Back of Book: 

Penny Emberly is caught in a magical feud in order to save her mother's life – perfect for fans of Tracy Wolff and Maggie Stiefvater.

Rumors are the lifeblood of Idlewood, Indiana. The locals whisper that the De Lucas are witches, and that decades prior they cursed the wealthy Barrion family as revenge for a love gone tragically wrong: now, if a Barrion falls in love with you, you’ll die. If this isn’t reason enough for wallflower Penny Emberly to stay away from both families, she doesn’t know what is. But when Penny’s mom is in an accident that leaves her on the brink of death, Penny can’t ignore the rumors anymore—because the Barrion curse is real. And her mom is its latest victim.

In order to save her mom’s life, Penny must bring together two bitter enemies on either side of the feud and work with them to break the curse. For star quarterback Corey Barrion, doing so would mean finally saving his family from the magic that killed his mom. And for misfit witch Alonso De Luca, it would mean convincing everyone in Idlewood—especially Penny—that he isn’t the villain they believe him to be.

But as the trio navigates Alonso's unpredictable magic, the tangled web of Barrion-De Luca history, and an increasingly chaotic group chat, it soon becomes clear that the curse is not what they expected. Did a De Luca really curse the Barrions in a fit of jealousy, or is something even more sinister afoot? Penny will have to conquer her anxiety, wrestle with her budding feelings for Alonso, and delve into dangerous, forbidden magic to find the truth and save her mom—even if it means putting her own life at risk. 

Book Number: One

Genre: Young Adult | Fantasy | Romance

Review: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

When a young girl's mother is afflicted by a generational curse, Penny finds herself stuck in the middle of a magical feud between two powerful rival covens.

Rumors about the De Luca and the Barrion families are the lifeblood of Idlewood, Indiana. Penny has heard many things about the two infamous legacies and has been warned time and time again to stay away from these dangerous people. However, when Penny's mother is affected by a curse that is said to be cast on the Barrion family by a member of the De Luca household, Penny can't ignore the rumors anymore. Despite their differences, Penny convinces Alonso De Luca and Corey Barrion to form a temporary alliance to break the curse that is plaguing all three of their lives. Unfortunately, things aren't nearly as simple as they seem and the secrets between the Barrion and the De Luca's run deeper than anyone could have predicted. . .

This book is a bit of a chonky one and it takes a while for the main story plot to really get rolling. Despite this, I was never bored, and I enjoyed getting to slowly learn about Penny, Corey, and Alonso. The length also had me wondering where the story was going; if I would have read this one as an ebook I would have been convinced that this book ended like eight different times. It's been a bit since I've read a book of this length, and I am quite pleased to say that the page count never discouraged me on this one and I enjoyed my time with every flip of the page.

Right away I had a pretty hard time keeping Corey and Alonso (as well as their families) straight. I think this is the main reason I appreciated the one hundred or so intro pages at the beginning of this one, because it would have been super confusing to jump into the main plot line without having a solid foundation of the main characters.

By the time I finished the last page of this book, I felt like I knew and cared about the main trio greatly. Penny, Alonso, and Corey have always judged each other unfairly, so it was nice to see them learn more about one another and put their biased expectations aside. Penny is a typical sweet girl who suffers from social anxiety and panic attacks. I relate quite a bit to her personally, despite the fact that we have very different lifestyles. Alonso is a classic "bad boy" who everyone thinks is a totally troublemaker, but who has a gooey side when you let him truly be himself. I personally found him to be my favorite of the three. Corey is a little more entitled than the other two and is also a tad selfish, which was a nice way to balance out the trio.

The "will they or won't they" trope went pretty crazy in this book. I wouldn't say that this book has a traditional love triangle in it, but there is certainly romantic tension between Penny and both of the boys. It's pretty obvious which one she's crushing on though, so I wouldn't call it a love triangle. The slow burn nature of this book was quite nice (I love me a good slow burn), and I am excited to see where the romance that blossoms at the end of this one goes in the second installment of this duology.

The cliffhanger in this book is crazy, guys! This book tied up many things nicely, but some truths were revealed about the curse that I knew would have to be resolved in book two. There are a couple other more spoilery elements that I was also looking forward to seeing how they would fold out in book two. However, I was not expecting Villaire to pull out one of the cards that she did in the last three pages of this novel. I will be waiting desperately for the last book in this series. I really need to know what happens to Alonso (and the rest of the gang, I guess)!

Overall, "The Glittering Edge" is a fun slow burn urban romantasy starring two covens who hate each other and a girl that will do anything to save her mother. It may not have the most unique premise, but it was executed rather splendidly. I love the characters, the complicated generational lore, and all of the twists that this book pulled. The cliffhanger ending is an absolute banger which has me desperate to get my hands on book two. I would definitely recommend this one if you are a lover of slower paced fantasies that are a bit lore heavy and feature a slow burn romance! 

Back of Book: 

For fans of Stephanie Garber and Holly Black comes the bewitching sequel to The Glittering Edge, where magic is real, witches make irresistible boyfriends, and keeping secrets is dangerous–but not as dangerous as the truth.

