Annie leads a life of perfection - and that isn't solely down to the enchantment she has cast on herself to appear perfect in the eyes of others. She doesn't get messy nor does she stray from being the woman people assume her to be. With a group of not so friendly women in her life, she fits herself into the mold they expected. However, after an encounter leaves she solely responsible for a teenage witch Maeve, who is coming into her uncontrolled powers, Annie must ask herself whether she wants to be the girl she's fabricated. Throw in Mal, a grumpy houseowner who has is dashingly handsome and a cheeky cat and you have yourself a found family that may be worth sacrificing everything for. 

This had just the right amount of whimsy and charm to warm my Autumn loving heart. I adore Lucy Jane Wood's writing, it is so delicately pretty. (I've been a Lucy fan since she started making Youtube videos eons ago, she was the girl I always went to for fashion and interior advice. I'm beyond proud to be an OG fan. Her love of books always shone through her art, it is beautiful to see someone get the opportunities in life that they deserve.)  I felt calmer with each description of a sugar loaded baked good or a description of a cinnamon spiced aroma. This was all the right vibes. I would argue it is in the same vain as Laurie Gilmore's Pumpkin Spice Cafe series but.. better. There are more stakes and I personally find the characters are fleshed out better.  

“Or the promise to oneself that a precious half hour will be reserved amidst the madness, for peace and rest, reading and escape, everything else forbidden to interrupt while feet are tucked underneath legs and a blanket keeps the world away. A little treat can change it all.”

Annie was a great protagonist. I enjoyed how layered she was and as a recovering perfectionist, I found myself in her anxiety over change. I'm learning to get a bit messy and it certainly makes for a more exciting life.

At heart, Uncharmed asks the age old question of; Can love be the solution to everything? The found family trope is wonderfully done. The interactions between Maeve and Hal were some of my favourite book moments. I enjoyed how there is some world building but I didn't have to read an info dump to understand the society of witches. 

Both this and Rewitched, Lucy's first novel, at heart center around female friendship. This has a fantastic discussion on women maintaining a friendship out of obligation instead of want. It shows the importance of surrounding yourself with women who hype you up to be the best version of you. I briefly mentioned it in my review of A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf which you can read HERE, but I do believe we're in the era of women loving women and it's oh so empowering to see. I know how tightknit Lucy's friendships are offline so  that definitely shown through in this novel.

If you want to read something coxy in these autumnal months, I highly recommend picking up anything by Lucy Jane Wood. I am looking forward to reading Disenchanted soon. 

9.5/10. 

- Anne xx

 I had the absolute honor of being invited to check out a coworker of my husband's studio tour. Her style of oil paints with the water play is absolutely gorgeous. Her pieces are for sale so do get in touch with her HERE. Please kindly go and show some support and love.

The world is falling apart around us and yet humans like Jannice exist who create art that makes you feel something. Art has never mattered more than now. A world full of ugly and yet art makes beauty unapologetic. I think the thing that truly captured my intense longing for some of her pieces was the multitude of her pieces. They are earth and orbit focuses, light slipping in through the dreads of dark. 

My favourite piece was the Tropical Night Walls. There's something Practical Magic adjacent that speaks to me. The vivid blue mixed with the stark texture of the trees..? Incredible. 

I stocked up on some cards and a print for my home and another for my Mother-in-law. I'm honored to of experienced the artwork, and I hope you enjoyed looking at them too. Nature is beautiful. 

Thank you again to Jannice, and do check her out at ShaneMann.com or give her a follow on Instagram HERE.

What a lovely experience.

 Passionate. Melancholy. Women loving women. These are just a few simple words to describe this novel of mastery. 

I haven't ever shy'd away from saying I'm not an Austen lover. I fear my dark and twisty brain steers more towards the women who were deemed "depressive" group of Woolf, Plath, and even Bronte. Virginia's writing is plump with lyricalism as we follow this women's train of thought. It is text book on how to write a stream of consciousness. It flows likes the waves (kinda hyped to read The Waves now) of a soft ocean and yet the words are as sharp as a shell you may accidentally cut your foot on.

The very blatant writing of Female rage was so interesting to read, especially as she went through the years prior and discusses the demands and expectations put on women for each time of history.

