What a great read! I love Laura Thalissa's books and this one was no different. Such a different take on her usual style of writing. The Cliffhanger was crazy and I'm anxious for the next book because I did not expect THAT! I honestly wonder how we move on from this point or if redemption is the theme of the next book. We'll See!

I liked the Bargainer series from Laura Thalassa but did not really like the Four Horseman series, so I did not really know what to expect from this book. This said this book has a lot in common with the Bargainer series. The magic world is very similar, it is a contemporary world where magic creatures like witches and werewolves live. We still have the concept of soul mates and of a love that goes beyond death and years. However, I honestly think that in this book the love between the two main characters was not something that I enjoyed or cheered for and, since it was the main focus of the book, it did not allow me to be invested. The male character seems only a giant asshole and, even if there is space for him to learn and improve in the next books, I could not go past my impression.

In summary, if you loved the Bargainer series, you will probably enjoy this book as well. If you do not know Laura Thalassa writing, this book could be for you if you enjoy spicy fantasy romance with soul mates. Be aware that this is NOT standalone.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bloom Books for the opportunity to read this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

As soon as I saw this book was written by Laura Thalassa, I knew I had to have it. I actually screamed when I found out I got the ARC because I absolutely loved The Bargainer series. I enjoyed The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse as well, but The Bargainer had a love that pulled me in and kept me engaged all throughout the series. I figured Bewitched would be the same.

Selene is a young witch who is pretty unique among her kind. She loses memories every time she uses her magic. It's such a detriment that the Henbane Coven of witches, a group she desperately wants to join, is hesitant to let her do so. Her magic causes her harm, so much so that Selene has resorted to keeping notebooks detailing all the things she needs to remember about her life. Henbane tells her that if she finds her familiar and goes on a magical quest, she'll be able to join. Finding your familiar is no small feat and in fact, she's always learned that your familiar finds you. Nevertheless, Selene sets out to travel to South America and see what she can do. As she does, she feels a tug on her magic and someone calling her empress while she's on the plane. Magic pulls her down, literally, and she's off in the Amazon. Suddenly, her familiar finds her and that mysterious voice guides her to a tomb. Selene opens it and every single thing in her life changes from there. What has she released upon the world?

This didn't hook me the way Laura's other two books did, but the end made me super curious what's going to happen next. I have a gut feeling that book two is going to be way better than book one, which may have just been setting the stage for a pretty epic story.

It's past midnight on a...now it's Tuesday, and I have fucked my day tomorrow. Completely and thoroughly fucked. This book is like if The Mummy Returns did the do with Harry Potter (we don't support terfs but I'm tired and can't think of another analogy), with just a dash of Memento to spice it up. And it WORKS.

I went in fully blind because that's my brand of chaos, so imagine my delighted surprise when my latest stress and sleep-deprivation-induced slump faded away thanks to a very natural writing style and a heroine that I truly enjoyed. Her flaws only make her stronger, and while it could feel gimmicky, I think that her reactions were so relatable that I just completely accepted it.

Nobody mind me, I'll just be haunting Laura Thalassa's social media for word on book two. I've had The Bargainer and Four Horsemen on my tbr for entirely too long, so hopefully they can tide me over. And hopefully she writes quickly.

Seriously, just read it.

I have read books by this author before and I’m so glad that I read this one. There is romance, spice, mystery and murder. I loved the aspect of reincarnation and soul mates that transcend time. Memnon was not my favorite love interest. He just kind of seemed like an asshole. Hopefully he will get better in the next books in the series. I want to know more about Kane the werewolf and also the werewolves in this world in general. This book does end with a cliffhanger unfortunately so I will be waiting anxiously for the next book to come out,.

Thank You NetGalley, SourceBooks,and Laura for allowing me to to read the ebook ARC!

OMG! This book has me shook! Laura does it again! I could not put this down. Im so excited to see where this series takes us in the future!

5☆ ● 3🌶
●Slow-Burn
●Mystery
●Unique Magic
●Protective/Pocessive Love
●Soul Mates

I’ve previously read and really enjoyed Laura Thalassa’s Bargainer series, so I was excited to check out her newest work.

I love an unreliable narrator, and having our protagonist suffer memory loss as the cost of her magic was a really interesting concept. The cliffhanger ending had me wondering what would happen in the next book.

