Reviews with content warning for Death of parent - Our Crooked Hearts

I enjoyed this. The plot centers on a witchy mystery that activates mother-daughter conflict between Ivy (the daughter) and Dana (the mother), the backdrop of which is Dana’s childhood trauma. There are many analogies to be drawn to real life mother-daughter relationships, which is normally reading territory that I try to avoid.

The story is a split POV between Ivy and Dana, with Dana’s chapters in part one set in the past. I would consider them both FMCs. There is a light romance subplot but no real MMC. Most of the story centers on unfolding the mystery that underlies all of the tension in Ivy and Dana’s relationship. Even the magic is somewhat underdeveloped and sublimated in favor of the mystery and the family drama.

The secondary characters include Marian, the primary antagonist and Fi. Fi is short for Felicita, Dana’s Latina BFF. There is a robust cast of tertiary characters who help move the story along.

Fi is the only racial diversity. There is a bit of class diversity with Dana and Fi being from a lower class neighborhood than Marian (though Dana’s father is a small business owner). Grown up Dana seems very firmly middle class.

I think if I were going off of plot alone, this would have been three stars. But there are some other elements to consider. Albert's writing has a lyricism that was delightful. Her use of imagery and figurative language really painted pictures of what was happening, including the characters’ emotions, and was lovely to listen to. The performances by Chloe Cannon and Emma Galvin were engaging. There was a bit of an issue - the sardonic scratchy quality of voice of whichever of them performed Dana was perfect for the character but it made it hard to hear, especially when driving with all the road noise. I had to constantly adjust the volume between chapters.

Overall I enjoyed this audiobook. It kept me entertained on my commute. ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

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zsometimesreads's review against another edition

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dark mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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h_reads98's review against another edition

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dark medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No

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vaguely_pink's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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imstephtacular's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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karapillar's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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marywahlmeierbracciano's review against another edition

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dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Melissa Albert knows how to tell a story—her compelling style made me feel like a ghost peering over the shoulders of the characters as I read this spellbinding novel. Our Crooked Hearts is a modern fairytale with complicated relationships, tender first love, stolen memories, and witchcraft. Told from the perspective of seventeen-year-old Ivy, and from that of her teenaged mother decades earlier, this is a book about power and betrayal, with secrets that threaten to break bonds forever. Led by vibrant female characters and sprinkled with magic, this book asks the question, What would it take to make things right again?

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mothumn's review

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adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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!

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