Autumn Death Review Spotlight

Welcome to the tour for Autumn Death by L.A. Brown -- a gorgeous witchy fantasy you can now read on Kindle Unlimited!

Autumn Death is the first book in the Bird Girl Witches series by L.A. Brown. Autumn Death is a YA coming-of-age fantasy novel that tells the story of a young woman using her psychic abilities to ferret out evil that is wreaking havoc in her hometown. Young women are turning up murdered, and evil is running rampant creating havoc wherever it goes. Thanks to her insights Arabel has unintentionally made herself a target. Will she be able to evade death?

Autumn Death is an engaging YA fantasy novel that draws the eye with a stunning cover. A young woman's face with a crow taking up the left side. It almost gives the impression of her being a shifter, but she's not. The crow, as readers will learn is simply her familiar. Surrounding the young woman's face and the crow is a myriad of reddish-orange flowers. The cover is simply stunning, and readers will understand the underlying meaning of the color of the flowers later on in the book. 

Autumn Death draws readers in with Arabel joining a friend at a celebration in the village. It is meant to be a happy time, but it quickly turns dark with a mysterious grey mist that permeates the surrounding area. Not everyone can see this disturbing mist, but Arabel has the sense that it is something dark and evil that hints at something worse to come. It's not long before this is brought to revelation with the striking of a celebratory fire that reveals a grisly sight to the revelers. 

Autumn Death is truly engaging. Arabel is an interesting character. She's 17, but she honestly reads like she's older than that half the time. She reads like a highly mature character, most of the time. Once the romance angle of the story spins up (which it does rather quickly), she behaves a touch more like a teen. 

The drama that author Brown has playing out on page is truly interesting. Arabel is frequently in "battle" with a grey darkness that repeatedly threatens her life. When we say threatens we mean verbally and "physically." It's a wild ride of drama when we get the magic elements. It really builds the intrigue and will work to keep readers engaged in what is going on. 

Have to say that we weren't the biggest fans of Arabel becoming sneaky primarily in the pursuit of her relationship with Eli. Author Brown paints the time period as one of "propriety" and concern for one's reputation. Arabel holds to this mindset briefly, but it's not long before she casts it aside to pursue the path that she wishes. 

We will concede that the author ties it to another aspect of the story concerning Arabel's family. It literally treads the path of "like (insert specific parent), like daughter. Not sure if we really liked that, because it's locking Arabel deeply into behavior similar to that other individual instead of allowing her to be her own self. 

The backstory with the grandmother is rather interesting. It paints a picture that allows readers to better understand, to an extent, her grandmother's behavior. However, it is also heartbreaking at the same time. You'd think that the grandmother would want to do differently to preserve the relationship with her granddaughter. Unfortunately, it gets to a point in the story that neither grandmother or granddaughter are interested in preserving or mending their relationships. Will this change as the story progresses? Well, you'll have to read the book to find out for yourself. 

We get some fascinating creatures in this book, but I really wanted more. This book has a lot going on for it, but I felt like there were some missed sequences here and there throughout the book. I could have been reading a little too quickly and missed them, but I don't think I did. 

Autumn Dreams is an interesting novel that gives readers fantasy with a touch of paranormal. You get quick romance that hints at more, but stays relatively chaste with just giving readers intense kissing. 

As this novel draws to a close, the story does get wrapped up. I wouldn't have minded it continuing with Arabel and Eli, but it's a good story with lots of drama that did it's job of keeping me engaged to the end. 

4 /5 Stars

Autumn Death (Bird Girl Witches Book 1)

Publication Date: November 13, 2024

Genre: YA Dark Fantasy/ Witches

Tropes:

The Supernatural, The Outsider, First Love, Love is the Answer, Coming of Age, Ancient Secrets, Backing into Darkness, Body Switching, Dark Family Secrets, Crime in the Family, Found Family, Fated Mates, Forbidden Love, Creepy Settings, A Foreboding Atmosphere, Mysterious Things are Happening, Magical Secrets, Fantastical Creatures, Magical Systems, Training Sequences, Powerful Artifacts, High Stakes, Happy Ending, Hereditary Witches, Hauntings

The Magnet draws them to their death!

In book one of the Bird Girl Witches series, the mystical realm of The Korvids is being terrorized by a dark force, and a young, psychic girl may be the only one who can stop it.

Arabel Spade is just 17 years old, but holds the gift of extraordinary supernatural abilities. When a series of brutal murders rock her hometown, she is determined to use her powers to solve the crimes and protect her people.
But tracking the killer puts her on a collision course with the sinister Dorojenja - evil sorcerers intent on putting an end to her investigation, if not her life. As the bodies pile up, Arabel must navigate a web of secrets, betray her cold-hearted grandmother's wishes, and forge alliances with mysterious magical factions like the Travelers.

Join Arabel's epic journey of magic, danger, and self-discovery, as she battles for the ultimate fate of The Korvids.

AVAILABLE ON AMAZON

TWs:

Three murders which happen off-page, but the bodies are found on the page. These murders are not described in detail, but it is mentioned that the bodies are naked and posed in a sacrificial manner. There is also a murder by drowning, body possession, and a murder by a vicious Death Ribbon spell. There are also ghostly attacks on our heroine and a kidnapping. There is a lot of romantic desire, but no sexual activity outside of kissing.

BGW Series blurb: Four teen witches must destroy an ancient evil to fulfill their destiny and avert a treacherous curse