Payback's A Witch by Lana Harper
Rating: 4/5
Genre: Fantasy, Romance
This review is spoiler-free!
If I were to describe this book as a sensation, it would be the warm contentedness that one feels after curling up on the couch with a hot tea, some Pilsbury sugar cookies, and a TV streaming Halloweentown while red-and-orange-coloured trees sway in the wind outside your window.
Emmeline “Emmy” Harlow returns to her magical hometown after years away in the ordinary world, and does so in a rather spectacular way, causing an absolute ruckus. Every fifty years, Thistle Grove hosts a tournament for the scions of the four founding families in which three of them compete in a spell-wielding gauntlet, with the Harlow scion arbitrating. It just so happens that this generation is sick of being personally victimized by Gareth, the Blackmoore scion, who managed to break the hearts of Emmy, her best friend Linden, and the badass Avramov heir, Talia. So, in the name of vengeance, these three work together to ensure Gareth is given his dues for the pain he’s caused. In the meantime, Emmy finds herself reconnecting with the town she’d sworn she was over and becoming enamored with the mysterious Avramov scion.
This novel wraps the reader up in a pumpkin-spice-scented hug with beautiful imagery, a fun, witchy world, and an exciting tournament with increasingly high stakes. My love for autumn swelled at Harper’s imagery, which was so well-articulated it felt like I was there experiencing it myself. “The pumpkin patch,” Emmy describes, “with its curling vines and plump gourds, many bespelled to grow in whimsical shapes even when uncarved, felt both achingly familiar and devastatingly unique,” demonstrates one of the many ways that Harper crafts a world that is perfectly aesthetic to those with an affinity for autumn and its multi-coloured vibes.
Relationships are a large portion of this novel, not only the romantic interest between Emmy and Talia, but those between Emmy and the friends and family she’d pushed away, as well as her relationship with her hometown and herself. Our protagonist has to deal with the damage she did by cutting herself off, almost completely, from Thistle Grove. Not only that, but the time away has snuffed out her powers, another aspect of her self-worth she needs to work through while they start to trickle back in a force even greater than before.
As Emmy learns more about her powers and the tournament, she starts to grow into herself with a newfound confidence that had been previously shattered by Gareth Blackmoore. Her relationship with Talia spices up her life back in town (and features a few steamy scenes) while the gauntlet launches her into the throes of competitions with mazes, magical lakes, and towering monsters.
While the character-building was phenomenal, I do admit that the tournament itself was lacking. Despite being the entire reason Emmy returns, surprisingly little attention was paid to the challenges themselves. I would have appreciated more action throughout the gauntlet, potentially some more combat or impressive magical feats. Emmy’s ability to witness all three scions while they traverse their challenges left room for an in-depth, omniscient review, yet only lasted a few pages per challenge.
Fortunately, as the tournament comes to a head and so do the kinks in Emmy’s relationships, more information is revealed about the specifics of magic-wielding in Thistle Grove. As a result, we get to see Emmy’s vindication in more than one way, giving this plot some three-dimensional aspects that keep things interesting.
Nana Harlow says it best in her supportive speech to our flailing protagonist: “Thistle Grove is where we become who we are. Which means that no matter where you turn, where you visit or escape to, this will always be the place that calls you back.” So it really does, with Thistle Grove being the invigorating amalgamation of Halloween-themed witchiness and autumn’s cozy aesthetic.
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