I wasnt sure about this story at first, as it's not your traditional witches and warlocks kind of story. But I have to say it really drew me in and I couldn't put it down. A story of finding your own path no matter how much it scares you and believing in those who love you. The world building was great a new little place of magic and wonder. And the characters were full of depth and life. A lovely story.

A magical fantasy novel with cute chapter headings and the enchanted forest vibe was so beautiful but it couldn't keep my interest. The character dialogue wasn't really up to my liking. I enjoyed the title, the cover, and description but this book wasn't my cup of tea. I would like to reread it later and see if my opinions would change.

I feel so bad writing this review, because I was truly excited to read this ARC. Sister witches, with one sister being slightly on the grumpier side, enchanted woods, magical creatures, and necromancy. It sounded like so much fun and right up my alley. But unfortunately, Hazel and Holly just did not click for me. I honestly can’t even quite pinpoint what it was about this that didn’t work for me, but I found it really hard to finish this book. It read a little too slowly for my tastes and what I thought would read as quirky banter between the sisters came off as trying too hard for me.

That’s not to say that there weren’t good parts that I enjoyed to this story, there was so much interesting world-building, and I loved the concept of the different elemental magics and their representative gods. Unfortunately it felt like the magics were only touched on and then we were drawn back to the characters, who as much as I hate to say, might be what made the book a slog for me. There was just something about the characters that didn’t quite click for me. And I found myself wanting more of the world and less of the character involvement. I certainly enjoy a good humorous fantasy and I love quirky characters, but there were times when Holly’s quirkiness just didn’t flow well to me. This book definitely reminded me of Patricia C. Wrede’s Sorcery & Cecelia, but I didn’t ever quite get to that same connection with the characters in Hazel and Holly.

Overall, I feel really disappointed that this didn’t work for me because it has all of the right elements! (And that cover is gorgeous!) I think it just suffered from far too much back and forth, and probably would have benefited from a more concise plot and at least a third of the book being taken out.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me the opportunity to read this review copy in exchange for an honest review!

DNF @60%
I hate not finishing books, but sometimes it cannot be helped.. I kept forcing myself to pick up the book, and I kept putting it back after reading like 2 pages. I was just not liking this book at all. And the hardest thing is, I do not really know why..
We follow this witch, Hazel, who wants to free her mom from something her dad did to her. And honestly it is better explained in the summary then in the actual book.. I got so confused until I read the back of the book again.. Pretty soon in the book Hazel and her sister Holly make friends with these two warlocks (brothers). Then the four of them start to travel around to find Hazel and Holly’s dad.
First of all, why do all their names start with an H, I got so confused at times. Like ‘why does this character talk to that character’ to later realize it was actually a different character..
Second, I don’t really understand why these characters became friends. Holly had a crush on the one brother, but that’s not really a reason to become friends out of nothing (I would say). And Hazel was bored at the party and started to tell her dad problems to the other brother. And BAM lets solve all the problems together?!
Third, this running around made no sense to me. They didn’t really get any clue and then they went to some place, who would send them to a different place, for reasons I couldn’t really figure out.. And it just got a bit boring, running to a new place with a new wizard with a weird name and a story that might have been
about their dad.
Fourth, I wanted more magic! Which maybe I would have gotten this if I had continued the book, but I just couldn’t ..

I’m going to be honest— I did not finish this book. I got quite far into it (almost to the end), but I put it down one day and realized I was dreading going back to finish it for this review. I really, really didn’t want to finish it, so I figured I’d write this review and tell you why. I won’t be publishing it on GoodReads so that other readers aren’t negatively disposed toward the book, but figured some feedback was better than none for Netgalley purposes.

