Book Box Club - June 2019

Theme: Witches in the Woods

Items: 

• Perfectly Preventable Deaths by Deirdre Sullivan  
• Tangleweed and Brine by Deirdre Sullivan
• Forbidden Forest Mug with artwork by Moledro Craft Co
• Mamo's Herbal Hand Cream by Pretty Little Treats
• Sabrina Coaster with artwork by Beatrice Joy Velasco
• Caramel Marshmallows by Ananda Foods
• Other artwork

Review: 
This is my first time ordering from Book Box Club, I will try and keep this review similar to my reviews of FairyLoot boxes but there may be some differences. The price of this box is cheaper than FairLoot hence why I decided to give it a go as I'm trying to find a decent box that will save me money but still helps my addiction to books.

First of all the colour of the box was gorgeous as I love turquoise, I also love how the box was packed it was really neat. The one thing that all book boxes seem to have is that pointless shredded paper that just gets everywhere and this box had it.

The main book is always neatly wrapped in nice paper with a silver bow attached which is a really sweet little touch on the box, and there was an envelope with my name on it to join the read along thing. So those nice little personal touches made this box that little bit more, knowing that I wasn't just one of a huge number ordering a box. I know FairyLoot have grown drastically and they have packers now, but this from Book Box just made it that extra special.

The theme for this box was Witches in the Woods, and it came with 2 books, one is a new release and the other is an older book but from the same author. So that also another good thing, as if you liked one book you can read another book by the same author straight away you don't have to save up or anything for another book. This was a perk but then this was also a downside because I like having 2 different authors but I think that's just cause I'm used to it.

The first book (one not wrapped up) was Tangleweed and Brine. It sound like a good read with a mixture of fairy tales, which I will hopefully get round to reading one day because I'm still in a stupid reading slump. I honestly promise I will get out of it one day this year. The cover design was really pretty too and I loved that there was so much detail.

The second book which is the main book was called Perfectly Preventable Deaths. This also seems like a really good read, twins moving house and discovering they have powers. Like I want to know more, what powers, magical powers or just reading minds. Either way it would be awesome to have some sort of powers. So I'm super excited to read this at some point in the near future. The design again is so pretty and unique. I've seen that sort of glass thing before and just to stick everything inside it is such a weird idea but it just makes the book perfect.

With the books neither of them were signed and both were paperback, it did come with one book plate. All of these points are disappointing for me because I'm used to getting hardback books, or if there's 2 books in a box one hardback and one paperback, I'm also used to both them coming signed or at least one signed and one with a book plate. But for both to come not signed and just one book plate is a little disappointing for me. Like how am I supposed to decide on which book gets the book plate. Maybe I'm just being a bit too picky and harsh but I guess I'm not used to this.

There was also a piece of art within this box that had the same design as the main book which was pretty so you can just put it on your wall, but as you know by now art work is not a good thing for me, I hate it. I find it just pointless sadly but each to their own.

The next item was a post card with an inspirational quote on which is actually quite meaningful and I really like it. But I wouldn't use it.

There was a coaster included in this box for the perfect cup of tea or hot chocolate while you enjoy reading. It is based on Sabrina the witch I believe. It is a really pretty design and well made and it is nice that it has colour too.

There was vegan marshmallows included in this box which was a huge bonus point. I didn't realise they were vegan until Lauren pointed out. I was so sad at first thinking I was going to ruin being vegan just to eat some marshmallows. But my god they were so yummy, I was supposed to leave some for my husband to try but oops! The company that does these marshmallows also do a wide range of vegan treats, which I'm going to be checking out especially the Wagon Wheels and getting more marshmallows. 

There was also hand cream within this box which was mamos magical hand cream, it smells really nice, I'm not sure if it is vegan, it has no rabbit on the back, and this is my first time getting the box. So I won't be using the item. It does smell really nice though and the design on the lid is such a lovely purple. 

