Spells for Forgetting by Adrienne Young – Review

Published: September 27, 2022

Publisher: Delacorte Press

Series: N/A

Genre: Mystery, Fantasy

Page: 352 (Hardcover)

My Rating: 4.0/5.0

Synopsis:
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.

The town has more than one reason to want August gone, and the emergence of deep betrayals and hidden promises spanning generations threaten to reveal the truth behind Lily’s mysterious death once and for all.

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While Spells for Forgetting may be classified as a fantasy novel, it’s definitely more of a small town mystery story. The fantasy aspects are there and do play a role in the story overall, but they aren’t really that present. I do love a good mystery story and adding in a supernatural/fantastical element is sure to be a win for me. 

Emery Blackwood lives on the small island of Saoirse off the Pacific coast and runs the shop that used to be her mother’s. She always wanted to get away, but decades later she’s still there dating a childhood friend because he’s one of the only ones who understands the trauma and loss she went through when her best friend was found dead. August Salt used to be inseparable from Emery and they always planned to run away together after graduation until he was accused of murdering Lily. He and his mother slipped away months later after the trials and the cruel eyes of the town and never returned to Saoirse. Now that his mother has passed, August must return to bury her ashes and sell their former home. His return stirs up so many emotions and secrets and eventually the truth behind Lily’s death is bound to come out.

I do love a good mystery, but I don’t usually pick up books that sound far more like a family drama than an investigation. Spells for Forgetting ended up being a lot more enjoyable than I anticipated. The dialogue was great, the drama was intense and easy to invest oneself in, and the setting of Saoirse was unbelievably atmospheric. Saoirse relies heavily on the tourism industry that comes each year when the apple orchard ripens – such a picturesque, quaint island surely can’t hide too many secrets, right? This place was in fact full to bursting with secrets and scandals going back far before Emery and August were even born. Plus, I haven’t even mentioned the burning love that Emery and August still secretly hold for another despite all that has happened and the distance between them.

I would definitely recommend this if you’re looking for a cozy mystery, even if you aren’t usually a fan of fantasy because the fantastical elements are so low-key. This is a more character driven story and it’s so easy to care about both Emery and August and I was really rooting for the two of them to reunite. I thought the ending was cathartic and totally satisfying and since this is a standalone everything was very neatly wrapped up.