About the Book
-
Author:
- Aislinn Brophy
- Genres:
- Fantasy
- Girl-Girl Romance
Cover Story: Infinity Loop
BFF Charm: Let Me Love You x 2
Talky Talk: Timely
Bonus Factors: Magic, Friendship
Anti-Bonus Factor: Dan Scott Award For Awful Parenting
Relationship Status: Memorable
Cover Story: Infinity Loop
The girls look exactly as they’re described, and so does the “tangerine cord” connecting them.
The Deal:
Aoife Walsh’s parents are influencers who run a parenting blog, and expect their daughter to be perfect and camera-ready at all times. Luna Gold’s family are the most powerful witches in the city, and expect her to take over as their leader as soon as she graduates. Worn out by so many expectations, both girls long for someone who will love them just for themselves. When Aoife trips into Luna’s lap at a high school football game, it feels like they already know each other … but since amnesia spells are mandatory when witches and “mundanes” break up, it turns out they do.
BFF Charm: Let Me Love You x 2
Aoife and Luna are both amazing, big-hearted girls who have way too much crap to deal with: terrible families, undeserved reputations, the complications that come with being mixed race and queer, and last but not least, the on-again-off-again amnesiac romance loop they’re tangled up in. I’ve been told that breaking up with your first love is bad enough; doing it four times over sounds downright awful.
Swoonworthy Scale: 7
I love dual P.O.V. romances because you get to see both characters the way they see themselves and each other. Lonely Luna is drawn to Aoife’s warmth and charm, while Aoife takes it as a personal challenge to make Luna smile and crack sarcastic comments. When Aoife gets tired of keeping a fake smile on her face, Luna can see right through it and ask her what’s wrong. When Luna is ashamed of the uncanny strength of her magic, Aoife looks at her with admiration instead of fear. If they loved themselves the way they love each other, this book would be a lot shorter. It’s because they can’t – yet – that they keep messing it up.
Talky Talk: Timely
Both girls sound very 2020’s, using expressions like “main character energy”; “vibe with his attitude”; “embarrassingly mid”. I can see myself reading this as an old lady, chuckling, and assuring my young nurse that yes, people really did talk like this back in the day.
Bonus Factor: Magic
Luna’s magic is based on sacrifice. Every spell she casts has a cost, and she has to choose whether to bear it herself or impose it on the person for whom she’s casting it. Her fellow witches think she’s dangerous; they have no idea how selfless she actually is. This is why, every time she erases Aoife’s memories after a breakup, she forgets Aoife too. It’s both heartbreaking and fascinating to see how close the mundane and magical worlds are to each other; they live in the same city, but might as well be on different planets.
Bonus Factor: Friendship
This book emphatically subverts the trope that one true love is all you need to make you happy. When Luna and Aoife crack under the pressure of trying to save each other, Luna’s cousin James and ex-partner Mara step in with much-needed help and perspective.
Anti-Bonus Factor: Dan Scott Award For Awful Parenting
The awful parents in question have their reasons for what they do – Aoife’s influencer parents depend on “the content factory” for their livelihood, and Luna’s Black grandmother battled decades of racism to become head of the Witch Council – but that is no excuse for forcing their daughter and granddaughter into their own image regardless of how unhappy it makes them.
Relationship Status: Memorable
I won’t forget this book so easily, not least because of that maddeningly ambiguous ending. I do hope there’s a sequel.
Literary Matchmaking
Tracy Deonn’s Legendborn is another urban fantasy with a Black girl lead.
Toil and Trouble is an anthology of stories about witches.
Nicola Yoon’s Instructions For Dancing is another grumpy/sunshine romance with a magical twist.
FTC Full Disclosure: I received no compensation for this review.
