There are still 2 months and a half before 2025 ends, but I must say.... This is the best read of the year for me. This was so compelling. So addicting. SO GOOD. A masterpiece about the patriarchy, how misogynistic the academia and the publishing world can be. A painful, but wonderful book about traumas, but also the strength and perseverance of women. Fantasy elements are used to criticize this unfair world where women are silenced, used and mocked, and yet, women fight and persist. The writing was so good, so poetic, and yet simple and, again, addicting. The characters were so well written, especially the protagonist. I saw myself in her and felt her pain and her hope so much. It was all so real, which is funny because this story is also very much about how we have to be careful in not drowning (get it?) in stories because reality is out there and it can eat us up if we don't keep our heads out of the water. But we swim, and we swim, and we swim for all those who came before us and drowned. This is now one of my favorite reads ever and I can't wait to read the sequel and everything else that Ava Reid has written and will write. 5 stars, 10 stars, all the stars in the universe, really.

This was a nice, easy, simple spooky book to read! It's always so much fun reading MG books that are all about adventures and mysteries! This one is about these so called witch stones and ghostly witches. It's also related to witch trials. This had a touch of quite heartbreaking situations. The characters were nice, but I loved the antagonist the most because of the way she was developed. The protagonist felt quite empty, to be quite honest. The antagonist and the protagonist's best friend were more interesting. The plot was quite simplistic. I was expecting more about the witch stones, as well as witches and druids. The writing was nice. Very simple, entertaining and easy to read. Overall, it was a good read!

I was excited to read this book because the cover and the synopsis screamed FALL VIBES. However, sadly, the book was disappointing...

The big problem I had with the writing was how unnatural the dialogues sounded, even the voice of the protagonist as a narrator. I really appreciate the attempt at talking about social issues, but the way that was fine felt too on the nose and quite artificial. Like I said, it didn't feel natural at all.

The characters were also a bit... Empty. The love interest had nothing going on expecting him being a nice boy, which is okay! That's a great trait! But where was everything else to make him feel real and authentic? The secondary cast had this same issue as well. The protagonist felt real and the author did a nice job at speaking about PCOS through her. That seemed really well done.

The plot... It felt like there was a lot going on, but not every plotline was developed properly. They either got solved too quickly, or were done in a superficial way, as in "well, this one is done. Next?".

As for the fall vibes I wanted to see, they were barely there, in my opinion! It wasn't enough for me to see Whit repeat many times how she was drinking PSL or how much she loves Fall Fest. I wanted more emotions about all that. I wanted to feel all that, too, but nope. It was just... Those things just happened. There was no excitement.

To sum up, I'm sad I didn't exactly enjoy the book. It still had some good things going on, but, overall, it was a disappointing read.

This was a lovely and cozy read! The illustrations are absolutely phenomenal and I really enjoy the world building regarding the different beings. It was also great seeing different kinds of relationships. It had a bit from everything, from love, to friendship and family. However, I expected a more interesting plot. I think there was a want in doing multiple plotlines at once, but I don't think that worked quite well. That also didn't help in having more fleshed out characters. I can't wait to read the sequels, tho!

It had one of my favorite tropes, which is fake dating, but it was underwhelming in that regard. I also didn't buy the insta love. Felt cringe. The writing was alright. It entertains. I can see that the author tried to give depth to the main characters, but that didn't feel really genuine. Some of the secondary characters felt cartoonish even. It was still an entertaining and quick read!