Before anything, I would like to thank Kathryn Trattner, the publisher, and BookSirens for providing me with an ARC. I received it for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

The book contains a total of 5 short stories, the first one being the shortest and the last one being the longest. Although the lengths of the stories vary quite a bit and the themes feel different, I can see why this collection was put together. All of the five stories bring what was promised starting with the title: magic and myth. It's nice to see the author explore the supernatural and the fantasy in different ways and I enjoyed most of the stories, although some were better than others.

I don't think this book was cohesive enough. Maybe if it had more stories, they could help to fill in the gaps and make it feel more whole. Some stories weren't as good as they had the potential to be, and some were very good. Overall, it was a nice book that with a little bit more could've been great.

Tornado: It was a nice introduction and set the theme and tone of the book well enough. I would have taken it out though. It felt too cliche, a little empty, and wasn't a good opening to set the expectations for what was to come. The other stories were much better.

Blackberry Baby: Detailed descriptions, giving a high sense of space, though sometimes it felt more descriptive than needed. It was a beautiful story, easy to read, and the ending was bittersweet exactly as it should be, bringing a lot of reflection.

The Deer Woman: Interesting story but very weird. The romantic aspect of it feels a little forced as I don't believe in love at first sight. I'm not the kind of person to enjoy revenge plots, so it wasn't really my thing. But I also love seeing toxic men going down, so it was kinda my thing?

Fire Watch: It was such a lovely story that I wished it was longer. I wanted to see the build up of the romance and get butterflies in my stomach. But it was enough as it was. Sweet and hopeful, with a very funny ending phrase.

The Black Cat: I liked how this story is divided in parts and evolves with perfect pacing. In the beginning, I love how caring and understanding the mother is and how, despite the words being way too complicated for a child, you can see how the point of view would made sense coming from someone younger. As each part goes by, the bond between the main character Maria and her cat Onyx is established and portrayed in a way that shows instead of telling. He's a part of her life and would do anything for her. Maria's growth and life changes are clear, as is the way she sees and treats Onyx, the way she slowly understands and accepts his nature. The story is mysterious and a definite page turner, I had to keep reading until I knew the ending.