These Witches Don’t Burn Review

Hannah’s a witch, but not the kind you’re thinking of. She’s the real deal, an Elemental with the power to control fire, earth, water, and air. But even though she lives in Salem, Massachusetts, her magic is a secret she has to keep to herself. Hannah will have to test the limits of her power if she’s going to save her coven and get the girl, especially when the attacks on Salem’s witches become deadlier by the day.

Hannah’s character was definitely interesting to read from. She’s still very much coming to terms with her break up with Veronica and I feel like her feelings and reactions to her were very realistic and in line with her age. She definitely goes through a lot emotionally throughout the course of the storyline and that definitely made me feel more sympathetic and connected to her. But overall I didn’t find her to be particularly likeable.

Veronica I didn’t like at all. I thought she was just playing with Hannah’s emotions all throughout the story and just kept dismissing her feelings and trying to force her to take her back. Maybe if this was a dual perspective and we see things from Veronica’s point of view I might have developed more of a connection to her but I was just mostly indifferent to her.

I would of loved if we delved more into the training in regards to Hannah’s abilities. She said various times in the plot that they have weekly training sessions with their high priestess which we don’t get to see that I would of loved to read and see. In general we don’t get to see quite as much magic as what I would of liked. I was just expecting it to be more focused on the witchcraft and not so much on the mystery behind the blood witch.

Overall I was definitely surprised with the direction the story went. I appreciated how we see Hannah just be a normal teenager even though there is so much going on in her life that she has to keep secret from everyone else in her life other than Veronica. I didn’t see any of the twists coming and there was an underlying feeling of urgency woven throughout the plot that kept me wanting to read more. The pacing was just very fast and it was just one thing after another that was happening which in the end I enjoyed however I would of liked to be shown more about the witches and their abilities rather than told.

⭐️3/5 stars A solid witchy, entertaining story!

Series I completed in 2021

These are all the series that I have either read all the books this year or read the last book in the series that was published this year! I haven’t included any series that have unreleased books still, I will just add them onto future lists!

The Devouring Gray Duology by Christine Lynn Herman

44564202._SY475_40204193._SY475_

The Daevabad Trilogy by S.A. Chakraborty

36215220._SY475_39988431._SY475_46033842._SY475_

Empirium Series by Claire Legrand

3432357040523458._SY475_36253143._SY475_

An Ember in the Ashes Series by Sabaa Tahir

978159514803225558608-1515fKiq3e6L._SX331_BO1,204,203,200_31520883._SY475_

Shattered Realms Series by Cinda Williams Chima

2325308330253091._SY475_33816845._SY475_39320115

Broken Earth Trilogy by N.K. Jemisin

1916185231817749._SY475_26228034._SY475_

Cursebreakers Series by Brigid Kemmerer

91lOPG2p6JL4295272853138253

Fable Duology by Adrienne Young

4401288053138025

All the Stars and Teeth Duology by Adalyn Grace

4428086852345987

The Aurora Cycle by Jay Kristoff & Amie Kaufman

97817602957384051696040516976

The Mirror Visitor Quartet by Christelle Dabos

40969531._SX318_4195334651184571._SX318_56986571

Disappointing Books of 2021

This is five books I read this year that disappointed me for one reason or another. These aren’t necessarily books I hated, I just might have been underwhelmed by them or they didn’t live up to the hype.

My most disappointing books are:

Aurora’s End by Jay Kristoff & Amie Kaufman

This ending wasn’t as impactful and as fulfilling as what I was expecting

Witchshadow by Susan Dennard

The story just veered far from where I thought it headed..

Legendborn by Tracy Deonn

This book was really hyped and it took me a long time to get into it

The Storm of Echoes by Christelle Dabos

I was confused and underwhelmed throughout this book

The Girl and the Stars by Mark Lawrence

Another book I was highly anticipating and it fell a little flat

5 Books I Want to Read Update

Back in January I posted about 5  books I really wanted to read in 2021 and now that we are at the end of the year I thought I would post a final  update and see how I did! At this stage I’ve completed 3 out of the 5 books and honestly I’m okay with that. This is has been my worst reading year in terms of quantity in a few years and I had a massive reading slump in the middle of it all so I’m quite proud with what I was able to complete. Obviously, I am going to be prioritising the other two books in 2022 and get this list completed! 

The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin

This was a wonderful introduction to this trilogy and I can see now why so many people love this book. The writing was descriptive and the world building was immaculate. All of the characters were distinctive and diverse and the way the storylines merged was masterful. I am kicking myself for putting off reading this book for so long and I am happy to have finally completed it. I have a feeling I am going to be continuing on very soon!

My Rating:  ⭐️4/5 stars

The 7 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton

Multiple timelines and POVs can get a tad confusing for me and it’s hard to keep track of all the characters and who is a host and who isn’t. I have to say as he switches from each host and the days start ticking down the level of urgency felt throughout the plot kept rising. I had no idea at any point in time what was actually going to happen, I had my suspicions but at every twist I was definitely surprised!

My Rating:  ⭐️3/5 stars

Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty

I really enjoyed the format of the book with the countdown to the trivia night. Knowing that one of these characters is now dead and trying to figure out who did it and who died really built up the anticipation. The mystery behind who was the school bully was intriguing and it was entertaining to see these mothers going around gossiping about their lives. This was definitely better than what I was expecting and it was nice to read a book with the setting here in Australia, I don’t get many of those.

My Rating:  ⭐️4/5 stars

The other two books I still need to read are:

43587154._SY475_42046112