Spellbook of the Lost and Found by Moïra Fowley-Doyle Published by RHCP Digital on June 1st 2017
Pages: 416
Goodreads
One stormy summer night, Olive and her best friend, Rose, begin to lose things. It starts with simple items like hair clips and jewellery, but soon it’s clear that Rose has lost something bigger; something she won’t talk about.
Then Olive meets three wild, mysterious strangers: Ivy, Hazel and Rowan. Like Rose, they’re mourning losses - and holding tight to secrets.
When they discover the ancient spellbook, full of hand-inked charms to conjure back lost things, they realise it might be their chance to set everything right. Unless it’s leading them towards secrets that were never meant to be found . . .
DNF
Sigh. I find myself disappointed with this book, and really I’m not that surprised. Magical realism doesn’t usually sit that well with me. Be magical or don’t, don’t blah it up in the middle. But some part of me hoped that this would be the exception. I mean it’s Irish, I love Ireland. So maybe I could love this. Nope, it was not to be.
The first thing I noticed was the title. “Oooh magic!” I thought. And I saw the gorgeous cover and had to give it a go. So I read the back. Well, not super impressed but I could deal. I opened the book, read a few chapters, then set it aside for WEEKS. The only reason I picked it back up was to try and finish it before passing it on to another reader, and I just couldn’t be bothered. For several reasons.
Let’s start with the good. The friendships in this book are really good. I enjoyed the dynamics, and each character had their own pizzaz. It’s the best part of the book, the characters and the things they lose or find. But characters without a driving plot are lost and here’s where the problem comes.
So that’s fine and all but the plot is a big, sloppy slog of a read. It’s like wading through a pit of quicksand, made of boring plot. Can we get some urgency here? Nope, just more plod. I just couldn’t do it anymore. Book went into the mail and I didn’t think about it again.
And honestly, I don’t feel any loss in not finishing this book. I’m perfectly happy with admitting it’s not my kind of book. Despite the beautiful setting and well written characters, I’m a very plot driven reader and it just wasn’t there for me. I hope the person I pass it on to likes it more than I did.
Do you ever find a genre you just can’t get into? Tell me in the comments.
From my shelf to yours,
Erin
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