That said, most of Bewitched didn’t really grab me. The world felt underdeveloped; there was a contemporary setting, but I didn’t understand the boundaries of the magical world within that setting. I didn’t find the romance believable. We were repeatedly told that one character felt a great deal of inner turmoil and conflict in their feelings toward another character, but I didn’t see it. It merely took a touch or a glimpse of skin to break down their resolve.

As I said before, I’ve enjoyed Laura Thalassa’s other work, so I’ll still look for her future releases. This just wasn’t for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bloom Books for the opportunity to read this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

This is the 1st book of Bewitched series, I always love Laura Thalassa writing style and this book is sooo good!!! Selene try to get into Henbane Coven because of her memory lost she got reject from previous attempt. This time she insist to get acceptance and then The coven get her two quest. If Selena finish this quest she will get accept into Henbane Coven. This quest bringing Selena discover Memnon and uncover the problem of her memory lost also another secret who she is really.

Beginning of the book, i already feel live among the witch. The detail!! I wonder why Selene insist to get into Henbane maybe the coven have answer about Memnon? Cure or anything? I really jealous of the love between Memnon and Selene, the bond between them so strong and they able to comunicate through mind.

"...Whatever you want, you shall have. I am yours forever."

Give me next book!!! OMG!!!

Thank you to NetGalley for provide this book, it is pleasure to review this book.

#Bewitched #LauraThalassa #Sourcebooks #BloomBooks #NetGalley #ARC

I am very thankful to have been given an eARC copy and my review will be 100% honest

I seriously couldn’t put this book down, reading practically start to finish in one day. Her price for magic being her memories was unique and well done, it did get a bit hectic towards the end, but so was her magic use.

The positives. I LOVE SELENE! I resonate with her so much, the way she thinks is so similar to mine it’s crazy. I highlighted so many quotes of things that I say in real life. The “Wham, bam, thank you ma’am” and the whole “high-five drunk Selene…but also, what the fuck, drunk Selene” This is one of the most realistic characters I’ve read in recent modern fantasy, and I will always keep her in my heart as a character that I relate with so much.

I also would loooove to see how Nero would react to catnip, idk if it works on big cats but I feel like it would be very funny. I feel like the binding they tried to do to Cara (i hope thats right) and Kasey being like lowkey evil af was brushed off, just kinda like "Oh yeah I have not seen her in days, it would be awkward to run into her" like why didn't you go to the magic police? Maybe since she was scared of being suspected even more, but that was not brought up

I was not a fan of the ending, I think having Memnon be the bad guy is just kinda obvious in a not fun way, would have loved for there to be a better enemy then him. I think her plan for revenge to be like “I’m gonna dress up hot and dance with some guys to get back at him for burning all my memories” was so shallow, I felt like the burning of the journals didn’t affect her emotionally as much as they should have.

Some nitpicky things I didn't enjoy was the tiktok lingo. “It’s my toxic trait not to give up” and “I'll manifest the shit out of this” will date this book. If anyone reads this book a year after publication, it’ll make the book feel older and some might find it cringe. Pop culture is usually a risk to have in books due to this. Also, he uses “what game are you playing” SO MUCH, it’s a bit repetitive. And where did he even get $5000 from?? Hes been asleep for centuries, how does he know how to use a bank app to transfer money??

Also, the use of the figurative language “I go through them like potato chips” in reference to her memory journals is a little weird to me. Like what does that even mean? Does she like potato chips and constantly consumes her journals? Also the magic is colors, and it states that “no two hues are exactly alike” which is difficult to imagine because with how many people have magic, its hard to believe that each color is unique enough to not look like others. Two hues can be different but look alike.

I rated this 4.5 stars :)

This was a really good book! I've been loving books about witches lately, so I had a feeling I was going to enjoy this, but I didn't think I would like it this much. I wasn't a fan of Rhapsodic, one of Laura Thalassa's other books, so I was a liiiiittle bit wary about this, so I was definitely pleasantly surprised!

