I wanted to read this book for a witchy, sapphic romance, but this delivered so much more. If you need a story about finding true friends, healing after tragedy, and a sweet sapphic romance as a bonus, this book is for you.
Eleanor has felt ostracized from the community in Salem since a tragedy last Halloween, but when she receives a book detailing the Major Arcana of Smith Rider Waite tarot deck and meets Pix and Ofira, she begins a journey of healing and growth. She doesn’t believe in magic, but Pixie believes in everything and as she welcomes Eleanor into their coven, Eleanor starts to see the everyday magic around her, as well as falling in love with the way Pix trusts her intuition and listens to her feelings.
This in some ways reminds me of Who I Was With Her by Nita Tyndall with the flashbacks to Eleanor’s history with Chloe and the past she’s trying to run from, doesn’t want Pix or the rest of the coven to know about, but this is also a very different story. I loved the way moving through the Major Arcana was used to show Eleanor’s journey and progress through her pain and trauma, and a way to start healing. The casual, everyday magic feel of it hit so perfectly and does a fantastic balancing of what can be magic if you believe it is.
This is a book that gave me so many feelings, in the best way, and absolutely had me crying at points. This is so gentle and careful, but doesn’t shy away from processing painful emotions or experiences. And I just really adored the romance between Eleanor and Pix, their communication and navigation of sore spots when they came up. The romance is such a highlight, and the care between the two of them is evident from very early on, even when Eleanor is still at her most skeptical and raised walls.
Overall, this book hit some perfect notes for me between the Tarot, the friendships, and the romance. It is such a delightful, sweet, emotional story full of the ways finding a community and believing in something can help you process and heal from past trauma. I highly recommend this if you like witchy stories, sapphic romances, and friendships between teen girls.
(I received an advance copy from the publisher via Netgalley; this in no way influences my review)
