This was by far one of my favorite young adult books of 2022. Everything was expertly written. I enjoyed the plot, the characterization of the sisters, the integration of both queerness and magic. This was a really fun read that I couldn’t put down.

"The Holloway Girls": 3⭐

Thank you so much for writing such a fun book. Being kissed by a Holloway girl can mean good luck. But what if things didn't happen the way we wanted them to happen?
I really liked the premise of this book, even tho the blurb was a bit confusing. I really liked all the emotions protrayed by our MC and how the story developed.

I absolutely adored this book! It hooked me from the first page, and kept me hooked the entire time! Highly recommend.

I received a copy of this book via NetGalley for an honest review.

The story follows the Holloway sisters who on their 16th Birthday receive magic where whoever they kiss receives good luck. Her sister Maggie has just had her season and now it is Remy's turn. Unfortunately Remy's first kiss Isaac already likes someone else, this leads to disaster and ongoing bad luck for Isaac throughout the story.

Remy then vows not to kiss anyone else for the season until she can fix the curse on Isaac. This is made much more difficult when new neighbours Tobin and Juliet move in next door. Can she figure out a way to fix Isaacs curse and fix what is left of her season?

This book is an enjoyable read however there was less focus on the magic than I had anticipated and the book was very much more romance driven. While this was still entertaining I would have liked a bit more depth into the magic being added into the plot.

I did feel at points in the middle that the story didn't seem to have a massive amount going on other than the romance between Remy and Tobin. Remy at times could also be quite whiny but she is a teenager so we can let that slide.

Overall while the plot could have done with a bit more depth it was still a light enjoyable read and good for the YA romance bracket.

I thought this story was well written; the writing flowed easily, and I enjoyed the concept.

During their kissing season, anyone the girls kiss will receive good luck. Remy is the younger of the Holloway sisters, and last year was her sister's Maggie's Kissing Season - this next year will be hers. Kisses from Holloway Girls during their season gives the receiver good luck, if they follow the rules. When Remy’s kissing season begins she expects the same will happen to the first boy she kisses. Instead, the boy receives bad luck and Remy’s kiss is considered “cursed.” Suddenly, all of her friends other teens in her world turn on her. They pull cruel pranks on her, say awful things to her and about her, and make Remy’s life miserable for several months.

Remy is a wonderful narrator and we are pulled inside her head and feel as if we are experiencing what she is in real time. This book was just light hearted, nostalgic, and fun and I enjoyed the diversity in the characters!
And the music references were solid.

I thought this story was well written; the writing flowed easily, and I enjoyed the concept.
During their kissing season, anyone the girls kiss will receive good luck. Remy is the younger of the Holloway sisters, and last year was her sister's Maggie's Kissing Season - this next year will be hers. Kisses from Holloway Girls during their season gives the receiver good luck, if they follow the rules. When Remy’s kissing season begins she expects the same will happen to the first boy she kisses. Instead, the boy receives bad luck and Remy’s kiss is considered “cursed.” Suddenly, all of her friends other teens in her world turn on her. They pull cruel pranks on her, say awful things to her and about her, and make Remy’s life miserable for several months.
Remy is a wonderful narrator and we are pulled inside her head and feel as if we are experiencing what she is in real time. This book was just light hearted, nostalgic, and fun and I enjoyed the diversity in the characters!
And the music references were solid.

It was a quick and lovely read. It wasn't about magic or felt deep and wildley normal. It was a fun ride and it taught a lot about life. How to be yourself without being an advice book. The protagonists were really lifelike aswell, which I really liked. So yeah, it's a great read for everyone who want's a little sunshine on their gloomy days.

Okay, this book I don’t even know where to begin. It checked all my boxes.
-Romance check.
-Magic check.
-Queer representation check.
-Baking check.

Let’s also not forgot the playlist that goes with the book. Overall I loved the main characters, I loved the plot, the writing of this book is amazing. So many options for a spin off. Can not wait to see if the author releases anything else. I recommend this book so much.

I really enjoyed this for the most part! I havent read anything quite like this and overall this was a really cute, fun read! I loved the romance and the magic we did get but I do wish the magic element was explored more.

Thank you Sourcebooks and Net Galley for the e-arc!

The Holloway Girls is a magical story that I devoured in one day!

Remy is the younger of the Holloway sisters. Last year was her sister's Maggie's Kissing Season, and this next year will be hers. Kisses from Holloway Girls during their season gives the receiver good luck, if they follow the rules. You must not have given your heart away to anyone else, or the luck will be bad luck instead. You can't take a kiss, either - it has to be freely given.

