I loved this book! The mystery/spooky vibes were perfect, and the pacing kept me hooked! I liked the switching from past to present, as it helped with the back story and getting to know the characters better.

With this book, I had some mixed feelings. I read the author's first book and knew this one would probably be dark, and it is. My struggle with this one is the pacing. I liked the suspense in the past chapters but didn't feel as much connection between the characters in the present one. I found the middle to be slow and wished there was something a bit more there. I thought the ending was unique and dark. I like how this author is always original in her storytelling. Overall, it's a book for when you want a dark, mysterious, slow burn.
Bantam eARC

The blurb for this novel had me immediately intrigued, and, I’ve gotta say, I stayed that way until the very end!

The FMC, Liv, travels home to investigate a strange and foreboding note sent to her from her ex best friend, Sam. The two haven’t spoken in 8 years for unrevealed reasons. While home, Liv encounters an alluring, sisterhood-like group of women who have always mystified her. She soon finds herself in the middle of the investigation into Sam’s disappearance, while trying to decipher how this eerie group of women tie into it.

I couldn’t put this book down, because I just needed the answer to the magic that was Eden & Cora. And where was Sam?! It was well-paced, and had multiple twists I didn’t see coming. My only hang-up was the ending left me somewhat disappointed, and I found Liv’s relationship with her fiancé—and her fiancé in general—extremely off-putting. However, I thoroughly enjoyed this read and am looking forward to more from this author!

Big thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group-Ballantine for the gifted ARC!

I wanted to like this book--the cover and the synopsis seemed like I'd be in for a darker (almost gothic) mystery thriller with touches of the fantastical. And while the story did fall into that, the pacing just absolutely killed this book for me. I found myself skimming skimming skimming looking for where the action would start and it would get interesting, but it wasn't until the last 25% where it felt like stuff was actually happening. But at that point I just didn't really care anymore. I will say that I thought the dual timeline was well used in this story and did add to the sense of character and place. Overall, though, this was really not for me but I can definitely see an audience that will enjoy this story.

3.5 stars

I really enjoyed this book, and would have probably rated it higher if the epilogue didn't exist. I feel like it erased the whole book's worth of character development.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced readers copy of UNDER HER SPELL.

This stand-alone dual-timeline novel is perfect for a chilly autumn night read by the fire, wrapped in a cozy blanket. But make sure you keep the lights on when you hit right around the midpoint. There’s witchcraft, murder, mystery, and a question of what’s truly real.

Liv has gone back to her hometown to visit her old high school friend, Sam, after receiving a disturbing note. When she arrives, she soon learns her friend has been missing. On the hunt for clues, Liv becomes entwined with a pair of women who may just have the answers she seeks. With shocking revelations and twisted personalities at their deepest complexities, truly delving into the darkness of human nature, UNDER HER SPELL will have you on the edge of your seat until the last page where even then the story still remains in question to it being over.

Happy publication day!! Beautifully atmospheric and lyrically written, Under Her Spell was a wonderful read for the start of spooky season. Cerra effortlessly wove magic into the plot, making it feel natural and easy to accept. The storyline switched back and forth between present and past without confusion, another skill that many authors lack but Cerra pulled off with ease. I enjoyed the characters, the plot, the setting and the overall aesthetic of the book - my only complaint would be the tempo. The beginning was a bit slow for my liking, but the second half of the book quickly made up for this. One of my favorite ARCs in a very long time!

Under Her Spell by K. L. Cerra is an exciting, well-paced, mysterious fantasy that pulls you from the first page, and keeps you reading till the end.
The suspense and magic here was phenomenal.
I was enthralled with this story right from the start.

When Liv receives a note folded in the shape of heart with the words "I need help" written on it, even though there is no signature she knows it is from her estranged best friend from high school, Sam. Liv returns to their hometown, determined to mend fences, and see what is wrong, only to discover once she gets there, that Sam has been reported missing. Clues suggest foul play. Sam's stepmom says she had become increasingly withdrawn. And now, to top it off, Liv discovers that Sam was living and working with 2 girls from high school, Eden and Cora. The girls were part of a 3 person group in high school who were known to do witchcraft. Now Eden & Cora run a successful wedding boutique & bakery, and Sam designed the jewelry for the customers. It is hard to reconcile the two. When they offer Liv the chance to take over Sam's position, and the career Liv always wanted is within her grasp, it is too hard to say no..... but when things seem too good to be true, they usually are.

This book was part mystery, part horror, part fantasy fiction. The mystery portion - what happened to Sam ? - had a fairly obvious answer from early on, but wasn't confirmed until almost the end of the book. The horror was all of the beetles with the eyes on their backs that would burrow into you. Plus, Eden especially was pretty scary. The fantasy was the fact that Eden & Cora were witches. The storyline lagged at times, and I didn't find Liv especially likeable. Really, I didn't find any of the characters all that likeable, now that I think about it. However, the plot was what drove this book, not the characters, at least for me. Overall,, I give this a solid 4. out of 5.

Under Her Spell by K.L. Cerra
Was a fun atmospheric, slow-burn horror novel reminiscent of Bunny by Mona Awad.

Newly engaged Liv received a cryptic message from her old friend Sam. Sam seems to be in danger, but not having spoken to her in years, Liv is confused as to why Sam would reach out to her. Liv heads to her hometown to check in on Sam, but when she gets there Sam is missing. Liv can’t accept the police’s explanations for Sam’s disappearance, and embroils herself into the investigation that pulls her into a world where magic is very real and very dark.

