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NetGalley Review of Something Wicked

Posted on November 25, 2025November 25, 2025 by caritagardiner
Screenshot 2025-09-19 at 7.15.35 PM

title: Something Wicked

author: Falon Ballard

publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons

publication date: December 2, 2025

pages: 384

peppers: 3 (on this scale)

warnings:

  • violence
  • magical violence
  • mind control
  • murder
  • blood

summary: Cate and her twin sister Audra have been working as courtesans for Harry since he took them in from an orphanage, where they were left by their parents because of their Gifts. Since the Uprising, Callum, who was in line to be king of Avon, needs to build his courage to take the necessary steps to become Avon's first president. His sister, Dom, buys a week of Cate's time so that she can give him sex lessons and use her Gift to help him do what needs to be done.

tropes:

  • fated mates
  • courtesan who falls in love
  • world in peril
  • evil, power-hungry woman
  • don't know whom to trust

what I liked:

  • two main characters' strong bond
  • sister love
  • do whatever it takes

what I didn’t like:

  • too long
  • letters interspersed don't help story
  • several loose ends not tied up
  • I wanted more Macbeth connections

overall rating: 3 (of 5 stars)

As always, you can click on the photo above if you want to buy the book.

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WHAT I DO

I serve as a class dean and teach English to high schoolers at a boarding school in Connecticut. I’ve earned a Bachelor of Arts (Amherst College), an Education Master in Learning and Teaching (Harvard University Graduate School of Education), a Master of Arts in English (Bread Loaf School of English), and most recently a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing with a certificate in the online teaching of writing (Southern New Hampshire University).

As a writer, I hope to capture the complexity and joy of life in the New England boarding school world. On this site, I share what I know about trying to write fiction while deaning, teaching English, coaching, and doing the other tasks associated with helping to raise over six hundred other people’s children.

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Read my recent “Why” Wednesday Blog Posts

  • 362. Why Have a Motto
  • NetGalley Review of An Academic Affair
  • NetGalley Review of Hate You, Maybe
  • 361. Why Life’s Going to Life
  • NetGalley Review of Something Wicked
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