3/8/25: 4.5 This was a glorious little cozy mystery. It has a perfect balance between cozy elements and mystery elements. The mystery was engaging and the characters were fun. The paranormal/witch side of the story was pretty and whimsical. I'm so sad there are only two books in this series. 

3/5/25: This is an important story and I learned a lot. I probably won't ever re-read it but I'm glad I read it once. It's well done.

3/3/25: 3.5 stars. This did a good job exploring ideas: how social media complicates friendship, how social media triggers comparison and jealousy, racism and sexism in the music industry, white saviorism, and more. The characters are pretty flat and I think they are just there to explore the ideas rather than being fully fleshed out people. 

3/2/25: this was a quick, easy timepass. I was in the mood for a romance and it scrached the itch. I didn't like the MMC. I thought he showed some alarming red flags of an abuser and the logic or rationale behind his behavior was "passable" but flimsy. I thought the author id a great job illustrating anxiety and panic disorder. I did however question if she liked children at all based on some of the scenes and dialogue and inner thoughts, of characters, etc. I am not likely to read from this author again, but this was fine for what it was. 

2/27/25: this book is good for when you need a fun vampire adventure you don't have to think too much about. 

2/24: I think Julia Buckley wrote this book intending for it to be the last book in the series and it reads like a grand finale. There was lots of action at the end with a satisfying wrap up. 

2/23: goodness this was bleak. I need to think about it more before I finalize my review and rating.

later that day....lol

I settling on 4 stars for this. Overall, this is a hard hitting, despairing, bleak, heart breaking story. I think it could have been 5 stars if she had peeled back a bit on the number of social issues tackled in this story. There was so much trauma, it was almost too much. It ended on a hopeful note, but overall I left this book feeling bruised and beat up. I don't know if that was the intent? I'm ultimately still pretty torn about how I feel about this book. I loved it and I hated it. 

2/23: 3.5 stars. Certain parts of this dragged for me but on the whole it was a fun and engaging read. Good set up for the LOTR trilogy. 

2/17: There was so much going on in this story it made my head spin the best way. Lots of cozy coffee talk. Visits from my favorite characters and fun developments with the main characters.

In this one too, since Clare is interacting with many people from South America, Columbia specifically, we get to learn about some of the sociopolitical issues of those places. 

2/15: I loved this so much. Wintery, slavic middle grades are one of my favorite sub-genres and this did not disappoint. The characters were precious and learned important life lessons. The plot was exciting and the pacing well done. I already want to re-read it.