amberinpieces's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, and Cursing
Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Racism, Sexism, Alcohol, Death of parent, Death, Homophobia, and Grief
edhyndman's review
adventurous
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing and Sexual content
rivercat0338's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Death of parent, Toxic relationship, and Cursing
Minor: Alcohol, Physical abuse, and Homophobia
hobbithopeful's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
One of the coziest books I've ever had the pleasure of reading, the pages were filled with wit, laughter, and found family.
Mika is one of the few Witches in Britain, and only gets to see her fellow Witches once every 3 months in a changing location. (Witches congregating and being friends is a big no no!) She posts videos on her socials pretending to be a Witch, but when she is invited to teach magic she wonders if she has been discovered.
There is not a single thing I would change about this story, the vibrant cast of characters made it come to life and it just resonated with such love and hope. If I had to choose a favorite character it would have to be Ian. He is so dramatic and over the top, everytime he was in a scene I was laughing.
I just really really love Sangu Mandanna's writing style. The descriptions, the magic scenes, it was just so incredible to read! The romance was so sweet, Mika is so real for being obsessed with Jamie's forearms. (I for one, am a huge forearm fan as well!)
Truly one of the most uplifting and cozy reads I have ever experienced, I highly recommend this book!
Mika is one of the few Witches in Britain, and only gets to see her fellow Witches once every 3 months in a changing location. (Witches congregating and being friends is a big no no!) She posts videos on her socials pretending to be a Witch, but when she is invited to teach magic she wonders if she has been discovered.
There is not a single thing I would change about this story, the vibrant cast of characters made it come to life and it just resonated with such love and hope. If I had to choose a favorite character it would have to be Ian. He is so dramatic and over the top, everytime he was in a scene I was laughing.
I just really really love Sangu Mandanna's writing style. The descriptions, the magic scenes, it was just so incredible to read! The romance was so sweet, Mika is so real for being obsessed with Jamie's forearms. (I for one, am a huge forearm fan as well!)
Truly one of the most uplifting and cozy reads I have ever experienced, I highly recommend this book!
Content Warnings
Minor: Racism, Homophobia, Sexual content, Death of parent, Child abuse, Abandonment, Toxic relationship, and Cursing
fromjuliereads's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Loved the characters and enjoyed the story! I did guess the twist pretty early on, but I like how it all played out. I also wish there had been a bit more on page interaction between Mika and Jamie. Parts felt like they spent time together and grew, but there were sections we were told they spent time together off page so it felt a little more sudden.
Anyways, very cozy and cute, and love the found family!
Anyways, very cozy and cute, and love the found family!
Content Warnings
Minor: Death of parent, Death, Cursing, Emotional abuse, and Confinement
A child makes jokes about murder; off-page physical abusebebidocrimes's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I'm finding lighter stories are much easier to audiobook than something I really have to pay attention to and remember important details. This was a cute, magical found family story with interesting characters and British children swearing. Heavy handed with the inclusion of tropes (grumpy/sunshine, 'we are made of stardust', and yeah, the found family), but it was still really heartfelt and I loved the irregular structure of their family as opposed to straight nuclear. Ian, Ken, and Lucy were so important to me.
Content Warnings
Minor: Alcohol, Cursing, and Sexual content
bek67's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Quick easy audiobook. Characters were likable and diverse. Book had a cozy Hallmark quality to it. I do not mind cussing and F$&K is my favorite cuss word. But I did not like the constant use of JC (which is my mind is the only true cuss word).
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cursing
ohheyitskaitlin's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Abandonment, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Confinement, Bullying, Grief, Blood, Alcohol, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual content, and Violence
skudiklier's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This book was just as cozy and good and magical the second time around! I reread this because we're reading it for my book club, and I'm so excited to have people to talk about it with, because the first time I read it it hadn't come out yet and I was trying so hard to convince anyone I could to read it. I love this book.
Original review pasted below:
I absolutely adored this book. I mean, really. It's got witches. It's got found family. It's got enemies to lovers. It's got queer grandpas. It's got cute little kids. It's got plot twists. What more could you ask for from a book, honestly.
Also--you know that feeling you get when you're deep into a good story, or maybe you've already finished it, and you find yourself wanting to go back to that world and those characters? You could be doing anything and then suddenly you have this weird urge that maybe you can't place for a minute, until you go, oh, I just want to go back to reading/watching that.
I get that a lot, but in most cases it's not until I'm a good ways into the story, unless I'm rereading a childhood favorite or something like that. What's weird about The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches is that I started feeling that way almost right from the beginning. I was barely into the book, and still would feel myself drawn to the characters. I didn't have a lot of time to read it at first, so I made my way through the first third the book pretty slowly, and it was surprisingly hard to not just drop everything and read it all so I could stay in the story.
By midway through, I sort of did drop everything to finish it. I couldn't help it. And agh, I just, I loved it so much. I have no idea if the author plans to write sequels, but I hope she does, just because I feel like I could spend so much longer in this world and with these characters, and never have enough.
Thank you to Berkley Publishing Group and Netgalley for the chance to read and review this ARC.
Original review pasted below:
I absolutely adored this book. I mean, really. It's got witches. It's got found family. It's got enemies to lovers. It's got queer grandpas. It's got cute little kids. It's got plot twists. What more could you ask for from a book, honestly.
Also--you know that feeling you get when you're deep into a good story, or maybe you've already finished it, and you find yourself wanting to go back to that world and those characters? You could be doing anything and then suddenly you have this weird urge that maybe you can't place for a minute, until you go, oh, I just want to go back to reading/watching that.
I get that a lot, but in most cases it's not until I'm a good ways into the story, unless I'm rereading a childhood favorite or something like that. What's weird about The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches is that I started feeling that way almost right from the beginning. I was barely into the book, and still would feel myself drawn to the characters. I didn't have a lot of time to read it at first, so I made my way through the first third the book pretty slowly, and it was surprisingly hard to not just drop everything and read it all so I could stay in the story.
By midway through, I sort of did drop everything to finish it. I couldn't help it. And agh, I just, I loved it so much. I have no idea if the author plans to write sequels, but I hope she does, just because I feel like I could spend so much longer in this world and with these characters, and never have enough.
Thank you to Berkley Publishing Group and Netgalley for the chance to read and review this ARC.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Xenophobia
Moderate: Cursing, Death, Bullying, Abandonment, Child abuse, Alcohol, Racism, and Sexual content
Minor: Murder, Homophobia, Abortion, and Death of parent
kaymay29's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
The book is heartwarming and relaxing. This is a story of found family and finding small ways to make changes in the the world. Pretty much every character is lovable in their own way and all of their interactions are so wholesome and the romantic relationships are very sweet.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cursing, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Death, Alcohol, and Death of parent