Thursday, July 27, 2017

Review: Spellbook of the Lost and Found - Moïra Fowley-Doyle

Spellbook of the Lost and Found
Moïra Fowley-Doyle
Series: N/A
Genre: Young Adult, Romance, Magical Realism
Publisher: Kathy Dawson Books
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Goodreads
One stormy summer night, Olive and her best friend, Rose, begin to lose things. It starts with simple items like hair clips and jewellery, but soon it’s clear that Rose has lost something bigger; something she won’t talk about.

Then Olive meets three wild, mysterious strangers: Ivy, Hazel and Rowan. Like Rose, they’re mourning losses - and holding tight to secrets.

When they discover the ancient spellbook, full of hand-inked charms to conjure back lost things, they realise it might be their chance to set everything right. Unless it’s leading them towards secrets that were never meant to be found . . .
Olive, Rose, Ivy, Rowan, and Hazel are all searching for things they've lost, both tangible and intangible. But as they hunt for what is missing, things are also found.
"If you don't get lost, you'll never be found."
Fowley-Doyle won me as a fan with The Accident Season, and she delivered more of what won my heart in Spellbook of the Lost and Found. I was once again treated to her beautiful prose with its ethereal quality, that kept me mesmerized from page one. Fowley-Doyle has such a talent for creating atmosphere in her stories with descriptions that are so vivid. I really felt like I was in each and every situation with the characters. This book, much like her last book, puts the reader in a little darker place, which fit perfectly with a story about secrets and losses. And BONUS! There were times it was feeling a little reminiscent of The Craft, which is a plus in my book.

"Be careful what you bargain with; Every lost thing requires a sacrifice -- A new loss for every called thing found."
But it's not just the writing that is great, Fowley-Doyle gives us a great story too. I loved navigating my way through this tale, as she slowly fed me breadcrumbs to follow. I was engrossed in the stories presented by each of the three narrators, one from each group of friends, but I did not see a connection. As the story played on, two groups merge, and then I was really scratching my head about that third group. I did not figure out the connection until about two pages before the reveal. So, Fowly-Doyle deserves quite a pat on the back, for once again delivering a twist I really didn't see coming, and later, hitting me with one I REALLY didn't see coming.
"Maybe we need to lose some things to make room for others."
Every character in this book was interesting and jumped off the page. Fowley-Doyle always does such an incredible job fully realizing her complex characters. This was, by no means, a simple feat in this book, as there were quite a few major players in this story.
"I kiss her neck until I forget everything but this feeling and honestly it's a lot less like losing my heart and more like finally being found."
There is a big overarching theme of loss in this book, and I loved all the different angles Fowley-Doyle chose in her exploration of loss. Loss of tangible things, of self, of friendships, of trust. She also posed the idea, that not all loss is bad. Loss of a bad habit, of addiction, of a heart. But, there was also this idea of things found: physical items, a heart, independence, a friend, a sister, one's self. This book just left me thinking about so many things!
"Be careful what you wish for; Not all lost things should be found."
This book has some diversity, mostly in the sexual orientation realm. Two of main characters, Rose and Olive, are bisexual, and another, Hazel, is a lesbian. In addition to being bisexual, Rose is also half Indian, and it becomes a minor point of discussion with respect to ethnic beauty, which I found interesting. There is also a bit of feminist centered discussions, and a bunch of other important talk, which I will not reveal, because I don't want to spoil anything here.
"I've lost my heart. Not all losses are bad."
Overall: An captivating tale of love, loss, friendship and family filled with an air of mystery and magical realism.

**I would like to thank the publisher for the advanced copy of this book. I also would like to thank GoodReads and the publisher, as I won a physical copy through a GoodReads giveaway. Quotes are from an ARC and may change upon publication.









Do you have a favorite book that features magical realism?
Let us know in the comments!

22 comments:

  1. This sounds awesome! And I adore books with great prose so I'll have to check this out sometime. I quite enjoyed Bone Gap by Laura Ruby which has magical realism!

    xx Anisha @ Sprinkled Pages

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    1. I started Bone Gap on audio, and realized the story had too much going on for me to listen (I usually only listen to contemporaries). I do want to read the book at some point, because I was very intrigued by the part I listened to and have heard wonderful things about it.

