From Susan Dennard, the New York Times bestselling author of the Witchlands series, comes a haunting and high-octane contemporary fantasy, about the magic it takes to face your fears in a nightmare-filled forest, and the mettle required to face the secrets hiding in the dark corners of your own family.
Hemlock Falls isn’t like other towns. You won’t find it on a map, your phone won’t work here, and the forest outside town might just kill you.
Winnie Wednesday wants nothing more than to join the Luminaries, the ancient order that protects Winnie’s town—and the rest of humanity—from the monsters and nightmares that rise in the forest of Hemlock Falls every night.
Ever since her father was exposed as a witch and a traitor, Winnie and her family have been shunned. But on her sixteenth birthday, she can take the deadly Luminary hunter trials and prove herself true and loyal—and restore her family’s good name. Or die trying.
But in order to survive, Winnie enlists the help of the one person who can help her train: Jay Friday, resident bad boy and Winnie’s ex-best friend. While Jay might be the most promising new hunter in Hemlock Falls, he also seems to know more about the nightmares of the forest than he should. Together, he and Winnie will discover a danger lurking in the forest no one in Hemlock Falls is prepared for.
Not all monsters can be slain, and not all nightmares are confined to the dark.
Overall Recommendation
The Luminaries sets a new secret society within our world that guards humankind from nightmarish creatures lurking in the forests at night. Beautiful worldbuilding and mystery subplots keep the momentum going that I couldn’t put this book down at all. The ending was abrupt and most things were not concluded in a satisfactory manner, but this definitely makes me all the more excited for what’s to come in the next book.
Alice Sun has always felt invisible at her elite Beijing international boarding school, where she’s the only scholarship student among China’s most rich and influential teens. But then she starts uncontrollably turning invisible—actually invisible.
When her parents drop the news that they can no longer afford her tuition, even with the scholarship, Alice hatches a plan to monetize her strange new power—she’ll discover the scandalous secrets her classmates want to know, for a price.
But as the tasks escalate from petty scandals to actual crimes, Alice must decide if it’s worth losing her conscience—or even her life.
In this genre-bending YA debut, a Chinese American girl monetizes her strange new invisibility powers by discovering and selling her wealthy classmates’ most scandalous secrets.
**If You Could See the Sun comes out October 11, 2022**
Thank you Edelweiss and the publisher for this copy in exchange for an honest review.
Asian representation? Check. International boarding school locale? Check. A swoony academic rivals to lovers romance? Check. If You Could See the Sun checked off a LOT of boxes for me even before getting into it, but the actual story was a brilliant debut full of hijinks and personable characters to root for.
Alice goes to one of the most elite boarding schools in Beijing but that comes with a little problem. Her family is actually not that well off, and she only has half a scholarship to cover the cost of tuition. When it seems her family cannot afford to keep sending her to the one place where she feels she can be seen for who she is (re: almost the smartest overachiever), she gets desperate to maintain the crafted identity and reputation she took years to cultivate.
The idea of being unseen when Alice is surrounded by classmates from the top echelons of society, sons and daughters of actors and singers and CEOs, is one that I think we can all resonate with even if our situation is nowhere near as extreme. While others could be known for their money, charm, beauty or athleticism, Alice felt she really only had one thing: her intellect and ability to be the top 1 in her class. And in China, let me tell you, that is a whole different world and standard than perhaps what North American society is like, regardless that this is an international boarding school.
Of course, what irked her more was that her identity had to be shared with a rich boy who didn’t seem to need this reputation as much as she did. Enter Henry, who secretly is a cinnamon roll and probably had a crush on her the entire time. Personally, I think I liked that romantic set up even more because it’s obvious to ALL of us minus Alice that he didn’t see her as the enemy in the same way she built up their rivalry. The angst of waiting to see what could come of a partnership between them? Pure delight.
The pacing was good as it soon became evident that Alice’s fear of being unseen and unknown was building to explosive levels as her time at school was ticking towards a close. The slightly paranormal aspect of this story that imagines her feelings of invisibility manifesting as actual invisibility? I really enjoyed that because it was the perfect plot point to develop everything else. What do you get when you have a desperate girl wanting to make money with the uncanny ability to sneak around behind everyone’s literal back? A perfect money-making scheme.
