I learned from Emmeline that blood magic is the most dangerous and potent type of magic, and she technically shouldn’t have been using it, but I didn’t learn about any of the other kinds of magic? I couldn’t really tell what Nathan or Isobel were doing with their magic or how it worked. The pacing went at a snail’s pace as well. Not much happens for the first two-thirds of the book, but things did get exciting near the end. Now I really liked Annie and Emmeline. Bea, unfortunately, took me a while to get on board with. She just really frustrated me for most of the book. It's like she didn't want to deal with the consequences of her decisions and blamed everyone else when things went bad. Eventually she got better but I really liked everyone else way more.

A deep, sensuous exploration of the bonds between three very different, complex women that readers won't soon forget." — Gwenda Bond, New York Times bestselling author tw: domestic violence, child abuse, magic requiring self harm, blood, body horror, violence, murder, gunsMagic is often presented in the society of the novel as a frowned-upon practice, functioning as a smart metaphor for homosexuality. Indeed, Emmeline herself is often portrayed as a mysterious and malevolent force, her predation upon young women playing into age-old, harmful tropes that many will be familiar with. There were a lot of subplots that didn't seem fully fleshed out, and left me feeling unsatisfied come the end. The romance also was not the best. I was expecting some tension and intrigue and just…attraction? I don’t ship couples very much, but I was waiting to start rooting for Emmeline and Annie, and I never got around to doing that. This is historical fantasy, since it takes place after World War 1, and most things felt very true to the period except that magic and witches were prevalent enough that magic was recently banned. This is a longer book, and at times it was a little slow. I personally would have cut out a few chunks, but the author was very successful in building the past and how this little island steeped in magic felt (as if it had a life of its own). Even magic had different tastes and smells to it which was all wonderfully described. The book is very atmospheric and done well. But she never expected her enigmatic new neighbour to be a witch. After witnessing a confrontation between her best friend Bea and the infamous Emmeline Delacroix at one of Emmeline’s extravagantly illicit parties, Annie is drawn into a glittering haunted world. A world where magic can buy what money cannot; a world where the consequence of a forbidden blood bargain might be death.

I was promised something “bloodthirsty and glittering” which wasn’t quite what I received, but it was very close and definitely enjoyable enough to make up for it.The romance left a lot to be desired. I just didn’t ship Annie and Emmeline (I was honestly hoping that Annie and Bea would end up together, even though the endgame pair was obvious from the start of the book). The entire romance plot just felt very heavy-handed, propelled forward by a magic bond that forms between the characters when they first meet, even though there’s no actual chemistry between them. I was mostly in this book for the lesbian historical romance, so the fact that that was the most disappointing aspect of the book is definitely unfortunate. But magic doesn’t interest Annie Mason. Not after it stole her future. She’s on the island only to settle her late father’s estate and, hopefully, reconnect with her long-absent best friend, Beatrice, who fled their dreary lives for a more glamorous one. But I think a lot of that can be contributed to the writing. The story is easy reading and straightforward written with a beautiful language style that really brings a level of magical feelings to the story. I loved the way some things were described bringing a romantic feeling to each phrase. I found myself underlying the beautiful quotes throughout the book and it lends itself well to the way these characters feel.

Emmeline was also such an interesting character. While she comes off as this super strong leader of the group, there's also a lot of vulnerability to her as well. The author talks about how much anger and hatred Emmeline has from her experiences, but I felt like she was also soft and needed someone like Annie to really bring out her true self. As I’ve mentioned the characters were all deeply flawed but so compelling that I adored reading about them. I related a lot to Annie, our main character, who has always felt meek and timid, and been written off for that. Seeing her come into herself in this book was a delight. Emmeline was another interesting character: the definition of morally grey, alluring and with a dark past. I loved the complex relationships between them all too: the sibling bond between the witches of the Delacroix house, the old friendship between Bea and Annie and the new blossoming relationship between Annie and Emmeline. Though I would have liked to see a bit more development on the romance and that’s what stopped this book from getting five stars.

New in Series

I wish there had been more world-building; while the history of the world and such was well established, the magic system felt very ambiguous, and even a little more explanation would have made the plot and stakes clearer and everything make a bit more sense. While I recognize that this was likely part of the atmosphere that the author was attempting to create, I think that this particular category of withheld information was a poor choice on May’s part.

When Annie arrives there, she immediately sees the eponymous, eerie crows --- mythologized to be the ghosts of real witches --- but settles quietly into a remote cabin while she waits for her meeting with her father’s lawyer. However, during her first night there, she learns that her “remote” cabin is next door to the most extravagant mansion on the island: the home of Emmeline Delacroix, Crow Island’s most mysterious and most public witch. Emmeline and her housemates host glittering, luxurious parties every weekend, and all of the island’s wealthiest citizens are always in attendance…at least in part to pay for Emmeline’s gifts of fortune-telling, wish-granting and secret-keeping. And both of these characters together, their romance, their attraction was so palatable throughout the story. I wouldn't say that there were strong romantic elements to the story, but the way they see each other, the way they felt was so prevalent and really engaging. It is incredibly difficult for me to say a bad word about a novel so openly queer and magical, but I must admit that Annie and Bea often fell flat for me. Because of the nature of their separate arrivals on Crow Island, we are given very little information about their pasts, which sometimes made it difficult to relate to or root for them. That said, the luscious scenery and deeply imagined magic system of the book made these only minor complaints, and Emmeline and her housemates more than made up for the staleness of their supporting characters. Simply put, this is a ravishing and unforgettable portrayal of witchcraft --- and even more important, the women who practice it --- that is ultimately more than the sum of its parts: a sapphic, gender-queer GREAT GATSBY with an undercurrent of raw, violent magic. What more could you want? Bea, much like Daisy in Gatsby, is an intentionally frustrating character—one who whines and moans and justifies her horrific decisions because Love. Like Daisy, Bea also takes no action on her own to fix her situation but relies on Annie and Emmeline to enable her and fix her mistakes. Those two, however, make all the wrong choices, and things get worse in a Practical Magic-like fashion, building up to a dark and stormy climax near the end. Annie specifically wasn’t my favorite protagonist. I loved that she started out as this naïve, clueless woman, because it was both realistic and something that I don’t see often, but I think a lot of the plot was devoted to what should have been her “development” that for me just wasn’t there. She was supposed to be growing and sort of waking up to the reality of how things are, and I just got a lot of indecision.The main characters in Annie, Emmeline and Bea were all unlikeable and I wasnt rooting for any of them throughout the book. Each POV chapter, while had a distinct voice just sort of melted into one by the end. An end that JUST WOULDNT COME, even when it was so obvious would could/should have been done to get them out of their self imposed mess. When it comes to the characters, there are three main characters and three important secondary characters. The problem I had is that I found I only cared a little about one character. I’m okay with flawed characters, but their flaws where so played up that I started not to like them. The characters refused to communicate, never wanted to except help, and just always made things worse. They would say nasty things to each other, meant to hurt, and either ‘I’m sorry’ didn’t happen or they did but seemed forced. Can I really root for these characters and even a slow burn sapphic romance when I don’t care for most of them? Which, honestly, was a mood, because I am both of those things. But it didn’t give me a lot of the storyline that I’d been waiting for.