Maggie has kissed a lot of boys and girls during her season, and can't wait for Remy to have a great Season of kissing as well. But Remy isn't like Maggie, popular and outgoing and interested in kissing anyone and everyone. Remy is in love with Isaac, who has been dating Hannah off and on for years now. But lately he has been paying more attention to her, and he and Hannah are broken up right now. Maybe there's a chance that Remy can give him a kiss and the good luck that goes along with it her first night of her Season.

But everything goes wrong, because Isaac lies and says he's over Hannah. He jumps off the side of the quarry and crashes into the rocks instead of the water, ruining his chances to be on the diving team (and breaking some bones). The entire town blames Remy, saying she cursed him instead of blessing him.

This is the one part of the book that really bugged me, because it takes two to tango, and even though Remy should have guessed he wasn't really over Hannah, Isaac did lie to her and was only kissing her to get the good luck.

Remy decides the only course of action is to try to find a way to reverse the curse, and, while doing so, kissing no one else. But that decision is challenged frequently by their new neighbors, especially Tobin, who is everything she wants in a boy and really likes her, too. He is willing to help her try to reverse the curse, and wants to kiss her, cursed or not. 

This is also a story about sisters, as Remy and Maggie go through a really tough time after Remy feels that Maggie lied to her in an unacceptable way. Teens (and adults) will identify with how hard it is to get back to how things were after a betrayal.

This book has a satisfying ending, and I love how the magic is just accepted in this world. I love reading books with a touch of magic, and, like one of my favorite authors, Sarah Addison Allen, Susan Bishop Crispell is also from North Carolina and sets her books here. 

Thanks to Netgalley for the advance copy of this wonderful book!

This was a fun read with some interesting dynamics throughout the plot. I don't know if I would have read this otherwise and it seemed very YA in a "Vampire Diaries" TV fashion. Fun, but not for me. 

I received a complimentary copy of this book through NetGalley. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

A very good premise about magic and good luck gone astray. The Holloway girls have inherited luck bringing kisses, and it's kissing season, whenever one of the girls turns sixteen. Remy and Maggie are sisters and when Maggie's seasons ends, Remy begins. Remy has a crush on a certain boy, who seems eager to kiss her too, only she turns a blind eye to his infatuation with another girl and thus breaks a cardinal rule when she finally kisses him.  Riddled with guilt, heartbroken, and practically harassed by the boy's friends, Remy spends a miserable year, shunning everyone and trying to break the curse. She swears off kissing until the situation is resolved, but encounters a temptation when a cute boy moves into the neighboring house. 

While I'm a bit uneasy with the idea of a sixteen year old spreading kisses for luck to whomever, the story turned out rather chaste with very few kisses involved. Remy's comforts are baking and music, and there is a very cute playlist at the end of the book. The focus is on Remy's internal struggles, both with her sense of guilt, although the other party was even more to blame, since he was leading her on, and with status as a social pariah because of the incident. There is more family dynamics, especially between the sisters, than romance, so adjust your expectations in advance. All in all, a pretty solid read. 

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Fire for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The intriguing premise of a family where during the girls' 16th year they give luck to everyone they kiss, pulled me in from the start. Poor Remy. She tried to start her kissing season off with a bang, and ended up with a dud. In comes new boy, Tobin, but will Remy be able to fix her mistake before she misses out on this chance for true love? Very fun YA  romance with a hint of magic. Gotta love the family dynamic in the novel as well.

I will not be reviewing this title, as significant time has elapsed since I received the ARC and/or I was unable to finish it.

I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher via NetGalley. This in no way impacted on my view.

Remy Holloway has always known that she would have a kissing season, the year of her 16th birthday. Ever Holloway girl before her has had one, and a kiss during the season would bring luck to anyone she kisses. All Remy wanted though, on the night of her season's beginning, is for her crush to see her, and want to be with her. But rules were broken, and when Isaac is injured, and seems to be cursed, the whole town want nothing to do with her - except from the new neighbours, Juliet and Tobin. Will Remy be able to come to terms with what has happened during her season, and discover the true history of her family?

This book was not what I was expecting - in both a good, and a bad way. I was expecting there to be more family and magic, rather than a CW style teen drama, but there were parts I enjoyed nonetheless. Remy was an alright main character, someone who could be a little annoying at times, but she's a teenage girl, dealing with a lot, so she's allowed to be a little messy. She changes in character quite a bit, going from a little too boy obsessed - or Isaac obsessed - at the beginning, to someone slightly more comfortable in herself towards the end. I liked the dynamic between her and Tobin, especially how they became friends first, without forcing a relationship too quickly, and both of them came to terms with issues they had. One person I didn't really like, and I was surprised by it, from the synopsis, was Remy's sister, Maggie. She's just finished her kissing season, and was very pushy, and too much for Remy, or my liking. She wouldn't listen to her sister, though claimed to be helping her, and really got on my wick the longer I read. All in all, this was an alright book, but nothing I'd shout home about.

