Book Review: "The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches" by Sangu Mandanna

Friends, please meet my new favorite book of the year!!

When a friend suggested this book for our monthly buddy read, I hadn’t heard of it, but it sounded cute. I wasn’t expecting a book to fill my heart so much.

Mika Moon is a young witch in Great Britain. There is an unspoken rule that witches should hide who they really are, and mostly stay away from each other so their magic doesn’t mingle and cause problems. The one outlet she turns to is posting videos online, where she pretends to be a witch. She figures people will take it as a joke, as camp.

But one day she gets a message requesting her presence at Nowhere House, a mysterious yet charming home. She is asked by the house’s caretakers to help three young witches control their magic so as not to attract attention. Mika knows that having three witches in the same house—even young witches—is potentially dangerous and breaks rules, but she is drawn to the opportunity.

It’s not long before Mika is fully ensconced in Nowhere House, teaching the girls things they never knew. For Mika, who grew up lonely and raised by strangers, being a part of a family of sorts where she can be herself is amazing. She becomes enamored of the girls and the house’s caretakers—a former actor and his gardener husband, a housekeeper, and Jamie, the handsome librarian who is protective of the girls and sees Mika as a threat to their safety.

This book is so full of joy and love, of chosen family, diversity, and the feeling of being totally yourself for the first time. It honestly reminded me of The House in the Cerulean Sea in that this book, too, feels like a gigantic hug, and left me smiling and teary-eyed. Any of these characters could have their own story told.

I wish I could read this again for the first time.

Book Review: "Magic Lessons" by Alice Hoffman

Magic Lessons is a well-told, moving story of love, family, and witchcraft.

Alice Hoffman returns with the prequel to The Rules of Magic and Practical Magic, and the story of the Owens family. In this book, which starts in the mid-1600s, a baby girl, Maria, is found abandoned in a snowy field in rural England. She is taken in by Hannah Owens, a kind woman who once had been jailed for being a witch.

Hannah recognizes that Maria has a gift, and teaches her “the Nameless Art.” But as Maria grows under Hannah’s tutelage and watches her work with the women who come to her secretly for help, Maria learns that most of their problems have something to do with love, and she vows never to fall in love herself.

But even witches are powerless in the face of love, and it’s not long before she follows the man who betrayed her to Salem, Massachusetts. And while she tries to keep a low profile and help women like her adoptive mother did, ultimately she runs afoul of the fear and jealousy that ruled Salem in those horrible days.

"But even a witch can possess a woman's flaws, and a woman's desires. Maria thought she knew what was to com, but she was wrong. Anyone can fall in love, despite vows to the contrary. Any woman can make a mistake, especially when she is young, and sees the wrong man through a haze so that he appears to be something he's not."

This is a story of two generations of women, both who bore the scars of love gone wrong, yet in different manifestations. It’s a story about fighting your fears and letting yourself believe in the power of love even when you’ve seen it be destructive. But it’s also a powerful story about the fierce love of a mother.

I really love the way Hoffman writes and I have loved the earlier books in this series. While I enjoyed the emotions and the pain and the beauty of this story, because the book took place at such an historic time, there was a lot more background detail shared here, which I felt bogged things down a bit. But I’m not a fan of historical fiction so others might not be bothered by this.

You certainly could read this one first if you’ve not read the other books, but do yourself a favor—read those, too. Like so many of Hoffman's books, they’re just gorgeous and they’ll grab your heart.

Book Review: "These Witches Don't Burn" by Isabel Sterling

It’s not easy being a witch these days. That's what I picked up from Isabel Sterling's These Witches Don't Burn, at least.

Being a witch in Salem, Massachusetts may seem like a clichè, but that’s Hannah’s life. As an Elemental witch, she has the power to control fire, water, earth, and air, but she’s forbidden to let any non-witch see her magic. So instead, she spends her time trying to avoid her ex-girlfriend, Veronica (who is also an Elemental), and working at the Fly by Night Cauldron, which sells candles and crystals to tourists and Wiccans.

When the town starts to see signs of black magic that seem to be targeting Hannah and Veronica, Hannah is convinced a Blood Witch is to blame, even though her coven doesn’t agree. But as things become more dangerous, she’s forced to team up with Veronica to try and flush the evil out of Salem. And at the same time, Hannah is intrigued by Morgan, a new crush.

Will Hannah be able to stop what is happening before it puts her and those she loves in danger? Will the time she spends with Veronica jeopardize any chance she might have with Morgan?

It’s been a while since I’ve read a fantasy novel and I enjoyed this. Sterling did a great job creating a world within our world and deftly juxtaposed the witchy issues with emotional ones. At times it got a little too melodramatic, but that's just like teenagers, isn't it?

I’ll definitely check out the sequel, plus there's a prequel of sorts that apparently sets up this book. (I didn't read that and didn't feel as if I missed out.)

Book Review: "Boys of Alabama" by Genevieve Hudson

Well, Genevieve Hudson's Boys of Alabama definitely made me think!

