A Long Time Coming

As an introvert, joining a book club has always seemed like a scary thing. Although I'd be surrounded by people who share one very big interest, meeting new people is not something that comes naturally to me. It is a struggle, but joining a book club is something I'd been toying with the last few years.

Recently a friend of my starting getting back into reading (which I was so happy to hear) and we had discussed several time, starting a book club, just the two of us, but had never gotten around to actually planning anything. Well, 2026 was finally the year where we did something about it.

I was in charge of choosing the books, and my friend would choose where we would meet each month to discuss the book. The plan was set. I spent a lot of time researching books we could read, reading blurbs and choosing a few I already owned to add to the list (but not because they were ones I already owned). I did my best to choose a range of genres and pick books I wouldn't necessarily have chosen to read if I was just reading for my own enjoyment, and also ones I thought my friend would like too especially if they wouldn't ordinarily appeal to me.

February was the first month we met and it has been so great for me finally having someone to discuss books with (especially a close friend) - that is something I've never really gotten to do before. There always seems to be something awkward about someone else asking you what you're reading or if you've read anything good recently. So much, that you instantly forget every book you've ever read and what they were about.

Having the same book to talk about takes that away. Yet, I knew I would forget what the book was about if I didn't write anything down. I'm not a fan of dog-earing pages or highlighting/sticky noting parts of a book (of course, nothing wrong if you do either or both of those things) but it's just not me, so, back in January, I looked to my favourite creating website, Canva. I made some notes pages, printed them on A5 (already hole punched) paper and created a filofax book for myself and my friend (for her as an early birthday present), complete with stickers.

Now, with this blog, I can share what books we read, where we met up and what exactly I thought of each one. So glad for those notes now, otherwise all my reviews would say 'loved it' or 'it was okay' and not much else.

I hope you enjoy looking through the books we read and my thoughts. As always, please let me know your thoughts, if you've read any of them.

February

For our first read, we picked the book together. My friend had been to a new independent bookshop In Bournemouth, that, at the time, had not been open very long and she wanted to take me there. I was not going to say no that, of course. So, we went out and decided it was the perfect chance to find our first read. We read some blurbs, showed each other some possible contenders, but ultimately we landed on the first one because there were two copies of it in the shop. Of course, it was a sign and we took it as such.

So, we left the shop with our very first book club read, Hex Appeal by Kate Johnson. I also may have left with a couple of other books too, but what was a girl to do? You can't leave a bookshop without buying something. Well, I can't.

Our first official book club outing took place at BEAR in Wimborne.

Book Stats

Title: Hex Appeal

Author: Kate Johnson

Rating (in books not stars): 3

Book in three words: funny, mysterious, romantic

Book in one sentence: A funny, slightly quirky, rom-com that follows a romantic, but magical and mystical, relationship with family secrets revealed along the way.

Thoughts

I absolutely loved the romantic comedy element to this book - there were some very funny and definitely romantic moments to the story, but the element that fell a little flat for me was the magic. The main character Essie, lives witches and is a witch herself, but aside from the strange house she lives in, there wasn't as much magic as I was expecting. The second half of the book got better (I won't say why to avoid spoilers) but for me, there wasn't enough magic and mystery for the length of the book.

The blurb states, 'puts Josh firmly under her spell', and with the title of the book, I assumed that there would be some kind of spell involved to make the romance happen, but that was not the case.

However, the romance really did hit it for me and I loved the HEA ending, but I was hoping for more of a cliffhanger ending - the type where it can end there and leaves you to your own theories about what could happen, but also in a way that there could have been a sequel.

Would I Recommend the Book?

Yes! Despite my mixed feelings about the plot and vibe of the book, if you are need of an easy, palette-cleanser type read then this could be the right book.

Would I reread it?

Probably not. Although, I did enjoy aspects of it and it was a nice story, it didn't leave me wanting more from the story or characters, or wanting to relive the 'magic'.

Over to You

Have you read Hex Appeal? What were your thoughts?

***

In the next book club post, I will be discussing the book Ghost Cat by Alex Howard.