. I had a hard time connecting or having empathy for any of the characters. And the romance was more of an insta-love, there was no build up or real chemistry between Mabel the FMC and Miles the MMC.

If you've ever seen M. Night Shyamalan's The Village, then you get the vibe this book gives off. The people of Weymouth island definitely separate themselves from the rest of society and live by their own rules. And people just don't try and leave the island to pursue other lives.

All this being said, I just did not find the book flowed all that well. It was extremely slow with not much happening at all until the last few chapters, where all the action took place. I did enjoy the lore, but I felt it wasn't explored enough. The reader is told the lore rather than it being shown. I had a hard time picturing things or understanding just what the people of this island were truly trying to do for the world at large. I needed more world building to understand the magic and be able to have a suspension of belief that only 11 families would guard the world from a potential invasion of the dead. And I needed the author to drop hints as to what was really happening rather than have it all come to a head at the end.

One of my biggest complaints for this book would be the amount of characters that are introduced. I started writing down all the names and where they fit in and it was so many. Some that made just a periphery appearance and never again returned, leaving me trying to understand what their purpose was in the first place.

The writing could have used some tightening for me. I felt like the author never really tried to show what was happening as much as she just told the reader what was happening. It took me out of the story. I wanted to really understand what these storms were bringing to the world. Why did they start? How did the original families know they were the last line of defense for the beings that were trying to break through? It was just not executed well enough for me to understand the world.

I've read a lot of YA and enjoyed it despite being older. I can definitely see how this book might appeal to young readers as its target audience who are wanting to delve into fantasy. It's very young YA and would be easy for a younger age group to understand.

I would not compare this book to Twilight at all, as is listed in the blurb. But it is dark and mysterious and has some good bones as a story.

Author:

Colleen Oakes is the bestselling author of books for both teens and adults, including the Queen of Hearts Series, the Wendy Darling Saga, The Black Coats and Sister of the Chosen One. She recently moved to New England with her husband and son. When not writing or plotting new books, Colleen can be found swimming, forest strolling, traveling or immersing herself in nerdy pop culture. Her newest series, Second Favorite Daughter's Club, will arrive in 2023 from Pixel + Ink, followed by Eleven Houses with Simon and Schuster.

You can visit her webpage at: www.colleenoakes.org, find her on Facebook under Author Colleen Oakes or follow her on Instagram. 

ARC Review: Nothing Like the Movies (Better Than the Movies #2) by Lynn Painter

 

In this highly anticipated sequel to the New York Times bestselling Better than the Movies, Wes and Liz struggle to balance their feelings for each other with the growing pains of being a college student.

For a few beautiful months, Wes had his dream girl: strong-willed girl-next-door Liz. But right as the two were about to set off to UCLA to start their freshman year together, tragedy struck. Wes was left dealing with the fallout, which ultimately meant losing Liz in the process.

Flash forward months and months later and Wes and Liz find themselves in college, together. In a healthier place now, Wes knows he broke Liz’s heart when he ended things, but he is determined to make her fall back in love with him.

Wes knows Liz better than anyone, and he has a foolproof plan to win her back with the rom-com worthy big gestures she loves. Only…Liz will have none of it. Wes has to scheme like a rom-com hero to figure out how to see her. Even worse, Liz has a new friend…a guy friend.

Still, Wes won’t give up, adapting his clever plans and going hard to get Liz’s attention and win back her affection. But after his best efforts get him nowhere, Wes is left wondering if their relationship is really over for good.

Title: Nothing Like the Movies (Better Than the Movies #2)

Author: Lynn Painter

Publisher:

Expected Publication Date: October 1, 2024

Review:

Thank you to Edelweiss and Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers for providing me with a copy of this egalley to read and give my honest review. The opinions expressed here are my own.

I really love Lynn Painter but I especially love this little series. The first book was so much fun. Enemies to friends to lovers, lots of romance, and just an all around good feeling book.

What I was not expecting was the heartache that came with this one. I had zero idea Painter was going to take it where she did and then make is a second chance romance. And, while I was praying for a wonderful HEA, I honestly wasn't sure I was going to even get it, even when I was nearing the end of the book! But Painter always comes through with her stories (love her adult fiction, as well) and I was graced with an ending that truly did this couple justice.

Wes has to be one of my favorite YA book boyfriends. I love his sense of humor. I love his commitment to family and friends, and I especially love his heart. His story for this book really got to me. His guilt over the tragedy that struck his family. His willingness to let it all go in order to support them. He carried such a burden in this book. You could feel it weighing him down, even after he kind of got things together and was giving himself a chance to grow.

