#sweet and bitter magic

[mysticallilac]

i feel like i should just go and make a discord server for all those fantasy wlw books whose fandoms aren't big enough for a server on there own

so... if there's anyone interested in helping me moderate it-

edit: here's the link!

https://discord.com/invite/pYV6MRCKh7

[sapphic-book-tournament]

So, based on your votes, coming up next is our Sapphic Enemies to Lovers tournament! Tell me which books you would like to see on the bracket!

[bookishlyvintage]

Picnic Stack (fantasy edition)

Where we are: the House in the Cerulean Sea

When is the picnic: Tonight

Who are we with: Belladonna (and her eclectic companion she calls Death)

What's in the Sandwiches: Sweet & Bitter Magic (leave it to Witches to be vague)

What's the weather: Wild

What are we listening to: The Sunbearer Trials (and here I thought this was a date)

[thereadingchallengechallenge]

JOMP BPC - May 20th - Caused an All-Nighter

staying up late to read Sweet and Bitter Magic by Adrienne Tooley while on a busy road-trip holiday was not the wisest decision I’ve ever made but it was so worth it to see how this brilliant standalone fantasy ended

[melanielocke]

Book recommendations: witches

Everyone loves witches, right? They're certainly one of my favorites and somehow keep showing up in most of the books I write. So I picked out a couple of witch books that I loved and will tell you a little more about them.

I'm starting with These Witches Don't Burn and This Coven Won't Break by Isabel Sterling

This is a complete duology set in modern day Salem, following Hannah, an elemental witch, with as you guessed, power over the elements. She has to keep her magic a secret from everyone non magical, including her best friend Gemma. When Hannah starts discovering signs of dark magic in her town, she suspects a blood witch, but her coven doesn't believe her, so she's forced to team up with her ex girlfriend Veronica, another elemental, to figure out who's responsible.

This book is really the kind that balances contemporary teen life and romance with magic and action, and you do have to like that, but generally the book is fast paced and easy to get through. There's a romance built up inbetween the action between Hannah and a new girl in town called Morgan, and a lot of tension comes from the old fashioned YA magic girl who has to keep her powers secret from best friends and potential girlfriends.

Other books from this author: The Coldest Touch, which is a sapphic vampire book

Next I'll talk about Labyrinth Lost by Zoraida Cordova, which is first in a complete series but the books are more companions than direct sequels. I realize now that I never actually bought or read the third book, so maybe I'll put that on my wishlist.

The series is about a latine family of brujas, which each book focusing on a different sister and the first one follows Alex. Alex is an Encantrix, the most powerful bruja in her generation, but she struggles to control her magic and would much rather be rid of it. On her Deathday celebration she tries a spell to get rid of it, but instead she accidently makes her family disappear. To get them back, she has to travel to Los Lagos, a mysterious alternate world she has to traverse to find them. She has the help of Nova, a brujo she doesn't trust, and her best friend Rishi.

There's somewhat of (bisexual) love triangle, but Alex makes a pretty clear choice pretty soon so it's not dragged out or in the way of the story.

The second book is about the oldest sister Lula, whose boyfriend dies and she tries to use her healing power to bring him back, only to accidently start a zombie apocalypse. It's been a while since I read these books so I don't remember it well but I loved the first one in particular.

Cemetery Boys is the first novel by Aiden Thomas (I have talked about his newest book the Sunbearer Trials before, which is also amazing)

Cemetery Boys is a contemporary fantasy set in California, where a local latine community has magic powers. Their magic is gendered, and while it does mention the potential of non binary witches, this is not further explore. Brujas have the power to heal while brujos have power over the dead. Yadriel is a trans boy, and while his family seems to accept that he's trans, they don't accept him as a brujo and won't let him prove himself. So he decides to do the ritual himself to prove he is a brujo, and he ends up accidently summoning Julian Diaz, a boy from his school who was recently murdered, and Julian wants nothing more than to find out what happened to him. Yadriel decides to help him, but the longer Julian spends around him, the more Yadriel doesn't want him to leave.

This book has a lot of mystery and intrigue, with Yadriel and Julian following clues to figure out what happened to him, but there's also a lot of relationship building. I also really liked the inclusion of Maritza, Yadriel's best friend and another bruja. Her bruja powers require animal blood to work, but she's vegan and therefore doesn't use her powers, which I think was an interesting choice.

Sweet and Bitter Magic is the first book by Adrienne Tooley

Tamsin is the most powerful witch of her generation, but after committing a terrible magical sin she's exiled from the coven and cursed so she can't feel love. The only way to get the ability back temporarily is by taking love from others. She lives in a village in the human lands where she sells her magic abilities in exchange for people's love.

Wren is a source, a much rarer being than a witch. She's made of magic but can't use it herself. Instead, she can see magic and allow a witch to take power from her. Wren has hidden this ability all her life, because she would be taken away to train with the Coven and she has to take care of her sick father.

When a plague ravages the land, caused by a witch using dark magic somewhere, Wren's father becomes one of its victims, and Wren makes a deal with Tamsin to save her father in exchange for her love for her father. Together, they'll set off on a journey to find out what caused the plague and put an end to it.

This is a very character driven book, with a lot of emphasis on Tamsin's past and what caused her to be exiled and cursed. It's also good to remember that in the story Tamsin is still a teenager, meaning she was twelve or so when she was exiled and cursed. Meanwhile, Wren has always put her father before anyone else, including herself, and has to learn to stop letting her life revolve around him. This is a sapphic book, with the main relationship between Tamsin and Wren, and I guess you could classify it as enemies to lovers? Or at the very least, dislike each other to lovers.

