I never read the blurb of the books I choose to read, so what makes me choose a book is usually:
1. The cover… yes, I judge a book by its cover.
2. The title. If it has “witch” in it, I’m sold.
3. The author’s name. Yes, I know this is weird, but here we are.
The author’s surname was actually one of the reasons I chose this book first from my NetGalley library. I live in Eastern Europe, and “Poslední” means “last.” So I immediately thought: girl, you wrote a witchy book with me, you are not going to be last — you are going to be first.
Sorry for this completely unrequested explanation. Back to the book. 🌺
The first thing I loved immediately was the fictional excerpts before the chapters. I loved them to bits!!! 😍 Some of them felt so credible that I wanted to believe they were real books, so yes, I went and Googled them. Elise, you better write at least ten of those fictional books now, because I need them.
Then we have the third-person narration. I love books written in third person. And now I’m going to give you another piece of unrequested information: you know the movie Amélie? You know the narrator’s voice? Every time I read a book in third person, I hear that kind of voice reading it to me. I know, I know. But I love it.
Back to the book…
Until about halfway through, I was just having a wonderful time. I was cozy. I was witchy. I was thinking: okay, this is going to be a cozy magical story about a woman discovering herself, her magic, and maybe falling in love. Remember, I didn’t read the blurb, so I was just happily living in my little witchy bubble.
And then my stomach flipped.
I actually had to sit up straight because I was like: wait. What just happened?
From that moment on, I was completely hooked.
I also loved that the author made me feel complicated things about the main character. There was a moment with her love interest where I thought her reaction was exaggerated, and I got annoyed because I hate unnecessary drama and overreactions. But then I thought: wait… Elise made me love her, then made me frustrated with her, and that is actually good writing. It means I cared. 💭
And then I fell in love with her again.
Her love for her new family, her courage, and the way she grows through the story made me root for her completely.
And the ending? Oh gosh. The ending. One word: YES.
When an author makes me feel cozy, then scared, then annoyed with the main character, then makes me love her again, and finally makes me sigh with happiness at the end, that author gets my 5 stars. 🌟
Now Elise, you are in trouble with me. You know why? Because first of all, I want Book 2. I need to know what happens after this.
But not only that. I also want the backstory. I want to know how her grandfather fell in love with her grandmother. I want to know about the wars. I want the prequel too. I hope you are already writing.
To anyone reading this: if you like witches, demons, magical worlds, cozy fantasy, and all the good stuff around fantasy… read it. NOW!!! 🌺
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC. All opinions are my own.
Lupe Farkas 