I wasn't as in love with this story as I was with the Hazel Wood books, but the character interactions were compelling. The ending was disappointing because I'm not a fan of

the chosen one trope, and the third-act reveal that the protagonist was a super-powerful witch all along cheapened her journey for me.

I really enjoyed the chapters focused on the Mom and her teenage coven.

I feel like all the spooky, atsmpoheric YA books are coming out at the wrong time of year this year. This has all the witchy vibes to it, throwing in a little darkness here and there. I enjoyed the way that Albert wove the story, giving us flashbacks and allowing us to get pieces of the story here and there. It added to the overall tension of the book and drew you into the story even more.

I wouldn't say that the characters are necessarily all that likeable? But I think that's partly the point. Even if they aren't super likeable, they are well-developed, centering around this main event that happened with Ivy's mom. The characters in both the present day and the flashbacks were fully fleshed out, and that made the book more enjoyable to me.

However, I didn't quite believe the romance. Like, it's intertwined with the magic and the mystery, but it just didn't feel believable to me. But other than that, if you enjoy witchy YA books, you'll definitely enjoy this one!

It was entertaining although I don't think I would re read this, it was fun and I really enjoyed it while reading but I didn't find it all that standout, Especially to the point I would re-read this over my ever growing fantasy tbr; but I'm very happy to have read it. I loved the dual timeline writing style; having not only dual character perspective but also a current/past time pov was really interesting; it is a book you need to give a bit more attention though because it took me a few chapters to fully get a grasp of all the characters and their place in past and present timelines but it is well laid out for you to eventually catch on.

Other than the incredibly detailed animal deaths/dead animals, I enjoyed this but ultimately it was a fairly 'mid' fantasy book for me personally, I had fun while reading but now that it's over I am pretty indifferent about the book and can't see myself rushing to recommend or re-reading anytime soon.  

*Thank you NetGalley and macmillan audio for this arc in exchange for my honest thoughts and review*

An intoxicatingly eerie and deliciously riveting tale about mothers and daughters, secrets, witches and a whole lot of revenge that I literally devoured! From eerie flashbacks from her childhood to the creepy, unnatural offerings left on her doorstep, Ivy’s summer gets off to a spookily rough start. But it leads Ivy on a journey of discovery… into her mother’s mysteriously vague past and into her the fragmented memories of her own. 

I absolutely loved every second of this richly imagined and sinisterly delightful masterpiece of a book. As a huge fan of The Hazel Wood and Tales of The Hinterland I was soo unbelievably excited to receive an ARC of it, it was one of my anticipated books of the year and I can say it definitely lived up to my expectations. 

I am obsessed with Melissa Albert’s expertly crafted, layered and bewitchingly complex world and her prose is second to none. I absolutely loved the dual POVs which explore both Ivy’s life, both in the present and her memories of her childhood as well as her mothers’ teenage years and her actions and choices which lead to the events that take place in the present. 

The characters were well crafted (I really liked both Ivy and her mum, Dana) and I loved the exploration into their mother daughter bond—at first glance Dana appears distant, both physically and emotionally but getting to experience her POV really helps to humanise her and give depth to her character. It also highlights the fact that nothing is ever truly straight forward or black and white, that there’s always more than one side to every story. 

The parallels between them both however is startlingly obvious and I loved that it’s their decisions (made decades apart) which ultimately bring them closer together. Ivy spends the first half of the book constantly searching for answers, about why her mum is distant and evasive, why the boy next door seems to hate her and why she feels like a piece of her is missing. Teenage Dana is likewise looking for meaning in her life, something bigger than herself in the life she shares with her temperamental father and best friend Fee. 

The plot is intriguingly twisty with soo many nuanced layers, surprises and revelations around every corner and the pacing was amazing. It starts out slow but quickly begins to speed up and escalate as the story and action unfolds, creating a truly apprehensive yet utterly unputdownable experience. 

Overall, this was an absolutely incredible read that I highly recommend to dark urban fantasy lovers and fans of witchy books. 

If you’ve ever read any of Albert’s books you’ll know how vividly immersive and masterful her storytelling can be, and if you’re new then your in for a wildly riveting and utterly addictive ride in this richly atmospheric, paranormal mystery imbued with magic, mayhem and sinister surprises. 

I also wanted to say a huge thank you to Nina and Penguin Randomhouse for the ARC.

