titalindaslibrary's Reviews (687)

That ending was EVERYTHING!! I was cackling and kicking my feet in delight 🤭

This was a slow burn of a historical fantasy, full of court politics, betrayal, rich world building, and a young woman who rises from obscurity to become more than she ever dreamed. Truly loved every twist and the conclusion we built up to! 

Holy shit this is a debut??? 

The characters, the heist plot, and even the banter/slice-of-life moments were balanced so well! I’m a sucker for that found-family vibe, and Wang nailed that development alongside some tense, nail-biting moments. The pacing was excellently done the whole way through, building up to a fantastic finale and intriguing ending that has me ravenous for the next book! 

Yo, what the FUCK?????

Honestly this would get a higher rating if it was 150ish pages shorter. The pacing dragged in parts and I almost DNFed. 

But that ending? What a tender way to wrap up this book.

This reads like Practical Magic meets Brown Girls, with a focus on Rhode Island and Filipino culture/magic! Our main trio of girls each have complex issues that they grapple with, all while navigating grief from losing one of their best friends. I found Inez’s storyline the most difficult to read, especially with the religious background and her overbearing mother. Ultimately I think her arc was handled well, but it was grim at times and I have to admit I felt frustrated.

This is a messy coming-of-age story but features characters we don’t see enough of in witchy tales! 

If you do pick this one up, I recommend steering clear of the audiobook - the narrator doesn’t change her voice at all for the different POVs and it got confusing.

What a riveting thriller! I'm in my dark academia era and this was the perfect follow up to a middling read. I was tearing through the pages and brought back to my adolescent obsession with Pretty Little Liars. This took those themes of sabotage, mystery, and secrets and expertly wove in a dual POV that managed to address racism, classism, and homophobia.  I'm so impressed and happy I finally read this one! 

I did find a few things predictable and I guessed a few key twists, BUT I still enjoyed my time reading this. Highly recommend!

Hmmmm…
I feel a bit torn trying to rate this one, but I will say it’s probably my favorite Henderson book to date!

Lennon is just such a passive character, with conveniently placed lightning bolts of incredible persuasion at the perfect time. It makes her coming into her power feel…unearned. Also, we begin with her leaving a broken relationship with a man and

end the book with her scraping together a relationship with a man

and it just made me feel some type of way. 

However! Henderson’s skill at building atmosphere and tension was wielded efficiently and I felt myself slowly falling under her spell. Despite a slow start and the long buildup to the finale, I have to say I enjoyed my time getting there. There’s such beautiful visuals here and it fit all the dark academia, morally grey vibes I was hoping for. An excellent read for the fall! 

I want to crawl inside this woman’s brain and live there. Bora Chung, the woman you are!! 
Even the stories I wasn’t a huge fan of kept me thoroughly engaged. Loved this collection of storie!

This was about 100 pages too long. I did enjoy the reflective voice of this novel and the way it shows us the slow but sure feeling of burnout when working in a capitalist society. But after a certain point I was just bored.

And THEN, just when I thought we were going to end on a note that would conclude the anti-work sentiment that’d been building, we get a flippant “well, just gotta try harder and hope for the best!” Wtf??

I mean...it was cute.
Very tired of these adults and their poor communication skills though. 

I can’t imagine how hard this must’ve been to write. Definitely a nuanced perspective as adult Jill reflects on her life as a teenager who was pursued by (and married to) her middle aged art teacher.