As requests come in for Alice’s anonymous services that utilize her ability, it goes from innocuous to downright criminal. This is definitely more of a character-driven story than a plot one in the sense that the requests Alice accepts help build her character in good or bad ways. She was always a loner, friendly to everyone but not tight with anyone. Doing this brought to light secrets about her classmates as well as opened her eyes to who Henry could be to her if she wasn’t so angry with him all the time. While the plot could deviate a little depending on the task, it always felt relevant in terms of her growth trajectory.
Now, were there no complaints at all about the story? No, I can’t say it was perfect and I’ll outline why I had to dock off half a star.
The actual “magical” ability to turn her invisibility on or off wasn’t very clear. It just happened one day, and then there was no actual learning to control it. Even when Alice started using it for her services, she could never actively control it, but rather timed her activities to when she thought she was due to turn invisible based on past frequencies. Also, becoming visible again? Not controlled either. It’s a surprise she never got caught in the earlier tasks when she had no estimate for how long invisibility would last. While it’s not the biggest thing to nitpick on, the invisibility aspect is just a plot device and nothing more, and I feel it could’ve been utilized more as the metaphor it was. Does she get to keep this “ability” for the rest of her life or will it disappear if she learns to be seen for who she is in other aspects of her life? None of that is clear.
However, the bigger reason for not getting a full rating is the climactic request the synopsis hinted at. It gets SUPER morally grey with the decision Alice makes, and I personally do not condone how it all ended. I don’t know if it’s because of the fictional aspect, but I’m 100% sure in real life there would be more consequences. That’s not to say Alice’s growth was a villainous turn or anything. I do think it was a realistic arc for a desperate girl who wanted to her onto her one identifying characteristic. So kudos to Ann Liang for writing a complicated but realistic protagonist. Just some parts didn’t sit as well with me while I was reading it.
Last note before I end this review. While the setting is in Beijing and full of Chinese characters, whether foreign born or locals with high achieving families, this book brings lots of Asian representation to the table while not making it the biggest thing about it. I personally really liked that take. Don’t get me wrong. There are fantastic books that featured heavily on the Asian experience among the diaspora but this was a little different. Perhaps it’s because Alice is currently living in China, the land of her ancestors, so the focus can be on the Asian culture experience as it pertains to familial relationships and priorities without the major dissonance between two cultural identities. That is still relatable, or educational, but brings something slightly different to the table that I appreciated seeing.
Do I think this book is for everyone? Yes. Regardless if you’re Asian or not, this was a fun story of the lengths we may go to meet our own expectations and cultivated identities. It’s relatable to the human experience, but I loved the added bonus of having the Asian representation brought into focus. The romance was just the icing on top because who wouldn’t love a sweetheart like Henry with the manners of a far older gentleman? Please pick up this book when it comes out!
Overall Recommendation:
If You Could See the Sun tackles the overarching question: what lengths would you go to to be seen by others? Set in a gorgeous international boarding school in Beijing and filled with all sorts of cultural references, Alice gets to answer this question herself as she literally, not metaphorically, turns invisible one day. This embarks her on a journey of self-discovery and re-evaluated relationships, especially with her academic rival, Henry. The romance was superbly done with lots of the best kind of angst, and the pace of the story grows to a climax that hangs on the edge of a cliff. This book has something for romance lovers and those who love contemporaries with thought provoking themes. It is a truly great debut with excellent Asian representation as a bonus.
Willow has never felt like she belonged anywhere and is convinced that the only way to find a true home is to travel the world. But her plans to act on her dream are put on hold when her aloof and often absent mother drags Willow to Salem, Massachusetts, to wrap up the affairs of an aunt Willow didn’t even know she had. An aunt who may or may not have been a witch.
There, she meets Mason, a loner who’s always felt out of place and has been in and out of foster homes his entire life. He’s been classified as one of the runaways, constantly searching for ways to make it back to his mom; even if she can’t take care of him, it’s his job to try and take care of her. Isn’t it?
