This early in the evening—though by non-witch time, it was already well after eleven—Talia and I had the dance floor nearly to ourselves. Haunting minor-key sonatas wafted around us as I let her draw me close, and spin up into a lazy, swaying dance. She was one of those aggravating (yet irresistible) people who looked even better up close; skin seemingly poreless, eyeliner perfectly winged, deep plum gloss lending her lips an edible sheen. Or maybe it was just a gloss like any other, and me who wanted to bite her.

I was extremely excited to read this book about revenge and how these women would fight against this stupid man but sadly I was disappointed. I did have one slight issue with the world-building, and that is the way Chicago is presented and talked about in this book (mostly in the context of Emmy talking about it). To be fair, this may not bother any reader who is not actually intimately familiar with Chicago, but I found all of the hyper-specific name-dropping of real Chicago businesses and places to be jarring and distracting when all of the true action and plot in the book takes place in a fictional, magical town. Part of this is definitely because I couldn’t help but over-analyze the type of person who would list the types of things listed by Emmy as her Chicago favorites (and the answer, to me, was more or less “basic White hipster,” which didn’t not jive with Emmy’s character, but again, distracting.)Piper does not use her Molecular Immobilization power and Phoebe does not use her Premonition power. This episode marks the first time Paige has ever healed someone on her own. She has channeled Leo's power to heal Cole and him before, but she's never used the power on her own.

BRB, I will be driving aimlessly around the environs of Carbondale, IL, until I find Thistle Grove. The one who broke you heart for the first time. The one who stood you up, cheated on you, or ghosted you for no apparent reason. Remember the hours you spent crying, feeling sorry for yourself, thinking you would never fall in love again? I loved the starting, we dive straight into Emmy's return and how Thistle Grove's magic kinda works, and how the town has spooky vibes. Emmy's reasons for staying away from here are also made clear right at the start and we get to meet scions from all the magical families straightaway as well. It was all great but I have some major issues with the plot. Chilling Adventures of Sabrina meets The L Word in this fresh, sizzling New York Times bestselling rom-com by Lana Harper. I guessed what the second book would be about even before reading the blurb about that and I will be reading that. Out of the adult witchy books from 2021, I think this is the best even though this could be better.I love the trope of a character returning to their hometown after an extended absence. As someone who moved away from my own hometown as soon as I graduated high school, I can totally relate to those feelings. Sleep No More in New York City. The Thorns have Honeycake Orchards, which might just be an enchanted version of the Honey Pot Hill Orchards in Stow, Massachusetts. Finally, the Harlows have Tomes & Omens, an indie bookstore specializing in rare and arcane books, which I based on Salem’s many occult bookstores."– Lana Harper, writer of

TLDR: I recommend this book to those who want a descriptive, modern story of witchcraft with phenomenal worldbuilding.I also thought that the magic system is the exact perfect amount of detailed. There is enough information provided about how magic “works” in Thistle Grove that it feels like there are legible in-world rules at play. But at the same time, nothing about the magic is so specific that it raises a bunch of granular questions about consistency. In other words, it’s the right amount of mystical woo-woo and semi-scientific principle in a magic system to satisfy me. The dialogue also felt very YA, and not in a good way. I cringed at the constant use of social media slang and at the forced banter between the characters. Call me old fashioned, but I can’t stand authors who use hashtags and internet acronyms in their prose, especially when they also try to counter-balance the juvenile language by dropping f-bombs every other line. The main champion of the tournament. The one everyone assumes is going to win. That guy is the evil ex that drove her away in the first place. You know that selfish ex that you can’t believe you tolerated? As the novel comes to an end, Emmy and Talia agree to advance their relationship. Emmy makes arrangements to continue her work as a remote employee, traveling monthly to Chicago. Emmy has an honest conversation with Delilah, and it seems things in Thistle Grove are about to change in many ways.