the writing in this was so good! and the mood/vibe/feel was excellent as well. even so, it didn't really draw me in until like 50% (hence why it took a while to read). which is too bad. i also liked dana's chapters and part ii a lot more than ivy's chapters, especially in the beginning

i loved the hazelwood duology by albert and was excited to pick this up the day it came out. i think my expectations were too high going into the book because an amount of the writing kind of fell flat to me. i found it a little hard to understand the figurative language as it sounded vague and lacked real descriptions. i enjoyed the plot but feel like the writing didn’t do it justice. still a good read but i wish she hadn’t thrown in so many non-descriptive metaphors and similes.

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.

Thank you NetGalley for this copy of Our Crooked Hearts by Melissa Albert! 

DISCLAIMER! This review contains spoilers!

I was excited to get the chance to read this book for many reasons. 1. The cover omg 🤤 and 2. The magic. I’ve been wanting to read more witchy books so I was immediately interested in this book. I’m not gonna lie, that’s pretty much all I knew, so I went in completely blind! 

The book is told in duel timelines, something I love. I was more interested in the present timeline rather than Dana’s perspective in the past. I wanted more of the present time with ivy trying to figure out what’s going on with the rando girl they almost ran over and where her mom and aunt were. I did enjoy the past getting to see the friendship build and fall apart between the 3 girls (a coven if you will). I also loved billy as a character. I thought it was really cool how ivy told him she was a witch and he didn’t try to tell her she was crazy or needed help. He was just like okay yeah great, how can I support you? That’s the best man IMO! 

My only issue here was the pacing. Part one draaaaagged. I was like “where are we going with all this background?” I do think it picked up in the later two parts. But again, the end “battle” scene felt rushed.

(I mean a tiny little squeeze and poof she’s zapped into the gold box really?)

I felt like we had all this build up, all this background, to just had an anticlimactic end?  

Overall, I enjoyed my time reading this book! The whimsical world makes me very interested in reading the Hazel Wood series next! This kinda has the feels of an upside down dark & gloomy alice in wonderland (in the best possible way!)

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.