I actually sort of liked this book at the beginning— Hazel was smart and interesting, and I thought the magic was whimsical and fun. However, I found myself scratching my head as the book went on, constantly wondering when I’d learn more about the magic system, or when Holly would stop being annoying. There were plenty of funny quips along the way, but the romances were predictable and shallow, and the character development... was not present. Hazel kept refusing to rely on others, and Hawthorn was a dandy, and Hemlock was flat and boring. Even the big climax bored me, largely because there was no actual revenge and Ash just dropped the whole issue.
This book is entirely too long, each scene stretched until it seemed like it would rip, and filled with episodic little interludes that don’t seem to advance the plot. After I found out that the sisters survived the encounter with their father, I was done. I couldn’t bear to read another 400 pages of their journey home and the happy ending I’m sure occurred. I had high hopes for this, but I couldn’t torture myself any longer. Thank you for the opportunity to read it, anyway.

I wanted to like this so bad. I thought it would be exactly what i wanted to read but it just didn’t keep my interest and i wasn’t enjoying the story. I felt like it was dragged on and slow moving. The first passage of Hazel meeting her dead mother had me completely hooked but soon after that I was just not into it. I really wanted to like this but I just didn’t not. I did enjoy Hazels character though I felt she gave in to her sister too easily. I related to her in some aspect since I have a sister myself and we are very close. So I did enjoy that, ultimately this just want for me.

I really enjoyed this book! My only tiny problem was the four main characters all having names that start with H. At times my mind would just get confused, and I would have to stop and remind myself the oldest siblings have HA names, and I would sort myself out for awhile.

But don’t let this stop you from reading Hazel and Holly, and hopefully enjoying it as much as I did.

This fantasy, which I can see becoming a series, has all the essentials to make it epic. A witch with an impossible mission, learning more about herself and being tempted into great evil. Throw in an entourage of friends, each with unique abilities and insights, and you get a fast paced, very entertaining story.

Sara Snider does a fantastic job with the world building. There are numerous books and movies that I’m sure people will compare this story to, but for me, I kept think of the movie Labyrinth. I think because my mind equated searching for a baby brother, with Hazel looking for their father, and Hoggle reminded me of their cellar gnome, Tum.

Snider also does a wonderful job with the character’s development. Even the secondary characters are well rounded, and not just used in the story for filler. The four main characters continue to grow throughout the book, and I hope she continues this into a series, because I would love to continue getting to know them.

A fabulous fantasy, that I highly recommend.

"Hazel and Holly" is a charming story. Two sisters who happen to be witches are powerful, but also very human. Hazel is the classic older sister, constantly protecting and annoyed by her younger sister Holly. Holly is spontaneous and a bit self-centered. They become involved with two warlock brothers, Hemlock and Hawthorn, to find their missing father.

This is definitely a fun read for anyone who enjoys magical stories, and the frustrations and happiness that come with being a sibling.

Hazel and Holly is a fun and rolicking adventure through magical woods, mystical spells, and finding hope in unlikely places.
Hazel and Holly are sisters who share a home in the Grove, a wonderfully slow and magical place where magic is divided into schools such as Hearth and Wyr, each with their own special focus. When the sisters are invited to the home of Hawthorn and Hemlock, warlocks and very eligible bachelors, Holly is insistent on their attendance. Hazel, on the other hand, would rather stay home and away from the nosey gossips who spread nasty rumors about their family and their father’s dabbling in Necromancy. Necromancy is the one magical discipline that is not tolerated in the Grove.
But Holly wins and the sisters attend the ball and true to fashion, nothing goes as planned. The one bright moment from the disastrous night is a new alliance with the brothers. With their help, the sisters might finally be able to track down their father and free their mother’s soul that has been entrapped for years.
Together, the witches and warlocks face one obstacle after the other, and all the while, they become closer and better friends with every mishap.
Full of humor, magic, and adventure, Hazel and Holly was a fun and entertaining read.
Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for the opportunity to read and review this title. All opinions are my own.

2.5 out of 5 stars.

I really struggled to get into this story sadly. I felt that the dynamic between Hazel and Holly was lacking, particularly at the beginning. Certain parts of the story seemed a little rushed. Hazel as a character didn't appeal to me. There seemed like a real disconnect with regards to their Mother and them.