There was also a tin mug included in this box which was inspired by Harry Potter. It has the forbidden forest on the front which is so cool, I won't actually be using this mug I will just be displaying it. But it's actually my first Harry Potter cup which I'm so happy about.

This box overall is quite mixed opinions really, some things have good points and some things have bad points. There doesn't seem to be many items in the box compared to FairyLoot, but there is less artwork compared to FairyLoot. The other thing that slightly upsets me as well is that the books aren't really exclusive or any different to the standard ones so that's a down point.

I think the only time that I would potentially get this box again is if they did a theme I really loved. The service of the company was amazing, I couldn't fault them but I just don't think it's the box for me. It is worth the money though which is a good point but it doesn't seem as filled as FairyLoot.

Written by Sammie.

Check out Sammie's review of Tangleweed and Brine.
Check out Sammie's review of Perfectly Preventable Deaths.

Book Box Club - June 2019

Theme: Witches in the Woods

Items: 

• Perfectly Preventable Deaths by Deirdre Sullivan  
• Tangleweed and Brine by Deirdre Sullivan
• Forbidden Forest Mug with artwork by Moledro Craft Co
• Mamo's Herbal Hand Cream by Pretty Little Treats
• Sabrina Coaster with artwork by Beatrice Joy Velasco
• Caramel Marshmallows by Ananda Foods
• Other artwork

Review: 
This is my first time ordering from Book Box Club, I will try and keep this review similar to my reviews of FairyLoot boxes but there may be some differences. The price of this box is cheaper than FairLoot hence why I decided to give it a go as I'm trying to find a decent box that will save me money but still helps my addiction to books.

First of all the colour of the box was gorgeous as I love turquoise, I also love how the box was packed it was really neat. The one thing that all book boxes seem to have is that pointless shredded paper that just gets everywhere and this box had it.

The main book is always neatly wrapped in nice paper with a silver bow attached which is a really sweet little touch on the box, and there was an envelope with my name on it to join the read along thing. So those nice little personal touches made this box that little bit more, knowing that I wasn't just one of a huge number ordering a box. I know FairyLoot have grown drastically and they have packers now, but this from Book Box just made it that extra special.

The theme for this box was Witches in the Woods, and it came with 2 books, one is a new release and the other is an older book but from the same author. So that also another good thing, as if you liked one book you can read another book by the same author straight away you don't have to save up or anything for another book. This was a perk but then this was also a downside because I like having 2 different authors but I think that's just cause I'm used to it.

The first book (one not wrapped up) was Tangleweed and Brine. It sound like a good read with a mixture of fairy tales, which I will hopefully get round to reading one day because I'm still in a stupid reading slump. I honestly promise I will get out of it one day this year. The cover design was really pretty too and I loved that there was so much detail.

The second book which is the main book was called Perfectly Preventable Deaths. This also seems like a really good read, twins moving house and discovering they have powers. Like I want to know more, what powers, magical powers or just reading minds. Either way it would be awesome to have some sort of powers. So I'm super excited to read this at some point in the near future. The design again is so pretty and unique. I've seen that sort of glass thing before and just to stick everything inside it is such a weird idea but it just makes the book perfect.

With the books neither of them were signed and both were paperback, it did come with one book plate. All of these points are disappointing for me because I'm used to getting hardback books, or if there's 2 books in a box one hardback and one paperback, I'm also used to both them coming signed or at least one signed and one with a book plate. But for both to come not signed and just one book plate is a little disappointing for me. Like how am I supposed to decide on which book gets the book plate. Maybe I'm just being a bit too picky and harsh but I guess I'm not used to this.

There was also a piece of art within this box that had the same design as the main book which was pretty so you can just put it on your wall, but as you know by now art work is not a good thing for me, I hate it. I find it just pointless sadly but each to their own.

The next item was a post card with an inspirational quote on which is actually quite meaningful and I really like it. But I wouldn't use it.

