I absolutely loved this book. From the beginning with the epigraph from Sandra Cisneros, I knew it was gonna be a good read.

I was immediately gripped by the story, from the 1st cup of coffee that showed up in Sage’s car to the text message on page 4, letting her know that Tenn was back in town. When she says “back when I thought heartbreak was the worst thing that could happen to a person,“ I immediately recognized my own experiences of growing up. Unfortunately by 17 I had already learned that lesson, but I knew that there was some kind of tragedy that was a shaping influence on her life that made this more than a straightforward second chance story. I love the way that she talks about her students and about teaching. And I thought she was really funny to read. Her internal dialogue about Johnny Miller had me laughing out loud all of the time.

  And I definitely cheetee when she taught him a lesson!

The magic system is super cool and connects to the Earth in a way that I found really evocative. It made me wish I had that kind of magic. Sadly, I can barely keep plants alive.

The family dynamic between Sage and her sister Teal and her aunt is also really beautiful. Teal is like the bratty little sister I never had. But they are working through some pretty serious trauma and it adds nuance to the story.

And we haven’t even gotten to the love interest yet. Tennessee Reyes! 😍 I loved their backstory and thought it was such an interesting way to create tension in the plot. 

In terms of how the book is written, it’s very well paste. The dialogue is not cringe he, and there are some really lovely turns of phrase. It was just a delight to sink into the author’s literary craft, in addition to an interesting plot line.

And the spice is there. It is a slow build up however, there’s plenty to sort of tease you, and keep you going. Totally enjoyable

In terms of diversity, the MCs are both Latinx. It’s now been a few weeks since I’ve read it, but I feel like there were some queer or queer coded characters as well, but I can’t remember for sure. 

Overall, it was just a lovely read. I enjoyed it so much and I’m recommending it to lots of my friends.