I do love the story idea, I think it just fell a little short with it's characters.

(I would like to try and read this story again though, because I'm not sure if perhaps my mood, at the time of reading, was preventing me from connecting as well as I could have with the characters. So will possibly buy this when it comes out to try again.)

A community of witches and warlocks live within an enchanted forest. Here, necromancy is forbidden. Which is a problem because Hazel and Holly's father used necromancy to trap their dead mother's spirit. Now, the girls want to find him to free her. Perhaps a pair of warlock brothers can help them.

I think this book would have made for an excellent middle-grade read. It's categorized as New Adult (the characters have appropriate ages), but the writing, dialogue, and overall feel of the novel would work very well for a younger audience. I found these contradictions of writing style and intended audience too much for me to continue reading, but I think younger readers might have preferred this.

I found the description of this story intriguing, but found the plot, characters, and world-building fell short. It was difficult to get into the book, and found myself constantly frustrated with the characters and story. The characters were under-developed and their actions were constantly contradictory. Instead of providing a childish charm, it caused the story to fall apart and I lost interest rapidly. I loved the idea of the different types of magic, and the characters that could practice them, but there was never much information provided about the different types. I don't know if the author is hoping to write a sequel, but this first story felt very incomplete and unfinished.

This book showed so much promise with its story but unfortunately for me, the writing really let me down. The pacing was incredibly fast and then would slow down to a snail's pace as if the writer kept realising this needs to be a novel, not a short story. The characters lacked any depth but were interesting enough. The romance was transparent from the get-go and lacked any mystery.

The most fascinating thing about this was the world building was stellar, the magic system interesting and quest line neat. I struggled to finish this book and am really disappointed as I was really excited about this book and looking forward to it being a favourite.

My advice would be to push back the date and do a major edit, it has such great potential!

Disclaimer: I received this as an e-ARC from Double Beast Publishing via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
This story follows two sisters named Hazel and Holly who live in the Grove. This is a community full of witches and warlocks who practice elemental magic, brew potions and protect their pantries from thieving gnomes. The world building was very well done in the book. It seemed like a cute world, where nothing really happens. Until the sisters father traps their moms soul, using necromancy. As is the norm, necromancy is not allowed. The girls live alone, but one day they decide to chase their father to free their mom's soul. With the help of two warlocks (who they met at a party, intended for one warlock to find his wife), they embark on a journey.
I found this book to be just okay. The world building and magic system is very well done. The four elemental magics: Wry, Weaving, Hearth and Wild were cool and original. The book is easy to follow, and written in a way that you can leave and come back into a few days later and not be lost. It started out as serial, so this makes sense. I also liked the fact that each chapter had it's own title. The cover is beautiful.
The characters annoyed me (Hazel complained too much) and the plot didn't really thrill me. The pacing felt like it was just very off and the plot was going around in circles. I had high hopes because a strong sister bond, witches and the cover, but it just didn't quite deliver for me. I had major high hopes, so this could be a "me not you".
3/5
I'd recommend this to people who are big fans of witches and like YA novels.

The magic system in this story is one of the strongest point of this book. It really had me hooked from the first introduction and I was very intrigued by all the streaming’s in magic. I loved how well executed all the magical segments were and what a huge impact they had on the daily life of the characters. I hope that we will explore all the different magical systems more in the future books. Because now it focusses mainly on the witches streaming’s, but I love to read more about warlock magic and the balance between female and male magic. (Something that was slightly hinted after in the book.)

Another strong point in the book is the dynamic between the characters. And then I am not really talking about the sisters, but mainly the interaction between the sisters and the brothers. I loved the banter between Holly and Hawthorn and the comical note that Thume brought to the overall story. I also loved that the storyline between Holly and Hawthorn took a rather unsuspected turn. Of the beaten track, it certainly made for a more interesting storyline.