There was a coaster included in this box for the perfect cup of tea or hot chocolate while you enjoy reading. It is based on Sabrina the witch I believe. It is a really pretty design and well made and it is nice that it has colour too.

There was vegan marshmallows included in this box which was a huge bonus point. I didn't realise they were vegan until Lauren pointed out. I was so sad at first thinking I was going to ruin being vegan just to eat some marshmallows. But my god they were so yummy, I was supposed to leave some for my husband to try but oops! The company that does these marshmallows also do a wide range of vegan treats, which I'm going to be checking out especially the Wagon Wheels and getting more marshmallows. 

There was also hand cream within this box which was mamos magical hand cream, it smells really nice, I'm not sure if it is vegan, it has no rabbit on the back, and this is my first time getting the box. So I won't be using the item. It does smell really nice though and the design on the lid is such a lovely purple. 

There was also a tin mug included in this box which was inspired by Harry Potter. It has the forbidden forest on the front which is so cool, I won't actually be using this mug I will just be displaying it. But it's actually my first Harry Potter cup which I'm so happy about.

This box overall is quite mixed opinions really, some things have good points and some things have bad points. There doesn't seem to be many items in the box compared to FairyLoot, but there is less artwork compared to FairyLoot. The other thing that slightly upsets me as well is that the books aren't really exclusive or any different to the standard ones so that's a down point.

I think the only time that I would potentially get this box again is if they did a theme I really loved. The service of the company was amazing, I couldn't fault them but I just don't think it's the box for me. It is worth the money though which is a good point but it doesn't seem as filled as FairyLoot.

Written by Sammie.

Check out Sammie's review of Tangleweed and Brine.
Check out Sammie's review of Perfectly Preventable Deaths.

The Red Scrolls of Magic (The Eldest Curses, book 1)

By Cassandra Clare

Blurb: 
All Magnus Bane wanted was a vacation—a lavish trip across Europe with Alec Lightwood, the Shadowhunter who against all odds is finally his boyfriend. But as soon as the pair settles in Paris, an old friend arrives with news about a demon-worshipping cult called the Crimson Hand that is bent on causing chaos around the world. A cult that was apparently founded by Magnus himself. Years ago. As a joke.

Now Magnus and Alec must race across Europe to track down the Crimson Hand and its elusive new leader before the cult can cause any more damage. As if it wasn’t bad enough that their romantic getaway has been sidetracked, demons are now dogging their every step, and it is becoming harder to tell friend from foe. As their quest for answers becomes increasingly dire, Magnus and Alec will have to trust each other more than ever—even if it means revealing the secrets they’ve both been keeping.

Review: 
The Red Scrolls of Magic is the beginning of a new series by Cassandra Clare that is focused on Magnus and Alec’s relationship in the early days. This is set between City of Glass and City of Fallen Angels in The Mortal Instruments Series. It has been a long time since I read The Mortal Instruments series and I will reread one day but I think I was able to understand the setting of The Red Scrolls of Magic well enough.

Since I am a big fan of Cassandra Clare books, I have no complains of the writing style adopted and found the book easy and delightful to read, as always. The books are also third person as usual but this time there isn’t loads of perspectives. It’s just Magnus or Alec and since they’re together for most of the book there isn’t a fine line between them in a chapter but still in a way that makes sense on who’s feeling what.

I liked the intro of the book because it starts a week into their trip to Paris and basically jumps straight into the story. Nice and fast paced. Sometimes Cassandra Clare books can be quite slow but she always gets the right intro to a book.

The big thing about this book is all the sightseeing we get to read about. The book is set into 3 parts; City of Love, City of Masks, and City of War. The epilogue is named City I Call Home which I appreciate. The 3 parts all represent a different place they traveled to. City of Love is Paris, City of Masks is Venice and City of War is Rome. It was nice to see them move from each location and slightly explore them as a lot of the previous series are set mainly in the institutes, in one location. We also got to experience more of how downworlders infiltrate the mundane society without them even being aware, it just helped with the realism. It also showed us some European Shadowhunters such as Leon Verlac as for the most part we’ve only had American and some British.

