Fun, magical, coming-of-age summer story with just the right amount of romance.  It was nice to see the main character really come into her own, and the challenges she faced / conflicts with other characters felt very true to the teen experience.

The ARC of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This one didn't work for me. The cover is cute, the premise is interesting, but I DNF. Magical Realism can be an awfully fun genre, but in this case it falls short. The main character is whiny, plain and simple. The plot revolves around miscommunication and assumptions, which I find to be lazy story-telling. This is a matter of preference, but I also dislike YA books about teenagers focusing so heavily on sex.

I hadn’t heard of Susan Crispell before, but now I have read one and have another one I am currently working on. The Holloway Girls follows a family who passes down in the girls the ability to give luck to those they kiss during their kissing season.

Mostly the story follows Remy as she deals with negative repercussions of her choices. Honest opinion, right from the get go I found Remy slightly annoying. I’m not sure if that is how her character was suppose to come across, but that’s how she did. She was extremely needy and extremely angsty. This would normally ruin a book completely for me, and it did bring it down a bit, but I really enjoyed some of the side characters. The new neighbors that move in make the story so much more interesting. They are also the voice of reason.

The story did read well and I like Crispell’s writing style. The story flowed and moved along fast enough where I didn’t get bored with the story, even when there wasn’t a lot of peak moments. Not liking the main character was the main downfall for me, but the story as a whole held its own. I am looking forward to reading her next book on my shelf.

Thank you Netgalley, Susan Bishop Crispell and Sourcebooks Fire for the ARC of this book.

I loved the plot of this one and I felt it was an easy read. The pace was good and the author did a great job at writing the story.

I felt something was missing to make this one blow me out of the water. Overall this was a good read!

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for giving me free access to the advanced copy of this book to read.

Original concept that didn´t meet the potencial it had in my opinion. Not a bad book but It could be so much more. Besides that, it's an enjoyable read and I'm excited about reading more of this author!

I’ve tried reading this book 3x and each time I’ll get a chapter or two in and then just lost all interest. I’ll have to throw in the towel and just mark it DNF, unfortunately.

This was a pretty interesting story, and one that I hadn't really read before. I wish they had gone into more detail about the girl's magic and how it all worked because that was pretty fascinating, I loved Remy but her sister irked me so much. This was probably out of my reading range a little, but I think my teenage daughters would love this book.

I just couldn't with this book. There were bitty things that just irritated me - the way everyone acts like it's all the girl's fault, not the guy for leading her on and kissing her just to get good luck. surely they know this? It just felt like everyone was made to be obtuse so there would be a plot and it annoyed me

This book has a really cute premise - Holloway girls give luck to anyone they kiss their sixteenth year, but the execution was lacking. The main character was SO unlikeable it was hard to care one way or the other if she solved her curse. There were plot holes - like she refuses to use her magic and says she'll do anything to end the curse - but then asks her mom for permission once she finds out how to end it? It was just silly. I also think the booked dragged on much longer than it needed to with 90% of it just being the protagonist hemming and hawing over if she should go out with her neighbor. There was a lot of really uncomfortable sexual pressure as well, like her dad even pressuring her into kissing someone. Overall, a very cute idea that was poorly executed.

Honestly, I shouldn't have picked up this book since it is well outside the genre I enjoy reading. I do not enjoy Contemporary reads, and this one was just too predictable for me. I think it was cute and there are many out there who will enjoy and love it, but I'm just not one of them. This was a fun, fast read that I was able to quickly read, but overall, it was just too cutesy and predictable for me.

I love the premise and the cover. Unfortunately there was a lot of filler, it would have been better as a short/novella as there was about a third that was unnecessary.

This is a YA book and felt like a YA book.  I did enjoy it, but it was lacking a little.  I wanted more of the magic and a little less of the teen angst.  A big chunk of the story, nothing is really happening, just the same stuff over and over.  I really liked the character Tobin and wanted more of his interaction with Remy as well as wanting more of their romance, not just the last chapter or so.

The Holloway Girls is a story that I devoured in just one day.

Remy is the youngest of the Holloway sisters. Last year was her sister Maggie's kissing season, and this coming year will be hers. The Holloway's kisses during their season bring good luck to the recipient, if you follow the rules. You must not have given your heart away to anyone else, or the luck will be bad instead. You can't receive a kiss either: it has to be freely given.

