This story ended up feeling pretty mediocre, which was disappointing given its potential. The plot had opportunities to get truly engaging, but it just didn’t get there, often falling flat. It started off slow but picked up a bit when Iris and Pike set off on their search for the cursed owl. Even then, though, not much really happened, and I found myself bored for most of it—I even considered DNF’ing around the halfway mark. I pushed through, and while it redeemed itself a little by the end, I was mostly just ready for it to be over.

The two main characters felt immature and underdeveloped; I didn’t feel invested in them and was mostly reading just to see how it all turned out. The slow-burn, enemies-to-lovers romance also didn’t work for me—the chemistry between Iris and Pike felt forced and fell flat.

On the plus side, the Pacific Northwest setting was beautifully atmospheric, and the writing itself was immersive. There was a nice touch of magic, though I would have loved more action scenes to keep things moving. Ultimately, it had all the ingredients for a great story, but the execution just didn’t live up to its promise, leading to a predictable, formulaic ending.

Personally, I wouldn’t recommend this book. If the premise intrigues you, it might still be worth a try—you could enjoy it more than I did. But if you’re after a witchy read that leans into the magic, there are better options out there. I’ll continue exploring this author’s books to see if they grow on me, and she is someone I want to continue reading, but for now, this one was just okay.

**This book is part of a witchy real-time reaction episode, which you can listen to here.