The chapters in this book were a bit smaller than Cassandra Clare’s previous series chapter lengths so I’m glad about that. Although they were still too long for my appreciation. However, as the book was concluding they did get to a nice length.

The main plot for this book is that a cult called the Crimson Hand that is suspected to be created by Magnus a long time ago is now murdering fairies and other people. Magnus and Alec with the help of a warlock named Shinyun need to put a stop to it.

When a read a book, I tend to learn a lot of new words and a kindle is very convenient as I can highlight a word to find out it’s meaning. I think this Cassandra Clare book for some reason had me looking up words all the time. Which is understandable as Magnus is old and eccentric so he would say words I haven’t heard of. I’m not complaining I enjoy expanding my vocabulary, just noticed how much I was looking up words.

The reason I awarded 4.5 runes is because I compared it to other series by Cassandra Clare. I didn’t love it as much as The Infernal Devices and The Mortal Instruments but I did enjoy it better than The Dark Artifices series, so this gave me the in between number of 4.5.

*SPOILERS*

One thing I didn’t enjoy too much with Cassandra’s previous series was the throwing in of past characters that I just didn’t find fitting the story well, it felt like they were being used for the nostalgia. I’m glad to say I didn’t have this feeling when reading The Red Scrolls of Magic. There was some previous characters such as Tessa, Johnny Rook, Malcolm Fade, Ragnor Fell, Rapheal, Helen and Aline. But for the most part these are downworlders so a book about Magnus it is expected for him to bump into them. As for Helen and Aline, it was nice to get a little insight on how their relationship started too and just increased the LGBT+ representation. I just felt like the involvement of these characters worked nicely. 

It was interesting reading about Malcolm Fade, as I just read The Dark Artifices series not too long ago where he was the enemy and now because it’s set in the past, he's just a party loving warlock again. This book sets him up as the High Warlock of Los Angeles, so it makes you so angry as you know what he is going to do once he gets there. That's what makes it so clever as the book is meant to mess with your emotions.

I enjoyed having Helen and Aline in the book as I was only just really finding out about them in The Dark Artifices series but I didn’t really get to see them properly as they were just thrown straight into the family during a hard time. So it was good seeing Helen when she wasn’t a responsible adult and really seeing her personality and to see Aline not angry all the time.

If I was to be picky of this story, I didn’t like how Alec had never driven a manual car, but was instantly able; for the most part drive it. Just took a bit of realism away for me.

I really liked the twists as I could guess them but not fully so it still managed to shock me. One in particular was Shinyun a warlock travelling companion to Magnus and Alec to help them stop the Crimson Hand turned out to be the leader. I was obviously suspicious of her but I guessed her to still be a member of the cult, not the leader with Asmodus. 

Another twist in the book was that I thought when we found out that Shinyun was the leader and she captured Magnus, I thought she wanted him to return to the cult and resume as The Great Poison. However, what actually happened is that she captured him for disrespecting Asmodus and wanted to sacrifice him.

One final twist I didn’t expect was when the cult turned on Shinyun as they didn’t want her to lead them either. 

A quote in the book I particularly liked that isn’t going to be the quote at the end of the review is ‘memory was a funny thing’. Whilst Magnus is getting his memory back there is sort of a 4th wall break where the narrator explains why in Magnus’ memory from a long time ago they speak as if it’s language used now. I just found this odd and amused me a little as I didn’t even think that the speech should have been different.

In the epilogue they set up the scene for the next book. Magnus and Alec finally discuss their worries that they both had during the holiday and finally slept together. I kind of wished this wasn’t in the epilogue and part of the main storyline. However, it does make sense as if people are uncomfortable with sex scenes they could potentially skip it a lot easier. Also in the epilogue, we discover Shinyun has Ragnor Fell.

