Spells for Forgetting

Thank you Netgalley for providing me with this arc, I was so ecstatic to read it.

This book is by far Adrienne Young’s best work. It’s ominous and bleak that feels like salt tinged fog. I don’t think I’ve encountered a book in a long while that made me cry with just an expression of a MCs feelings vs events in the book. This type of love between Emery and August is gut wrenching, steals your breath away and cracks your bones. It’s beautifully written and I feel like it could have only been written by someone who’s felt that sort of loss, a love that burrows in and fuses with you.

Young has a way of injecting you into a location with just the right words. She knows how not to over do it and let’s your mind create the space show more between her words to make it come to fruition in your imagination. Simply put: * chefs kiss *

The magic system doesn’t take center stage which was actually a gulp of fresh air. It was interwoven and exists “as is”. In a market saturated with complicated and flimsy MS’s it was nice to see it naturally be part of the story. It’s origins are nature based and easy to understand. It gently adds to the story and it’s progression.

Some may not enjoy the multi POV’s that include minor characters but I loved it. It’s always enjoyable to jump into a mind that may not get page time like elder characters. I felt like it moved the story along and added to it tremendously.

MCs are spectacular. I loved them. I live for unapologetic and savage bonds people have with each other and these MCs do. Perfect amount of angst PLUS they’re in their 30s!!

Story arc is immaculate, 10/10 will always recommend this book. When it officially releases I’m hunting down a signed copy and it’s going on my shelf of keepers. show less

For what I thought would be a cosy magic realism - romance novel on an island, this book turned sinister real quick. And in a good way, honestly.
I’m not a fan of young love and books overdoing the fact that it was true love - it’s an overdone trope that doesn’t factor in the frontal lobe development. Which was my issue initially. But I liked that Alex and emery’s relationships is given more space to grow, and the various perspectives and timelines added to how fun this novel was.
By the end of the book, I was reading page to page! Worth it!

Fourteen years ago Emery Blackwood's life was devastated the night her best friend was found dead and her boyfriend August became the main suspect. Shortly after, August left the small, magical island of Saiorse with his mother without looking back.

Now, August has returned to Saiorse to fulfill his mother's final wishes. But Saiorse doesn't easily forget, and with August's return strange things begin to happen around the island and there are certainly those who are less than excited to see August again - Emery being one of them.

The past always has a way of surfacing and it might be time for a reckoning.

Being some who has read all of Adrienne Young's YA novels, I was really excited to learn of Spells For Forgetting, her first foray show more into adult.

I loved the tone of the book, rooted so much in the fall weather and harvest time. There's so much that happens as we get ready to lay things down for the winter months, I feel like it's the perfect time to rehash the past which is something that Spells does in abundance.

I like that we (readers) are right there with August and Emery as they work their way through what happened all those years ago and how it's kind of spread into the present. We get to solve the mystery with them which helps to push the story forward, although I'll tell you it's a slow burn if ever there was one. This is not necessarily a bad thing. Adrienne Young peppers the story with so much history and ambiance you'll swear you can feel the breeze coming in from the shoreline. This also allows for all the story threads to be dealt with in satisfying ways.

This is especially true of Emery and August's complicated relationship. They were each other's first loves and had thought they were going to be their last until August left without a word to Emery. They have a lot to unpack and I think that Adrienne Young does a great job of giving both of these characters their pain and anger, but also the idea of moving forward. Typically, I'm all about the romance, but in this case, I honestly wanted what was going to be best for Emery and August whether or not they're able to work things out.

I think I really appreciated the history of the island which of course includes the people who live there. This isn't just Emery and August's story it's a generational story about these founding-families of Saiorse and I liked how magic is just this part of it. Something that everyone grew up knowing existed on the island and if you are a local, you understand it and, for better or worse, let it thrive.

I feel like there's potential for more written in this magical world and I'd look forward to one day reading should more stories come about. Spells For Forgetting is the perfect book to curl up and read on a cool fall day. show less

Thank you Netgalley for providing me with this arc, I was so ecstatic to read it.

This book is by far Adrienne Young’s best work. It’s ominous and bleak that feels like salt tinged fog. I don’t think I’ve encountered a book in a long while that made me cry with just an expression of a MCs feelings vs events in the book. This type of love between Emery and August is gut wrenching, steals your breath away and cracks your bones. It’s beautifully written and I feel like it could have only been written by someone who’s felt that sort of loss, a love that burrows in and fuses with you.

Young has a way of injecting you into a location with just the right words. She knows how not to over do it and let’s your mind create the space show more between her words to make it come to fruition in your imagination. Simply put: * chefs kiss *

The magic system doesn’t take center stage which was actually a gulp of fresh air. It was interwoven and exists “as is”. In a market saturated with complicated and flimsy MS’s it was nice to see it naturally be part of the story. It’s origins are nature based and easy to understand. It gently adds to the story and it’s progression.

Some may not enjoy the multi POV’s that include minor characters but I loved it. It’s always enjoyable to jump into a mind that may not get page time like elder characters. I felt like it moved the story along and added to it tremendously.

MCs are spectacular. I loved them. I live for unapologetic and savage bonds people have with each other and these MCs do. Perfect amount of angst PLUS they’re in their 30s!!

Story arc is immaculate, 10/10 will always recommend this book. When it officially releases I’m hunting down a signed copy and it’s going on my shelf of keepers. show less

This was my very first Adrienne Young book, and man if I liked the writing and the story. There was something magical that kept me glued to this book. The setting, maybe? The characters? Highly probable. But it was mostly the writing. Simply magical, so intricate that made the story telling so well-woven for na story at the end so simple.

Because, I mean, it all happened for four seeds of an apple.

And no, literally, you'll realize what I mean after you finish it.

The story between August and Emery was so remarkably sweet and sour, and that bittersweet ending? Now, I do realize that many will think of that ending as a happy one, but I can't help but to think that there is bitterness in it.

What the island wants is quite simple, and at the show more end, deep down we all know the island will get what it wants.

Can't wait to read more from Young.

4⭐️ 0.25 show less

On the Island or Saoirse, unrequited love meets buried secrets, with a touch of magic, more than a little evil and quite a bit left unsaid but not forgotten. There were so many typical stereotypes that blended perfectly into this story - so easy to understand, so easy to dislike, so easy to be confused. There was so much hurt and damage and so many shattered pieces like sea glass scattered over the beach. So much is hidden you wonder if anyone knows the complete story.

I didn’t charge through this book. I took my time examining and reexamining and even when I thought the emotion ran too high I realized that when you are devastated you can never ascribe limits. Adrienne Young gets it all perfectly and drew me into the story, the show more darkness of the place, the anguish, the fear, the hate, the longing, the loss. Truly a great piece of work.

Thank you Delacorte Press and NetGalley for a copy. show less

Spells for Forgetting is Adrienne Young’s first standalone novel and her first for adults. She is more than welcome to continue writing adult books because this one was fantastic. A little mystery mixed with a bit of fantasy makes for a compelling story in which the island is an ominous secondary character. Ms. Young describes Saorise Island in such a way that it becomes a place you want to visit with its folksy charm, adorable shops, and apple farm. The story’s heart is the mystery of what happened on that fateful night. Between that and the strained history of Emery and August, Spells for Forgetting mesmerized me. All of this is what made it my favorite novel of the month.