The Introvert's Book Club

purchase Practical Magic #2  My Rating: 4/5 Stars Primary Genre: Fantasy/Magical Realism Blurb: Master storyteller Alice Hoffman brings us the conclusion of the Practical Magic series in a spellbinding and enchanting final Owens novel brimming with lyric beauty and vivid characters. The Owens family has been cursed in matters of love for over three-hundred years but all of that is about to change. The novel begins in a library, the best place for a story to be conjured, when beloved aunt Jet Owens hears the deathwatch beetle and knows she has only seven days to live. Jet is not the only one in danger—the curse is already at work. A frantic attempt to save a young man’s life spurs three generations of the Owens women, and one long-lost brother, to use their unusual gifts to break the curse as they travel from Paris to London to the English countryside where their ancestor Maria Owens first practiced the Unnamed Art. The younger generation discovers secrets that have been hidden from...

Purchase Practical Magic #1 My rating: 4/5 Stars Primary Genre: Fantasy/Magical realism Blurb:  The Owens sisters confront the challenges of life and love in this bewitching novel from  New York Times  bestselling author Alice Hoffman.  For more than two hundred years, the Owens women have been blamed for everything that has gone wrong in their Massachusetts town. Gillian and Sally have endured that fate as well: as children, the sisters were forever outsiders, taunted, talked about, pointed at. Their elderly aunts almost seemed to encourage the whispers of witchery, with their musty house and their exotic concoctions and their crowd of black cats. But all Gillian and Sally wanted was to escape.  One will do so by marrying, the other by running away. But the bonds they share will bring them back—almost as if by magic... My Thoughts: I'm down to one book left in this series, so I've been very excited to start it. If you've been reading along with me, you know th...

Purchase The Witches of Thistle Grove #3 My Rating: 4/5 Stars Primary Genre: Paranormal Fantasy Romance Blurb: Even though she won’t deny her love for pretty (and pricey) things, Nineve Blackmoore is almost painfully down-to-earth and sensible by Blackmoore standards. But after a year of nursing a broken heart inflicted by the fiancée who all but ditched her at the altar, the powerful witch is sick of feeling low and is ready to try something drastically different: a dating app. At her best friend’s urging, Nina goes on a date with Morty Gutierrez, the nonbinary, offbeat soul of spontaneity and co-owner of the Shamrock Cauldron. Their date goes about as well as can be expected of most online dates—awkward and terrible. To make matters worse, once Morty discovers Nina’s last name, he’s far from a fan; it turns out that the Blackmoores have been bullishly trying to buy the Shamrock out from under Morty and his family. But when Morty begins developing magical powers—something that usuall...

Purchase Practical Magic #0.2 My rating: 5/5 Stars Primary Genre: Fantasy/Magical Realism Blurb: Find your magic. For the Owens family, love is a curse that began in 1620, when Maria Owens was charged with witchery for loving the wrong man. Hundreds of years later, in New York City at the cusp of the sixties, when the whole world is about to change, Susanna Owens knows that her three children are dangerously unique. Difficult Franny, with skin as pale as milk and blood red hair, shy and beautiful Jet, who can read other people’s thoughts, and charismatic Vincent, who began looking for trouble on the day he could walk. From the start Susanna sets down rules for her children: No walking in the moonlight, no red shoes, no wearing black, no cats, no crows, no candles, no books about magic. And most importantly, never, ever, fall in love. But when her children visit their Aunt Isabelle, in the small Massachusetts town where the Owens family has been blamed for everything that has ever go...

Purchase Practical Magic #0.1 My Rating: 5/5 Stars Blurb:   Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Readers' Favorite Historical Fiction (2020) In an unforgettable novel that traces a centuries-old curse to its source, beloved author Alice Hoffman unveils the story of Maria Owens, accused of witchcraft in Salem, and matriarch of a line of the amazing Owens women and men featured in Practical Magic and The Rules of Magic.  Where does the story of the Owens bloodline begin? With Maria Owens, in the 1600s, when she’s abandoned in a snowy field in rural England as a baby. Under the care of Hannah Owens, Maria learns about the “Nameless Arts.” Hannah recognizes that Maria has a gift and she teaches the girl all she knows. It is here that she learns her first important lesson: Always love someone who will love you back.  When Maria is abandoned by the man who has declared his love for her, she follows him to Salem, Massachusetts. Here she invokes the curse that will haunt her family...

The Witches of Thistle Grove Book #2 4/5 Stars Round 2 of the Witches of Thistle Grove series! This book is a new cast of main characters BUT...it's characters that we met in book one. LOVE this! Dare I say that I enjoyed this book more than the first? I dare. What I loved in book two was the mystery/whodunit embedded in the storyline. To me, this book was just more interesting and able to hold my attention. We have the enemies to lovers trope, dark magic, and a seemingly quarter life crisis. I truly enjoyed the fact that the main characters were introduced in book one as support characters and are taken more in depth in book two, with the previous main characters popping up frequently. I'm so excited to start the third because I read the synopsis on the back of the book and with that, I bid you adieu. I've got reading to do! You can purchase this book by clicking the cover art above and I may earn a small commission

