As a big witch fiction fan, I couldn't wait to read this. Super cosy and fun fantasy read. The world building was fun and the characters were enriching. The book is well-written and I loved the tarot card elements of the book. The small town trope was enjoyable and I feel this would be a perfect autumnal read. I would recommend to any of my witchy friends and followers. Thank you for the chance to read this before publication.

A lovely, entertaining and a memorable witchy romance with complex characters, a vivid emotional play, fast paced story and intense chemistry, I was pleasantly surprised by this book. Thoroughly enjoyed reading it.

I absolutely loved this read! Anything witchy with added romance is right up my street! I loved the character development, the romanced, the overall story, and of course the magic. I have been recommending this book to everyone and anyone and it was the perfect read for spooky season!

found this really hard to get into which is a shame as i had high hopes i thought it would be my cup of tea.
found it quite slow paced and sadly not for me

This book was certainly cosy, it gave me the vibes I was promised, it was a pleasant read. I did find that some of the content appeared to have been there to fill a space in the story, I'd have liked to have seen the descriptive element more niche and thought out, but I enjoyed it all the same.

A fun filled book that gave practical magic vibes. I really enjoyed this read and it was perfect for the cozy vibes of autumn

Thank you @netgalley and the publisher for letting me read this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

Rating: 3.75⭐️

Read, if you like:

💜Witchy/ Halloween vibes,
💜Small town setting,
💜Second chance romance,
💜Complicated mother/daughter relationships.

I wanted to read this book for the following reasons: first of all, witchy vibes,
secondly, small town setting which i love,
and last but not least - romance.

Have I got what I wanted? Not quite.
I found the pacing of the first half of the book very slow, it eventually picked up halfway through it, and the second part held more of my attention.

I was counting on more romance plot but it resulted to be a side one in that story.

It's not that i didn't enjoyed, overall it was cute and cosy read with small town vibes full of magic.

It's a book that will appeal to fans of witchy vibes, family drama and with a pinch of second chance romance. A nice seasonal read.

I just couldn't get into this one and I'm gutted because I love the cozy vibes it gives off! Everything should have ticked all my boxes but I just don't think I got on with the writing or the characters.

I'm very much an odd one out when it comes to this book so don't pay attention to me!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is a lighthearted cozy witchy book that is ideal to read in the run-up to Halloween.

Set in the town of Rattleboro, this book oozes with the atmosphere of this small town in America. It sparks with rivalry, romance and relationships. It was very much about the relationship between mother and daughter.

The main character, Flair, is at times funny and there were many times I chuckled at her reactions. Indeed, many of the characters were larger than life. I particularly enjoyed watching the relationship between Flair, her mother and her daughter play out.

Fantastic story , I was prepared to enjoy this, but didn’t realise how much iwould be engrossed, that I wouldn’t want to leave it’s pages, I haven’t laughed so much or thoroughly enjoyed a witch based fantasy/paranormal small town read in a long time. I’ll definitely be looking forward to reading more by KJ Dell’Antonia I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I really struggled with this one, I just couldn't get myself immersed. I'm not sure if it was a pacing issue, the writing style, the characters (especially Flair's daughter) or perhaps a combination of them all but this just wasn't it for me.

This was a DNF for me, unfortunately. Normally I love small-town witchy romance but I just really disliked the main character here - I wasn't rooting for her at all, which was a shame!

So much potential, but it got lost in the writing style. It was too heavy for the topic. I wish the reading experience felt more like the light reading it was supposed to be. Overall, I did like the storyline.

Flair Hardwick is a wonderfully written witch who finds herself in a regretful decision! Usually I ban myself from witchy reads until October but I couldn't resist and I'm glad I gave in. I absolutely loved this book and I could not put it down. Perfect Gilmore Girls-esque read.

I struggled with the writing style and pace of the plot, by the 50% mark I was bored and really had to force myself to finish. The main problem was clarity of characters, context and general world building, I think the idea of tarot cards having their own agency was really interesting and had a lot of potential for a funny and action fuelled novel.

The idea of who had magic, who knew who had magic and how this magic system works was very confusing, I wasn't sure, if as the reader, we were being told magic existed and the other characters weren't aware. The curse on Flair's husband, David, was very confusing, I wasn't sure if this was a pre-existing curse Flair had created while she was married or one she created during the events of the novel. This plot point also fell flat and didn't lead to a satisfying outcome. It would have been more enjoyable if Flair had to take David with her on her day to day errands and command him to act in a certain way - this would have created an opportunity for dialogue between the characters. Flair's character development was lacking and she was presented as a grumpy and unlikeable character who played the victim in every situation. She didn't take ownership of her mistakes and how her actions caused a reaction. The introduction of her mother Cynthia was also incongruous to her development and Cynthia didn't appear very motherly towards Flair or her granddaughter Lucie. The dialogue between many characters was more telling rather than showing, which made the pace slow.

Similarly, Flair's rivalry with Renee was weak. The plot point of possession and Loretta as the villain was really out go the blue. This would have done better with more foreshadowing. I wasn't suspicious of Loretta's motives to help Flair nor did she present herself as a threat or potentially villainous character to suggest her as an important character. I think if Loretta was seen performing strange activities or appeared to show an interest in Lucie, her villainous plan would have more shocking. Lucie and Loretta don't appear to have any connection aside from static bystanders.

Overall. the premise was interesting and the idea of tarot cards having agency and power of their own suggested a novel that would be full of magical hijinks and curses flying all over the place. The world building and magic systems needed development and context for the reader to feel immersed in this halloween eccentric town.

Playing the Witch Card has a fun witchy premise, perfect for the fall season. I wanted to love this book, but it didn't quite work. I found the story confusing because I struggled with the writing style, especially in the beginning.

i really enjoyed this!
the small town mixed with practical magic gave such a cosy feel, perfect for autumn!

the storyline was a little slow and i struggled with the first 100 pages or so but once it picked up, i was hooked!

i found the concept really original and intriguing with the tarot card cookies and would love to see more stories like this!

The small town vibes of this were nice and cosy and I liked the fantasy elements of it and how they were woven throughout the story.

I did find it quite slow to get into and the early stages did feel a little bit info-dumpy to me which made it a slog, I also don’t think this was helped by the long sentences that I usually don’t have a problem with but it did feel like sometimes what was needed was a full stop not another comma.

I did also enjoy the romance element of it and the second chance nature of it was nice.

As much as I found the premise interesting, the writing makes it SO HARD to read. Not suitable for people with short attention span like me bc almost every sentence is VERY LONG. There’s even a paragraph that only contains 1 (ONE) sentence like pls be serious? Not to mention the dense name-dropping which at all didn’t help me understand the narrative better.

I think I’ll be getting the audiobook for this when it’s released. The vibes are lovely but I’m struggling to read it. I need a snappier plot to keep me turning the (kindle) pages.