This is the kind of book to have with a nice cup of decaf tea. It's evenly paced with wonderful descriptive writing. I love the honest witchy traits given to these characters. But honestly I like caffeine in my tea and would love to have seen a faster pace and more action in this story.

4.5 stars

The Blackburn women are cursed after the extraordinary witch Rona Blackburn landed on Anathema Island centuries ago and was shunned by the eight “original” settlers. Her ancestors have been doomed to carry on a three day romance that results in pregnancy with one of the Original Eight, and their powers have also been diluted from the curse.

Nor Blackburn just wants a quiet unremarkable life with her unexceptional powers and non-existent love life. She hopes, as the ninth, that she’ll be spared the drama. But when a mysterious book–The Price Guide to the Occult–comes out and promises to cast any spell for the right price, darkness is heading Nor’s way both in the form of her mother and the curse.

TW: Self-harm

When this says “Price Guide,” it literally means “price guide.”

Shocker, right?

I may have been a little misled because I was under the suggestion that the Prices could have been some witchy family & they wrote some book about the occult? How did I get so misled? What happened?

But, I was so pleased with the results, and even though it really was a literal price guide (like $10 for a healing spell!) I had a lot of fun with this novel.

This had all sorts of witchy goodness that was so badass, while also just having a narrative structure that was very enjoyable to me.

Unlike The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender which I found to be too tangential and too flowery, this has a much better balance in my opinion. The storyline is much more linear and it has a short prologue with the ancestor & the curse, and then the rest of it is about Nor and her adventures.

The writing style is also a lot less flowery and lyrical and a little edgier. It’s still very beautiful, but a different sort of beautiful that I really enjoyed.

I really liked Nor and although I couldn’t connect too much with her, she was enjoyable to read about and didn’t cause unnecessary drama, although she did come off as a little too martyr-like at times (throwing herself into action to save someone). This didn’t end up bothering me though, and I liked how she fit into the novel.

The plot was also really exciting and I felt really proud of myself for catching some subtle hints beforehand and it all pieced together very nicely. As a whole, this novel came off as very cohesive and its plot structure had a nice buildup, climax, and conclusion. It felt like it worked, which was really nice for me.

The self-harm aspect of the novel was very strong and very important to it, but it didn’t end up being super graphic (I personally get very uncomfortable when authors describe every detail of someone self-harming). There’s also some themes of child abuse etc. with Nor’s mother.

The romance definitely is not a huge part of this novel, but I liked seeing how Nor explored this from time to time in a sensible, non-irrational manner. With the whole “curse” idea, there was potential for all of this to go downhill, but fortunately it did not.

The one thing I wasn’t too big of a fan of was just the side characters. They ended up being very confusing for me and all the names ended up kind of blurring together. One of the things Ava Lavender did well was making all the characters very distinct, but besides Nor and her very, very close inner circle, some of the side characters got muddled for me.

Overall, this was a very fun novel to read and I definitely got more and more sucked into it as the book progressed. If you loved Ava Lavender, then I think you should definitely give it a shot. And if you didn’t love Ava Lavender, still try again because I think that this has a much better execution than Walton’s debut.

The links will go live on Saturday, 10 March 2018 & will also be shared on Twitter.

Leslye's Strange and Beautiful Sorrows book was beautiful and haunting, dark but hopeful, and oh so lovely. I had such high hopes for this novel. I mean, Greek ancestral witches throughout generations? Yes, please! An island with plant and animal life that go hostile and people start acting strange? I'm in.

Unfortunately, the writing in this book was different, and not in a good way. This didn't feel like a follow up to her debut Ava Lavender novel, this felt like a debut that needed much more polishing.

Nor is the daughter of Fern, a power-hungry witch who practices black magic, blood magic, at other people's expense. When her book The Price Guide to the Occult hits the best-seller list and people start sending away for her spells there is a price to be paid, and it's paid in blood.

