Thank you to Avon UK and Netgalley for the advanced readers copy of Impractical Magic by Emily Grimoire.

This novel fell flat for me. It was pitched as a Gilmore Girls meets Charmed and I just didn't find that to ring true. Yes, it was set in a small town like Gilmore Girls and yes it was about witches like Charmed, but that's where all the similarities ended for me. This novel had so much potential with the premise.

I found the writing to be a bit to youthful sounding while also being far too descriptive in some places. At times I felt like I was reading a middle grade novel, but with some of the pop culture references I knew it wasn't.

The plot dragged at times until the last 20% of the book where the plot seemed rushed.

What a treasure! This book felt like a love letter to Gilmore Girls fans + magic. When I realized the chapter titles were paying homage to GG episode titles, I was so charmed! Thank you to netgalley for the advanced copy of this book! Perfect cozy book to read in the fall 🍂

While I loved the premise of this book, it unfortunately did not keep my attention. I really enjoyed the plot. The synopsis promised Gilmore Girls + magic and delivered ! Unfortunately I just found the text hard to follow. It felt like it needed a few more edits. Also any Donald Trump references in a book will always give me the ick. Please don’t give this man more attention.

One of the highlights of the book is its exploration of various magical practices, which adds depth to the story. The familial relationships are equally engaging, providing a rich backdrop to the unfolding narrative. While the romantic storyline may follow a familiar path and lacks some intensity, it offers a sweet resolution, especially for a character who patiently waits a decade for love.

The inclusion of magician elements is intriguing and leaves room for further exploration in a potential sequel. Each sister possesses a distinct and powerful personality, making the prospect of individual stories for them particularly appealing.

http://thesecretbookreview.co.uk

This book was the perfect cozy magical book to kick off spooky season! I loved how they described the town with its foliage and full of pumpkins. This book reminded me of a grown up version of Halloweentown, which is one of my favorite cozy spooky season movies.
Scarlett has been away from Oak Haven for over a decade after guilt over magic gone wrong and the death of her father. She is only returning because her mom and sisters request her help with a problem with Oak Grove and the magic of the town. She is returning to her childhood friend Nate. They were on the cusp of becoming more than friends when she left abruptly. Now, she must decide what they are and come to terms with her past to save her town.
"It was crazy magic, but also beautiful magic and very, very you."
Thank you @netgalley for the copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

I love the idea of this book! Perfect for fall and great witchy vibes. The dialogue did make this a bit challenging to get through and I wish parts of the plot were more fleshed out, but overall a fun easy read.

This was a cute book, great for those who love a light-hearted whimsical romance. It was not for me personally but I think that plenty of people will enjoy this book. I felt like I was reading a Hallmark movie or some other made for tv romance. The story was cute, but predictable. I had trouble relating to any of the characters. Overall, I really did not look forward to finishing this story because I just was not invested. I do think this author has some great potential and maybe with a little more time in editing and rewriting, this could have easily been a 4 star read.

I received this ebook as an ARC. Thank you NetGalley and to the publisher.

This book did give off the cute fall vibes with witchy elements.

I did love the premise of the book. That the town had its quirks and that the non-magic people forgot the towns existence.

However, I wasn’t the biggest fan of the dialogue and did not find myself connecting to the characters.

If you’re looking for a quick fun fall read I think this would be for you, but unfortunately it didn’t hit for me.

Thank you NetGalley and Avon Books UK for this eARC.

This book was everything cozy and fall related. I loved the witchy puns and magical setting, and the overarching story was great! I do think the subplot about the magicians fell short and could have been discussed more in detail. I'd also have loved more details about the magic system, but overall, it was the perfect witchy book to start off fall!
Thank you, Net Galley and Avon Books for the ARC!

I could not get into this book. I’m not sure if it was the story or just the writing style. The dialogue felt difficult to follow and not easy to read.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Emily Grimoire for this ARC!

This book is super cozy and mysterious! It has the vibes of Gilmore Girls, Halloweentown and Charmed! The story is about 3 estranged sisters coming together to fight the force causing havoc on their magical town. The Melrose sisters must find out who is causing their town to lose its magic, and fast or else all will be lost. There is also a romantic plot between one of the sisters, Scarlett, and her childhood crush Nate. It was very slow burn and had a second chance romance trope. There was also no spice, as this was a fade to black for the romance scenes.

Overall, I enjoyed this book! It was a cozy paranormal mystery with some romance! It was perfect for this time of year, and I would recommend it to anyone who loves magical, cozy reads! 3.75 stars from me!

Thank you to NetGalley for an eARC of this book in exchange for a review. The premise of Impractical Magic is cute and one I would typically love. However, it was poorly executed and I failed to connect to the story. The writing style changed often, the female main character was insufferable most of the time, and it was hard to buy in to her and the love interest’s relationship.

Impractical Magic seems like it was written by a teenager, AI, and then poorly edited by an editor. I truly believe this book was written heavily with the aid of AI. The more I read, the more the writing style felt AI generated. So, I started doing some digging. While I couldn’t find anything definitively saying it was AI generated (why would a publisher announce that) I did see that other readers seem to agree.

I also hate the author’s bio and normally I would not care about that. The author’s name, Emily Grimoire, is clearly fake. It isn’t unusual for author’s to use an alias. But this author’s bio is a complete rip off of Emily Gilmore. It is one thing to have a similar name but to have the same biographical information is unnecessary.

To be completely honest, I can’t believe this book was published in its current form.

I honestly saw Gilmore Girls and immediately wanted to download it without looking at anything else. It gives whimsical vibes and does have a bit of the Gilmore Girls nostalgia. However, the conversation and dialogue is so hard to follow. I struggled to follow conversations between characters and took me a bit to read it.

Thank you Netgalley for this arc in exchange for my honest review.

