I so thoroughly enjoyed this book! I have never been actually able to read an eBook completely but this book...I ran through it in under 5 hours! I could not put it down.

Between almost each chapter, we get a little bit of information about three sisters, named Marguerite, Aurora, and Hazel, that are living in Oregon in the early 1800s. I loved these sections as they really helped me differentiate the sisters instead of seeing them just as "those three sisters." I really wanted more of them! (or maybe a prequel companion story? *wink wink at Shea Ernshaw* Getting more of them would've been so much fun and would've really developed that time period and the town. near the end, two of the sisters make references to how the town has changed. Seeing more through the 1800s eyes would've really made this hit home more.

In present time, we meet Penny who lives in the small town of Sparrow. I really loved Penny throughout the whole book. She seems like such a good person as well as a local and outside (like a beautiful mash up of her parents.)

Now I am not a big fan of romance but wow this book's romance hot me in the feels. I spent the last 1/4 of the book ugly crying like a Kardashian! Little pieces of the book that seemed so casually and normal to include starting being connected and wrapped up. God, Hazel just tore my heart out! I wanna find myself a Bo to heal the broken heart of!

The mysteries were really interesting and I definitely did not see all the twists and turns that came at the end...that intertwined past and present and romance and family.

PS I cannot wait for this book to come out because there's some pretty beautiful lines in here that MUST get pretty art made for it

I absolutely LOVED this book! I got so invested in Jane, her story and her ending. I loved the weaving of stories and travels from the East into the story based in England. It reminded me a lot of A Madness So Discreet and The Book Thief style of writing. I will absolutely be keeping a d rereading my copy of this book

Man, I absolutely love Moira's writing! I'm so disappointed that I've read the only two books she has published. I'm not a big fan of magic realism or contemporary but the writing is just so good and the characters are flawed and diverse either in race or sexual orientation.

This was a bit more of a "wtf" book than Spellbook of the Lost and Found but I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I'm a sucker for books set in Ireland and with magic apparently. I think Moira Fowley-Doyle is an insta-buy author for me now.

The book perfectly describes itself at the end with "Embrace the unexplained."

This is one of those books that you'll have to reread a few times in order to totally understand it. The setting and magic are well written. There's a lot of time/place jumping, mystery and "omg! That's who that is!" moments.

A stunningly beautiful book with real diversity of race, sexual orientation and ability. I am really excited to read Moira's other work and to reread this one. It's a PERFECT autumn book in a wonderful setting with multiple generation mystery and really well developed characters who evolve quite a lot through the book.

<3

Neil Gaiman has such beautiful writing that just takes me into the world of each book. his stories, even when based on non-fiction, always has such a creative twist to it...and Norse Mythology is no different. I love all the different ways each God is represented in from story to story. I kind of feel bad for Loki always getting blamed for things (sometimes it's warranted but not always). I really couldn't help but laugh when Thor dressed up like a woman to get his hammer back by marrying an ogre/giant thing.

Getting the opportunity to sit with these men together would've been the most fascinating thing to ever see.

It's a tradition Gaiman & Pratchett book. Magical realism, mind fuckery, weird characters...hilarious yet deep as hell. Such sneaky bastards that make me finish the book and then think "fuck...huh..."

These men are/were so creative and such brilliant writers and this book shows it.

https://youtu.be/UEQxTo6UV-Y

I absolutely LOVED this book!
✔️hella gorgeous cover
✔️racially diverse cast
✔️main character is person of colour
✔️diverse sexual orientation
✔️well written character diversity

SARAH Glenn Marsh's writing was perfect. it gave a couple hints so the reader could think "oh, I wonder if..." and then it would be confirmed or denied right away. when books leave these "bread crumbs" that are actually massive cement blocks for chapters and chapters, it almost feels like they are insulting my intelligence. Marsh seems to want you to understand and follow the plot with that sense of caution and suspicion.

There were a couple things I wanted more fleshed out but they were very minimal. I thought more of an explanation about the god Vaia would've helped give me a better sense of the climate where the book takes place. I think there should've been more of an explanation of Hadrien's actions at the end. How he pulled what he did was explained but

no real reason that would justify killing your family.

I really liked the romance in this book. They aren't the entire main plot and they aren't toxic. the romance helps each character grow and have a support system. I need more books with LGBTQ+ diversity to be written like this. There is a gay relationship, a bisexual relationship and a lesbian relationship but it's no big deal. It's great that authors are diversifying their characters but I don't particularly like when they have an LGBTQ character in a fantasy or sci-fi and it feels like the author is screaming "LOOK! THERES AN LGBTQ CHARACTER! IM DIVERSE!" Similarly, the race of the characters is mentioned when they are introduced and that's it. Diversity is presented as the norm and I loved that.

The author did an amazing job writing the grief in this book. So often, there's fantasies where "the love of my life" dies and they go on one bender and then just move on while I'm here being like "wow. you got over the love of your life being betrayed and murdered awfully fast." Odessa's grief is believable and relatable and her actions make sense. Her use of substances to cope is sad but made me better understand and grow with her character as well as help me get invested in the feelings and relationship she had with Evander.

Considering the short length of the book, I think the author did a fantastic job of world, magic and character building. There's very few good standalone fantasies with a memorable world and structure...this is one of them (UPDATE: it looks like its a series now). The necromancy wasn't too simple nor was it unnecessary complicated. There's structure to the Deadlands and the transportation to and from it that is followed and logical.

I ship Odessa and Meredy so hard!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezVRqhFOUMs&t=1s

Well I just had a mini panic attack after finishing this book and seeing it labeled as a stand alone but THANK GOD it's just wrong on GoodReads! we are getting a sequel!

This book is just so much fun. I want to be adopted into this family so Diana Hyde and I can become best friends! I can't wait for the sequel!