Book Review: Payback's a Witch by Lana Harper

⋆⋆⋆½

Thistle Grove is full of magic. Emmy Harlow is a born and raised Thistle Grove witch, but she hasn't lived there for years, mostly because of a catastrophic breakup with Gareth Blackmoore, a member of the most powerful family in town. But when the time for a traditional magical Gauntlet arrives, Emmy can put it off no longer: as the only heir of the Harlow family, she must return to fulfill her duty. Once Emmy's back in town, she unexpectedly meets up with the beautiful, dark Talia Avramov, who wants to strike a deal -- help her to win against Gareth, who has damaged Talia's pride. What Emmy doesn't expect is to begin falling for the charming, wicked Talia...

Having an avowed interest in witches and stories featuring main couples in which both happen to be women, I knew that I had to read Payback's a Witch. There's something really delightful about this book, with its quirky set of characters and atmospheric town in which it always feels as if it's Halloween. I was pleasantly surprised by my enjoyment of this story (as I'm usually not the biggest fan of romcoms), and I think that Harper has created both a very interesting world and a very comforting one!

Her writing is absolutely beautiful; having never read any of her other works, I wasn't certain what to expect. It's a first person point-of-view, which I sometimes find to be lacking in lyricism and beautiful prose, but I was thrilled to find that the descriptions were not only vivid, but also simply gorgeous. She has a way with words that you don't necessarily find often, even amongst the most highly-regarded authors, that leaves you wanting to read more in the hopes that some of her talent might rub off on you, too!

There are a few reasons, however, why this wasn't quite a five-star read for me, mostly having to do with character depth and too-convenient loopholes. I never quite connected fully with Emmy, who struck me as being rather selfish and childish, and although there's great development towards the end, it wasn't always easy to like her. To be perfectly honest, she was almost bland, especially in contrast with the rather mischievous and charming Talia. I could read an entire book just about Talia and her family; they are so interesting, and so wonderfully eccentric, that Emmy paled in comparison. There isn't much I can say about this without spoiling the ending, but I will say that it was disappointing that Emmy couldn't realize her own self-worth and merit without there being some outside factors which conveniently made all her insecurities suddenly unfounded. 

Also: the whole thing with Gareth felt slightly pathetic. I kept expecting a big reveal to show what exactly Gareth had done to earn Emmy's ire and vengeance, but he struck me as nothing more than a slightly clueless dudebro who I couldn't even bring myself to really rail against.

That being said, there's so many great things here that it feels unfair to focus only on the more negative aspects. Linden was especially intriguing to me, with her sweetness that felt gentle without being totally passive, and I'm so hoping that she'll get her own book, too! I also loved Emmy's cousin, Delilah, and the interactions between our main group of characters was tender, funny and sweet. The Gauntlet section of the plot was interesting, and I sometimes wished there was more focus and emphasis put on it, as it occasionally fell in the background. The solution and conclusion to the Gauntlet was one of my main issues with this book. Putting it succinctly: it was just too perfect and too convenient. 

However, I greatly enjoyed the feeling of lightheartedness that this book perfectly cultivates, even amongst its darker moments. Cute, fun, and worth the ride if you love witches, wlw relationships, and witty dialogue!