witchbuns

Betty Corrello, 2025

5 Stars for Nadia, all of her

Absolutely masterful writing and storytelling from Betty Corrello. I related so closely to the feelings of unhappiness, the deep blue that Nadia is trapped in, despite it stemming from a personal health issue, because the writing was so vivid. Corrello brings us close within Nadia’s thin skin and we see her questioning her life, her future, and where she fits in. There was a point when she was questioning her love for Marco and I thought – of course, of course you do, you would, I would. This book is mesmerizing. 

I’ve read similar storylines – summer romance, semi-famous man meets wryly skeptic woman, they learn to trust each other, sister storyline, etc. But this book – it was lightyears ahead in storytelling and each sentence painted us deeper in the scene. I was about 14% in when I realized this was really developed and it was a must-own, that I need to come back to and share with my reader friends. Corrello is just a different writer to me, because she’s living in these characters and I feel like I’m living with them too. This is even better than Summertime Punchline but I’m glad I read these in order so that I could fall in love with this writing, and then be surprised at how much deeper this book travelled as a second novel. 

I love that both of her books start in very dark places and let the heroines revel in this assumed mediocrity to let go and breathe in (the boardwalk, the community, the simple lifestyle) to find peace and make home. I really like the themes of being enough and accepting a different pacing in your life as part of a big breakthrough. I can’t wait to read more of her stories, and my god, when she gets a FMC in their 40’s, we will not know anything like it.