hissingpotatoes's reviews
1390 reviews

I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

"When I was a child, I turned my brother into a pig." From this first line on, I was captivated by Medea's voice, brilliantly brought to life by audiobook narrator Kristin Atherton.

Medea is one of my favorite mythological figures, and Hewlett does her justice. It's heartbreaking to experience all the points where a different choice could lead to a happier outcome and to watch Medea go down the wrong path every time. Hewlett weaves the narrative in such a way that even though the reader sees the trainwreck about to happen, they understand why Medea makes the choices she does. It's a nuanced, careful balance that Hewlett executes flawlessly.

I love how Hewlett reflects Medea's biting way of speaking from the original Greek sources in her Medea. The dialogue and Medea's inner narrative are often on fire.

This Medea is a fully realized character that pays homage to her place in ancient Greek literature but also speaks to a modern audience. The book is a compelling combination of magic, action, relationships, introspection, and character growth (albeit in an atypical direction). Highly recommend.

You might like this if you like: Circe by Madeline Miller, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid 

I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book is a validating and supportive guide to using witchcraft through life's toughest moments. The spells and rituals focus on your psychology to get you reflecting, mindful, and better able to set intentions and goals. Each chapter ends with journal prompts and affirmations. I really appreciate the book's approach that witchcraft is a tool that can be used in all aspects of your life, not just a perfect social media aesthetic. The book doesn't claim that witchcraft is a panacea or make its use prescriptive or rigid; it's a highly modifiable tool to fit the practitioner's needs and views.

Part 1 describes how witchcraft can be done anywhere, anytime, with any (or no) materials. It outlines low- and high- energy ways to practice witchcraft, emphasizing self-care. The advice is smart and can be applied to both witchcraft and wider life practices.

Part 2 provides thoughtful witchcraft activities including spells, rituals, and cartomancy spreads. Each chapter is themed around difficulties in different life areas (identity, family, mental health, emotions, body, relationships, intense situations, scarcity, creativity, magickal ability, spirituality, addiction, society, and loss).

The book consistently urges mundane acts for mental health like calling hotlines or seeking therapy, but the mundane actions are oddly missing in the physical health chapter. Without that combination, the witchcraft actions seem more like (unrealistically) willing yourself into health than the supplemental actions they should be.

One activity recommends burning a candle after rubbing it with oil and herbs, but that is very likely to be unsafe. I also felt the recommendation for using animal bones needed information on ethical and safe acquirement.

In chapter 16, the author says she doesn't burn anything she writes, but in chapter 14 she says she burns certain of her poems to a deity. I'm curious about this inconsistency.

Part 3 is a Q&A around common themes the author has encountered working with her clients.

While the book conflates the practice of witchcraft with spirituality (they are not inherently connected for every witch), its flexible stance makes it widely applicable to any practitioner. Coming from a more secular standpoint, I found it immensely useful and creative and plan to buy and regularly use it upon publication.

You might like this if you like: The Magickal Writing Grimoire by Lisa Marie Basile, Sacred Tears by Courtney Weber 

Part memoir, part support, this book encourages you to experience grief rather than force yourself to "get over it." Its central message is to be kind to yourself. The rituals and journal prompts are thoughtful and meaningful. I like Weber's approach and voice a lot. I'm glad the book is resonating with so many readers. I did find it repetitive, which kind of makes sense as part of the gentle approach but negatively impacted my personal experience of the book. The book also conflates witchcraft with religion/spirituality with a specifically Wiccan framework.

A solid fantasy with interesting characters. I enjoyed diving back into the world and prose each time I opened the book. The ending wrapped up satisfyingly, so I don't feel the need to read the remaining books in the series (they feel like they're drawing things out). 

I couldn't get into this one. 

Outlines common parts of bag making, then puts them together into several projects. I like that this book talks a little more about using faux leather than other books. The projects looks good and offer a variety of designs. However, the font is strangely small, and there aren't nearly enough pictures to go along with the instructions. 

Not enough pics, confusing/muddled instructions, more complicated than necessary, projects named after random cities with no apparent connection. 