Liz was very different in this book, definitely not the same girl we knew in book #1. Her thoughts on love and being a lover of love were totally different from the Liz we saw in the first book. She's totally jaded and has done a 180 in terms of where she stands with this. I know this was from dealing with the loss of Wes and what they had built together in high school but I wasn't expecting it to be such a tremendous turn around. She went from believing in romance to kicking it to the curb. Her turn around made me angry and very sad for her. There were times in the book I wanted to really give her a little smack upside the head and say "snap out of it!" I was very happy when she opened her heart to the potential of a second chance.

The pacing on this one was just as great as the first. I wanted to climb into the book and experience it from all sides and never put it down. I felt torn between the need to get to the ending as quickly as possible to see what happens and wanting to experience each scene and interaction with the the MMC and FMC in slow motion so it would not end.

The plot is definitely a figure out who you are, grow a little, and then go after what you really want type of flow. I had one plot hole that really was annoying to me. I don't want to spoil anything but I felt like the fake dating trope that was introduced was truly unnecessary and didn't really lend anything to the plot. Plus, it was never truly revealed to all in the long run so I'm not sure why it was even included.

Overall, I truly enjoyed this book. Painter continues to be on my list of must read authors whenever she publishes something. The characters are more mature, with bigger problems than high school kids, yet it was still kept on a level that YA lovers will understand and appreciate. I laughed, I cried, I held my breath, and I sighed. It took me through all the emotions and definitely had me shedding some tears at times.   I've done Painter's books in both print and audio for all of them and I cannot wait to listen to this one when it's released. Definitely a read it again book for me!

Author:

Lynn Painter is the international bestselling author of Better Than The Movies. She writes romantic comedies for both teens and adults, and when she isn't reading or writing, odds are good she’s guzzling energy drinks and watching rom-coms. 

Obscure facts that might make her sound interesting (but probably don't): 

*She is the step-aunt to one of the actors on Riverdale, even though she's technically only met him once and he likely wouldn't remember her. Hint: He starred in a movie with Yara Shahidi. And another one with Will Smith. His name rhymes with Barles Gelton.

*She can fit an entire cupcake in her mouth. BOOM.

*She threw up all over herself on the first day of 2nd grade.

*She once saw Kelsey Grammar hailing a taxi in Manhattan, so she's pretty much an NYC native who is best friends with celebrities.

*She has a one-inch vertical.

*Her love for spaghetti is brighter than the sun, stronger than The Rock.

*If you see her doing anything crafty, it isn't her; she has literally set things on fire with a hot glue gun and has the motor skills of a preschooler. No offense, preschoolers.

*Her 4th grade teacher moved her desk out into the hallway because she wouldn't shut up. Like, ever.

*She held the record at her elementary school for finding the most bats (vampire, not baseball) in a single year. The little dork located - and alerted authorities to - four potentially-rabid bats.*

So technically, if you think about it, she might've saved hundreds of lives with her nerditude. #hero

*She was the only one to ever find any bats because everyone else had better things to do at recess.

ARC Review: Pride and Prejudice and Pittsburgh by Rachel Lippincott

From the New York Times bestselling coauthor of Five Feet Apart and She Gets the Girl comes a fresh and inventive sapphic romantic comedy that’s What If It’s Us meets Bridgerton.

What if you found a once-in-a-lifetime love…just not in your lifetime?

Audrey Cameron has lost her spark. But after getting dumped by her first love and waitlisted at her dream art school all in one week, she has no intention of putting her heart on the line again to get it back. So when local curmudgeon Mr. Montgomery walks into her family’s Pittsburgh convenience store saying he can help her, Audrey doesn’t know what she’s expecting…but it’s definitely not that she’ll be transported back to 1812 to become a Regency romance heroine.

Lucy Sinclair isn’t expecting to find an oddly dressed girl claiming to be from two hundred years in the future on her family’s estate. But she has to admit it’s a welcome distraction from being courted by a man her father expects her to marry—who offers a future she couldn’t be less interested in. Not that anyone has cared about what or who she’s interested in since her mother died, taking Lucy’s spark with her.

While the two girls try to understand what’s happening and how to send Audrey home, their sparks make a comeback in a most unexpected way. Because as they both try over and over to fall for their suitors and the happily-ever-afters everyone expects of them, they find instead they don’t have to try at all to fall for each other.

But can a most unexpected love story survive even more impossible circumstances?

Title: Pride and Prejudice and Pittsburgh

Author: Rachel Lippincott
Publisher: Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers

Expected Publication Date: 8/29/23

Review:

Thank you to Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers for providing me with an advanced readers copy of this book to read and give my honest review. The opinions expressed here are my own.

When I was contacted to review this book, I got very excited because I've really loved all the Lippincott books that I've read. Plus, the blurb for this story brought some Wizard of Oz vibes to me and I wanted to see how Lippincott tackled that. Not to mention I'm a big fan of books set in the 1800s.

Audrey is your typical teen, stressing over entrance to college and finishing up high school while trying to mend her broken heart. Suddenly, she's sent back in time to figure herself out. And that she does.

Audrey is a fun character. She's witty and very relatable. I think teens will find much of themselves in her. Lucy is a bit more reserved, seeing as she's from the 1800s, but I love how her character grows. I think her growth is more pronounced than Audrey's because of the time period she's from. And the secondary characters really were a lot of fun. I almost wish we would have gotten just a bit more about them. I don't feel like their personalities really show through as much as they could. Especially for the three gentleman who pursue Audrey; I feel like there wasn't that much of a difference in them.

Lippincott tackles the scariness of teens finding themselves and their sexuality and coming to terms with who they are. I enjoyed how she developed the romance, slowly, over time. It wasn't insta-love, which was really nice.

The pacing of this book is great. I read it in about two days. I wanted to see where the story would go, how the challenge facing Audrey and Lucy would be resolved. Even when I put the book down to do other things I was thinking about the story and when I'd get to pick it back up to see what happend.

Overall, this is a great coming of age story and I enjoyed it as I have the other's I've read by this author. I look forward to reading more of her books in the future.

Rachael Lippincott is the #1 New York Times bestselling coauthor of Five Feet Apart. She holds a BA in English writing from the University of Pittsburgh. Originally from Bucks County, Pennsylvania, she currently resides in Pittsburgh with her wife and their dog, Hank.

 

ARC Review: he Witch Haven (The Witch Hunt #2) by Sasha Peyton smith

The lush and pulse-pounding sequel to the New York Times bestselling The Witch Haven follows Frances and her fellow witches to the streets of Paris where family secrets, lost loves, and dangerous magic await.

Months after the devastating battle between the Sons of St. Druon and the witches of Haxahaven, Frances has built a quiet, safe life for herself, teaching young witches and tending the garden within the walls of Haxahaven Academy. But one thing nags; her magic has begun to act strangely. When an opportunity to visit Paris arises, Frances jumps at the chance to go, longing for adventure and seeking answers about her own power.

Once she and her classmates Maxine and Lena reach the vibrant streets of France, Frances learns that the spell she used to speak to her dead brother has had terrible consequences—the veil between the living and the dead has been torn by her recklessness, and a group of magicians are using the rift for their own gain at a horrifying cost.

To right this wrong, and save lives and her own magical powers, Frances must hunt down answers in the parlors of Parisian secret societies, the halls of the Louvre, and the tunnels of the catacombs. Her only choice is to team up with the person she swore she’d never trust again, risking further betrayal and her own life in the process.

Title: The Witch Hunt (The Witch Haven #2)
Author: Sasha Peyton Smith
Publisher: Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers
Published: 10/11/22

Review:

I want to thank NetGalley and Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers for supplying me with an e-galley of this book to read and give my honest review.

If you've not read the first book in this series, don't pick this one up yet! You definitely need the background from book 1 to understand what is happening and to make sense of what they refer back to.

Did I enjoy this book? Yes, actually much more than the first one, though my rating is the same. I love the idea of the witches. And this one is set in France, which seemed like it would be fun. I will say I stand by my thoughts on this series that it is definitely meant for the younger YA crowd.

The setting: I definitely could have used a more lush description of France. It's Paris after all. And Paris is amazing (I should know as I've been there). There is so much to describe about the streets, the houses, just about anything. Do I understand this was set in a time when I didn't see Paris, I sure do. But I still know there could have been more description to make me feel like I was actually in another country.

The characters: Were the same. Frances as the main. Still kind of whiny, not easy to connect with. But still a good addition to the story. I love her troubles she's having and how she tries to go about figuring out what is wrong. The re-introduction of our "villain" from the first book is a good twist, though expected. And the addition of a few new characters put a nice spin on things. I particularly enjoyed the blossoming friendships between Frances, Lena, and Maxine. They look out for each other and it seems would do anything to keep each other safe. The love story falls short for me. It just doesn't seem true from Frances end. Is she truly in love with him or does she want normalcy and he's it?