Nor's mother is cruel, harsh, and dark and she's coming for Nor. Sounds great, right? I wish it had lived up to my expectations. The pacing of this book was so off. It was drawn out and then hyper rushed. The build-up was exhausting and the climax over before it began. The groundwork for the ancestry was cool but in general, the character building was lacking, severely. The love interest was underdeveloped, the best friend was cool but again it was a relationship that needed more building, and yet we didn't get it.

Fern, Nor's mother slices at Nor to use her blood to add to her own in a spell to bring back a lost love (Nor's father). This is not the first or last time that Nor is cut or exposed to pain, though. While the back of the book does offer thanks to people who shared their stories of self-harm as well as a ton of resources for those seeking help from self-harm and cutting, this book has a LOT of it.

There is not a Trigger Warning large enough for how prevalent cutting and self-harm is in this book. It's a theme in the book, not something that is an undercurrent, but rather a living breathing part of the book. Nor's desire to cut, her affinity for the pain, and the simultaneous hiding and coveting of her scars. If this is in any way triggering for you, I seriously recommend you not read this book. Also, at the end, there is mention of mass suicides, in some detail.

I don't shy away from dark books or topics but this lacks the beauty of Strange and Beautiful to offset the depressing and dark. None of these things are triggering for me and even still, it felt like too much to me. The outside of this book is stunning but sadly the inside doesn't match it.

Nor comes from a long line of Blackburns, woman who can do unexplainable things. She lives on a small island with her grandmother. When her mother begins selling a price catalogue of magical spells, it is only a matter of time before she returns to the island to torment her family once again. Nor knows these spells her mother is attempting come with a price, a sacrifice. With newfound power, Nor decides to defeat her mother once and for all, to prevent anyone else getting hurt.

The prologue is absolutely gorgeous! It opens this unique story in such a mysterious way. The introduction easily takes your breath away. Walton explains the island and some backstory before leading readers into the meat of the story. From the prologue, I came to realize two things. (1) The writing was incredibly gorgeous, almost whimsical. Having never read The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender, I was pleasantly surprised to find such an enchanting story. (2) This is no cute, little witch story—no sitcom-happy Sabrina the Teenage Witch vibes. The Price Guide to the Occult is a darker witch story than I’ve ever read before.

It was such an unique story, almost bordering on strange.

Despite being such a short book, it does pack a punch. The book dives deep into the backgrounds of the witches’ family, the Blackburns. Though there is a protagonist, Nor, I didn't feel like we got to know her at all. The focus seemed to be much more on the family as a whole than the feelings of Nor Blackburn. Since there is no warming up to Nor, the sense of community—of witches and friends—are profoundly more evident. This could have been the author’s intent. However, I would have loved to gotten more juice on Nor’s romance with Reed. Since we were given so little by way of feelings, instead we guess emotions through dialogue which leaves most of Walton’s characters rather flat.

The structure of the book is rather disruptive with a lot of dream sequences interrupting the flow of the novel. Also, the passage of time is used so randomly. Walton mentions the time in passing, making readers easily miss it. One minute, it will be three days passed, and the next, five months passed. This creates, not only, confusion to how long it's been but what have the characters been doing in that length of time. Passing so much time in an only 288-page novel does nothing to help the lack of depth in any of the characters.

With such superb writing, Walton’s action is high-strung by the end of the novel. Readers will certainly be on the edge of their seats in anticipation of what the ending will bring. Walton built readers up for the war to begin and when it finally did, it was like a dam breaking. The Price Guide to the Occult leaves the ending rather open. There may be a sequel to come.

Also, there is a trigger warning for self-harm.

Overall, The Price Guide to the Occult started on such a high note but fell flat with lack of depth and character complexity. The writing was incredibly gorgeous, which makes me want to check out her other novel, The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender.

