small miracles

 supernatural book challenge original post. 

small miracles by olivia atwater is the first book i read in my search for a book with the same vibes as supernatural, or should i say second, since reading shot in the dark by mary dublin was what made me want to search for a book like that in the first place. 

now, if i had to rate the book outside of this little quest, i would give it 4 stars. it was a super easy, entertaining read, with a very nice romance and great characters. it was cute, funny, wholesome, full of hope, and it made me feel good about life again. it reminds you to appreciate the small things. 

it also had the best queer representation i've read in a long while, it's so casual, so simple and so well done. this book was simply delicious ! !! i enjoyed every single bit ! 

☆☆☆☆

before we talk about its similarities with supernatural (or lack of), let me check the "made me laugh" box on my book bingo (i'm starting to fear i might not bingo before the year ends), 

 

what i think this book has in common with supernatural is:

• an interesting take on angels, demons, heaven, and hell. it's kinda silly, but it makes perfect sense in the story. 
• it manages to find ways to present a high stakes scary situation as light, and fun to read about. 
• it has really good characters. they have very distinct personalities, which makes them feel real. they are not an empty trope to move the plot along, they are an actual person going thru it all. this makes them very likeable (even the villains), you actually worry for them, and it's very nice to get to know them, and being able to predict how they're gonna behave. 
• angels, demons and humans working together, and falling in love.
• found family.  

and that's about it. i think it did not capture the vibes of supernatural at all (i understand this was never the author's goal), so for this imaginary test i put it thru, let's just say: it failed.

i feel like now i have a more clear idea of what i want when i say "supernatural vibes", angels and demons are not enough. i am looking for a dean winchester type of character (which small miracles did not have), i am looking for a slow burn romance (that i think a stand alone could probably never give me) with lots of bickering and drama, i am looking for found family, and friendships so strong my heart hurts. i want characters bonding over shared trauma and i want chaos. 

i think small miracles was missing chaos, crazy plotlines and a bigger scale adventure. it was also missing the spice of forbidden love. 

like a said, i loved the book, i almost gave it 5 stars, but it had a time jump epilogue and i never enjoy those. the romance is so soft and cozy, it feels so right from the very first time they meet, it has the most perfect slice of life type of plot, a great take on life, excellent written characters, it made me laugh, and tear up a little. and of course, my favorite part, the best non-binary (gender-fluid) representation ever, a literal dream come true. more stories need to ignore the homophobic tendencies of real society, for the sake of creating a fantasy world where we could be happy and normal. 

but ! i am giving it a 1/5 points in the supernatural scale. 

next book on my list (in case you're interested in reading along): Return to Hoodoo (Boudin, Barbecue, and Hoodoo #1) by Reggi Dupree.