The October Witches by

Pages: 352 

Publisher: UCLan Publishing 

Released: 1st of September 2022 

There’s so much to love about October – Halloween, pumpkin everything and MAGIC. Especially magic. But for nervous young witch Clemmie, this October might see the stars descend on her for the first time, bringing with them a whole month of chaotic new power. She’s spent twelve years watching her mum, aunts and cousin receive their October power and knows that, for the Merlyns, magic can get very messy.

And there are those who want to harness their magic and make it last beyond October. It’s a bold experiment, until Clemmie and her coven find themselves in mortal danger. What price must be paid for magic that never ends? Or for having magic at all? 

What I Have to Say 

I think I went into this in the wrong mood. I wanted something warm and cosy with nice autumnal vibes. Which in a lot of way this was, but I would have liked a smaller adventure. A witch getting used to her powers, not a huge war between the Merlyns and the Morgans. 

The actual story was very good. I loved the feelings of family it invokes as well as the unlikely alliances. I loved the sense of hope in the bonds of friendship that it brought up. Also Bobby. Bobby was perfect and I want a Bobby of my very own. 

In all, it wasn't what I was looking for but it was still a good book. Perfect for anyone looking for action and adventure and high stakes. Recommended to drink with a nice warm mug of soup by you. Pumpkin flavour optional. 

 

4 Stars 

My thanks go to Netgalley and UCLan Publishing for providing me with this copy for review. 

Hex Appeal by Kate Johnson

Pages: 318 

Publisher: One More Chapter 

Released: 1st of October 2022 

It’s just a bunch of hocus pocus…

Essie Winterscale lives in a huge and ever-changing house in the village of Good Winter, in deepest, darkest Essex. She lives with various witches of various ages, one of whom is still a bit salty about having been burned at the stake in 1635, one who keeps accidentally casting fertility spells, and one who knits things that create the future.

All Essie ever wanted was to have a normal life but in the end she found herself drawn back to Beldam House because she just can’t stop her witchiness (although the ability to instantly chill wine is pretty awesome, even she has to admit).

Into this coven of chaos stumbles gorgeous, clueless Josh, their new landlord – and he’s just discovered his tenants haven’t paid rent since the 1700s! As Josh is drawn further into the lives of the inhabitants of Beldam House, Essie is determined to keep him at broomstick’s length. That is, until a family secret, lying hidden for centuries, puts Josh firmly under her spell…

What I Have to Say 

To say this book wasn't for me is an understatement. I really was not interested in this story at all. At first I was interested in the relationship between Essie and Josh but it was just a bit predictable and dull. Except for one key element, I could see the drama coming from a mile off and the thing that I did see was more plot based than relationship. 

The house was interesting and I would have loved to have found out more about it and spent more time there but the plot took us away too fast. The witchhunting bits, I found a bit hammed up and the bit where they just abandoned the plot for a sex break just irritated me. 

It takes a really good romance to pique my interest and this just wasn't it. 

Two stars

My thanks go to One More Chapter and Netgalley for providing me with this copy for review. 

Twice Hexed by Julia Tuffs

Pages: 304 

Publisher: Orion Children's Books 

Released: 23rd of June 2022 

Sabrina the Teenage Witch meets Sex Education - Jessie Jones has just discovered she's a witch, but she still has to deal with the patriarchy. A feisty, funny YA series about discovering your place ... and your power.

After a summer of surfing, sunbathing and fine-tuning her new witchy skills, Jessie starts Year 11 feeling hopeful. She feels like her life-ducks are finally in a row - and at school, she has her sisterhood of Summer, Libby and Tabitha supporting her. Callum Henderson and his toxic masculinity minions have eased off enough for it the girls to feel like they can breathe again, so this year should be a breeze, right?

Wrong.

New year, new troubles.

Mysterious new girl Sloane has just arrived ... and did she mention she's a witch?

Twice the powers, twice the problems...

The funny, angsty, punchy YA series is perfect for fans of Holly Bourne.

What I Have to Say 

Jess is back and she's in trouble. This time it isn't just new powers she's got to deal with. New girl Sloane is on the scene and she is baaaad news. 

I loved how these books take normal teenage issues and add in magic. The first book was sexism and bullying. This time it's friendships and mean girls. It was perfect the way that Sloane was introduced and started throwing up red flags straight away. It's a familiar story and with a bit of dark magic it gives it just that hint of the supernatural. 

I said in my previous book that it was a bit predictable and how that was actually quite nice. And this one is much the same. Toxic new girl comes and starts separating the main character from her friends. It was relaxing as I read it, because I knew that it would all turn out okay in the end. I knew that Jess was good at heart and will do the right thing. 

The only thing I wasn't keen on was the animal death, but that does come hand in hand with dark magic, so I was prepared for it. I was also a bit disappointed because it looked at the start like they would talk about the actual issues men face (toxic masculinity for example) and expand on the feminist message, especially with Sloane being so anti- man, but they didn't. 

4 stars 

My thanks go to Netgalley and Orion's Children's Books for providing me with this copy for review. 

