I had such a good time with this book and it ended up being more high stakes than I anticipated! I had picked this up and put it down last year within 50 pages, not feeling like reading a cozy libary fantasy romance. I thought it would be devoid of plot and would focus a lot on the romance (granted i didn't read the summary). But having read this now, how wrong I was!! It was so much more detailed, with plot twists and challenges! I loved following Belle on her journey to reclaiming her magic. The romance was also such a tiny aspect of this book, I was pleasantly surprised! The story really focused on Belle's personal character arc and learning how to be a witch. It really was such a nice read and I'm glad to have given it another try!

I did not read the synopsis and did not expect this story at all but it was nice? I did not think it would be about maybe 19th century england and faerie. That being said, the audiobook was really good with all its music and sound effects. But this short story also left me hungry for more. Not dissimilarly to how I felt after reading this is how you lose the time war. It was good, it was queer and it defied the usual rules of narration, but it was also a little bit empty of emotion.

I had a blast reading this book! I literally finished it in barely 24 hours! This was fun, relatable and realistic. Sam was frustrating to read about at first because of the slump she finds herself in, but the more we learn about her, the more we empathize with her situation. Her relationship with Nick was also well developped and not toxic! (yay for green flags) ! I felt like this was a step up from Problematic Summer Romance which this book is comped to, because the main conflict isn't their age difference, it's about Sam finding her path in life, and I really appreciated that. On top of that, the writing was really funny and down to earth. I'm really excited to get a physical copy of this book to add to my bookshelves.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the e-arc