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  2. Ah, the Craft! You hooked me with that -- magical realism has always been a hard thing for me to get into, but you've given this book great context for me to understand it better./

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    1. This one has a really cool twist, and it was surprising for me. And The Craft will forever be a favorite of mine

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  3. Yes this was so good!! I loved The Accident Season and this lived up to it for sure. I kind of guessed part of the end but not all of it. Great review!

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    1. I thought the magical element was sort of brilliant, and I look forward to more from this author

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  4. I'm so excited for this book! Like you, I became a fan of the author after reading and falling in love with The Accident Season, so I added this to my TBR when I'm pretty sure it didn't even have a title. I love what you said about the characters and everything else sounds marvelous, too! I'll need to put this to the top of my tbr for real.
    Wonderful review!

    Veronika @ The Regal Critiques

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    1. I loved it. My co-blogger loved it. I want everyone to love it, because I adore Fowley-Doyle's storytelling. If you liked The Accident Season, this should be another hit with you. I still really love the twist and the use of the magical elements.

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  5. I've always had a hard time with magical realism (just not something I connect with) but this one does sound interesting. And when you mentioned The Craft... yep, I'm so tempted now. :) Great review, Sam!

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    1. The story opens with this trio of girls, who just do some Craft-y kind of stuff. Messing with spells and what-not, and Fowley-Doyle has such a knack for creating that atmosphere that brought me back to that film. I think I like magical realism, because for me, a steadfast contemporary reader, it's just a touch of fantasy, but still close to contemporary.

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  6. I should be reading this one soon and I cannot wait! Really excited after reading your review. Congrats on the goodreads win by the way :)

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    1. Yeah, I won it from GoodReads right after I got an eARC, and then they sent me two. I gave away one copy, and I wanted to do a giveaway with this post, but everything is in boxes (my fault, should have kept it unpacked). *sigh* I hope you love this book, because I thought it was amazing.

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  7. Ooh nice review! I was eyeing this one but since I have yet to read her first book I didn't want to dive into this one without first getting an idea of her style! A personal thing of mine that I like to try to follow, which helps save on sanity from the overhaul of books I already have! LOL! This one sounds like it would be an interesting read! Glad it was a good one for you! Nice review!

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    1. I can understand wanting to be acquainted with the author's style. I really loved The Accident Season too, which I think Kiersten won from GoodReads -- the universe wants us to read Fowly-Doyle's books.

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  8. I'm not a big fan of magical realism, but I did love the Accident Season. I will definitely try this one out!
    Jen Ryland

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    1. I think magical realism is my second favorite genre after contemporary, but I only really like it when it is done well. AS King and Emily Henry are two that come to mind, where the magical elements serve an important purpose and are not just there as "extra"

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  9. This book sounds amazing! Glad that you loved it so much, Sam! I don't read too much magical realism, but I might have to give this one a go. :)

    Cass @ Words on Paper

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    1. I LOOOOOOVED this book. It's not just the magical elements, which honestly are part of the story, but do not distract from all the other themes. It's the characters and their relationships, it's the setting and the mood invoked. When I was reading this book, I was swept into the story and totally forgot my surroundings.

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  10. Dang it. I skipped this one as I was worried that I wouldn't like it. I did enjoy Accident Season. I am going to see if I can still snag this after reading your review!

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    1. I wanted to read it because of The Accident Season, and I think this may have been even better. Both had that same ambiance, kind of dark and spooky, and I really did delight in the twist, but it was the interactions between the characters which really won me over. I loved so much about this book.

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  11. This sounds like a fantastic read and I know it's on my radar. I still haven't read The Accident Season so I want to start there first but this does sound like it will tick all my boxes. Also, who doesn't love a book reminiscent of The Craft?

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    1. The Craft is up there with Heathers for dark classics. I am definitely a Fowley-Doyle fangirl, and both her books were 5 star reads for me

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