BookSpokenly's Reviews > Witches Get Stuff Done

I really wanted to like this book. I love a good witchy book and I have heard great things about Molly Harper as an author. Unfortunately this book fell very flat for me.

We are following Riley who is traveling to Starfall Point, Michigan with hopes of meeting an aunt she didn’t know she had. When she arrives she learns her aunt has passed away and she has inherited Shaddow House, which turns out to be a house full of ghosts. We area also following local librarian, Eddison, who has been trying to get a glimpse of Shaddow House for years.

The premise of this book was very promising, but I did not feel that the book lived up to the promising premise.

Nearly every character seemed to have some sort of tragic background to the point that it felt that the tragic backgrounds were being used to give the characters depth rather than relying on true character development.

There were quite a few things that came across as very nonsensical and made me roll my eyes. Riley and Eddison have a very awkward first meeting as Eddison is terrified of boats and stays in the ferry bathroom to help him through the trip, but Riley is quite seasick and needs to use the bathroom. That alone has the potential to create a fun and lighthearted enemies to lovers vibe, but instead, even though everyone in town seems to know why Eddison struggles with boats, they turn against him instantly because he offended Riley, who they have never met.

We learn that Eddison’s fear of boats stems from a boating accident that led to the death of his fiancé. Again, that alone was fine, but then it turns out that adds to what seems to be a very toxic relationship with his parents that really didn’t add to the story. His parents have been disappointed in him for not having a more powerful career. On the day of the boat accident, they pushed Eddison to go out on the boat despite a storm coming in, promising they would be back before the storm hit. They get stuck in the storm and the boat capsized and fell apart. Somehow, if his parents had not called the coast guard so quickly, he would have been blamed for his fiancé’s death, so now he owes his parents and maintains the toxic relationship with them. It just made no sense to me and added nothing to the actual plot of the book.

Overall, this was just not the book for me, and I struggled to finish it. I liked many of the side characters more than the main characters. There were some sweet found family vibes that were slightly redeeming.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read this book. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.