  The Witches of Thistle Grove Series Book #1 4/5 Stars We love a revenge plot! This LGBTQ+ romance includes themes of dormant magic, returning home, an ancestral competition and VERY fall vibes setting. This is a fun read, not to be taken too seriously, there's also some light hearted comedy. The descriptive writing of the town's scenery is to die for. I loved all of the little magical elements that make up the small Illinois town of Thistle Grove. The characters are well written and likable while not seeming too "overdone". I also really loved the magical book store elements woven into this read. This book is 100% worth your time, especially if you're in a fall/Halloween mood.  My next read: Volume 2 in the Witches of Thistle Grove series: From Bad to Cursed. Can't stop at just one 😃 You can purchase this book by clicking the cover art above and I may earn a small commission

  Charming Cove Series Book #1 5/5 Stars Another pit stop before my review of Payback's A Witch. I seriously enjoyed this book. Like, yassss. Loved it. I love how descriptive her writing is when it comes to location/scenery. She writes the setting almost perfectly. The story is fabulous, the characters are well written (her familiar, my gosh!! I love him 😁). It gives off Good Witch sort of vibes which I love so much. It's like a warm, magical hug. The spice level is pretty low in this book so if you're looking for the smut level of Haunting Adeline you will not find that in these pages. What you will find is an enemies to lovers, returning home, competition tale of witchy proportions. I'd see this in a theater if they turned it into a movie. Heck, I'd watch it on Hallmark if they turned it into a movie. This book is truly magical and a perfect fall read.  You can purchase this book by clicking the cover art above and I may earn a small commission

Cat & Mouse Duet Haunting: 3/5 Hunting: 2/5  Ok so, first of all this I got ahead of myselt and started this duet before Payback's A Witch arrived on my doorstep and I felt the need to finish it before I started anything else so let me hit you with a review. I'd like to start out by saying that is not my typical read. I read these on K.U. because I saw them all over BookTok and they were highly recommended. There were parts of the story that I absolutely loved but I will be the first to say that these books may not be for everyone. Here are a few of my thoughts on this duet: Spice level is 6/5. I honestly just got to the point where I was only reading the dialogue and skipping over the physical interactions when I was reading these parts because it's such a huge part of the text that I just felt kind of done with it. I don't know that it felt necessary to me. There are some really intense themes in this book. A lot of sexual abuse, physical abuse, traumatic events, ...

  5/5 Stars I did it! I've finished this book, finally. Thank you to my sister Lexy, who gifted this to me for Christmas. It was a great read! As a follow up to all of the Colleen Hoover books I've read recently, it did feel...slower? I don't know if that's the right word. Less likely to inspire anxiety, maybe...Haha. This story has a lot of heart. There are thoughts on growing up, careers, relationships. Written from the point of view of a struggling actress in New York, it's also an introspective look at self-worth. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, as I seem to enjoy anything that Lauren Graham does (long live Gilmore Girls❤).  With that being said, tomorrow I'll be entering my spooky season era. Next up on my TBR list is Payback's A Witch by Lana Harper. This is book #1 in the Witches of Thistle Grove series and I have two others on my bookshelf to read once it's finish.  So turn the A/C all of the way up, put on a big comfy sweater, light your favorit...

4/5 Stars This book contains a lot of thoughts on dealing with the death of a loved one but in a separate vein, about motherhood. 100% relatable for a mother or anyone who has lost someone close to them who they loved dearly. This novel has gotten a ton of hate from the CoHo hater club but it brought tears to my eyes several times. I found its view on death/afterlife to be poignant if not comforting. If nothing inspires you to read this book, at least take away this quote from it. I found it to be quite beautiful. "Maybe it doesn’t matter whether something is a coincidence or a sign. Maybe the best way to cope with the loss of the people we love is to find them in as many places and things as we possibly can. And in the off chance that the people we lose are still somehow able to hear us, maybe we should never stop talking to them." The thoughts on death and loss are at times quite poignant and if you’ve ever been a mother or lost someone that you loved, this book is heartbre...

3/5 Stars I just finished this book today, one more to go until I get to start my fall reading list ! Some thoughts on this book without giving away spoilers: 1. I didn't HATE the ending but I did feel as if there were a lot of unanswered questions . 2. The book started out slow and confusing . And it stayed that way for too long. I swear, I was past page 100 and I was still left feeling very confused. I continued reading, convinced there would be a reward at the end. That was a little bit of a letdown because I still felt a little confused when I finished. 3. I did really enjoy the plot of the story and the themes present in the writing.  4. The spice level is basically 0, especially for a Colleen Hoover novel. So if you prefer that, I wouldn't even bother with this book. 5. This book is marketed as a mystery but it didn't feel like it read like a mystery to me. Have you read this book? What did you think? Drop me a line in the comments below!👇 You can purchase this bo...

  If you haven’t already, please check out the “About” tab for an explanation of the vibe around here.  Now, on to the fun stuff. Currently reading: Never Never by Colleen Hoover and Tarryn Fischer. I'm on a Colleen Hoover binge, a little late to the game and I know she's somewhat of a "burn before reading" type of author now. Thanks TikTok. Either way, I'm here to get lost in the book. And her books make me teleport, so I'm here for it.  Up Next: Someday, Someday, Maybe by Lauren Graham. I've read other books of hers that I love. I don't dislike this one but I've started it several times and I'm determined to finish it because it was a gift from my sister. Looking forward: It's just a bunch of Hocus Pocus! I'll be reading for fall aesthetic. Think mystery/thriller/fantasy/witchy/cozy vibes for the next few months, once I finish these two above. Witch please, join in!