Book Club Review: “Spells for Forgetting”

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We are part of a group of librarian friends who have had an ongoing book club running for the last several years. Each “season” (we’re nerds) we pick a theme and each of us chooses a book within that theme for us all to read. This June we celebrated our 10 year anniversary of book club. So in celebration of that milestone, we are re-visiting authors we read way back in those first few years of our book club. For this blog, we will post a joint review of each book we read for book club. We’ll also post the next book coming up in book club. So feel free to read along with us or use our book selections and questions in your own book club!

Book: “Spells for Forgetting” by Adrienne Young

Publishing Info: Delacorte Press, September 2022

Where Did I Get this Book: Edelweiss+/owns it

Where Can You Get this Book: Amazon | IndieBound | WorldCat

Book Description: A deeply atmospheric story about ancestral magic, an unsolved murder, and a second chance at true love.

Emery Blackwood’s life changed forever the night her best friend was found dead and the love of her life, August Salt, was accused of murdering her. Years later, she is doing what her teenage self swore she never would: living a quiet existence on the misty, remote shores of Saoirse Island and running the family’s business, Blackwood’s Tea Shoppe Herbal Tonics & Tea Leaf Readings.

But when the island, rooted in folklore and magic, begins to show signs of strange happenings, Emery knows that something is coming. The morning she wakes to find that every single tree on Saoirse has turned color in a single night, August returns for the first time in fourteen years and unearths the past that the town has tried desperately to forget.

August knows he is not welcome on Saiorse, not after the night everything changed. As a fire raged on at the Salt family orchard, Lily Morgan was found dead in the dark woods, shaking the bedrock of their tight-knit community and branding August a murderer. When he returns to bury his mother’s ashes, he must confront the people who turned their backs on him and face the one wound from his past that has never healed—Emery.

Repeat Author: Adrienne Young

Kate’s Thoughts

I will admit that this book had been on my physical home pile for the longest time, because Serena gave it to me for Christmas one year and while I was absolutely interested in reading it, I just never got around to it (like so many books I own). So when it was a Book Club pick I was pretty thrilled to finally sit my butt down and read it. And I did so while up North next to Lake Superior, which was the perfect vibes for this book. I ended up really loving it.

As someone who is a big witch enthusiast (in media, literature, and real life), I really enjoyed the way that Young had the magic in the story, and how it wasn’t super overt or ‘stereotypical’. but was still very mystical. A nice mix of “Practical Magic” and the ideas of women being healers and guides. I also really enjoyed the overall mystery at hand, with Emery (and the whole community) still reeling from the death of her best friend Lily, and how her boyfriend August was suspected and then absconded with his mom before anything could really come of it. It fuels suspicion as well as longing for Emery, and it makes for a very loaded moment of reunification when August returns years later. The mystery itself was pretty well done, with perspectives from not just Emery and August but also from other members of the town as they get single chapters for themselves. It’s pretty clear that August is innocent for the reader, but while that may have dulled the suspense for some people I actually liked that the focus wasn’t on did he or didn’t he, and instead was on ‘if not him, who?’.

I also liked the small town secrets themes in this book. I’ve always enjoyed it when authors peel back the somewhat gilded facades of close knit communities that feel safe, only to reveal the darker undertones of the people who tout the supposed safety. I didn’t have as hard a time guessing who was actually responsible, but I felt that the mystery was less the point and it was more about love, loss, and secrets kept hidden. And in those ways I really liked this book.

I will definitely have to read more Adrienne Young. I’m glad that I finally got around to this one!

Serena’s Thoughts

Obviously, I loved this book when I read it a few years ago and nothing really changed when I read it for the second time! I can’t remember what time of year I read it during last time, but this one really hit all of the fall vibes for me this go around. I’ve also now read another of Young’s books that fits into the same lyrical fantasy sort of sub-genre that I’d put this one in and, while I liked that one too, I think this is the better of them. There’s a nice balance between all of the elements that make it the kind of book that would appeal to many different readers. The second-chance loves story is sweet. The small-town drama and murder mystery is compelling. And the touches of magic are full of whimsy without ever distracting from the more pressing plot points.

As a fantasy fan first and foremost, I think the fact that the magic is such a lowkey portion of this story and that I still loved it as much as I did speaks to Young’s talent as an author. There’s just something about her style of writing that grabs me. It’s, yes, lyrical at times, but she also aptly captures human nature as well, highlighting the best and worst of people’s feelings and instincts. Even the villains in this story are understandable, even if they are ultimately horribly wrong in their actions. So, too, our main characters are flawed and much of the story is them coming to understand one another as adults, years past the heady bloom of teenage love.

I was incredibly excited to have an excuse to re-read this one. And it was even more of a joy as I was able to jump from this book right into my galley copy of her next book that’s due out in January and seems to have many similarities in tone and vibe. Count on a review for that one near the publication date!

Kate’s Rating 9: A taut mystery, a malevolent small town, and some creepy witchy beats really made this a winner for me!

Serena’s Rating 9: Young captures not only the whimy of small-town life, but also the darker undercurrents of a close knit community with a long and storied history.

Book Club Questions:

1. This book covers many subgenres, from small town romance to mystery to fantasy. How well did these genres blend together? Which elements were your favoirte?
2. Throughout the book, we get to see chapters from various townspeople’s perspectives. Did any of these stand out for you? Is there one of these characters you’d like to hear more about and why?
3. Did you have any theories about Lily’s death or the fire at the apple orchard?
4. We see the romance play out both in the past and in the present. Did you like this relationship? How did you feel about Emery and August?
5. What did you think about the way the story wrapped up? Was there more you’d like to know?

Reader’s Advisory

“Spells for Forgetting” is on these Goodreads lists: Spooky Season Reads and Charming Magic.

Next Book Club Pick: “The Familiar” by Leigh Bardugo