Hazel and Holly by Sara C Snider

Goodreads

Publication Date: May 16th, 2019

Pages: 422

Genre: Fantasy

Disclaimer: I received this as an e-ARC from Double Beast Publishing via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This story follows two sisters named Hazel and Holly who live in the Grove. This is a community full of witches and warlocks who practice elemental magic, brew potions and protect their pantries from thieving gnomes. The world building was very well done in the book. It seemed like a cute world, where nothing really happens. Until the sisters father traps their moms soul, using necromancy. As is the norm, necromancy is not allowed. The girls live alone, but one day they decide to chase their father to free their mom's soul. With the help of two warlocks (who they met at a party, intended for one warlock to find his wife), they embark on a journey.

I found this book to be just okay. The world building and magic system is very well done. The four elemental magics: Wry, Weaving, Hearth and Wild were cool and original. The book is easy to follow, and written in a way that you can leave and come back into a few days later and not be lost. It started out as serial, so this makes sense. I also liked the fact that each chapter had it's own title. The cover is beautiful.

The characters annoyed me (Hazel complained too much) and the plot didn't really thrill me. The pacing felt like it was just very off and the plot was going around in circles. I had high hopes because a strong sister bond, witches and the cover, but it just didn't quite deliver for me. I had major high hopes, so this could be a "me not you".

3/5

I'd recommend this to people who are big fans of witches and like YA novels.

Cheers,

Jen