I have been wondering what exactly new adult is, so I figure I would pick up something that I think is supposed to be classified as new adult. And yes, I did forget that all new adult is romance. Sigh.
The book follow Emmy as she returns home after being away and having a whole new life in Chicago. Upon her return, her magic returns and she takes her place as the next in the Harlow line, one of the four lines of founding witch families for their town. But when she returns, we learn that her and two of the other families have had bad relationships and rough break ups with a guy from the fourth. And the three of the four families are about to compete to claim the mantle of whose family gets the power and prosperity in town, with Emmy being the impartial arbiter of it all.
The romance is, thankfully for me, not too intrusive and can be skimmed. Emmy has other traits and an arc outside of being in a relationship where she is trying to figure out if leaving the small town she loved to escape the trappings of her family name which she hated is really worth the city life she has built for herself. While they really try to make the romance a pivotal deciding factor in it, it really did feel more like it was a choice that was made for herself and the relationship was a bonus. I appreciate that.
I don’t think this is actually new adult, though. At one point they broke down everything Emmy had done since leaving and she’s close to 30.1 The writing, the voice, and the choices the characters made make me think they are all in their early twenties at most. And no one has weddings or kids? You’re all conspiring to get revenge on the guy who wronged you—and one of them was wronged nearly a decade ago! These characters feel way too young.
There was a sex scene, though, so I guess it might have been new adult.
Anyway, it was overall an enjoyable read. It reads better if you imagine they are all in their early twenties and still have the energy to spend on the premise, though. Or maybe that’s just what romance is like.
- Early on they also mention that it’s been 9 years since high school, but I seem to have glazed over that part. [↩]