*An advanced reader ebook copy was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

*Please note: This novel addresses abuse and self-harm issues. Be kind to yourself if you need to skip this

After an intriguing historical prologue about the protagonist's ancestor, Rona Blackburn, the story quickly creates a sleepy modern day fictional Pacific Northwest island, Anathema Island, with a community of hippies and sustainable homesteads. Nor Blackburn only wants to live an ordinary life and pass unnoticed through the world. As the 9th decedent of a witch, and a cursed magical family, Nor attempts to suppress her magical abilities. Besides her abilities, Nor deals with things that many teenagers deal with: first love, parental abandonment, and self-harm. Nor is comfortable with hum-drum life on the island until her vindictive and manipulative mother, Fern, reappears as a cultic miracle worker. Fern Blacburn sells her magic via The Price Guide to the Occult and amasses fervent followers. The story slowly builds a foreboding tone and at the climax of the book Nor confronts her viciously charismatic mother.

Reading a few Goodreads reviews, I thought this book was going to be a fantasy romance à la Caraval (which I was not a fan of). And while there is a budding romance with a local boy, Reed, I personally didn't think it overpowered the story. There's a hint of a love triangle; however, it wasn't developed so I'm not mad at it. A few things that did irk me were: every character seemed to have to have an unusual name, the island is almost fantastically diverse for a smallish Pacific Northwest town but the main character is white and heterosexual, and we never really learn about why Fern is so evil.

While Nor is almost a stereotypical angst-ridden teenager, I appreciated that Walton attempts to explain why by describing Nor's abusive childhood with Fern and intimating Nor's fear that she's like her mother. I have not read many books that feature self-harm and I appreciated how Walton dealt with it. In my opinion she didn't glorify it and she didn't gloss over it. Rather it was a part of the story and we see Nor struggle with the urge to harm herself after difficult parts of the book. Since I haven't dealt with this mental health issue in my own life I can't presume to know if this is portrayed accurately but it seems from the writing and the author's acknowledgements she researched it and provided resources for anyone dealing with thoughts and/or actions of self-harm.

I found Fern Blackburn to be completely abhorrent. I loved how Fern is portrayed as an insidious charismatic leader. If an evil witch was going to sell spells and do speaker circuits I would think they would behave just like Fern. I actually chuckled that Fern's book exploded in popularity after a YouTuber vouched for it. As a blogger and consumer of Instagram and YouTube it honestly added a touch of authenticity to me, thinking "yep, that would totally happen" (lol). Despite, Fern being a great villain she did feel a bit flat because I could quite wrap my head around why she was evil or what caused her to be so vicious.

The first half of the book is a tad slow but the pace quickly picks up during the second half. Additionally, the epilogue leaves room for a sequel so we'll see if that manifests! The conclusion of the action clearly leads to ominous consequences that leave you with a cliffhanger. I would definitely continue reading this series if more books are announced.

I was initially drawn into The Price Guide to the Occult by the title of the book. I believed, surely a book with such an interesting title would have an equally interesting story. Well, I was wrong, unfortunately. Nor has done everything in her power to be under the radar, even if it means to hide her supernatural powers. But, when her estranged mother, Fern publishes a book, The Price Guide to the Occult, Nor finds her powers awakening. As The Price Guide to the Occult becomes a bestseller, Fern's popularity grows and her hunger for world domination is unquenched. It is up to Nor, the last of the Blackburn women, to stop her mother before its too late.
As much as I love a good witch story with magic, this one fell entirely flat. Nor's under-the-radar character did not hide any mysterious secrets, she was basically inaccessible as a main character. The other characters, like Nor's mother Fern, had so much potential, but she was little more than a villain on a power trip gone horribly wrong. The storyline itself was slow paced, but never really amounted to anything. The moment I believed that the story was starting to pick up speed, I would be thoroughly disappointed. Once I reached the ending, I began to wonder if I missed the action in the story. If The Price Guide to the Occult was supposed to be a coming of age story, Nor remained mostly unchanged at the end of the novel.
Although I knew that there were mentions of self-harm in this novel before I began reading The Price Guide to the Occult, I hadn't realized how much of the novel was devoted to descriptions of self-harm. After a while, it became excessive and uncomfortable. The worst part is, Nor's problem of self-harm is never full addressed by anyone or herself. The lack of closure regarding Nor's self-harm made this book a slightly disturbing read.
All in all, I would not recommend this book for its lack of storyline and lack of engaging characters.

