Spells for Forgetting by Adrienne Young

Do you keep in touch with your high school friends?

I live in a different state now, but I keep in touch with my best friend Jenn.  I wish I had more time to keep in touch and actually see more of my high school friends in person.  I’m grateful for social media to at least be able to keep in touch that way.

Spells for Forgetting is my first book by Adrienne Young, but it won’t be my last.  This tale was set on an island off the cost of the state of Washington.  The people on the Island make their living from tourism associated with an orchard owned by the Salt family.  After a devastating fire and the death of a teenage girl, Lily, August Salt and his mother left the island forever in a cloud of suspicion.  Now fourteen years later, August has returned to buy his mother and tie up lose ends.  He once again meets his high school love, Emery.  Emery has stayed on the island and tried to move on.  She can’t forget August and also can’t find out what happened to him.  Now that he has returned, what will Emery do with life?  Who killed Lily all of those years ago and who started the fire?  What other secrets does the town hold?

I loved the atmosphere and setting of this young adult novel.  I also always love a second chance romance novel.  The spells in this title are some slight magic that happens in the novel.  Old spell books are passed down through families on the island.  I would call this a mystery young adult novel with a hint of magical realism.  I guessed some of the ending, but not all of it in this novel.  It’s told from mostly August and Emery’s perspectives with a few other islanders thrown in. The action mostly takes place in the present, but it also flashes back to the past before the fire and death.

Review Copy from Netgalley.  Thank-you! I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.