THG is a quick, fast paced and all around fun time, the beginning of the book kind of sets the trajectory of where the story is going to go a little too well its easy to guess some major plot points, and while the plot itself does lead itself to insta live I would've like a little more build up between the characters to make it feel more realistic, but all around it is definitely an entertaining read I could recommend again and again

I'm not gonna lie, I totally decided to request this book based on the cover. However, I wasn't disappointed. This was a great little story about the Holloway sisters, Remy and Maggie, whose kisses during their "season" bring good luck and what happens when someone with nefarious intentions kisses one of them and the luck goes wrong. I thought this book was quite inventive. I love books about magic and this one was definitely different. I thought more could have been done though which is why I only gave it three stars.

2.75 Lucky Stars!

So basically, Remy is part of a long line of women that have magical kisses. Each woman in the family has her “season” in which all her kisses become lucky for the recipients. With great power comes great responsibility, which Remy disregards, kissing her crush, knowing it is against the rules.

Now her crush and her season are cursed until further notice. Adamant about not kissing anyone else, Remy tries to figure out how to undo the bad luck. Too bad the new kid in town is just her type and smitten on site.

This concept was interesting and had a lot of potential. Unfortunately, I feel it was underutilized, in favor of focusing on Remy’s angst and inner turmoil. The focus would’ve been better on the history of the magic kisses, the incidents in town, the breakdowns in Remy’s relationships (in detail, not the constant “I’m just going to be mad and not doing anything about it” vibe that was happening). I feel like this was supposed to be light, but it was pretty moody?

Toward the last quarter of the book, I felt like I was reading different versions of the same sentences over and over again and it really dragged. There was a lot of Remy’s thoughts and feelings, but not enough actually happening. Which made her character come off as whiny and melodramatic. 

Now to the good, again, great concept! The setting was well done, lots of good visuals given. The neighbor kids were a highlight for sure, well developed and a comedic relief. Good level of snark and sarcasm. The build-up of Remy’s relationship with Tobin was well paced and felt authentic. 

Overall this was good, I just wish their was more kissing and less brooding.
Keep in mind this is an ARC and this will not be published for few months, so changes could be made.

Check it out, when it hits shelves, 6/7/22!
A big thanks to the Publisher & NetGalley for gifting me a digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This was a cute story with solid writing and character development, but I am not the target audience. At first I thought the premise was cute, but the more I read the story the more disturbed I became at the idea of a sixteen year old girl kissing random people for an entire year, and being encouraged by everyone (including her parents) to do so. I have a sixteen year old daughter and no way would this be a realistic thing. Nope. Not even close. The concept of the “kissing season”, kissing people to spread good luck, was just too bizarre for me to wrap my head around. I could maybe get behind it more if the MC was older and not a teenage girl. That being said, I do think that younger readers would really like the story because of the magical realism throughout. I liked the characters for the most part, especially Tobin and Juliet, who were great characters. I was not a fan of Remy’s sister Maggie. In my opinion, Maggie was very selfish and self-centered throughout the majority of the book. She didn’t listen to Remy’s concerns and was trying to manipulate the situation behind her back. I felt that Maggie was the one who owed Remy a huge apology. The girls did end up making up but I don’t feel that Maggie really owned up to her part of the problem. Also the parents are kind of clueless which as a parent of teens I find disappointing. They were sweet, loving parents, but they didn't really "listen" to their daughter during her struggles. I did like the character growth of Remy who becomes more confident in the person she is. Overall a cute story for younger readers and lots of goodies being baked. I have a serious craving for Whoopie Pies now! Thank you to NetGalley, Sourcebook Fire, and author Susan Bishop Crispell for an advanced copy of the Holloway Girls! All opinions are my own and do not reflect those of any brands I represent.

During the kissing season if a Holloway girl kisses someone it will bring them good luck. There are rules to be followed though. Remy's first kiss of her season ends in disaster and she is certain that her season is cursed. I loved the concept of this book and I have read other books by this author and loved them. This, however, is not my favorite book of hers.
I liked the sisters in the story Remy and Maggie and I also liked that their family had a baked goods food truck. Remy loves to bake and she uses baking when she is upset to make the most delicious creations. I would've loved to read more about this. The majority of the book centers around Remy feeling horrible about her kissing season and trying to right the wrong she has done. She pushes everyone away with both hands and is very hard on herself. It just makes the book kind of a downer and it drags on.
Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for a copy of this book for review.