I had the opportunity to read and review Ms. Walton's debut novel The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender, as an ARC. I was so excited to have the same opportunity for this novel and I was not disappointed. Nor Blackburn's family has a long and complicated history full of magic, pain, and a curse. Despite all of that, Nor is doing her best to live a quite life, until all of her pain from the past comes flooding back to her.
I devoured this novel just as quickly as I did Ava Lavender. The rich details in every scene are so real that the reader knows exactly where the story takes place. Nor's island feels like an old picturesque New England town where fall smells crisp and the winter is bitter cold. Nor's emotions in the novel also evoke memories both happy and sad, but the books doesn't shy away from making the reader feel pain so real. Although the story is fantasy, the emotions and relationships are something everyone has been through which makes it a novel all should pick up and enjoy.

Interesting, compelling, atmospheric, and exciting read. Before I go further, let me say this - if you have read Walton's other book, The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender, forget it. Do not go into this book with Ava Lavender in mind. Read this as though it's a new book by a new-to-you author, and you'll thoroughly enjoy it. If you go into it expecting another Ava, you may be disapointed.

What Walton appears to do best, in my opinion, is create settings, worlds, with atomosphere. She creates unforgettable characters. She creates something so readable, you'll find yourself standing in line at the check-out counter, still reading.

I cannot wait for the next book by this author.

What I liked
Magical realism is my jam, and this book did not disappoint! I saw some similarities to other stories I have loved like Practical Magic, Harry Potter, and the Lunar Chronicles. The story was still very original and held its own. The witches in the Blackburn family each have their own special gift, or ‘burden’ as they call it. They also suffer a curse. The prologue covers the backstory behind the curse and is one of the pest parts of the whole book.

There is romance and a hint of a love triangle, but it doesn’t detract from the story. In fact, the relationships between women are the main focus and the strong female aspects of this book are amazing. There is even a woman president! Stories about witches are so empowering and almost always feminist to a degree. The women are powerful and independent and (for the most part) support each other. Savvy, Nor’s best friend, is a total badass and their friendship is beautiful. There is no girl hate or toxic jealousy and they completely support each other in a healthy way. More of this in YA novels, please!!



Leslye Walton’s writing is beautiful. Some of the scenes were so vivid it felt like I was watching a movie. The way that she paints a picture with her words is truly a form of art. Nor is such a quietly strong character who is forced to fight her inner and outer demons. The way that her inner turmoil is described makes you feel it yourself and completely empathize with her. Trigger warning: this book addresses self-harm and gets a bit graphic. The Price Guide to the Occult explores the topic in a sensitive way that was clearly well researched. Here is what she said in the acknowledgments:



What I didn’t like
Although I really enjoyed this book, it was definitely not The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender which is a true bummer. That book was so beautifully written and overflowing with emotion, and it made The Price Guide to the Occult seem a bit shallow in comparison. I almost get the feeling that Walton wrote an incredibly deep and beautiful version and the editors told her to add possible romance and some more spells to sell more copies. I’m pretty disappointed in that aspect, but I don’t want to dwell on comparison.

The pace of Price Guide was pretty slow at parts. The prologue and the climax were wonderful, but the first third of the book felt like it dragged on. That was frustrating because there were a lot of characters that weren’t very developed so it was difficult to keep track of who was who. I think that mixed with the jumping around here and there made it tricky to follow sometimes. The romantic interests were not complex, and neither was anyone but Nor, Ferne and Savvy. I would loved to have read more about how the characters personalities and how they came to be on the island. If some of the minor characters had been combined it would have made it easier to follow and allowed more room for development.

Why you should read it
Although there were elements that I didn’t love, I really enjoyed The Price Guide to the Occult. The story line was super creative and exciting to see come to a head. I was on the edge of my seat and got stuck in the one more page cycle that ends up with finishing the book at 1am. Witches are super trendy right now, which is probably because they are awesome. This magical story does the topic justice. It ends with some closure, but is open enough that there could potentially be a second book. Read this one before it becomes a big series!