 

White As Witching

Pages: 268 

Publisher: Victory Editing 

Released: 4th of October 2022 

A Grimm-esque fairy tale retelling that readers call "darkly beautiful" and "an atmospheric delight."

The Selection is a lie. The five girls chosen each year do not vanish into a life of royal luxury, as most believe. Snow knows this because she knows her aunt Lyric—the Witch-Queen of Cresilea—murderess and usurper.

When the Selection comes to the remote village where Snow has hidden since her father’s murder, she puts herself forward, trusting in her scarred face to hide her identity, and enters the castle she fled seven years ago—a place now haunted by unnatural whispers and eerie shadows.

But more is at stake than Snow’s revenge, or even the fates of five girls, and she must learn all she can about Lyric’s magic—and her own—before it’s too late.

Rich and darkly enchanting, White as Witching takes you into a perilous world of fairy tale where you must break the first rule:

Do not go into the woods at night.

Do not follow the faerie lights.

Do not dance and do not sing—set no foot in the faerie ring.

What I Have to Say 

This book was better than I expected. I really liked the ideas put forth from the blurb but I wasn't sure how well it would be executed. But it was cleverly written, full of riddles and foreshadowing and it wove the original elements of the fairy tale in with the new stuff really well. 

The only thing I didn't like was the ableism towards the end. The author did a good job of making the point that her scar was a big part of her identity and made a point about sacrifice. But the message was still clear that she had to be "pretty" and perfect in order to rule and get her happy ending. 

In all honesty, it completely ruined the book for me. A book that I was really enjoying, which I'll admit had a clever ending, but I couldn't get past the magical cure. I ended the book feeling really disappointed and betrayed. 

 

3 stars 

My thanks go to Netgalley and Victory Editing for providing me with this copy for review. 

The Last Storyteller by Donna Barba Higuera

Pages: 336 

Publisher: Piccadilly Press 

Released: 1st of September 2022 

An unforgettable journey through the stars, to the very heart of what makes us human. The incredible Newbery Medal-winning novel from Donna Barba Higuera.

Habia una vez...

There lived a girl named Petra Pena, who wanted nothing more than to be a storyteller, like her abuelita. But Petra's world is ending. Earth will soon be destroyed by a comet, and only a few hundred scientists and their children - among them Petra and her family - have been chosen to journey to a new planet. They are the ones who must carry on the human race.

Hundreds of years later, Petra wakes to this new planet - and the discovery that she is the only person who remembers Earth. A sinister Collective has taken over the ship during its journey, bent on erasing the sins of humanity's past. They have systematically purged the memories of all aboard - or purged them altogether. Petra alone now carries the stories of our past, and with them, any hope for our future. Can she make them live again?

What I Have to Say 

This book felt important. It presents big ideas about learning from mistakes and dictatorships, showing Petra fighting against brainwashing and a society that would try and erase all differences and it showed the power of stories, as a powerful force that can fight back against such things. Woven with beautiful south American folklore, it was a beautiful story full of power and difference. 

For a story that had so much culture and imagination in it, it actually took place in a small amount of time, in a small space. So much of it happens on the spaceship or on the tiny bit of the planet that they're trying to inhabit, but it really didn't feel like that. It was so bursting with life and stories, that I found it really absorbed me and took me away from reality for a while. 

The folklore was fascinating and the Spanish phrases that were a big part of the stories she told were an important part of that. It was wonderful to see her taking her heritage with her so far from Earth. I enjoyed the stories she told and her relationship with them immensely. 

4.5 stars 

My thanks go to Netgalley and Piccadilly Press for providing me with this copy for review. 

 

Hazel Hill is Gonna Win This One

Pages: 320 

Publisher: Firefly Press 

Released: 18th of October 2022 

A funny, feminist, and queer contemporary middle grade debut about 12-year-old loner Hazel Hill, who after one of her classmates is harassed online, devises a plan to catch the school's golden boy in the act.

Seventh grader Hazel Hill is too busy for friends. No, really. She needs to focus on winning the school-wide speech competition and beating her nemesis, the popular and smart Ella Quinn, after last year's embarrassing hyperbole/hyperbowl mishap that cost her first place.

But when Hazel discovers Ella is being harassed by golden boy Tyler Harris, she has to choose between winning and doing the right thing. No one would believe that a nice boy like Tyler would harass and intimidate a nice girl like Ella, but Hazel knows the truth--and she's determined to prove it, even if it means risking everything.

Deeply relatable and surprisingly humorous, Hazel Hill Is Gonna Win This One is a wonderfully empowering story about friendship, finding your voice, and standing up for what you believe in.

What I Have to Say 

A fantastic feminist story for the younger generation, Hazel Hill unashamedly calls out sexism and misogyny in an elementary school setting. It shows injustice and ageism, making you want to scream and throw the book across the room at certain points because of how the teachers just aren't seeing it! 

There are honestly parts of this book that are gonna stay with me for a long time. I felt so much for these kids. The way the teachers just didn't listen to them at all, punishing them for speaking out, but still calling themselves feminist just got to me. It was beautifully written. 

I think this is just a perfect book for kids to introduce them to these important topics. Showing them what to do in the face of sexual harassment and generally standing up to classmates in general. 

