Spells for Forgetting: A Novel
NATIONAL BESTSELLER • “Lush with secrets, magic, and a past that won’t stay where it belongs, this novel is (quite fittingly) spellbinding.”—JODI PICOULT, author of Wish You Were Here
A deeply atmospheric story about ancestral magic, an unsolved murder, and a second chance at true love
ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: She Reads
Emery Blackwood’s life changed forever the night her best friend was found dead and the love of her life, August Salt, was accused of murdering her. Years later, she is doing what her teenage self swore she never would: living a quiet existence on the misty, remote shores of Saoirse Island and running the family’s business, Blackwood’s Tea Shoppe Herbal Tonics & Tea Leaf Readings. But when the island, rooted in folklore and magic, begins to show signs of strange happenings, Emery knows that something is coming. The morning she wakes to find that every single tree on Saoirse has turned color in a single night, August returns for the first time in fourteen years and unearths the past that the town has tried desperately to forget.
August knows he is not welcome on Saiorse, not after the night everything changed. As a fire raged on at the Salt family orchard, Lily Morgan was found dead in the dark woods, shaking the bedrock of their tight-knit community and branding August a murderer. When he returns to bury his mother’s ashes, he must confront the people who turned their backs on him and face the one wound from his past that has never healed—Emery. But the town has more than one reason to want August gone, and the emergence of deep betrayals and hidden promises spanning generations threaten to reveal the truth behind Lily’s mysterious death once and for all.
A deeply atmospheric story about ancestral magic, an unsolved murder, and a second chance at true love
ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: She Reads
Emery Blackwood’s life changed forever the night her best friend was found dead and the love of her life, August Salt, was accused of murdering her. Years later, she is doing what her teenage self swore she never would: living a quiet existence on the misty, remote shores of Saoirse Island and running the family’s business, Blackwood’s Tea Shoppe Herbal Tonics & Tea Leaf Readings. But when the island, rooted in folklore and magic, begins to show signs of strange happenings, Emery knows that something is coming. The morning she wakes to find that every single tree on Saoirse has turned color in a single night, August returns for the first time in fourteen years and unearths the past that the town has tried desperately to forget.
August knows he is not welcome on Saiorse, not after the night everything changed. As a fire raged on at the Salt family orchard, Lily Morgan was found dead in the dark woods, shaking the bedrock of their tight-knit community and branding August a murderer. When he returns to bury his mother’s ashes, he must confront the people who turned their backs on him and face the one wound from his past that has never healed—Emery. But the town has more than one reason to want August gone, and the emergence of deep betrayals and hidden promises spanning generations threaten to reveal the truth behind Lily’s mysterious death once and for all.
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Community Reviews
There is a great, maybe under the radar trend happening in books today. And that is YA authors who we love have started writing....."gasp" adult books. This is a great thing because like it or not we all grow up. But now the great YA authors who created magnificent worlds and characters now write a little edgier books with the same enthusiasm they did with their YA books. The newest one is Adrienne Young who wrote the popular "Fable" series as well as "Sky in the Deep" and "The Last Legacy" "Spells for Forgetting" is her first adult book and it's a great one.
My initial thought about the book: I think most authors stick the beginning..... They write a beautiful first chapter to introduce the book and then the book settles into a more simpler prose as the book progresses. This book has a great first chapter. Then a great second chapter..... then a third. and on and on. This entire book is just so well written with great descriptive prose.
For example, we start with August Salt (Such a YA name....) who is returning home to Saiorse Island after fourteen years and through the book we see the island appearing through the fog and can imagine the rain and dread that is appearing. Just so ominous and well written. As for the book itself we learn that August was accused of murdering Emery Blackwood's best friend Lily and is not welcome back to Saiorse Island. So begins a great murder mystery with a fantastic setting.
This book is highly recommended. It's well written with perfect plotting and pacing. It's hard to give five starts because I have to be honest across the board and if I give one book five starts it has to be just as good as another book I loved. But when reading "Spells for Forgetting" I just got immersed in this world. And that is why we read books in the first place. So I have no problem with giving it five stars.
Book received free for a honest review.
My initial thought about the book: I think most authors stick the beginning..... They write a beautiful first chapter to introduce the book and then the book settles into a more simpler prose as the book progresses. This book has a great first chapter. Then a great second chapter..... then a third. and on and on. This entire book is just so well written with great descriptive prose.
For example, we start with August Salt (Such a YA name....) who is returning home to Saiorse Island after fourteen years and through the book we see the island appearing through the fog and can imagine the rain and dread that is appearing. Just so ominous and well written. As for the book itself we learn that August was accused of murdering Emery Blackwood's best friend Lily and is not welcome back to Saiorse Island. So begins a great murder mystery with a fantastic setting.
This book is highly recommended. It's well written with perfect plotting and pacing. It's hard to give five starts because I have to be honest across the board and if I give one book five starts it has to be just as good as another book I loved. But when reading "Spells for Forgetting" I just got immersed in this world. And that is why we read books in the first place. So I have no problem with giving it five stars.
Book received free for a honest review.
I received an advanced copy of the book through NetGalley. I really enjoyed the book. I was not expecting the twists in the story and enjoyed the characters. I thought the book had just the right amount of magic without being spooky and haunting.
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