Spells for Forgetting by Adrienne Young -- Starting March 6th 2024

[Jenn]

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 Saoirse, 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.

[Danique]

I started this one yesterday because I had the book lying around lol

Ch 9
(view spoiler)[Okay I just read the blurb and I don’t know why it took me so long to pick this up? It sounds right up my alley! So August is going back to Saoirse to bury his mother’s ashes. Can’t wait to figure out what happened, it’s all quite mysterious so far! Emery and the others basically hate tourists, and they’re all witches!

Damn her dad got hurt in the fire? Oh we’re going back into the past! It’s odd that everyone has just decided that August killed Lily - it doesn’t actually seem like they have any proof? Poor August and Emery, blamed for something that clearly didn’t happen. A Dutch chapter wow okay? Huh Kate looked like Lily - are they sisters? I already feel like I’m missing things lol I want it to speed up. I feel bad for Dutch tho damn, he’s been wanting to marry Emery for 6 years?? Poor dude aw, I do wonder if he’s really behind the murder since they were a close friend group with the four of them? It somehow reminds me of Reminders of Him, the same story telling/plot line & buildup. I didn’t like that at all so I hope this is better lol. (hide spoiler)]

[Danique]

Ch 25
(view spoiler)[Don’t like Lily so far, she clearly thought she was all the shit. It seemed as though she and Dutch were involved from that flashback, I really do think he did it or Lily just did it herself bc she was stupid & wanted to do exactly what people told her not to. We don’t even know how she died, do we?

Okay I don’t trust anyone LMAO I also don’t trust Leoda, she’s an apothecary and she mentioned the mandrake being poisonous & now I mistrust her lmao. Oh huh she was found with water in her lungs in the woods, seemingly drowned. Her mother and Nixie knew where August went, and she didn’t & searched for him damn that’s brutal. And her dad too! Damn. August and Emery are so into each other even after all these years aw, poor Dutch :( I wonder what she found in that deed tho - maybe Henry didn’t leave the orchard to the town?

See omg Dutch wasn’t with August that night - he lied for him, so I’m kind of sure it was actually Dutch behind it… it’s kinda clear to me that August didn’t kill Lilly but just set the fire - he didn’t want to own the orchard so he probably set it on fire & that’s what his mother was talking about. I hate how abusive Henry was damn, do we know how he died? Maybe August did kill him lol. Love that he did come back for Emery tho!

Not sure how I feel about the other POVs, who was Jakob again? Ah Jake. It’s such BS that they think August did it what the fuck. It’s clear Lily used some sort of spell (or a spell was used on her), since it featured water, earth, fire and air, literally the elements that were needed for spells. Probably the one she read in the grandmother’s book. And she was pregnant, how does NO ONE think of fucking Dutch, the other guy in their friend group???? So frustrating my gosh. (hide spoiler)]

[Danique]

Ch 49
(view spoiler)[See, her father and the town council forged the deed to say it was the towns but it’s really August’s orchard isn’t it. The plot thickens. It’s still not really a fantasy to me, the magic is barely featured at all & it's quite slow, more focused on the characters than any action. Don’t love that.

Someone took the letter aaaargh you stupid woman!!!! And they set fire to August’s truck :( I really don’t like Lily honestly and I don’t get how no one saw that she was CLEARLY involved with Dutch??? Come on people. It’s kinda annoying that the whole plot is about her bc I just don’t care about her at all, she clearly sucked and thought she was the world.

I’m glad she didn’t sever their bond damn, for a moment I thought she would. Omg I knew it, he set the fire but didn’t kill Lily!! Yay. Henry had found out about them leaving aw :( so did Lily so I definitely feel like she accidentally killed herself/wanted to stop them from leaving by bringing the attention to herself. Bitch. Hmm so maybe Dutch didn’t kill her then, he didn’t know she was pregnant and Lily really wanted August. No surprise there, she was clearly jealous and a bitch. I’m nearly convinced that she tried to do a spell to get August but died in the progress. They’re finally going to figure out what happened to Lily, finally some answers and action pff. I do l Ike the world and the character building, but I don’t like those kinds of stories bc I can’t visualize anything so I get bored. (hide spoiler)]

[Danique]

Finished
(view spoiler)[Yaaaaay they finally slept together again!! I do wonder why Emery doesn’t really remember that night, did she actually do it lol? That’d be kinda nice oop. Aw he asked her to leave with him yay!!!! The irony of the situation, if the town would’ve just asked, August would’ve probably given them the orchard and they wouldn’t have to go through all this illegal shit. Ooooh damn Leoda can’t do magic anymore - does the magic fail her because she did something dark/evil? Is that what Emery’s grandmother was implying in her POV chapter? She mentioned something about dark magic and not everyone to be trusted, does Leoda have something to do with Lily’s death? That’d be surprising.

Omg SEEEEEE!! Lily wanted to fucking drown Emery, what a bitch?!?! Glad she drowned herself by accident bye bitch ugh. I love that Saoirse island bit her in the ass bc it saw Lily’s evil eheheheh. Poor Dutch tho, all the women in his life have always wanted August aw :( was kinda hoping he’d killed Lily so he at least had something going for him🤣 holy shite Jake killed Calvin, August’s dad?? I mean, yeah they take care of their own, but the way they do is insane. They’re like a cult, they remind me of Hex by Thomas Olde Heuvelt so much.

Omg see Leoda did curse Henry - I knew that wasn’t natural, and Alberta probably took her magic (through the island) bc it was evil like her. So Leoda did sort of kill Lily damn that’s brutal, she told her what to do and basically handed her the means.

The ending was kinda sudden - they survived basically bc they’re now blackmailing the entire island, they had kids (and did they get married?), she has a degree in psychology. I do like that the island is calling them back, not sure how I feel about the rest tbh. The ending was so sudden. It’s just odd that this was a FairyLoot edition bc it barely featured any fantasy/magic and that’s what I was expecting. Hmm, probably three stars but idk how I feel. (hide spoiler)]