I was very pleased with the pace of this novel. It slowly descended into madness, with Liv questioning herself throughout, creating tension. There were also some really deep conversations about motherhood and sacrifice that resonated with me deeply. The only thing I wasn’t very thrilled about was the ending, post-action where Liv describes her life eight years later. Overall 4/5 stars!

I loved the premise of this book but just not the execution. The characters all felt unlikeable. I found the build up to the end somewhat enjoyable but once I got to the last 20% of the book it all fell apart. Overall well written just not for me .

Under Her Spell by K.L. Cerra this was a new author for me. For me this was just an OK read, certainly not one I enjoyed immensely. I did not enjoy any of the characters, and the story line was not one that I would want to read again. Having said that I do recommend to others, because I know not everyone enjoys the same writing style.

I received an ARC from NetGalley and Random House Publishing, and I am leaving my review voluntarily.

Synopsis: Liv returns to her hometown to investigate the disappearance of her estranged childhood best friend and instead finds a tangled web of secrets and dark magic.

Thoughts: Under Her Spell is a dark and creepy paranormal thriller. There were a lot of things I liked about this one! I was hooked at the beginning with the premise and atmosphere. The exploration of female friendships and society’s expectations of women was really well done. Alternating timelines gave depth and background to the mystery plot. I do feel like the execution fell a bit flat in the middle of the book - the plot got a little convoluted and lacked a satisfactory ending for me personally. Overall though, if a dark thriller with spooky, witchy vibes with a feminist message for fall sounds intriguing to you, definitely check this one out!

Read this if you like:
🔮 paranormal thrillers
🔮 witchy vibes
🔮 dual timelines
🔮 friendship/sisterhood

Dark, moody, and feminine fatale vibes! I enjoyed the twists and turns. It was a quick and easy read. Perfect for a lazy Sunday afternoon. This was a good book.

I was not a fan of this. The plot was lacking for me. The writing is beautiful. It just wasn't for me.

Under Her Spell is a fast moving thriller laced with dark magic.

The too heavy feminism rooted through some women could be enough to convince them that murder is an acceptable alternative to committing their lives to relationships beyond their own selfish indulgences. Although I can understand where this “feminism” and “sisterhood” was seeded from for Eden, the depth of her hatred for anything beside her own success is cringeworthy. And though Liv had just as much reason to resent losing her sense of self to marriage and sacrifices that may come along with extending her family, she breaks through those dark, intrusive thoughts with one light shining question; “Why can’t we have both?”

What didn’t particularly sit well with me throughout this book was why Liv seemed to be the only person investigating Sam’s disappearance so thoroughly? Why weren’t the detectives more involved? Why were they so accepting of small answers rather than delving deeper into this missing woman’s case? And honestly, why had Sam reached out to Liv in the first place, after a tumultuous high school friendship and not having spoken to Liv in 9 years? A captivating enough story to read in a couple days, but a lot of lose ends overall.

Liv Edwards has a fiancé, an apartment in Boston, and plans to launch a career in law. Her façade falters when her childhood best friend Sam asks for help years after Liv destroyed their friendship. Liv wants to repair the damage and returns to her small New England hometown, but Sam is gone under mysterious circumstances. Sam changed since high school, living and working with former odd girls Eden and Cora. Liv reconnects with them hoping for answers and learns more about their fairytale bridal boutique. A dark reality could be lurking not just in the boutique, but within Liv herself.

We have a dual timeline, between the present and searching for Sam, and the past where Liv and Sam connected after Liv moved to Guilford from Denver. Liv sometimes had intrusive and dangerous thoughts and chalked it up to anxiety along with all her nervous habits. She can't help but ask around trying to figure out what happened to Sam, and at the same time is roped into doing wedding planning at Eden and Cora's boutique. Everyone around her has a bleak outlook on life as a wife and mother, which Liv finds disconcerting. Between the two timelines, we see the way Liv gets so involved in her friendships, and the fascination with Eden and Cora, the witchy sisterhood, and the vows they made to each other. We find out exactly what had happened to Sam years ago and now, and what the Sisterhood actually is. The thriller aspect of the story is bound up in the magic and the threat of marriage, with an epilogue that contains a creepy enough edge to make you think that the story isn't quite over after all. This kept me up late just to finish it, and will definitely entertain those who enjoy a sinister side to magic.

This was the rare one that worked better for me in the front half than the back. I was initially really drawn into the mysterious, slightly magical story at the beginning, but things fell apart a little bit in the back half in terms keeping my attention and feeling like it was a different style of book.

A friend returns to her childhood home to investigate the disappearance of her “friend”. Sam was not a likable character in my opinion because she was portrayed as a manipulative person who was very selfish. I did however, appreciate the conflict in the story, both personal and interpersonally. Liv battling with her perspective of womanhood and what it could mean if she were to marry and have children, and learning about your friends and comparing your personal thoughts with how they really are. I also appreciated the witchy vibes in the story as well.

There were definitely things that I did like about this book, and things that I didn't like. The ending was a bit lacking and disappointing and I disliked the characters. Overall, the characters were just terrible and unlikeable. I did enjoy the dual timelines and thought that it added another layer to the mysteries while exploring the characters past relationship with her friend who had gone missing. The overall pacing was fine, if anything it was a bit slow throughout the main portion of the book, which led to me getting bored a couple of times, but then the pacing picked up towards the end.

Thank you to K.L. Cerra, Random House Publishing - Ballantine, and NetGalley for the eARC of this book.