ARC Review: Payback’s a Witch

Today’s post is part of a blog blast to celebrate the release of Lana Harper’s John Tucker Must Die inspired fantasy romcom, Payback’s a Witch. Also known as the most perfect read for spooky season. And you can read it right away, there’s no need to wait! But if you’re not quite convinced yet, let us help you with that…

And don’t forget to follow Lana on twitter too!

Emmy Harlow is a witch but not a very powerful one—in part because she hasn’t been home to the magical town of Thistle Grove in years. Her self-imposed exile has a lot to do with a complicated family history and a desire to forge her own way in the world, and only the very tiniest bit to do with Gareth Blackmoore, heir to the most powerful magical family in town and casual breaker of hearts and destroyer of dreams.

But when a spellcasting tournament that her family serves as arbiters for approaches, it turns out the pull of tradition (or the truly impressive parental guilt trip that comes with it) is strong enough to bring Emmy back. She’s determined to do her familial duty; spend some quality time with her best friend, Linden Thorn; and get back to her real life in Chicago.

On her first night home, Emmy runs into Talia Avramov—an all-around badass adept in the darker magical arts—who is fresh off a bad breakup . . . with Gareth Blackmoore. Talia had let herself be charmed, only to discover that Gareth was also seeing Linden—unbeknownst to either of them. And now she and Linden want revenge. Only one question stands: Is Emmy in?

But most concerning of all: Why can’t she stop thinking about the terrifyingly competent, devastatingly gorgeous, wickedly charming Talia Avramov?

Payback’s a Witch

Lana Harper

Goodreads

Rep: bi mc, Russian American bi li
Release: 5th October 2021

Five Reasons to Read This Book

One. It’s a fun take on a John Tucker Must Die retelling. It takes the bare bones of the story and transplants it into a whole new setting. And makes it sapphic. So, in addition to being a fantasy and a romance, it has, occasionally, these kind of vindictively comedic elements.

Two. This ties into the first point, but there’s something so satisfying about seeing a cishet guy get his comeuppance for acting like a complete tool. Call it schadenfreude, but don’t we all love it? Sometimes all you want from a book is to see the good guys get what they ought, and the bad guys (or, in this case, dickhead guys) being very satisfactorily taken down. But not only that, when he is, the main characters promptly forget about him. There’s some kind of catharsis to this book—about unhooking yourself from someone who’s had such power over you for so long.

Three. We mentioned it was sapphic above, but it’s the kind of sapphic that you really feel (if that makes sense). That is, the way Emmy acts with Talia, the flirting, the way she simply describes Talia, all of that jumps off the page. You can, to be somewhat cliched, feel the heat between them. You’re not simply told that they’re attracted to each other, but after each of their interactions you find yourself whispering under your breath “god, that’s gay!”.

Four. You know those Halloween films, the old familiar ones, that you come back to over and over again. Sometimes they’re set in a little spooky town, one that surrounding folk believe is just a town that’s very keen on all things spooky, but in actual fact, those spooky persons are real. That’s what this book feels like. Set in a witchy town, founded by four families of witches, that people flock to for its witchy delights, real or touristy, it evokes those kind of film, to us. You could so easily see this book being turned into one as well, in time.

Five. On top of being a fantasy romance, this book is very much about family bonds. As we noted, the town is founded by four families and each of those families has their own distinct character. But what they all share is a loyalty, to the town and to their own. They’re tightknit, and they have each other’s backs. They don’t always get along, of course—who does?—but at the end of the day, they’re each of them truly a family.

So, have we convinced you that you want to read this book?

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