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 . . .
So, let’s just get this out of the way.
I’m so serious, friends. I got this arc from Rochester Teen Book Festival, a nd I was just SO excited. So freaking excited. I love Ireland and Irish fairy stories. I love magic and fantasy. I love stories about groups of girls. I’m sure you can imagine my dismay when it instead turned out to be my least favorite genre: contemporary.
The style have me a headache, jumping from viewpoint to viewpoint. I felt there wasn’t enough differentiation between the characters to have so many povs. Sometimes I would literally have to go back to check whose section it was.
I did enjoy reading the descriptions of the scenery. The setting felt real, even when nothing else did. Unfortunately, that was all I enjoyed.
The characters were just cardboard cutouts of teenagers. Their antics were painfully predictable, and the “magic” felt more like a way to excuse their bad behavior than anything else. Oh, you got wasted and lost a shoe? No, it must have been magic’s fault.
Even the ending was dissatisfying. I really only finished it because I kept hoping it would get better, and by the time I knew it wouldn’t, I was over halfway through– my point of no return.
In fairness, I do not like contemporary. If you do, then you might enjoy this book. Proceed with caution.
From my bookshelf to yours, though I actually gave this book away,
Laura
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