4 stars 

My thanks go to Netgalley and Firefly press for providing me with this copy for review. 

 

Princess of Souls by Alexandra Christo

Pages: 416

Publisher: Hot Key Books 

Released: 10th of October 2022 

Return to the world of TO KILL A KINGDOM for a brand-new fantasy adventure about a young witch groomed to steal souls for an immortal king and the reckless, rebellious boy to whom her fate is tied.

For sixteen years, Selestra has been trapped in her tower on the Floating Mountain, preparing to take her mother's place as the King's Witch, who foretells deaths in the Festival of Predictions. Outrunning your fate earns a wish and the chance to steal the King's immortality. But die and your soul is forfeit. And though thousands have tried, nobody has ever beaten death.

A soldier in the King's army, Nox is an unlikely candidate for the Festival, but, driven by revenge, he is determined to steal the King's immortality and kill the entirety of his court, starting with Selestra.

Yet when Selestra touches Nox in her very first prediction, their fates become entwined, and death seeks to take both their souls. Only by working together can they survive long enough to escape the dark fate and the immortal King that now hunts them.

A feast of storytelling, featuring breathtaking journeys, nail-biting battles and powerful magic.

What I Have to Say 

I loved To Kill a Kingdom so much, but every other one of Alexandra Christo's books have disappointed me. I just can't seem to capture the magic that I had when I first read To Kill a Kingdom. It's a pity because she is genuinely a good writer. 

I did like some parts of it very much though. The magic system was my especial favourite. How the way her mother teaches her magic tied up in death and darkness, but then Selestra's journey teaches her a different way to use her magic and how to find balance. 

I liked the sassy enemies-to-lovers romance, but it all felt a bit predictable. It's possible I've just read too much enemies to lovers, but it just didn't hit right for me at all. 

All in all, I think I liked what this book said in terms of magic and character progression, but the execution felt a bit off for me.

 

3.5 stars

My thanks go to Hot Key Books and Netgalley for providing me this copy for review. 

Stone by Finbar Hawkins

Pages: 308 

Publisher: Head of Zeus 

Released: 1st of September 2022 

A second novel from the bestselling author of Branford Boase-shortlisted and Carnegie-nominated Witch. An engrossing story of fathers and sons, death and grief, and unexpected bonds, new and old, forged by dark and benign magic.

When Sam, grieving the death of his father, finds a silver-flecked stone, ice-cold to the touch, strange and eerie things begin to happen. Myth, legend, magic and witchcraft mingle on the ancient hillside where the chalk white horse has galloped for centuries. Ravens wheel. Wolves prowl. As Halloween draws close, witches dance. Odin gathers brave, fallen warriors to his side.

Only the mysterious new girl, Oona, can heal Sam's heart, revealing tarot secrets with her bewitching ways.

What I Have to Say 

I'm in two minds about this book, the story itself was sweet, touching and emotional, but the writing fell a bit flat. It could have been an amazing book, it had so much potential, but it just left me completely unaffected. 

The main problem that I could see in it was the dialogue. It felt a bit stilted and unbelievable. Some of it could be the regional accents so I will allow that I could be wrong about this, but to me a lot of it just didn't felt like stuff that teenagers would say. And they kept using each others names in every sentence. 

I loved the stuff about witches and mythology though. I loved the descriptions of Odin and the way he seemed so present in the book. I loved Oona completely and how she brought in the paganism and magic. The mythology in this book did not disappoint. 

All in all, it just disappointed me. 

3.5 stars 

My thanks go to Head of Zeus for providing me with this copy for review. 

How to Be More Hedgehog by Anne- Marie Conway

Pages: 208 

Publisher: UCLan 

Released: 1st of September 2022 

Lily has a stammer. The signal between her brain and her mouth is all messed up - and it's getting worse. 

When a video of her practicing her class presentation is uploaded onto YouTube - head thrust forward, eyelids fluttering, lips stretched wide - Lily's nightmare begins. Cyberbullying, kids at school whispering, even best friend Mia laughing behind her back. Lily's confidence takes a nose-dive and she can only see one way out: run away to Dad in Scotland and start all over again. 

But Lily quickly realises that running away isn't the answer - that her stammer will follow her wherever she goes... HOW TO BE MORE HEDGEHOG is about friendship and family and finding the courage to speak out.

What I Have to Say 

This book was in different ways: cute, emotional and powerful. It had lots of animal facts with different illustrations of hedgehogs at the start of each chapter, which was just adorable and Lily was such a sweet character who was really easy to emphasise. 

It was emotional because of the things Lily went through, some parts I actually wanted to cry because of how cruel the other children were. Even at the start of the book when the adults were just talked to her, I wanted to yell at them because they kept interrupting her and talking over her. It was heart-breaking. 

And it was powerful. Just seeing her learn to be brave and to put herself out there, to be more hedgehog was so beautiful. And it didn't have the ableist notion that she had to cure her stammer in order to get there. 

A must for any child with a love of animals. 

5 stars 

My thanks go to UCLan and Netgalley for providing me with this copy for review.