What I loved: The world-building and theories around magic were really intriguing. However, along the journey, Tamsin must confront her past and the guilt that weighs her so heavily, and Wren must confront her own history and relationship with her family. With an agreement made, the two set out to join the hunt for the witch who is casting the dark magic. When Wren sees her father begin to succumb to the plague, see seeks out the help of the witch in town in hunting down whoever is doing the dark magic to stop them. A plague begins going around the country that is causing nature to rebel and people to lose their memories before ultimately dying as a result of dark magic. She is an undocumented source and lives in fear of being discovered.

Wren lives with her father whose depression has incapacitated him, and her life revolves around taking care of him. She was banished to a small village where she barters her magic for other people's love that give her a bit of feeling for a small amount of time. Tamsin has learned this lesson when she performed this awful magic in the past, leaving her with loads of guilt, a curse that means she cannot feel love for people, food, or anything around her, and cast out by the Coven she had planned to serve. The balance of magic is key, and when magic is done that throws off this balance, it can have deadly consequences for nature and the people around. Witches control the magic, which is held in balance with nature, and sources supply and augment magic.

In this world, magic is held by a select few witches and sources, who must be turned over to the Coven for training when they are young. SWEET & BITTER MAGIC is a lush and enthralling YA fantasy filled with magic, pain, and love. Of course, love bargains are a tricky thing, and these two have a long, perilous journey ahead of them-that is, if they don't kill each other first. To save him, Wren proposes a bargain: if Tamsin will help her catch the dark witch responsible for creating the plague, then Wren will give Tamsin her love for her father. When a magical plague ravages the queendom, Wren’s father falls victim.

Sources are required to train with the Coven as soon as they discover their abilities, but Wren-the only caretaker to her ailing father-has spent her life hiding her secret. Wren is a source-a rare kind of person who is made of magic, despite being unable to use it herself. The only way she can get those feelings back-even for just a little while-is to steal love from others. But after committing the worst magical sin, she’s exiled by the ruling Coven and cursed with the inability to love. Tamsin is the most powerful witch of her generation. In this charming debut fantasy perfect for fans of Sorcery of Thorns and Girls of Paper and Fire, a witch cursed to never love meets a girl hiding her own dangerous magic, and the two strike a dangerous bargain to save their queendom.

Sweet & bitter magic