"Women have served all these centuries as looking glasses possessing the magic and delicious power of reflecting the figure of man at twice its natural size."

As I was listening to this (there's a free audiobook on Youtube) describe a woman sitting in her room, with her papers about her, books on the shelves. A safe haven to write the words she didn't yet have structure for, and without a man to entertain, it made me think of this modern day switch we have been doing to fulfill the happiness of our inner child. 

My husband is heavily into Pokémon cards and I'm journalling like a child again. Friendship bracelets, cute little handbag plushies. It's so pleasant to see people not shy away from things that just make them happy and an escape, of sorts. The Era's tour and Daisy Chain Festival, it's womanhood. It's so nice modern day adults are no longer hiding their little indulgences. Women were told to be demure and quiet, grow up. I say we get messy like a kid and just find fun again.

"Anything may happen when womanhood  has ceased to be a protected occupation."

This is obviously a book of white privilege and written through a lense of a woman who had that. If anything it makes me want to seek out books written by women of color about those years. I imagine it would be night and day. The reason I mention all of this is because it makes a book hard to score. I don't want to look past the privilege of 1) writing about your life when you don't have to do intese labor in a bid to pay for food that week, or worse. Or 2) slurs. Things like that will always pull me out of a story. It is of it's time, but not forgivable. 

 I saw myself in Woolf in a lot of ways. I love her art and I can appreciate her openness about mental health struggles. "She was wrong for longing" is from a passage in Jane Eyre and it resonated me. I think that perfectly describes the women of this era who were classified as "manic". 

This is for sure a book to annotate and peek into every now and again to be sucked into a beautiful talk about the power women can hold. 

- Anne. 

When I was at the fair a few weeks ago they were offering free tours of the Rodgers house. It was a house full of atmospheric memories and I greatly enjoyed learning about the previous owners and how it relates to John Steinbeck (which is somewhere I have to visit soon). As photos where allowed, I thought I'd be a your eyes and show you virtually around with photos.  

 Flowers in the Attic has been on my radar for a good few years now. I have routinely seen people in the book community talk about how messed up and twisty it is. As an avid fan of questionable dark romance, I was intrigued. Did my curiosity pan out? Yes, indeed. 

In this we follow four children -- Cathy, Chris, Cory, and Carrie -- who are taken to their grandparents house after the death of their father. Once there their Mother tells them to stay in the Attic and not make a sound whilst she persuades her religious father into accepting them. Years pass without freedom. Isolated in the mansions Attic, the two oldest become like parents to the younger two, raising them as best they can in the confined space. 

As they age and play the role of parents to Carrie and Cory, puberty and hormones rise confusing Cathy and Chris, emotions and physical needs cloud their judgement.

Their Grandmother is very religious and routinely punish the children for any acts she deems as ungodly. Those sections of the book were hard to read. It gave me Carrie by Stephen King vibes. 

Overall, this novel held my interest from the very first page. I did the audiobook as though talented at voicing the characters, I will die happily if I never have to hear her whiny tone for the youngest two again. Never before have I wanted children less, heh. 

Though a bit lengthy, this is definitely a page turner so time moves quickly. The lack of remorse the Mother had sparks an anger in me which alone shows how impactful this novel was. 

If you don't want to read about religious punishments or incest, maybe give this a miss. It was certainly some level of Gothic literature. Atmospheric and dark.

Have you picked up this modern classic? I'd love to know your thoughts. 

- Anne. X

I love a good photo diary, so here's some snapshots of my day out to the Santa Cruz Fair, 2026. We went on Friday, September 19th. It was fairly (heh) quiet which was wonderful as it gave us the opportunity to browse the Harvest room and Art Gallery. I took some photos of my favourites. People are incredibly talented. Here's one for the memory books. 

The room of flowers was a highlight for me. The colors and smells tickled all my good senses. I especially found the cowboy boot fun, it reminded me of my Granddad. 

We got a tour of the Rodgers House which will be another post entirely, but I wanted to say how much I love when community events like this offer free tours of things you'd otherwise not experience. It makes the price of entry for the fair seem reasonable. It shows you can have just enough money for entry and still have a blast.

What's a fair without over the top food? We picked a potato stand for lunch and indulged in a biscoff cinnamon roll which was as good as it sounds. There was also a stop for coffee which was much needed.