Overall, I’m giving the book 4.5 runes out of 5 because I just found it enjoyable to read. It wasn’t as intense as the other books but it involved my favourite character Magnus Bane as the main role and it was nice to read something a bit more light-hearted from Cassandra Clare. I just simply found myself enjoying it.

Quote: 

'"I am feeling fairly sick myself," Raphael contributed, "of you being an idiot, Elliott."'

- Raphael Santiago, The Red Scrolls of Magic

Rating: 4.5 runes out of 5 

 written by Lauren

The Red Scrolls of Magic (The Eldest Curses, book 1)

By Cassandra Clare

Blurb: 
All Magnus Bane wanted was a vacation—a lavish trip across Europe with Alec Lightwood, the Shadowhunter who against all odds is finally his boyfriend. But as soon as the pair settles in Paris, an old friend arrives with news about a demon-worshipping cult called the Crimson Hand that is bent on causing chaos around the world. A cult that was apparently founded by Magnus himself. Years ago. As a joke.

Now Magnus and Alec must race across Europe to track down the Crimson Hand and its elusive new leader before the cult can cause any more damage. As if it wasn’t bad enough that their romantic getaway has been sidetracked, demons are now dogging their every step, and it is becoming harder to tell friend from foe. As their quest for answers becomes increasingly dire, Magnus and Alec will have to trust each other more than ever—even if it means revealing the secrets they’ve both been keeping.

Review: 
The Red Scrolls of Magic is the beginning of a new series by Cassandra Clare that is focused on Magnus and Alec’s relationship in the early days. This is set between City of Glass and City of Fallen Angels in The Mortal Instruments Series. It has been a long time since I read The Mortal Instruments series and I will reread one day but I think I was able to understand the setting of The Red Scrolls of Magic well enough.

Since I am a big fan of Cassandra Clare books, I have no complains of the writing style adopted and found the book easy and delightful to read, as always. The books are also third person as usual but this time there isn’t loads of perspectives. It’s just Magnus or Alec and since they’re together for most of the book there isn’t a fine line between them in a chapter but still in a way that makes sense on who’s feeling what.

I liked the intro of the book because it starts a week into their trip to Paris and basically jumps straight into the story. Nice and fast paced. Sometimes Cassandra Clare books can be quite slow but she always gets the right intro to a book.

The big thing about this book is all the sightseeing we get to read about. The book is set into 3 parts; City of Love, City of Masks, and City of War. The epilogue is named City I Call Home which I appreciate. The 3 parts all represent a different place they traveled to. City of Love is Paris, City of Masks is Venice and City of War is Rome. It was nice to see them move from each location and slightly explore them as a lot of the previous series are set mainly in the institutes, in one location. We also got to experience more of how downworlders infiltrate the mundane society without them even being aware, it just helped with the realism. It also showed us some European Shadowhunters such as Leon Verlac as for the most part we’ve only had American and some British.

The chapters in this book were a bit smaller than Cassandra Clare’s previous series chapter lengths so I’m glad about that. Although they were still too long for my appreciation. However, as the book was concluding they did get to a nice length.

The main plot for this book is that a cult called the Crimson Hand that is suspected to be created by Magnus a long time ago is now murdering fairies and other people. Magnus and Alec with the help of a warlock named Shinyun need to put a stop to it.

When a read a book, I tend to learn a lot of new words and a kindle is very convenient as I can highlight a word to find out it’s meaning. I think this Cassandra Clare book for some reason had me looking up words all the time. Which is understandable as Magnus is old and eccentric so he would say words I haven’t heard of. I’m not complaining I enjoy expanding my vocabulary, just noticed how much I was looking up words.

The reason I awarded 4.5 runes is because I compared it to other series by Cassandra Clare. I didn’t love it as much as The Infernal Devices and The Mortal Instruments but I did enjoy it better than The Dark Artifices series, so this gave me the in between number of 4.5.

