Books & Bottles Series (#20)

I’ve gotten through so many books this year, you guys! The series has really held me accountable for reading over the past two years. I love crushing my goals and I’ve been thinking about continuing on with the Books & Bottles Series (#20) next year or if I want to change it up and try something other than wine.

This summer I realized I’m just not drinking as much as I used to. Sure, I still love trying different bottles of wine but the truth is, I don’t love opening bottles by myself. Though I do have a Corvain that I love and highly recommend to any single person (notes to write a blog post about that).

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Table of Contents

Books & Bottles Series (#20)

Regardless of wine, I’m excited to chat about this book for a few reasons. To start, it’s a YA book. I haven’t read a YA book in a hot minute so it took me some time to warm up to a 16-year-old main character. Second, I snagged this book from the library after seeing my favorite blogger post about it on her instagram. It was really fun to read something different than what I normally grab.

The Book: The Witch Haven by Sasha Peyton Smith

Buy from Bookshop.org

Buy from Amazon.

Short Back of the Book Summary:

In 1911 New York City, seventeen-year-old Frances Hallowell spends her days as a seamstress, mourning the mysterious death of her brother months prior. Everything changes when she’s attacked and a man ends up dead at her feet—her scissors in his neck, and she can’t explain how they got there.

Before she can be condemned as a murderess, two cape-wearing nurses arrive to inform her she is deathly ill and ordered to report to Haxahaven Sanitarium. But Frances finds Haxahaven isn’t a sanitarium at all: it’s a school for witches. Within Haxahaven’s glittering walls, Frances finds the sisterhood she craves, but the headmistress warns Frances that magic is dangerous. Frances has no interest in the small, safe magic of her school, and is instead enchanted by Finn, a boy with magic himself who appears in her dreams and tells her he can teach her all she’s been craving to learn, lessons that may bring her closer to discovering what truly happened to her brother.

Honest Review: 4 Stars

As mentioned, this is a YA book and I could easily foresee the majority of the conflicts in the book before they happened. In my defense, there was a lot of foreshadowing but the moral of this story is: ALWAYS trust your girlfriends.

Personally, I adore Frances’ friends more than Frances herself. I absolutely love Lena, her roommate, and one of her two best friends.

This book is full of adventure. Sneaking out after dark to learn new magic. Trying to gain as much knowledge as possible about the magical world they’re living in…. and maybe also trying to find love along the way.

I genuinely loved how much feminism there was. There were so many good quotes, I couldn’t keep up. It’s a woman’s world underneath all these men in power and privilege. Women are oppressed and considered possessions in high society. Wanting women to be uninformed and unable to form an opinion on important societal matters. I loved how Frances and her friends see the lack of equality and push for a better world.

The Bottle: Airfields 2019 Reserve Syrah

There’s no way you’re surprised by, yet another, bottle of airfield red for September! As you guys know, I’m a wine member at Airfield Estate because every bottle is such an easy table wine. This Syrah is no exception, though a mid-level price than what I normally grab. I decided to treat myself pre-summer while knowing I’d want to pop this open in the early days of Autumn.

What I’m Tasting:

Lots of nice earthy spices. Pepper and a bit of oak.

What I’m Smelling:

A cabin in the woods with a nice toasty warm fire, and leather accented chairs to cuddle up in while reading a book and drinking this wine. Haha! But literally the wood from a cabin. A little smokey grit from a rolling fire and lovely leather hints. Maybe even a tiny whiff of a cigar. It’s the ultimate PNW cabin scent.