DNF at 43%
I do not recommend this to teens at all. The amount of references to cutting in this book is excessive, very blatant imagery and it's never addressed as a problem with reading nearly half of it. Plus the plot is almost non-existent, with not even moving towards anything plot relevant and the main character is so distant that I barely cared about her. The premise is interesting and some descriptions of this island were nice, but this author is not for me at all. If you don't like books mentioning stuff like cutting, wanting to cut and a very awful parent, don't read this. This isn't appropriate for teens in my opinion.
Full review on my blog to come on Wednesday March 7 2018

Posted to Goodreads: Nor is the last of the Blackburn women who have all been born with mysterious powers. Nor has always hidden from the world hoping that she and her powers disappear. However, when a book appears in her small island community entitled "The Price Guide to the Occult" Nor must confront her past and her future.

I had such a mixed reaction to this book. It is beautifully written, at times almost poetic however the story didn't really flow. The entire book kind of felt like a synopsis of another more in-dpeth novel and the ending left me asking "What was the point?".

CW // self-harm

"For the record, he said before leaving, I don't think being afraid is necessarily a bad thing. It means you're smart. Besides, being afraid doesn't seem to stop you. You're still here. You're still fighting. And I'm pretty sure that makes you the bravest person I know." (p. 214)

A few years ago, I read and fell in love with The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender, so when I heard that Leslye Walton was releasing a new book, I had to get my hands on it as fast as possible. Sadly, The Price Guide to the Occult didn't compare, even though it was still an enjoyable read.

The Price Guide to the Occult mainly felt like a standard YA paranormal novel about witches. I thought that the plot was quite slow to start, and even when it did, it didn't have this feeling of urgency and dangerousness that should come with a threat such as Fern. Because of that, I was quite underwhelmed during the action scenes and nothing that happened really stuck with me. I still flew through it while I was in public transportation though, so I can say that it kept me entertained.

I found the world-building to be stunning. I will never turn away a book about witches for that exact reason: they always fascinate me so much. In The Price Guide to the Occult, I loved that it followed a family of witches, who had different powers because of an old curse. It was also set on an island, which made the atmosphere even more mysterious than it already was, because the characters were mostly cut off from the world. Because it is about a family, it also meant having their history, through flashbacks and those were some of my favourite parts. Besides, the Blackburn family almost was folklore to the people of the island and I really liked what they developed around them and what they thought of them.

"How can I expect to defend myself against other people, she wondered, when I'm so busy trying to protect myself – from myself?" (p. 185)

To be completely honest, Nor isn't really a compelling main character, which is why I felt quite detached from the story at times. The first half of the novel mainly focuses on her, as the plot is slow to start, but she's a girl who wants to feel invisible and sometimes, it doesn't work for main characters. I'm not sure it did there, but I have to say that I quite enjoyed her development throughout the novel. It mostly had female characters, as it was about a family of witches and I quite enjoyed those, while the rare male characters provided romance drama. Reading about Fern, the antagonist of this novel, was however so much fun, because after hearing about her for many chapters without seeing her in person, I was quite anticipating her arrival. She's a villain whose motives you understand and is ready to do everything to stay powerful. She was quite a good antagonist and I adored hating her.

Just like in The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender, this one was filled with beautiful writing. From the first sentence: "They have been called many things", I knew Leslye Walton wouldn't disappoint me on that aspect. Indeed, once again, I left the book craving for more of her writings – but sadly, I've read both her novels and her novella in A Tyranny of Petticoats.

Overall, The Price Guide to the Occult was an enjoyable read, full of beautiful writing and compelling world-building, but I expected more of the plot, especially for such a short novel. This novel still entertained me though. I'm not sure whether it'll have a sequel or not, but as it's marked as a standalone, it quite puzzled me.

This novel was hard to settle into and I wasn't excited to continue reading it. DNF.

There were issues with the pacing and due to the length it felt vastly underdeveloped. I feel like the most devolved thing was the major theme of the story being about self-harm, particularly cutting, a fact I was not expecting going in. Overall, completely underwhelmed.