To start off, I thought the fact that the characters have a very extensive backstory together was a really interesting idea for a story. I haven't read a ton of books like this, and I really liked it! Selene was a pretty good protagonist, and I liked the casual narrator voice (it felt a lot like talking to someone when we were in her head, rather than reading a book). Selene's magic (and memory) were interesting as well, and I thought that the magic system and the rhymes for spells were really well done (rhyming is definitely a talent I don't have, so I had a great time reading all of those little. spells lol). On to Memnon - he was definitely there. I can't say I loooooved him (in fact he was a bit of an AH for like, half of the book), but he wasn't the worst. Overall, he was mid, but I'm sure after THAT ending things will get so much better in the next book (and considering where we are right now, the next one is set up to be fabulous, I can't wait for it)!

The plot was super fast-paced, which was great as well! The action picked up right at the beginning of the book (within the first two-three chapters) and it didn't stop after that - I couldn't put it down! Overall, I would definitely recommend this book, even if you didn't like Rhapsodic! If you liked Laura Thalassa's other books, then you'll probably like this one as well :)

Laura Thalassa creates worlds that are so easy to fall in to!

Immediately we meet Selene, a witch who can't use her magic because it eats her memories. Imagine being a witch and not being able to practice as much as you want because it makes you forget things! Selene gets super drunk one night and buys a plane ticket to the Galapagos Islands. She crash lands and follows her magic to not only find her familiar, but a man in a sarcophagus! Obviously she wakes him and then absolute chaos ensues.

Laura edged us through this entire book and we were not mad about it. Memnon might be bad but he is hot bad, that's for sure! We can't wait for this release and the follow up to see what comes next!

Thank you to NetGalley for providing us with an ARC in exchange for honest review.

3.5 stars. I love reincarnation stories but the execution usually falls flat in books. Bewitched took me by surprise, it’s the best execution of the reincarnation trope I’ve seen so far! The key to it was probably Selene losing her memories every time she used her magic and Memnon saying from the very start that he thinks she’s his wife who cursed him. Instead of the usual confusion of mixing past and present memories, the confusion in this was Selene couldn’t hold any memories, it hit that sweet spot of knowing as a reader you’re missing memories but instead of it hindering the story it makes you want to know more. I absolutely loved reading how Selene organized herself so that she could keep living her life with her memory loss. She’s a very easy to love character.

An issue I had with this book was Selene basically has meaningful interactions with Memnon and Nero, however her memory loss compensated for that since she could have been having other interactions, her memory just didn’t retain them. However, this issue will be harder to explain away as the series goes on so I hope her relationship with other people in her life get fleshed out. I love her relationship with Nero, it really gave me life. He was such a protective familiar and a drama queen. Memnon was absolutely unhinged, but we got just enough context that it didn’t off put me. It just made him more intriguing.

Bewitched is definitely an introduction book and the rest of the series has a lot of ground to cover but I’m excited to see where it goes!

Thank you to SOURCEBOOKS Bloom Books and Netgalley for the eARC.

While I was thrilled to be starting a new series by Laura Thalassa, there are a few things that don't ring true in this first installment for me. But let's start with the positive!

Memon the cursed. Yes, this hero has many of the staple aspects of this author's heroes that I love. Possessive, bossy, powerful, yet he can't help but be drawn to Selene. I liked him right from the beginning, even if he does almost take down a whole plane of innocent people! Who cares, right?

Also, Nero.. I won't say who he is, but I did a little happy dance when this epic character was introduced. He made my heart very happy. He did seem to disappear and reappear whenever it was convenient and I'm not sure how he completely lives up to his job description, but I digress. He was awesome.

The cost of magic. This one kind of sits on both sides of the line, but I am a huge believer that magic should have a cost and the way this world seems to account for that seems pretty cool!

Okay, now some things that irked me...

I believe this is supposed to be a trilogy and this first installment suffers greatly for it, in my opinion. Revelations and information that we receive are so painfully drawn as to be super obvious by the time we get to it. Case in point, one of the main reveals at the end... I guessed as soon as the aspect was introduced and it was hinted at so HARD throughout the story as to be a a giant red flag waving in our faces by the time our character acknowledges it. (I'm not saying I'm a genius, I'm saying it's that obvious.)

Also, the repetitive nature of the arguments between Memnon and Selene were... frustrating. I don't know if this has to do with Selene's magic "cost" which causes her to forget certain things but... these two have the same argument no less than 7 times.. I was counting by the end. I was pulling my damn hair out.