Maggie has kissed a lot of guys and girls during her season, and she's looking forward to Remy having a great kissing season as well. But Remy is not like Maggie. Remy has a crush on Isaac, who has been dating Hannah for years. But lately he's noticed her more. Maybe there's a chance Remy can give her a kiss and the good luck that comes with it.

This is also a story about sisters and the relationship between them, as Remy and Maggie go through a very hard time after Remy feels that Maggie lied to her and went through a hard time.

This story was very original, and I loved that different twist they put on being a "witch". Going into this book and from the synopsis, I was expecting it to be a light teen romance, but this story had much more depth than that. It really focuses on teenage life and how complicated relationships can be at that age.

I love reading books with a touch of magic.

Thanks to Netgalley for the advance copy.

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

ESPAÑOL:
Las chicas Holloway es una historia que devoré en apenas un día.

Remy es la menor de las hermanas Holloway. El año pasado fue la temporada de besos de su hermana Maggie, y este próximo año será la suya. Los besos de las Holloway durante su temporada dan buena suerte a quien los recibe, si sigue las reglas. No debes haber regalado tu corazón a nadie más, o la suerte será mala en su lugar. Tampoco se puede recibir un beso: tiene que ser dado libremente.

Maggie ha besado a muchos chicos y chicas durante su temporada, y está deseando que Remy tenga también una gran temporada de besos. Pero Remy no es como Maggie. Remy está enamorada de Isaac, que lleva años saliendo con Hannah. Pero últimamente se ha fijado más en ella. Tal vez exista la posibilidad de que Remy pueda darle un beso y la buena suerte que conlleva.

Esta es también una historia sobre hermanas y la relación entre ellas, ya que Remy y Maggie pasan por un momento muy duro después de que Remy sienta que Maggie la mintiera y pasara por un momento duro.

Esta historia fue muy original, y me encantó ese toque diferente que le dieron a lo de ser "bruja". Al comenzar este libro y por la sinopsis, esperaba que fuera un romance juvenil ligero, pero esta historia tenía mucha más profundidad que eso. Realmente se centra la vida de los adolescentes y lo complicadas que pueden ser las relaciones a esa edad.

Me encanta leer libros con un toque de magia.

Gracias a Netgalley por la copia anticipada

The main character could've been better. I really enjoyed the beginning of the story, but the amount of scenes of her being selfish and annoyed by everything and everyone made her become the annoying one. But the fantasy is creative! If it wasn't for the protagonist, it could've been so much better.

2.5 stars

I really enjoyed the first 10-15% of the story, but then Remy just became so annoying to me. I wasn’t feelin her selfish and incredibly negative (‘poor me’) attitude. I also wasn’t a fan of the slut shaming she did with her sister? 

As the story progressed, I unfortunately, started to like it less and almost DNF’d at the 30% mark. But I wanted to see how the curse would be broken. And well..that too, was disappointing for me.

Cute story, but not my type. super repetitive, could've taken out 100 pages in the middle and gotten the same result.

I really really wanted to love this book. It sounded like it was right up my alley. Sadly it missed the mark by a smidge. While it isn’t something I would read again, I still stuck with it to find out what happened in the end. Without giving anything away I can say that if you enjoy a quick YA fantasy read you would probably enjoy this.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I loved this book. I loved the world and the characters. I hope everyone picks this up

I absolutely love the concept of this story. The potential of it is really good, and I thought it sounded intriguing. The reality: it kind of felt like the movie Groundhog Day where the same stuff (in this case topics of conversation) kept happening again and again and AGAIN. I honestly was really tired of it. I understand that the “issue” is not going to be solved early in the book, however the story either could have been shortened or a little more substance could have been added.

I really wanted this to be fun and mysterious and witchy. Instead it was kind of boring, repetitive, and angst on a level like no other teen book I have ever read. I expected angst, I did after all read a teen book, but HOLY ANGST BATMAN!

This fell flat for me and I am super disappointed. Give it a try for yourself as you may have a different opinion.

Thank you to Susan Bishop Crispell, Sourcebooks Fire, and NetGalley for a gifted copy in exchange for an honest review.