holy shit I finally finished a book. I knew as soon as I started reading this that it would be exactly what I wanted. It's beautiful and haunting and so well done. ( )

Rochelle, Natasha’s older sister, is missing and when her vehicle is found abandoned on the edge of a local nature preserve, Natasha’s loss turns to burning anger (that is just about borderline psychotic) when the case goes cold. She takes it upon herself to play detective (cue the eyeroll people) and appears at the door of Della, a witch whose family has channeled magic from the Bend for generations, providing spells for the desperate and vengeful. Unbeknownst to Natasha, the witch thinks she knows the beast who’s responsible for the disappearance—mommy dearest, who was turned into a terrible monster by magic gone wrong that also led to the gruesome murder of her Aunt Sage.

Now with a synopsis such as that, you would think I would love this instantaneous, right?

Eh'nt! You're wrong.

Natasha ruined this for me.

She was aggressive, confrontational, entitled and fixated on her missing sister's boyfriend who she believed was responsible for Rochelle's disappearance. Characters like her usually lures me away and destroy most to all books for me. She didn't have any redeemable qualities and she was a down right bitch. I just couldn't find anything remotely likable about her which is a shame because when I read the blurb I was more than excited to read about queer witches, magic, and monsters with a mystery thriller twist. And spoiler alert: can we talk about how when dumb dumb went to Della to ask if she can teach her how to become a witch so she could force Jake to admit he killed her sister and was a serial killer (far-fetched idea she claimed was true), why did Natasha 'magical powers' come out of the woodwork at that very moment when we reached the halfway point? There was no hint at all she could wield magic nor did Della pick up on it. That whole scenario had me scratching my head and at that very moment, I came to realize I just didn't have the willpower to read this anymore.

Della, Miles and Ruby (mother) even her father (not mentioned as far as I recall) were the only standouts of this YA novel and I really like their dysfunctional family dynamic and background story as to what led Della's mother to be locked away. Unfortunately as the story progressed and the more Natasha appeared, I found it difficult to immerse myself in this novel because she is everything I hate in a character and since she is one of the main two, the enjoyment I once had for this started to slowly shimmer.

All in all, if Natasha wasn't there I would have been all over this book. Plus I know for a fact that if I had reached the romance portion of this, I would have surely been gagging. Della and Natasha were total opposites and there was a huge huge lack of chemistry and a strong connection. Their relationship would've been unbelievable and lackluster at best.

Nonetheless the build up and the author's writing style was up my alley so I will definitely read more from her again as long as there aren't any more Natashas or characters similar to her in any of her future works.

( )