*SPOILERS*

One thing I didn’t enjoy too much with Cassandra’s previous series was the throwing in of past characters that I just didn’t find fitting the story well, it felt like they were being used for the nostalgia. I’m glad to say I didn’t have this feeling when reading The Red Scrolls of Magic. There was some previous characters such as Tessa, Johnny Rook, Malcolm Fade, Ragnor Fell, Rapheal, Helen and Aline. But for the most part these are downworlders so a book about Magnus it is expected for him to bump into them. As for Helen and Aline, it was nice to get a little insight on how their relationship started too and just increased the LGBT+ representation. I just felt like the involvement of these characters worked nicely. 

It was interesting reading about Malcolm Fade, as I just read The Dark Artifices series not too long ago where he was the enemy and now because it’s set in the past, he's just a party loving warlock again. This book sets him up as the High Warlock of Los Angeles, so it makes you so angry as you know what he is going to do once he gets there. That's what makes it so clever as the book is meant to mess with your emotions.

I enjoyed having Helen and Aline in the book as I was only just really finding out about them in The Dark Artifices series but I didn’t really get to see them properly as they were just thrown straight into the family during a hard time. So it was good seeing Helen when she wasn’t a responsible adult and really seeing her personality and to see Aline not angry all the time.

If I was to be picky of this story, I didn’t like how Alec had never driven a manual car, but was instantly able; for the most part drive it. Just took a bit of realism away for me.

I really liked the twists as I could guess them but not fully so it still managed to shock me. One in particular was Shinyun a warlock travelling companion to Magnus and Alec to help them stop the Crimson Hand turned out to be the leader. I was obviously suspicious of her but I guessed her to still be a member of the cult, not the leader with Asmodus. 

Another twist in the book was that I thought when we found out that Shinyun was the leader and she captured Magnus, I thought she wanted him to return to the cult and resume as The Great Poison. However, what actually happened is that she captured him for disrespecting Asmodus and wanted to sacrifice him.

One final twist I didn’t expect was when the cult turned on Shinyun as they didn’t want her to lead them either. 

A quote in the book I particularly liked that isn’t going to be the quote at the end of the review is ‘memory was a funny thing’. Whilst Magnus is getting his memory back there is sort of a 4th wall break where the narrator explains why in Magnus’ memory from a long time ago they speak as if it’s language used now. I just found this odd and amused me a little as I didn’t even think that the speech should have been different.

In the epilogue they set up the scene for the next book. Magnus and Alec finally discuss their worries that they both had during the holiday and finally slept together. I kind of wished this wasn’t in the epilogue and part of the main storyline. However, it does make sense as if people are uncomfortable with sex scenes they could potentially skip it a lot easier. Also in the epilogue, we discover Shinyun has Ragnor Fell.

Overall, I’m giving the book 4.5 runes out of 5 because I just found it enjoyable to read. It wasn’t as intense as the other books but it involved my favourite character Magnus Bane as the main role and it was nice to read something a bit more light-hearted from Cassandra Clare. I just simply found myself enjoying it.

Quote: 

'"I am feeling fairly sick myself," Raphael contributed, "of you being an idiot, Elliott."'

- Raphael Santiago, The Red Scrolls of Magic

Rating: 4.5 runes out of 5 

 written by Lauren

Other Words for Smoke

By Sarah Maria Griffin

Blurb: 
When the house at the end of the lane burned down, none of the townspeople knew what happened. A tragedy, they called it. Poor Rita Frost and her ward, Bevan, lost to the flames. Only Mae and Rossa, Rita’s niece and nephew, know what happened that fateful summer.

Only they know about the owl in the wall, the uncanny cat, the dark powers that devour love and fear. Only they know about the trials of loving someone who longs for power, for freedom, for magic. Only they know what brought the house tumbling down around them. And they’ll never, ever breathe a word.