The plot: It was a bit short sighted for me. The reintroduction of Finn could have been done better. He was our villain in the first book but this book he seems to want to make some amends, But it doesn't really work and then gets kind of squashed.

Unfortunately this book fell short of developing in the way I would have liked.

There is definitely a set up for a third book here. I'm sure I will read it because I hate to leave series unfinished if I can help it. 

Author:

Sasha Peyton Smith is the New York Times best selling author of The Witch Haven and The Witch Hunt. She’s passionate about well-curated road trip playlists, soup recipes, and stories about complicated girls. Originally from Utah, she now lives in Washington D.C. with her partner and collection of porcelain hands.

 

ARC Review: The Witch Hunt (The Witch Haven #2) by Sasha Peyton Smith

ARC Review: The Witch Haven by Sasha Peyton Smith

The Last Magician meets The Lady’s Guide to Petticoats and Piracy in this thrilling and atmospheric historical fantasy following a young woman who discovers she has magical powers and is thrust into a battle between witches and wizards.

In 1911 New York City, seventeen-year-old Frances Hallowell spends her days as a seamstress, mourning the mysterious death of her brother months prior. Everything changes when she’s attacked and a man ends up dead at her feet—her scissors in his neck, and she can’t explain how they got there.

Before she can be condemned as a murderess, two cape-wearing nurses arrive to inform her she is deathly ill and ordered to report to Haxahaven Sanitarium. But Frances finds Haxahaven isn’t a sanitarium at all: it’s a school for witches. Within Haxahaven’s glittering walls, Frances finds the sisterhood she craves, but the headmistress warns Frances that magic is dangerous. Frances has no interest in the small, safe magic of her school, and is instead enchanted by Finn, a boy with magic himself who appears in her dreams and tells her he can teach her all she’s been craving to learn, lessons that may bring her closer to discovering what truly happened to her brother.

Frances’s newfound power attracts the attention of the leader of an ancient order who yearns for magical control of Manhattan. And who will stop at nothing to have Frances by his side. Frances must ultimately choose what matters more, justice for her murdered brother and her growing feelings for Finn, or the safety of her city and fellow witches. What price would she pay for power, and what if the truth is more terrible than she ever imagined?

Author: Sasha Peyton Smith

Expected publication date: August 31st 2021

Publisher: Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers

Review:

Thank you NetGalley and Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers for providing me with an advanced copy of this book to read and review.

I love witches. Harry Potter is my all time favorite series and the only one I would read over and over again without ever regretting it. A chance to read a book about witches had me itching to jump right in and turn the pages to see what happens.

First, I love the time period this is set in. Whenever I read books set in the early 1900s, I"m always reminded of learning about this time period in school and all the possibilities that existed. But I'm also reminded of the terrible living conditions some had and how living was often minute to minute in the hopes you'd survive.

If you're thinking historical fantasy, though, I"m not quite sure it will meet those expectations. The book starts out immersing you in that time period, but over the course of the story I feel as if it lost that historical feeling and became more of just a story of who done it, I was hoping for that Sherlock Holmes type feel, but it just did not deliver.

The main character starts out as truly likeable. This continued throughout the story, though the build up of her becoming more in tune with her magic wasn't what I would have wanted it to be. Things were too quick to happen and there were more inconsistencies in plot than I would have liked. A perfect example is the strict rules that are set at Haxhaven that the girls can so easily run around. 

The magic infused in this story is interesting. I would have liked a more complete explanation of it, but it served its purpose

I'm not sure if the author intends to write more to this story, but I can see where the ending would lead you to that.

Overall my expectations for this particular book were not met. It was fun, and enough of a page turner that I wanted to keep going to see what happened at the end, but I was really expecting to be more enthralled given the content and summary. As a debut novel, I do see much potential from this author for future books and would definitely add them to my TBR!

Would definitely recommend as a middle/upper middle grade read for those who like a magical element in their books.

Sasha Peyton Smith grew up in the mountains of Utah surrounded by siblings, books, and one very old cat. She attended the University of Utah and the George Washington University where she studied biology and public health. She is not a witch, though she does own a lot of crystals and always knows what phase the moon is in. She currently lives in Washington D.C. with her partner and collection of porcelain hands. Her debut novel is THE WITCH HAVEN, coming fall 2021 with Simon and Schuster