The last book on this list is Sofi and the Bone Song, Adrienne Tooley's second book

Like Sweet and Bitter Magic, this is a stand alone, and while there are also witches in here, this book is in the first place about music, and takes on and challenges the idea that suffering creates the best art.

In the land of Aell, winter is eternal and magic is easily available through paper spells made by witches that can be bought. Music is the last artform that has been untouched by this magic, and to ensure it stays this way there are only five Musiks, each playing a different instrument, who are allowed to compose and perform music. Other people can learn to play from these Musiks, but only as amateurs. Sofi is the daughter of one of the Musiks, and she wants nothing more than to become his successor. She's been practicing music all her life and has quite a brutal routine for herself to ensure she is the best, a routine that her father taught her.

On the day of the auditions for her father's successor, Sofi meets unexpected competition. Lara has never played the lute before, all her musical experience is with singing, but somehow she plays so well that the judges choose her over Sofi.

When her father dies on the same day, Lara immediately inherits the Musik title and has to go on a tour through the kingdom to play her own music, something she has no experience with whatsoever. Sofi doesn't believe Lara's talent is genuine, after all, who plays the lute perfectly when they've never played before? She offers to help Lara with the intent of finding proof Lara used illegal magic to enhance her performance, so she can win the Musik title back.

But the more time Sofi spends around Lara, the more she starts to question what she knew about her family, her practice routine, and if her father was truly as great as she thought he was.

Sofi can be described as an unlikeable main character, especially at first. She only really cares about becoming Musik at first, and offers to help Lara with the idea of exposing her, but despite that I found her easy to root for and I loved seeing her grow and challenging the ideas she was brought up with. I think this is a very underrated book and I hope more people buy it

Next up by Adrienne Tooley is the Third Daughter, a first book in a duology

@alastaircarstairsdefenselawyer @life-through-the-eyes-of @astriefer @justanormaldemon @ipromiseiwillwrite @a-dream-dirty-and-bruised @amchara @all-for-the-fanfiction @imsoftforthomastair @ddepressedbookworm @queenlilith43 @wagner-fell @cant-think-of-anything @laylax13s @tessherongraystairs @boredfangirl16 @artist-in-soul @bottomdelioncourt @ikissedsmithparker

[dykes-on-books]

What is up, bookworms! Chapter Two of Dykes on Books is now live on most major platforms, give it a listen and shout out what you think of it! Enjoy!

[caffeinated-bibliophile]

Ooh I'm having thoughts about Sweet & Bitter Magic but I can't focus enough to get them out of my brain right now (and I'm only about 100 pages/30% in).

[ofdinosanddais1]

Well I just finished Sweet and Bitter Magic and I loved it. Satisfied my desire for a sapphic enemies to lovers.

[books-to-add-to-your-tbr]

Title: Sweet & Bitter Magic

Author: Adrienne Tooley

Series or standalone: standalone

Publication year: 2021

Genres: fiction, fantasy, LGBT+, romance

Blurb: Tamsin is the most powerful witch of her generation...but after committing the worst magical sin, she’s exiled by the ruling Coven and cursed with the inability to love. The only way she can get those feelings back - even for just a little while - is to steal love from others. Wren is a source - a rare kind of person who is made of magic, despite being unable to use it herself. Sources are required to train with the Coven as soon as they discover their abilities, but Wren - the only caretaker to her ailing father - has spent her life hiding her secret. When a magical plague ravages the queendom, Wren’s father falls victim. To save him, Wren proposes a bargain: if Tamsin will help her catch the dark witch responsible for creating the plague, then Wren will give Tamsin her love for her father. Of course, love bargains are a tricky thing, and these two have a long, perilous journey ahead of them...that is, if they don’t kill each other first.

[evangelineartemiasamos]

Huh, I really put my heart into this review

[fangirlforthewin]

LGTBQ+ Protagonist Book Recommendations

Mostly young adult, but they're still good and highly recommended. These are all mostly fantasy because that's all I read, so I hope you like fairies, and prince/princesses, and pirates!

Please feel to add your favorite recs to the list!

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

Carry On by Rainbow Rowell

Captive Prince by C.S Pacat

Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao

Sweet & Bitter Magic by Adriene Tooley

Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan

Huntress by Malinda Lo

Of Fire and Stars by Audrey Colthurst

Breaking Legacies by Zoe Reed

A Song of Silver and Gold by Melissa Karibian

[sapphic-book-tournament]

Here we are! The bracket for the Sapphic Fantasy Book Tournament! Polls will start going up Tomorrow!

Edit: I see the spelling errors now, they’ll be fixed next round.

[givemeabreakimbig28]

bitter sweet is really gonna be reuniting the whole My Engineer cast im so excited

[between-the-pages657]

I thought this book was an enemies-to-lovers trope, but it’s more like grumpy/sunshine.

[dykes-on-books]

What is up! We just finished recording our next episode here, covering Sweet and Bitter Magic! The episode drops the 27th, but if you can't wait give us a follow here and on Patreon so you don't miss any bonuses! If you haven't given it a listen, our 1st episode is on most major podcast apps!🌈📚

Let us know what you think, and spread the word! This podcast is a silly passion project, but I hope that people will enjoy hearing us ramble about queer themes!

[skittytales]

“Her cloak flaring out behind her like a cape” girl what does that mean.