Review:
Still in a slight reading slump, so I went into Waterstones to ask for a book recommendation. The woman recommended this book, overall it's unique and good.

It's basically about these non identical twins who go to their great aunts house and the girl that lives with her is sort of possessed to an extent. Basically, she feeds this wall that makes her feed him so she becomes more powerful magical wise. Her great aunt also deals with magic and is a tarot card reader.

When Mae and Rossa are stopping with their great aunt Rita, strange things happen, and Rita teaches Mae the tricks of tarot card reading. Mae also starts to fall in love with Mae, the twins always stop with their great aunt when their parents are having relationship problems.

At some point in the book it also refers to the past of the house, which gets mentioned further on in the book when Rita was still a child and the things that happened with her.

The relationships between the children are a bit touchy, and is quite normal between people their age especially when they are developing and trying to discover their feelings. It was quite nice for the friendships between them to change, it made the whole story of friendship seem more real.

The magic within the book is also unique, I've not read many if at all that have to feed a wall for magic things to happen. It's definitely worth the read just for the different story-line. The friendships are also something nice to read about as it's quite similar to what happens when there's family near the same ages as you.

There are a few twists within this book too which are really interesting to read. This book also contains LGBT content, it's nothing drastic and nothing detailed, it's just female on female love/crush.

I feel this book is worth the read if you wanting something different, unique, good friendships, and history on the actual things that happen in the house.

The reason I've rated it 4 stars is because the ending could have been a touch better and just there wasn't really much that happened throughout the book that made you want to keep reading especially in one sitting.

Favourite Character: Rita

Read: 28/05/19 - 04/06/19

4 stars out of 5

Written by Sammie

Other Words for Smoke

By Sarah Maria Griffin

Blurb: 
When the house at the end of the lane burned down, none of the townspeople knew what happened. A tragedy, they called it. Poor Rita Frost and her ward, Bevan, lost to the flames. Only Mae and Rossa, Rita’s niece and nephew, know what happened that fateful summer.

Only they know about the owl in the wall, the uncanny cat, the dark powers that devour love and fear. Only they know about the trials of loving someone who longs for power, for freedom, for magic. Only they know what brought the house tumbling down around them. And they’ll never, ever breathe a word.

Review:
Still in a slight reading slump, so I went into Waterstones to ask for a book recommendation. The woman recommended this book, overall it's unique and good.

It's basically about these non identical twins who go to their great aunts house and the girl that lives with her is sort of possessed to an extent. Basically, she feeds this wall that makes her feed him so she becomes more powerful magical wise. Her great aunt also deals with magic and is a tarot card reader.

When Mae and Rossa are stopping with their great aunt Rita, strange things happen, and Rita teaches Mae the tricks of tarot card reading. Mae also starts to fall in love with Mae, the twins always stop with their great aunt when their parents are having relationship problems.

At some point in the book it also refers to the past of the house, which gets mentioned further on in the book when Rita was still a child and the things that happened with her.

The relationships between the children are a bit touchy, and is quite normal between people their age especially when they are developing and trying to discover their feelings. It was quite nice for the friendships between them to change, it made the whole story of friendship seem more real.

The magic within the book is also unique, I've not read many if at all that have to feed a wall for magic things to happen. It's definitely worth the read just for the different story-line. The friendships are also something nice to read about as it's quite similar to what happens when there's family near the same ages as you.

There are a few twists within this book too which are really interesting to read. This book also contains LGBT content, it's nothing drastic and nothing detailed, it's just female on female love/crush.

I feel this book is worth the read if you wanting something different, unique, good friendships, and history on the actual things that happen in the house.

The reason I've rated it 4 stars is because the ending could have been a touch better and just there wasn't really much that happened throughout the book that made you want to keep reading especially in one sitting.

Favourite Character: Rita

Read: 28/05/19 - 04/06/19

4 stars out of 5

Written by Sammie