Max and his family move from Germany to small-town Delilah, Alabama. It’s a far cry from what they’re used to, but Max is quickly enamored by the oppressive heat and humidity, the easy camaraderie he finds with his football teammates, and the area’s obsession with God and religion.

But Max has secrets, too. He had a relationship in Germany that scarred him, and he has a strange ability that both obsesses and frightens him. When he meets Pan, a fellow student who believes he is a witch, and Pan discovers his ability, Max feels both unburdened and more frightened of discovery. But the two embark on a relationship of sorts, which fulfills the both of them, even if it makes them vulnerable at the same time.

Boys of Alabama is a beautifully written, thought-provoking book that raises questions about religion, sexuality, paranormal abilities, racism, and prejudice, but it also is a coming-of-age story at its heart. I’ll admit I read this book almost with one hand over my eyes, as I was worried something bad would happen to one of the characters. (Plus the references to animal cruelty and the depictions of dead animals were a little much for me.)

I struggled, though, with what this book meant, and as much as I enjoyed the characters I didn’t feel connected. I also found the lack of quotation marks off-putting because if a sentence didn’t say, “she said,” I couldn’t always tell it was dialogue.

This debut novel definitely shows Hudson has a true storytelling talent. It was an interesting addition to my stack of Pride Reads this month!

Book Review: "Crave" by Tracy Wolff

Does the world need another brooding vampire love story? Yes.

Grace’s parents were killed in an accident, so she has to move from San Diego to Alaska, where her uncle is the head of a fancy prep school in a remote town. And while Alaska itself is a total shock to her system, she’s not expecting school to be in an actual castle, nor is she expecting everyone to take an immediate dislike to her.

When she catches the eye of Jaxon Vega, the hottest guy she’s ever seen, surrounded by a group of brooding, handsome guys, she is mesmerized. But he quickly breaks the spell by telling her she’s in danger and should never have come to the school.

But there’s something about Jaxon that she can’t shake, and despite his veil of disdain, she knows he feels it, too. After a series of near-death experiences have him rescuing her every time, she starts to discover that maybe Jaxon is right, and she is a pawn in a battle she has no idea about.

As their relationship intensifies, Grace must make a choice: go back to San Diego, where she will be safe, or possibly sacrifice everything for Jaxon—including her life. She doesn’t know much about the world of vampires, dragons, werewolves, witches, and shapeshifters, but she’s in the middle of all of it.

Of course, Crave immediately reminded me of Twilight, and even its cover design is similar. But while both share brooding, passionate stories of dangerous love, Crave really set up a tantalizing world of humans being torn apart by events some don’t even understand.

This was an angsty yet romantic book, but it took a long, long time to hit its stride. There were far too many times where things happened and people clammed up rather than tell Grace the truth about what was going on. But once she figured it all out, it was like a roller coaster, speeding toward a cliffhanger conclusion for which we’ll have to wait until the next book!

There are no sparkling vampires, no earnest werewolves, but there are plenty of characters to swoon over. And that’s just fine with me.

Book Review: "Trace of Evil" by Alice Blanchard

Alice Blanchard's new novel, Trace of Evil is a terrific, atmospheric mystery, full of twists and turns, and it's a great start to what I hope will be a new series.

Natalie Lockhart is a rookie detective in her hometown of Burning Lake, NY—a town which almost rivaled Salem, MA back in the day with the presence of witches. Kids and adults like still dabble in witchcraft, and there’s been some unfounded rumors of satanism through the years.

Like any rookie cop in Burning Lake, Natalie is tasked with looking into the nine cold cases of local transients that have gone missing through the years. But just as she starts making some promising headway, Daisy Buckner, the wife of a fellow police detective, a popular high school teacher, and one of her older sister's best friends, is murdered.

While there appears to be a pretty clear suspect in Daisy’s murder, they end up in a coma shortly after Daisy's body is discovered. But the more Natalie digs into the murder, the more confusing things get, as it appears both Daisy and her husband had secrets of their own, secrets creating an ever-widening circle of guilt and suspicion in the town. Is this case as cut-and-dried as it appears, or are things more complicated than anyone can imagine?

As Natalie fights to uncover the truth, she has her own demons to fight, too, demons stemming from her oldest sister’s murder many years before, and the emotional scars of a childhood attack. She also must figure out which people know more than they're willing to share, about Daisy's life, her murder, and many other questions and issues in the town.

Alice Blanchard has created a terrific set of characters and a vivid mystery which kept me guessing. There was a lot going on here, as the cold cases meshed with Daisy's murder, Natalie's older sister's murder, and an incident from her own childhood. As the book hurtled toward its conclusion, things got a bit confusing at times. There is a lot of violence in the book, more telling than showing, so that may upset some folks.

Regardless of my minor criticisms, Trace of Evil was the start of what I hope will be a terrific series (hopefully with more Natalie and Luke?).

I won a complimentary copy of this book via a Bookstagram giveaway. Thanks to Minotaur Books for making it available!