Penny Emberly didn’t expect to fall head over heels for Alonso De Luca last summer–or to discover that he’s a witch. Together with their friend Corey Barrion, they managed to save her mother from a deadly spell. Now autumn has arrived, and Penny believes they can take on anything.

But darkness is descending on the small town of Idlewood. Corey is desperate to undo the bloody legacy that made his family rich. The price, however, is steep: to unravel the magical bargain made by his grandfather, Corey must take a life.

As Corey wrestles with an impossible choice, Alonso begins to change. The more he pushes the limits of his magic, the more volatile, violent, and possessive he becomes. When tragedy strikes one of their classmates, the trio is forced to confront a terrifying question: is Alonso being consumed by something that’s bent on the destruction of everyone around him–especially Penny and Corey?

As supernatural forces drive them apart, Penny, Corey, and Alonso must decide what they’re willing to sacrifice before more blood is spilled–even if it means losing each other.

Book Number: Two (Last Book) 

Genre: Young Adult | Fantasy | Romance

Review: 🌟🌟🌟🌟

The final installment of the "Idlewood Duology" features a dangerous poltergeist, a love triangle, and a fight to end a decades long family curse. 

Penny Emberly's life has changed so much in one summer. She learned that magic is real—and that it almost killed her mother. She's also in love with the town's bad boy, Alonso De Luca, which she never saw coming. Oh, and she also learned that Alonso is a witch with powerful magical abilities. With the help of their dear friend Corey Barrion, the three saved her mother's life, but they still have to break the curse that haunts all of their families. Unfortunately, Alonso has been possessed by the poltergeist of his grandfather who is out for blood. Corey has learned that in order to break the curse, he'll have to sacrifice the life of another. With all three of them desperate for the bloodshed to end, Penny, Corey, and Alonso must put their heads together to finally end this bloody curse that has haunted them their entire lives. 

I absolutely ate up the first book in this series, "The Glittering Edge," so I was excited to read book two when it came out. My library was awesome enough to purchase it for me, so I didn't have to buy it myself. I definitely didn't like this one as much as the first, but it was nice seeing Penny, Corey, and Alonso get the resolution they deserved. 

One thing I noticed right away was that this book followed way more PoVs than the first. We're in Gio, Dylan, and Marley's heads on top of our three MCs. I think this distanced me from the story a little bit, but I understand why it was done at times. I personally was okay with Gio's perspective, because he at times replaced Alonso, but everyone else felt a bit out of place. 

At the start of this book, Penny and Alonso are together. I think it's fun when characters start out in later installments of a series already in a committed relationship, because it lets the author explore their romantic bond more. Seeing how Alonso adores Penny at the beginning was really sweet, but it sucks that other circumstances get in the way and pull them apart pretty quickly. Corey also has a huge crush on Penny, which is something that he tried to avoid for all of book one due to the curse on his family. With Alonso out of the picture for a bit, it's even harder for Corey to deny how he feels. I personally thought that the love triangle element got a bit old in this book, but Corey has every right to feel how he feels and Penny is honestly a confused mess throughout this entire book. 

I feel that our three main characters are still the highlight of this series. Penny is an extremely anxious individual that cares deeply and with her entire heart. I felt really bad for all the heartbreak she goes through in this book, but it is clear that she cares so much for both Corey and Alonso. Corey has been burdened with his family's expectations since the moment he was born, so he's been stressed out since he was young. I was happy to see that he finally is starting to put himself first and pursue the things that make him truly happy. Alonso has always been a troublesome lad with a violent streak. He's been doing better ever since he got with Penny, but now he is forced to live with his grandfather's crimes, too. So many people have been hurt by his family, and Alonso takes much of this burden on himself. These three young adults certainly have experienced a ton of pain in their lives, but it's amazing to see them persevere through all the hard times. 

This one does seem a bit repetitive in content, so I'm glad I didn't read them back-to-back. Our three MCs are still trying to find a way to break the curse, Penny's family is still in extreme danger, and the love triangle is still going strong. I wish there would have been a tad more variation, but it was still a fine read. 

I want to touch briefly on the ending, because I found it rather unsatisfying. I'll avoid spoilers, so this part will be vague, but I feel the need to express my thoughts. I was honestly pissed at Alonso for the decisions he made. It was truly frustrating to see him push everyone to the wayside like that, but whatever. I'm glad that Penny took her life into her own hands and made a plan that suited her needs. Corey sort of receives the short end of the stick, but at least his epilogue was tinged with hope for a better future. Honestly, the entire epilogue was penned in this style. It gave just enough information about the characters to tease a happy next chapter for them, but it was vague enough that everything it hinted at could never come to pass. I didn't love this for an ending, but at least all the major plot points were tied up. 

Overall, "The Neon Sky" wasn't as exciting as its predecessor, but I'm glad that Penny, Corey, and Alonso were given a resolution and that they dealt with their family curse in their own unique way. I did find elements of this book to be a bit tedious such as huge similarities in plot to book one, the ever-going love triangle, and the random PoV shifts. I'm glad that everything was wrapped up, but I found myself a bit disappointed by the ending of this one, too. Penny, Corey, and Alonso are still such fun characters to follow, so I'm happy that I experienced the happy for now ending to their story.