But I have to confess that I also understand why so many readers struggle with this story. One of my main complaints is the fact that I just couldn’t place this book. It is marketed as Young adult, but most of the time it reads as a middle grade book. However sometimes the topic are a little bit to explicit or too dark for the audience of middle grade. I honestly think that Hazel and Holly needs a good editor who works a little magic on this story. The potential for a very good book is already there, without any doubt. But to captivate the YA audiences this book is a little too tame, a bit too silly… it just can’t stand up between truly wonderful YA books filled with romance, action and magic. If it was just edited right (the romance scenes a little less intense, the darkness a little less dark) then this would be a wonderful middle grade novel that would really be able to captivate young readers.

So to cut this review short… I absolutely enjoyed exploring the world of Hazel and Holly. I am looking forward to returning with them on their magical path. But I can see why so many readers struggle with this story. Such a shame, because in general the setup of this story is really enjoyable.

review will be posted on my blog on 13/05/2019

2 stars

A magical fantasy novel with cute chapter headings and an enchanted forest vibe...but it could not keep my interest and ultimately fell under its character and dialogue issues.

<b>World</b>: <span>&#9733;</span><span>&#9733;</span><span>&#9733;</span><span>&#9733;</span>
<b>Writing</b>: <span>&#9733;</span><span>&#9733;</span><span>&#9733;</span>
<b>Characters</b>: <span>&#9733;</span><span>&#9733;</span>
<b>Dialogue</b>: <span>&#9733;</span>

<b>I was very excited to read this ARC.</b> It sounded like the perfect blend of magical adventure, necromancy, and sister/sister bonding. Unfortunately, <i>Hazel and Holly</i> fell flat for me.

<i>Hazel and Holly</i> features the tale of sisters—Hazel and Holly—as they live in their high fantasy/enchanted forest setting. <b>The first chapter was amazing, compelling, and conveyed the immediate concepts of the novel</b>: the sisters are witches, their mother is dead but her soul lives on in a painful geas that their necromancer father forced, and the sisters don't like each other much and are very different.

<b>Unfortunately, my enjoyment of <i>Hazel and Holly</i> downgraded pretty quickly after these introductions.</b> The plot attempted to kick off with the introduction of brothers Hemlock and Hawthorne, who provide an extremely obvious foil between Hazel and Holly, but I could not maintain my interest in this 500+ page novel. The quest to find their father to save their mother should have been exciting, but the novel kept stopping for dialogue that really hampering my enjoyment.

<b><u>Some of the main problems included:</u></b> repetitive dialogue, static character arcs, lack of depth within the characters, scenes without a clear purpose, humor aimed at a much younger audience than the demographic, and dialogue for the sake of dialogue.

Given my issues with <i>Hazel and Holly</i>, <b>I'm inclined to believe that this novel was not for me, and might likely be a very enjoyable read for a younger reader. The humor, in particular, seemed to be aimed at a young(er) audience.</b> Maybe if it had been marketed younger I would have gone into it with a different frame of mind?

Hopefully those who pick up <i>Hazel and Holly</i> can find more enjoyment in it than I did.

***

Original notes: ARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Enchanted forests, witches, necromancy, and girl power - OH MY 😍

A lovely fantasy and the discovery of a very good author.
I enjoyed this book, engaging and entertaining; I appreciated the well written characters and the humour.
The plot was good and well developed and it never bores.
I hope this is the start of a new series because it'd be great to meet again the characters.
I will surely read other books by this author.
Recommended!
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