People often repeat the truncated quote “blood is thicker than water,” forgetting that the full quote is “the blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb.” Impressively, both of these mutually contradictory statements are true of The Price Guide to the Occult by Leslye Walton. Family, its pull, and its limits are the central to the story of Nor, eighth daughter of a cursed lineage of witches. All Nor wants is to make it through life with as little trouble with possible, but her inheritance cannot be denied.

Father to son, mother to daughter, blood carries both blessings and curses—or Burdens and curses, in fact. Each daughter of the Blackburn family has only one gift, called a Burden because of its double-edged nature, and no further access to the magic of their witchy line. This wasn’t always the case, though. Their ancestress, Rona Blackburn, accidentally doomed her own line in a fit of vengeance for a romantic betrayal. Fern would have no problem with this limited magic—or no magic at all—but her mother, Fern, is insatiable for power, magical or otherwise. Fern left the island in pursuit of power, abandoning Nor, but Nor can’t get entirely comfortable with her absence. After all, she’s beginning to cast a very long shadow. Not only do Fern’s former lovers and colleagues keep her memory alive, but now Fern has a book out, a price guide that offers to do magic for anyone willing to pay. Any kind of magic. But Nor knows that there’s no magic without a price. And the price is paid in blood and pain.

But it’s the limits of blood—familial relationships or magic—that also concern Walton. Nor may share the genetic inheritance of the island’s original male inhabitants, but no father has ever claimed a Blackburn daughter or been an actual dad. The Blackburn matriarchs have a better track record, but Fern bucks the trend by being even worse than absent. Her presence is at best neglectful and at worst actively harmful to her poor daughter Nor.

Nor grows up with a profoundly unstable family made all the more volatile by magic. She is the victim of violence, and to erase her victimhood she inflicts more violence on herself on purpose. Self-harm is her form of control and release, but she has to overcome her instinct to cut if she wants to also move past the trauma of her power.

Walton has a deft and understanding touch when dealing with the topic of self-harm. She has done well by her research and created a respectful take on the disorder with Nor, who is in recovery thanks to therapy (and thankfully not magical intervention) but still struggling. Her family is understanding and supportive, as is her friend, the charmingly pixieish Savvy. It is Savvy who pulls her out of her shell when her grandmother cannot, and Savvy who saves her spirit as much as Judd saves her body.

It takes a lot of effort and a long time, though. Nor's refusal to tell anyone that she has more powers than the single Burden, and especially her refusal to warn anyone about Fern's approach, goes from seeming overcautious to seeming a bit ludicrous. Even if she has learned nothing from her family’s support, surely her friends’ devotion should have made some greater impression? She stays away from the excessively perfect Reed in a misguided attempt to protect him, but if she cares so much about protecting people, why doesn't she speak up? Things go very bad very quickly—and then stay that way. She could help, but instead she dithers and hides. I'm not going to say it's irrational, since her mother is an abusive monster, but I'm also not going to excuse it. This hesitance serves the plot far more than the characters.

And on the subject of her mother, Fern is a bit too one-dimensional of a monster for me. She's clearly a psychopath, incapable of empathy and profoundly self-interested. Well, all right, sometimes evil is banal. But none of the other characters express curiosity about the origins and development of a girl who grew up just like the rest of them, on an obscure little island. I especially wish we'd heard more from Judd, who remains a benevolent enigma in the family home, healing those who come to her at the cost of her own pain. Does she heal to compensate? Does she fear her own daughter? Does she understand more about Fern than she lets on, or is she just as confused as to how such a terrible monster came from her?

However, as mother and daughter draw closer and the stakes get higher, the urgency draws out the complexities of the characters. They begin to shine in crises, and as the crises keep coming they become dazzling.

