Our Crooked Hearts: A Novel
NATIONAL BESTSELLER * #1 INDIE NEXT PICK * 6 STARRED REVIEWS
Secrets. Lies. Bad choices. Dangerous magic. . . . From NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author Melissa Albert comes OUR CROOKED HEARTS, a contemporary fantasy "so precise and enthralling that the only explanation is that Albert herself is a witch" (Booklist, starred review)
On the way home from a party, seventeen-year-old Ivy and her soon-to-be ex nearly run over a nude young woman standing in the middle of a tree-lined road. It’s only the first in a string of increasingly eerie events and offerings: a dead rabbit in the driveway, a bizarre concoction buried by her mother in the backyard, a box of childhood keepsakes hidden in her parents’ closet safe. Most unsettling of all, corroded recollections of Ivy and her enigmatic mother’s past resurface, with the help of the boy next door.
What if there’s more to Ivy’s mother than meets the eye? And what if the supernatural forces she messed with during her own teen years have come back to haunt them both? Ivy must grapple with these questions and more if she’s going to escape the darkness closing in.
Straddling Ivy’s contemporary suburban town and her mother’s magic-drenched 1990s Chicago, this bewitching and propulsive story rockets towards a conclusion guaranteed to keep readers up all night.
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Community Reviews
Urban Fantasy with a gothic atmosphere, Our Crooked Hearts sticks with the reader like powerful magic.
Our Crooked Hearts often reminded me of The Craft, wonderfully capturing the gothic and witchy atmosphere.
Characterization
Ivy is our main character for a large chunk of the story. In the beginning, there is a slight disconnect between the reader and Ivy. Ivy is very aloof and very detached. She’s a character waiting to be filled out. It does make the reader wonder, which creates enough interest. Especially once the reader sees the character dynamics, we can see everyone hiding something from her. And all of it is connected to her mother’s disappearance and her past.
As the story evolves, so does her characterization. When you discover her mother’s secrets and past, everything about her makes sense and is an awakening for her. Once this happens, the reader bonds with her, even becoming angry on Ivy’s behalf.
As for her mother, Dana is a character full of life, and it’s hard not to picture her as Sarah from The Craft. But the reader sees that Dana, like Sarah, gets blinded by the power and magic until it is too late. However, unlike Sarah, Dana is a very selfish person. Her selfishness, her attitude, and her actions have disastrous consequences.
It is hard to sympathize with Dana when she does everything she does for herself. She hurt her daughter with her magic, hurt her friends, and fractured her own family. Yes, she did believe she did everything for the greater good; however, she even sees that her actions were done in selfishness first.
Ultimately, Dana is unlikable, but the reader needs to solve the mystery of her actions, hooked in by the atmosphere and magic.
Story Development
Our Crooked Hearts is a well-developed story. The struggle to connect with the characters might be a hindrance for some readers, understandably so, but the story is gripping.
It captures all those witchy vibes, and the gothic atmosphere and rich mystery keep the story engaging. Albert moves from the past to the present effortlessly, developing two stories amazingly while breaking them up at moments that make sense for the flow and pacing of the story.
Final Thoughts
Our Crooked Hearts might have a problem with the characters, but again, it makes sense. The character development and dynamics are based on the evolution and mystery of the plot. Everything makes in the long wrong, and if you’re looking for an excellent witchy book with an intense mystery, gothic atmosphere, and Craft vibes, this is the book for you.
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I only knew a vague summary of this book before reading and I’m kind of glad. It was more fun to just dive in with almost no clue as to what it would be about. I didn’t want to put it down.
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