4 ⭐ CW: underage drinking, drunk driving, animal death/animal sacrifices, death of a parent, self harm 

I won an arc of Our Crooked Hearts by Melissa Albert from Flatiron Books. Thank you for gifting me a copy! This new book from Albert is just as creepy and atmospheric as This Hazel Wood, but a bit more grounded in reality despite the presence of magic. Albert is excellent at weaving fairytale magic into a contemporary setting. 

We follow two timelines and POVs: the Suburbs now with Ivy, and the city then with Ivy's mom Dana. Weird things start happening to Ivy and she knows it's all related to her mother somehow, who is acting weird as well. In Dana's pov we see her back story and what led up to current events: secrets, lies, super-bad choices, and witchcraft. 

This was a fast paced read that kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time. Like Albert's other books, this one is creepy AF and has a complicated mother-daughter relationship. We also get a lesbian secondary character, Ivy's Aunt Fee. I felt like I never knew what to expect, which is a big upgrade from The Hazel Wood. I love that it ended in an ambiguous not-quite-happy-ending kind of way. 

This story is really a reflection of a mother's shame of her poor choices when she was young and the shame of hiding things from her own daughter. It's also a warning to not underestimate your children when they are the ones more capable of protecting you. It was a mad dash to the end with just a hint of sweetness to lighten the load. If you like creepy, witchy things in a thriller-like environment, this book is for you. 

ARC REVIEW

Thank you to Flatiron books and Melissa Albert for the advanced copy of Our Crooked Hearts in return for an honest review. I was so thrilled to have the opportunity to read this ahead of publication, The Hazel Wood, Melissa Albert’s other book, was one of the few books that I actually read in High School when I had a hard time reading anything and I absolutely loved it. 

Our Crooked Hearts follows Ivy and her mother Dana in duel timelines, the before and after of an event from Dana’s life (that I will not reveal it’s a big spoiler). I usually enjoy duel timelines but lately I have found that they’ve become a popular thing to use in books and often don’t really make sense to the actual story, but it definitely made sense and was done really well here. There were often hints at things that happened in the past or would happen in the future, it made it fun to try and gather these hints and try to figure out what was happening. The switches from past to present were also very seamless and didn’t feel confusing at all, there were never any instances where I wasn’t sure which timeline I was in. I really enjoyed how slowly the two timelines met at one point and it all made sense and fit together. The timelines were used expertly and effectively.

I also really loved the witchy vibes but in a summery coastal town setting. It felt different from most witchy books that always take place in the fall or early spring. It was very refreshing and worked well with the story. For fans of The Craft or Bunny, this has more modern witches and teenagers messing with magic that they don’t fully understand, with a unique story that I think you’ll enjoy. The writing was well written and descriptive, it really helped to transport you to this town. I really felt like I was there, driving down backroads on a summer night, or wandering around a 7/11 to escape the heat. Melissa Albert is very talented at descriptive writing and Our Crooked Hearts is no exception. 

It is a YA story which I know some people don’t like, however you can really tell when an author actually understands that age range, and here I found the dialogue never had that cringy, definitely written by someone who isn’t a teenager, type of writing. There’s no weird ‘teenage slang’ that no teenager would ever say, it always feels very real. In Our Crooked Hearts as well as The Hazel Wood, the teenagers always feel just like real teenagers. They real grown people but they also make the dumb choices and mistakes that teenagers do, she never makes them feel weirdly adult or way too immature that they’re not believable. When it came to the actual individual characters, I thought Ivy was a fairly good protagonist but I did wish Dana was a bit more flushed out. I found she lacked much personality and her friends seemed to overshadow her which was disappointing because I think she had a lot of potential. While I think the characters were believable as teenagers, I also think they could’ve been more developed. I would’ve loved to see Billy have more of a backstory and for him to be more than just a love interest and an aid to Ivy and the plot. I would also have loved to see more Hank, what was he doing this whole time lol.

The narrators for the audiobook did an excellent job of capturing the atmosphere and taking these characters from the page and making them feel real. Listening to the story elevated the experience and added to the tension and mysteriousness. I had read the book already once on my own, but listening to the audiobook made me enjoy it even more than I already did. I would definitely recommend to anyone looking to pick up this title to listen to the audiobook alongside.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and gave it 4.5/5, the only thing I would’ve liked better was more character depth as I mentioned. The story was gripping and fast paced, with many twists and turns. I was constantly guessing at what would happen next and was each time shocked at what actually happened, and yet each reveal made sense and if you looked back you could see the clever hints hidden within the story. The audiobook was atmospheric and really just transported you right into the story. The ending wrapped it all up and was very satisfying. I can’t wait to read what’s next from Melissa Albert.

Our Crooked Hearts is out June 28!