Walton understands the implicit rules of magic extremely well. Everything she does makes intuitive sense, like pointing out that Nor is an eighth generation witch, and therefore potentially prone to change (seven generations being the norm). This is a very different phenomenon from, say, Brandon Sanderson, who meticulously delineates every rule of his magic system (and has helpful charts!). I compare not to make value judgments (I love them both) but to highlight the way that the theme is embedded even in The Price Guide’s magic: it is not logic that governs Nor, Fern, and the rest of the clan, but the undeniable rhythms of the heart and the tidal surges of the blood.

The climax is fast-paced and satisfying, with both emotional and narrative pieces falling dramatically into place. Nor comes into her own in a way that feels inevitable but also hard-earned. A slightly uneven beginning turns into a real tour-de-force of magic and mayhem, and I couldn’t be happier I stuck it out. Nor’s triumph, tinged with sorrow and newfound maturity, really struck a cord.

The book concludes on a peaceful, self-reflective note—at least in the main story. But then there's an epilogue tacked on, and not since Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows have I been so annoyed. It was out of left field, it has little to do with the meat of the story, and if it's setting up a sequel then I'm tempted not to buy that book on principle. And if it's not setting up a sequel, that's somehow worse because it introduces such uncertainty that the entire book's quest for normalcy is all but undone. We spent hundreds of pages on an isolated island, and suddenly the world stage intervenes? Who thought that was a good idea? I recommend you rip out the epilogue before you even begin reading, so that a few pages of nonsense don't bother you as they did me. What a sour way to end such a sweet book.

This read was honestly so much fun! It's not easy to deduce from the blurb, but The Price Guide to the Occult is a fast-paced story set in contemporary times, and yet I, a die-hard old-fashioned fantasy lover, gobbled it up like a delicious goth cupcake with extra witchcraft frosting.

I must say, this concept of a curse is brilliant, as is the idea of a cut-off society on an island bound to the earth it inhabits, and the consequently limited gene pool. The story starts with a strong prologue and continues with unusal realtionships and a protagonist struggling with self-harm. (There's an afterword by the author that lists hotline numbers and other resources for readers with similar experiences, which I think she should be duly credited for.) Walton's writing style was amazingly creative in some parts!

Nevertheless, the genre is called magic realism for a reason, and aside from the amazing dialogue, the environment wasn't all that realistic. There is, for example, not a single person with a regular, common name on that island, and while of course every small town has its oddball, the community on Anathema island (as you can see, even the setting has an eyebrow-raising name) is almost exclusively populated by eccentrics. Nor's abilities are a bit too convenient too, and there's and abundance of plot holes now that I think about it... which I'm not going to elaborate on, because I don't expect a lot of depth from a < 300-page book. Maybe there is just too much content squeezed into this single novel, and the quality was neglected in favour of quantity.

Summing up, The Price Guide to the Occult was a satisfying, quick, but also rather meaningless read. I wish I had more time to warm to the characters, and it looked like there's build-up for a potential sequel, which I'm sure I'll equally enjoy, with a dash of slower pacing and perhaps a smarter plot.

Nor is the latest is a long line of Blackburn women who are cursed. Doomed to have a whirlwind affair with one of the descendants of the original settlers of Anathema Island, only for it to end in heartache and loss. Nor wants none of this. She's happy to hang out with her friends, remain inconspicuous and hopefully bypass the curse altogether. But fate may have other ideas.

This is well written, with some beautiful prose but the pace is slow, and not much happens for a long time. Given that this is a relatively short book, that means that most of the action takes place right at the end, making it feel rushed and a little flat. I also found the overall plot to be predictable and dull. Instead of being gripped, this was a struggle to read and I feel a little disappointed.

Nor, our main character, is reasonably well developed. She's sweet, likeable and wants nothing more than to not draw attention to herself which I found refreshing in a main character in YA. Is she interesting enough to carry a story? Debatable. I also felt that everyone else was lacking in any emotional depth. I would have loved to have seen more of Nor's grandmother and the rest of people she lives with, who had the potential to be so interesting and different. The antagonist was also one dimensional and obvious and the love triangle aspect was awkward and felt forced. This may have been because the characters were underdeveloped in my opinion, but I found it cliched and a little overdone in YA these days.