I think books that center around family/sister relationships are great, but I just couldn't connect with this one. Maybe it was because the trappings of the world didn't feel fleshed out - the magic system seemed fairly appended on - or even illusory, a starting place for the story rather than something meant to pop off the page ((the Grove where Hazel and Holly live and its inhabitants are basically ghostly), or because the characters were almost cartoonish. I kept feeling as if the story were getting stuck in little loops, as if they had to get past multiple similar obstacles before moving on to the next thing, which robbed even the critical final battle scene of real weight. The tone for the majority of the narrative felt as if it were striving for something like Patricia C. Wrede's Enchanted Forest series - slightly goofy but taking itself just seriously enough that it feels impactful - but not quite making it. The main romance was...unobjectionable. I do wonder about the genre placement: the writing style and content seem pretty solidly YA, and it seems that it's only the choice to have Hazel, Hemlock, and Hawthorn aged between 23 and their forties that bumps it up to NA. Would having them be teenagers really make a difference in the story, especially when fantasy already assumes some suspension of disbelief and buy-in to the world building? Finally: while I know it's part of the world, I wish the four main characters names weren't all so close together; I spent WAY too much time reminding myself which warlock brother was which,

There is a lot that I could say about this book. Some things are good - some things not so much. All I can say is that this is like nothing I've ever read before.

That's probably in part due to the fact that I'm not normally one for NA. I'm not saying I wouldn't enjoy it - just that I haven't read a whole bunch of it before. I think initially this was categorised under YA/Teen Fiction, hence why I was so confused to discover that Hazel is actually 23 - at the beginning of the novel both her and Holly read as significantly younger than they actually are. That being said, once I got into the book, I really enjoyed the dynamic between the sisters. They stopped bickering pointlessly and started backing each other up, helping each other through their own battles.

Something I was less of a fan of was the fact that the other two main characters, Hemlock and Hawthorn also have 'H' names. Whilst it's a cute world-building detail that people all have similar beginning letter names, it's less practical in a scene where all four of them are talking, as the names all get a little mixed up. Hazel and Holly alone are okay - just maybe the other two are a bit much?

As for the two brothers, I wound up loving both of them. Neither of them are portrayed as perfect, and they both have their own little quirks and strengths. Hemlock just has the edge for me - he reminds me a lot of how I imagine Combeferre from Les Mis. I did feel that there was a bit of insta-love in the plot too - it felt like there should have been a more slow-burn romance, as the world-building leaves this open for sequels (which I would definitely read.)

(Also, sidenote: I love, love, love the dynamic between Holly and Hawthorn. You'd think she's be too nervous to tell him when to shut up, but no. This girl knows how to have banter and I'm down for that.)

It also took me a while to get used to the way that spells are cast; the author never really tells us what the characters are saying, just that they recite spells. This works pretty well, as I don't have to remember what spell goes with what, but action sequences can get a little dry when all we get is "Hazel cast xyz. Hemlock cast xyz."

I did, however, really really enjoy the plot as it progressed; the second half of the novel is definitely stronger than the first, and a couple of plot twists regarding Ash and Willow (H&H's parents) were a pleasant surprise.

If there is a sequel to this at any point, I think I'd definitely give it a read - the world-building is incredible and I definitely have a bit of a soft spot for the characters! Especially Tum, who I haven't mentioned much in this review, however, it's worth reading this for him alone. I love Tum so, so, so much. Yes. Can we get a spin-off for him, please???

I really enjoyed this story. The world building was well done; enough that I understood what was going on and not so much that it bogged down the story. The characters are all well imagined and described. Hazel was the one who got on my nerves a few times; she kept making the same bad decisions, even acknowledging she knew it was a bad idea! However, it was believable for her as a character so I managed to avoid becoming completely frustrated with her. Holly is delightful (as a big sister, I felt Hazel's pain sometimes and her pride). Hawthorn and Hemlock were great heroes and I thought their relationships with both Hazel and Holly were perfect in their dynamics and how the foursome interacted. I felt the story could have used a bit more editing. Sometimes, it dragged; it took too long to set up the next event to move the plot along. It only happened a few times though so again, not enough to annoy but enough to make me skim a few times. I would definitely read more about Hazel's and Holly's adventures and I'm quite curious about the world they live in - Snider did a good job in creating a world I want to know more about.