Book Review: The Folklore Of Forever by Sarah Hogle

December 12, 2025

So I am playing a little bit of catch up here with my book reviews. I put this book in my November reads, but I have been on a bit of a maternity leave with the arrival of my sweet little baby Ro. thank you for bring patient with me!

Usually, I am such a fan of Sarah‘s work, but this time around I really could not get a connection with any of her characters. Sarah does quirky and magical and fun very well, but this one did not hit the mark with me. I felt like the characters were cringe and unrelatable. Again, I usually adore her work, but this one kind of missed the mark for me.

We follow the story of a woman named Zelda who grew up in a small magical town in a small magical family of women and she doesn’t believe in magic. She is fully convinced everyone in her family is just making it up and she has never seen magic with her own eyes (so she says). She lives with her two sister and her niece (all of whom are convinced they have very specific magical powers) and, while Zelda loves these women very much, is certain they’re drinking their own kool-aide. When she starts falling for the neighbor boy (unfortunately) who is really just interested in her because she’s a witch, she starts remembering parts of herself that she had long buried. Were those creatures she’d convinced herself were imaginary actually real? Was magic real after all?

She is cynical and intense and very strange and honestly I just don’t find her character all that charming or relatable. Honestly, she feels very cringy to me. Overall, I am going to be honest, I would not suggest this book. I did not finish it.