3.5 stars

A charmingly fun read that's perfect for autumn - this witchy romance is about grief, family pressures, miscommunication, and coming home.

Scarlett has avoided her magical hometown for ten years, but a cryptic phone call from her older sister summons her back. When she arrives, she's faced with a problem that is concerningly similar to the emergency that ended up driving her away all those years ago. The trouble is, she might be the only one who can solve the crisis, but the trauma of the past is hard to overcome...

I enjoyed Impractical Magic. It's an easy read that's mostly lighthearted and full of quirky details. It does read a bit like a strange alternate reality Gilmore Girls fanfic, but that's not a bad thing. It's familiar and silly and full of show references that are filled with love. Plus, the book does its own thing with plot and relationships despite relying heavily on GG character models and Stars Hollow-esque locations.

I did find Scarlett's constant guilt a but wearing, especially as she almost reveals what happened so many times. I just wanted the facts laid out so the story could move beyond her feeling sorry for herself and feeling like she doesn't deserve a place at home. When it finally is explained, I was like 'that's it???' - there was a ton of build up but then it rushed onwards.

And that was my only big issue with this story. The pacing is great until about 85-90% through, and then it's like a speeding train that's frantically trying to make its final destination. The ending was so quick and didn't have the same level of care as the rest of the book. The actual conflict didn't even get fully resolved, as the root of the problem is left untouched.

Everything else was good fun though - I liked the characters, the romance was safe but cute, the goofy rivalry between witches and magicians was comical and twisted, books come alive and try to murder you while you browse shelves... It was just so full of whimsy and magic!

My thanks for the ARC goes to NetGalley and Avon Books UK. I'm voluntarily leaving a review.

Genre: Romantasy, Fantasy, Witch, Paranormal, Magic
Subgenre: Mystery
Spice Level: Closed-door

This is a fun second-chance romance where Scarlett has returned to her hometown, where she ruined her life. The slow burn is perfect in my opinion—it just feels a little more realistic.

I enjoyed the mystery element of trying to figure out why magic is going askew. Another delightful aspect is how Scarlett's youngest sister has traveled the world to learn more about other witches and how they accomplish their magic. The characters all have interesting backstories—right down to the grumpy teen.

Anyone who enjoys Halloween vibes, magic, witches, and romance are going to eat up this book faster than chocolate chip pumpkin cookies.

Happy reading!

To the publisher - what is this? It has to be an established author in order for this calamity to be traditionally published.

Gilmore Girls meets Practical Magic? No - Let me steal exact lines and scenes from the two. But don't forget to throw in a Donald Trump jump scare (so out of place) and grooming of a small child.

I did not enjoy this but I did unfortunately finish it.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC! I love witchy vibes and just in time for spooky season. Okay, I’ve read a lot of these types of books but this one was definitely lacking. The dialogue was rushed and just felt off. Things happens so quickly and it felt a bit elementary. The plot though, loved this! I was so into them savinf the trees, Scarlett coming into her own, and just the story line. For me, it just needed a little more. Loved reading it!!

Scarlett returns to her hometown after a decade away where something is affecting the town’s magic. She, along with her mother, sisters, and the town, have to work together to come up with a solution to set things right. Scarlett spends time repairing relationships affected by her time away. She also comes face to face with a one potential love, Nate.

This book says right on the cover “perfect for fans of Gilmore Girls…” I am a fan of GG, but unfortunately this was not perfect for me. I think it really wanted to give a Stars Hollow vibe to the town, incorporating different quirky characters, but I didn’t feel connected to any of it. The side plot romance talked of how Scarlett and Nate were “going to give a relationship a real try before she abruptly left town, but all their interactions are more of a “I’m dying to hook up with you right now.” I still wanted to see this book through, and it was a winding road to get to a resolution in the plot. It felt like there was some more editing needed.

I am very interested to know more about the author. Maybe it’s because I was simultaneously listening to Kelly Bishop’s audiobook, but Emily Grimoire’s About the Author sounds a LOT like Emily Gilmore at the end of A Year in the Life.

2.5 stars

Autumn for me means normally a rewatch of Gilmore girls, and reading books with magic, so when I saw that this was perfect for fans of charmed and Gilmore girls I jumped at the chance.

This was such a lovely cozy read and definitely got me in the mood for autumn. I definitely got the charmed vibes and while read it I really did imagine their town being like a small town just like Gilmore girl.
Slow burn romance with friends to lover vibes. Golden retriever male love interest.

If you are looking for an easy fall witchy read, this book might be it. After all, this is exactly why it was written and set to be released on the first day of October.

Anything that you might want in your cozy, magical romance is here.

✅Small New England town
✅Pumpkins, gourds (eventually), and foliage
✅Witchy sisters
✅Will They, Won't They romance with a town hardware store owner/pirate descendant
✅An enchanted inn, currently in trouble
✅A magical problem that can only be solved with a sacrifice
✅Plenty of banter
✅A cultural reference for every millennial reading, from Gilmore Girls to Taylor Swift to Trump, for some strange reason?...

The problem is not the sum of the parts of the book but the strands connecting all this fall-themed, magic-infused mess. Is it a cute mess? At times. But the novel could use some editing, from repeating words and setups to cleaning up the plot. The pace is uneven, and the race to save the town from utter demise seems not to suffer at all if the characters take a break to try their luck at a casino, hit the buffet, or spend an afternoon peeling potatoes and conjuring various birds.

I think I would have enjoyed it more as a cheesy Hallmark movie where the plot is condensed, and we get to also enjoy the visuals. (Sadly, I doubt Tom Hardy can be persuaded to play Nate.)

Thank you, NetGalley and Avon Books, for sharing an advanced reader's copy in exchange for my honest review. The book is out on October 1.