Well organized with tons of techniques presented in useful, scaffolded steps. The pages are very busy visually which might be intimidating for a beginner, but I wouldn't want any of that information removed. 

I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

A solid adventure at the intersection of horror, queerness, social commentary, and storytelling.

The story mentions a lot of in-universe horror media and characters that really showcase the author's creativity and make the world feel like it has depth. The horror elements are done well and with variety, so not just endless gruesome descriptions or just anxious anticipation or just cosmic horror. It is a nice combination and homage to the horror genre. I had a very visceral, cringing reaction to the gruesome bits, so the author is successful in getting that imagery across in text.

The book explores a lot of themes with finesse: being queer, coming out, consumerism of stories (particularly queer stories, both in general and in horror), the unfettered capitalistic hellscape that commodifies everything, creativity as an outlet, art vs capitalism, and the ways these things interweave with each other.

Even though I knew by the end what purpose the scenes told in third person serve, at first they were really confusing and ultimately seem like a complicated and tangential method for getting to that story point. The audiobook full-cast narration with sound effects gives those scenes a lot of weight that didn't pan out into anything substantial story-wise. Otherwise the audiobook narration is very good.

The author uses the word "questioned" instead of "asked" for probably every single instance of those question dialogue tags, which sounds strange to my ear and jarred me out of the book a little every time. There is a lot of Misha referring to characters as "my boyfriend" or "my friend" in the narration, which also sounds strange and weakens the writing a bit.*

I got hooked into the story and characters pretty early. I read through the book fairly quickly because the momentum caught me up and I just had to know what happened next. The journey was worthwhile and satisfying and made me reflect on the themes mentioned above. If you're a horror fan this book fits the bill, and if you're not normally a horror fan (I'm not), this book is a good entryway into the genre.

You might like this if you like: The Newsflesh series by Mira Grant 

*Edit: Chuck Tingle posted that characters referring to people by tags like "my boyfriend" and "my friend" reflects how many autistic people think. I learned something new and am glad of it.

I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book is peak cozy, and I am 100% here for it.

I adore the role of magic, the research and experimentation that ensue to get it right, and the sometimes fun and unexpected results that follow amateur magical spellwork.

One of the central themes focuses on finding and building home. Between Kiela's parents' past expectations and the potential of the future at hand, Kiela struggles to figure out what she wants after she's uprooted, let alone whether or not she can obtain it.

Part of building home in this book is developing a strong found family, not just for Kiela but for other characters as well. I loved meeting the quirky, diverse characters as Kiela did; the sentient plants, bear-shaped tree spirits, a baker, a flying healer, a four-armed harpist, merpeople, merhorses, winged cats, and even a chicken are all treated as equally important. The found family grows in branches and strength very organically and satisfyingly throughout the story, culminating in the safety net that gets everyone through the challenges they face, stronger together.

Another central thread I like is the importance of kindness. Fortunately the book doesn't promote toxic kindness no matter how horrible people are—it doesn't excuse/ignore characters' terrible actions—but it does show how kindness as the flip side of that coin is a choice that can and often should be made.

It's a delight to watch Kiela, our socially awkward main character, come into her own as she builds her connections, her survival strategy, her confidence, and her convictions. She doesn't inherently change who she is—she's still a socially awkward introvert—but she has the opportunity to really define herself and finds a place that welcomes her as she is. Her internal monologue as she considers how to respond to situations resonates very strongly with me and probably will to any other socially awkward introvert.

The romance is woven in with all the other plotlines and is very cute and satisfying. The amount of times Kiela mentioned Larran's tallness could have been reduced.

I appreciate that the book pushes against oppressive institutions in a gentle way without hiding the negative impacts such institutions have on individual and systemic levels.

The deftness with which building home, finding family, showing kindness, being yourself, resisting oppression, and doing magic unfold gradually throughout the book really makes it shine. The more I reflect on the story, the more I realize how subtly well crafted everything is.

I enjoyed every moment of reading and actively looked forward to picking the book back up again (considering I'd been in a reading rut, this is huge for me). The audiobook narrator is excellent. Highly recommend for a cozy happy time.

You might like this if you like: The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune, Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree, Witchful Thinking by Celestine Martin, The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna