Review Detail

A young adult novel, HIT ME WITH YOUR BEST CHARM, follows Nova Marwood. Her hometown of Prior’s End is famous for the wishing well that is rumored to be hiding in a forest nearby. The same forest Nova’s father disappeared in seven years ago. After playing a joke on her secret crush, “hexing” her, Nova doesn’t think much of it. Until Kiara’s luck starts to get worse and worse, soon Nova believes Kiara’s survival is at stake. Despite her fear of the forest, Nova teams up with Kiara, and Kiara’s exes turned BFFs, to free Kiara of this hex. And maybe discover the secrets of the forest, and her father’s disappearance, along the way.

What I Loved:
The atmosphere of this book was always kept, no matter what atmosphere it was trying to convey. If it wanted to convey a lonely forest with only Nova standing in the middle of it, embracing her own desperation to find her father, it did. It made sure that you felt her longing, her desperation and loneliness. If it wanted to creep you out, keep you on your toes and afraid of every shadow, it did. The characters focused on every branch that snapped, every bush that rustled. Lillie Vale wanted to immerse readers into the story and make them feel what her characters were feeling.

The cover and title of this book gives off very warm vibes, which does fit for some of the book. But readers be aware, this isn’t what I would consider a cozy fantasy book. There are cute scenes and scenes with romance, but there are also scenes that are meant to make the readers and characters feel creeped out. It’s not a scary book, by any stretch, but it’s not an overly warm read either. It’s perfect for the Halloween season, managing to blend lighthearted moments in with tense scenes and dark themes.

The author places a great amount of focus on descriptions, of locations and emotions. Each place that Nova and her group visit is described in beautiful detail, down to how packed the dirt is and the bark on the trees. But the descriptions are never without purpose, the author uses them to build up the environment the characters are in or as something that stands out to the characters. The emotions are handled in much the same way. Nova’s emotional state, from her grief to her joy and confusion, is always present on the page since she is our main character. But we also get hints to the other characters’ emotions as Nova grows closer to them, as she learns more about them and why they are here.

The story is an emotional ride from start to finish. It has high points where the group feels positive and things are going well, but it also has low points where all is lost. It even starts on a bit of a low note, with Nova thinking about her father and his disappearance. Every so often there are abrupt shifts in mood, a quick drop or rise, but for the most part the characters are allowed to soak in and feel where they are in the story. If the story is low, the characters have to feel the lows and struggle. If they are on a high point, the characters are allowed to feel more lighthearted and joke around with one another.

What Left Me Wanting More:
The epilogue, while still maintaining the appropriate tone for the book, feels off. It’s a relatively short epilogue with two unnamed characters in it. The problem is you don’t know the characters. I wracked my brain trying to figure out who they were and couldn’t come up with anything. It takes this book, which has already ended in a (mostly) satisfying way and tries to keep the door open for other books. I’m not against other books in the series, I just don’t know how well the epilogue handled that specific facet by not giving us named characters to follow.

Final Verdict:
Thrown together with a group of unlikely allies, Nova is forced to confront her grief and fear as she treks through a magical forest to save the life of the girl she unintentionally cursed. The interactions between the characters, friend and foe, are given weight and feel realistic in the world that is set up by the author. Lillie Vale’s skill with descriptions allows readers to be thrust into the forest alongside the teenagers, forced to feel the fear that they do as they try to find the wishing well.

HIT ME WITH YOUR BEST CHARM has an interesting premise that is strengthened by the cast of characters and a blossoming romance.