Naturally pulled to one another, Willow and Mason set out across Salem to discover the secret past of Willow’s mother, her aunt, and the ambiguous history of her family. During all of this, the two can’t help but act on their natural connection. But with the amount of baggage between them—and Willow’s growing conviction her family might be cursed—can they manage to hold onto each other?
From the New York Times bestselling author of Love & Gelato comes a poignant and romantic novel about two teens trying to find their place in the world after being unceremoniously dragged to Salem, Massachusetts, for the summer.
**Spells for Lost Things comes out September 27, 2022**
Thank you Simon & Schuster for this copy in exchange for an honest review.
In Jenna’s latest novel that is separate from her renown Love & Gelato series, I found her usual whimsical storytelling with likable protagonists set in a location that becomes as much of a character as anyone. Spells for Lost Things is a heartfelt novel about two individuals who don’t know where they belong in this world, but perhaps could find what they’re each searching for with one another’s help.
Yes, this is a dual POV story and I was totally here for it. I loved how both Mason and Willow have such distinctive voices right from the start and it totally adds to the story by knowing their deepest thoughts and struggles both so intimately.
Mason is an astronomy lover, and the little geeky stargazer that I am was super ecstatic with all the star facts just splayed across this story. Also, he keeps a star log and I absolutely need to do that over a traditional journal. Being a foster kid in search of his mom’s whereabouts, immediately we get the sense of his struggles as she had always been the anchor to Earth, the gravity that kept him moving from home to home because they’d be reunited one day when she was ready. I don’t have firsthand intimate knowledge of what the foster system is like, but I did think his actions and behaviour felt genuine when placed in his new foster home. He wasn’t always happy or outwardly grateful but my heart couldn’t help but love him for what he had gone through and was still working out.
Willow brought some more of the lightness to the story, although her own struggles with her workaholic mom was prevalent. Her mom’s secrets and distant behaviour left Willow in search for home, that sense of feeling that she belonged and fitted somewhere. Like Mason, she too was unmoored and had a wanderlust that drove her restless to see all that was out there in the world.
That being said, while it could’ve been a really serious and dark book, the balance of fun and lightheartedness worked out well in the context of Willow’s search for her witchy ancestry. With the help of Mason by her side to decode her aunt’s clues left for her and her mom to follow surrounding a mystery in their ancestor’s past in Salem, their struggles and individual losses were brought to light that felt natural. The chemistry between the two teens were present right away. While I loved both characters individually for who they were – a grand feat as YA romances sometimes define their protagonists based on their interactions with one another and not as separate individuals – I am glad their interaction as a unit was just as beautiful.
I mentioned earlier that the location is just as big of a presence as any person in the story. Like Jenna’s previous books, Salem gets brought to life on page before us. For someone like me who hasn’t travelled extensively to such locations, I felt like I was walking down the streets with them, seeing ghost tours, feeling the 365-day year round Halloween spirit that still had room to be amplified more in October. The witch aspect of the story wasn’t super developed like other books, so don’t expect a whole system described about how spells work or their specific beliefs. This might’ve been something that would bother me in another story, but it worked in this one. Being witches is not the main focus, although Willow’s eccentric great-aunts were such wonderful gems that brought the comic relief. But I will warn that may be something certain readers would want to see more, so unfortunately I’m letting you know now it may not be as expected.
Overall, Jenna Evans Welch displayed she can write a fun contemporary story even within a more local setting while focusing on character development that made her protagonists shine brightly. Spells for Lost Things is a perfect read for contemporary romance lovers and comes at the perfect time to snuggle up with a blanket on a cold October evening.
Overall Recommendation:
Spells for Lost Things follows 2 protagonists, Mason and Willow, on their individual journeys to seek what they feel is missing in their lives. It brings them on a crash course collision in Salem, home of magic and whimsical longing. Salem was beautifully described, almost like a character itself, and it made me want to take a visit there some time. The seriousness of both protagonists’ struggles with feeling lost was balanced with the lightness that came with Willow’s quest to discover her family’s past, including the fact that she is a descendant of a line of witches. I really enjoyed the character development most in this book for each character, and their romance was sweet and perfect for any who loves a good ending. Overall, a solid read and continues to show off Jenna Evans Welch’s writing in this genre.
Down the Rabbit Hole 