If I sound a little harsh, it's because I know the sort of potential this author has. I expect more from an author that I know has wrote such wonderful imaginative things in the past. Like a lot of people who've already read this, I enjoyed Leslye Walters previous novel The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender. That novel pitched the perfect balance between odd and lovely. This just felt odd and disjointed.

On the secluded, Northwestern Island of Anathema, the Blackburn women have been living in hiding for nine generations. Their matriarch, Rona's curse allows them one blessing or "burden" of witch craft but comes at a terrible cost - a three day love affair always resulting in pregnancy. That doesn't sound like too bad of a curse to some, but for introverted and tortured Nor, the threat looms over her like a dark shadow. Unfortunately for her, something even worse is coming. 

I initially picked this book up because of cover. The large print text covers definitely seem to be in season this year. I've noticed most of the books I've picked up for the next few weeks have a similar motif. The title was also intriguing and implied something sinister in an almost Shakespearean way. Does something wicked this way come? In many ways, yes. Very wicked. 

The setting of the novel was definitely my favorite thing. With the rise of urban fantasy, it's become pretty common to see these YA Fantasy novels set in New York or Chicago or some other large city. Instead, The Price Guide To The Occult is set on a sweet, tourist trap of an island off the coast of Washington state. The author does a beautiful job describing the wild life, the nature and the environment around us. The downtown area seems to be very "Stars Hollow-esque" with cute, local shops and sprawling, lush landscapes everywhere else. Nature plays an important role in the novel, so it was great to see the author utilize this well. 

Nor is an intriguing main character, but , interestingly enough for this genre, she is not also the narrator. We see everything in third person but stay close to Nor the entire time. Nor is a deeply flawed character but relatable. She struggles with an abusive relationship with her distant mother and as such, has some problems with self harm. Walton is delicate with her description of Nor's mental illness but readers should know that this element is prominent in the book. The other characters are only in the novel briefly enough for us to see them and get to know them on a surface level, but more on that in a minute. 

If I had just one complaint about this novel, it would be that the plot is fairly one dimensional. The book is incredibly short. I believe it took me only 4 or 5 hours to read, easy enough for one sitting on a weekend. As such, there isn't a lot of complexity or depth to the narrative. Everything that happens is fairly predictable and I can't think of a single twist I encountered as a went a long. Also, since the book was short, I had a hard time believing and feeling attached to the relationships Nor formed. There is a love triangle sub-plot but it doesn't come into play in the main plot, so it's somewhat forgettable. I did think that the plot, while predictable, was enjoyable and unique. 

The Price Guide to the Occult by Leslye Walton is a fun, quick and easy read. There is self harm in novel, which could be trigger for many, but it is tastefully done. The world Walton constructs is beautiful and vibrant, while the plot is a bit more simple. The ending leave the story open to a possible sequel, which I'm hoping for as I was left with many questions at the end.

I found this book to be delightfully atmospheric and definitely evoked a sense of place, which was pretty important to the novel as the setting of the Pacific Northwest was in integral part of the plot and the main character’s personality. I thought there characters were well drawn and Nor had a convincing back story that made for an interesting story arc. I also like the use of magic, though I wish that there were more established rules explained, mainly in terms of who gets what power (for instance, does Nor have unlimited power?) I loved that this was a woman centric story, and especially love Nor’s grandmother Judd. My issues stem from the other relationships in the story and the antagonist. Nor’s relationship to both Reed and Gage seemed superficial, and I especially wondered where Gage’s feelings for Nor came from. I also though that Nor defeated her mother a little too easily. I understand that this was due to Nor beginning to understand herself a little more but it seemed forced. I also got frustrated with Nor’s unwillingness to tell her grandmother who she seemed to trust in all other ways about her powers, even to the very end. Otherwise, this was a solid effort and I enjoyed the experience.

A unique YA novel about a line of women and the island they are bound to. Nor was an interesting female character and the story was different than many magic books. I enjoyed the quick read. If you are bothered of talk about self-harm, this isn't for you.