So... yeah, that's enough rambling.. there were cool aspects: familiar's, magic school, curses... but it was also unfortunate that we found out SO little about what's going on and we have 2 more books to go. I just don't think the pacing did the story a service.

But to wrap this up, I will still continue and I hope the revelations about Memnon and what Selene discovers will be impressive enough to win me over by the end. I am desperate to love some more books by this author.

3.5 stars (rounded up to a 4)
1.5 on the spice scale

Thank you to Bloom Books for a gift of this book. All opinions are my own.

Book Name: Bewitched
Author: Laura Thalassa

ARC

Thank you to SOURCEBOOKS Bloom Books, ****and NetGalley for the ARC of Bewitched the first book in a new series by Laura Thalassa

Stars: 5
Spice 3

First Book in New Series
Set in The Bargainer World

Cliffhanger:
Fast Paced
Plot Centric
Single FMC POV
Urban Fantasy Romance with High Fantasy Elements
Equal parts the Mummy + Practice Magic add Te Darkling from the Grisha series by Leigh Bardugo and Bagheera from the Jungle book

- Topics
- Memories & Legacy
- Identity
- Love Loss & Revenge
- To be loved by the villan
- Tropes
- Over Protective
- Fated Mates
- Lost Love
- Secrets
- Who Hurt You
- Alpha/Primal MMC
- Thoughts.
- SOOO GOOD
- Best modern low (ish) fantasy world written
- So many twists
- Toxic love and fated mates with a villain was so good.
- Can’t wait for book 2
BEST BOOK OF 2023

I was absolutely not ready for that book to be over! What a unique and captivating adventure! My heart ached for Selene and my raced for finding out the truth. This book is full of action, mystery, adventure and heart pounding moments. The mixture of past, present and fleeting memories makes for a entrancing text and I cannot wait to find out what is next!

*** A huge thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advance copy for a fair and honest review ***

This was so good I highly enjoyed it and it kept me extremely entertained. I think that this was a great book!
I just reviewed Bewitched by Laura Thalassa. #NetGalley
[NetGalley URL]

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Bloom Books for the eARC of Bewitched in exchange for my honest review!

This felt a little like The Mummy, Underworld, and Memento wrapped into one book. I found the entire premise to be extremely intriguing. A young witch, Selene, has great magic but it comes with the price of her memories each time she uses it. She awakens a powerful sorcerer who claims to be her husband and it goes off the rails (in the best way) from there.

This book is dark, steamy, and has a really intriguing mystery set up. I found myself continuing on in hopes of understanding everything that was going on, but since it is the first in a series, I will have to deal with the MASSIVE cliffhanger at the end. I’m really excited to see where things go next from here!

I’m definitely going to dive into Thalassa’s backlog now.

When I started this book I was a little leery for the first chapter or so. I was beginning to worry this would be a "high school/ magic school romance" style book. But I kept going and I'm glad I did. the pace picked up and suddenly we have our memory defective witch struggling against a rather bad man set on vengeance who she feels very attracted too for no rhyme or reason to her. He also is attracted to her. And to cause even more problems someone is taking out witches around her covenstead. Of course she keeps getting blamed because she can't remember what sandwich she had yesterday much less wandering into a crime scene. I feel for her because I have an "invisible" disability too and deal with disbelief all the time. Frankly this was a very fun book, great banter, spicy romantic situations and fun. If you like the enemies to lovers style romance with your urban fantasy then this will be your cup of tea. I received a free copy thanks to netgalley and the author and publisher.

I really really really wanted to love this and it started off good, but it slowly went into the ridiculous. I’m so bummed bc I usually love Laura Thalassa’s books

Between 2015 and 2016 Laura Thalassa published a trilogy called Fallen World (The Queen of all that Dies, The Queen of Traitors, The Queen of all that Lives) which I bought and read. It was very well written as she is a very good writer and I enjoyed it. When I started reading Bewitched I was surprised to find that, even though the characters lived in a different world and had different names, the MMC and the FMC were basically the same people as in the previous trilogy. The same character traits, the same type of interaction between them. It was basically the same story recycled into a different time frame and world.
I'm disappointed to see that such a talented writer is not creating new characters and just recycling the same ones over again. I won't bother reading the rest of this series as I feel I already read the basic outline of where it goes.