[I received a free electronic review copy of this book from Netgalley and Wednesday Books in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.]
Summary
Ellie Kobata loves her little magical community – the shops, the spells. Everything but her ex-best friend Jack and his grouch of a father. In fact, it’s a prank on Jack that goes so wrong it might cost Ellie her current best friend, her parents’ trust, and her magic. It was an item on Ellie’s “Anti-wallflower” to do list – a list of tasks she wanted to do to come out of her shell. But “Get revenge on Jack Yasuda” went all wrong.
As penance, she has to take a business road trip – the trip she was supposed to take with Lia before everything fell apart – with Jack. How can she endure hour after hour in close quarters with the best friend who abandoned her years ago?
Review
This was an unexpected delight. I wasn’t sure about this at first. It took me a bit to get into the flow of the magical world. And Ellie and Jack were hard to like early on with all of the mysterious hostility. I’m still not 100% sure Jack’s explanation was sufficient. But the two of them are delightful together once they set their feud aside.
By the end I was deeply attached to this magical world. I loved the village and the cottage and the convention – brilliant! The supporting cast is lovely; they were a great anchor for me to keep reading when Ellie and Jack were at odds.
The bucket list plot has been done often, and I generally enjoy the stories. I enjoyed how the list comes into play here. It’s a constant thread in the book, but not a driving one. It’s part of Ellie’s journey to define herself and take up space in the world and that whole journey was enjoyable.
Readers who enjoy enemies-to-lovers should definitely check this out, especially of you like stories with an extra layer of magic.
Rating: ♥♥♥½*
*♥♥♥½ = Good+