Lia reviewed Payback's a Witch by Lana Harper
Despite the charming setting and theme of family love, the romance, villains, and resolution disappointed me.
2 stars
The focus of the story is on three families' heirs competing in magic skill-testing for honor and glory, with a fourth house nerd serving as the referee. I’ve already forgotten the name of the competition, so let’s call it the Tri-Witch Tournament. Each family vies for the title and prize of a huge ruler in their town. Contestants must take on magical challenges to prove their worth. In the end, only one family will win.
The author attempts too many things in this book. An unrealistic fantasy with a flimsy plot straight out of Harry Potter; and a sapphic love story that focuses too much on mediocre men. Harper’s first adult novel shows both a struggle with tone and character development. Emmy appears very unsympathetic: she’s childish, selfish, and petty that no real woman would. If this plot was set in high school, it might be fun, but I can’t …
The focus of the story is on three families' heirs competing in magic skill-testing for honor and glory, with a fourth house nerd serving as the referee. I’ve already forgotten the name of the competition, so let’s call it the Tri-Witch Tournament. Each family vies for the title and prize of a huge ruler in their town. Contestants must take on magical challenges to prove their worth. In the end, only one family will win.
The author attempts too many things in this book. An unrealistic fantasy with a flimsy plot straight out of Harry Potter; and a sapphic love story that focuses too much on mediocre men. Harper’s first adult novel shows both a struggle with tone and character development. Emmy appears very unsympathetic: she’s childish, selfish, and petty that no real woman would. If this plot was set in high school, it might be fun, but I can’t believe three grown adults would waste their time plotting revenge on a guy whose worst sin was being a mildly shitty boyfriend.
I also found the dialogue to be very YA, and I didn’t find it to be a good thing. The constant use of social media slang and forced banter between characters made me cringe. I don't like it when authors use hashtags and internet acronyms in their writing, especially when they swear a lot to make up for the immature language.
Despite the charming setting and theme of family love, the romance, villains, and resolution disappointed me.