jang's review against another edition
4.0
Like, The Craft meets Money Heist. Like, Salem witches but fused with more supernatural brujeria, thievery and magic. This resonated so well with my witchcraft-loving soul.
Also this may be a sign from the universe for me to finally pursue my dream of becoming an herbalist ha ha ha. :)
Also this may be a sign from the universe for me to finally pursue my dream of becoming an herbalist ha ha ha. :)
loulalou's review against another edition
3.25
Simple and predictable read. Sure it's enjoyable for younger people. The lore of the world is slightly odd, and I didn’t really get why witches were so hated. I understand the real history of witches but I don’t think the relationship between witches and the outside world was very well established in this world. Overall an okay read.
zombi02's review against another edition
3.0
I liked this more then i thought i would. It was a bit confusing at first because they kept mentioning in world stuff and not quite explaining it, but they got there. My only complaint was that there were way too many twists towards the end. Like the author couldnt decide on one or two, so she used all of them at once. But other then that, pretty solid!
christikb's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
hopeful
inspiring
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Witch Haven was an unexpectedly engaging and well written book. The plot twist was a little predictable, but it was executed in a new and cool way that I hadn't seen before. I devoured this 300+ page book in a few hours, just because it felt fun and easy to do so! While it's not peak literature, Witch Haven is like a cozy blanket--you want to cuddle into it and you enjoy your time so much more because you had it. It's a cozy, witchy read and that is ABSOLUTELY what I needed.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse
Moderate: Suicide
bolynne's review against another edition
3.0
****I received this ARC from NetGalley and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Children's Book Group in exchange for an honest review!****
This book was really and easy to get into. It also reminded me of one of my favorite movie series as a kid: Halloweentown. The story was intriguing and really made me want to get sucked into it for a long time.
Unfortunately, it does suffer from instalove which is a little annoying. The world could have been a little more fleshed out and some things with the zealots never really got resolved. However, maybe some of this could be fixed with a sequel.
So, it was definitely a good time, but with a few tweaks and a bit more fleshing out, it could be absolutely amazing. I'm glad I had the opportunity to read it.
This book was really and easy to get into. It also reminded me of one of my favorite movie series as a kid: Halloweentown. The story was intriguing and really made me want to get sucked into it for a long time.
Unfortunately, it does suffer from instalove which is a little annoying. The world could have been a little more fleshed out and some things with the zealots never really got resolved. However, maybe some of this could be fixed with a sequel.
So, it was definitely a good time, but with a few tweaks and a bit more fleshing out, it could be absolutely amazing. I'm glad I had the opportunity to read it.
teacher2library's review against another edition
2.0
Meh. This book was okay, but it could have been a lot better if it:
1) wasn't so predictable
2) more had been done with the backstory of the havens and Macie's mom
1) wasn't so predictable
2) more had been done with the backstory of the havens and Macie's mom
kba76's review against another edition
3.0
If I'm honest, this is more of a 3.5 but there were just a few discrepancies which prevents me rating it higher.
When I saw this on NetGalley I, along with many others I would imagine, was expecting lots of details about witchcraft and perhaps some focus on exploring how it impacted on people's lives in this imagined future. I got it, but not quite in the way I expected.
Macie and her mother, Aubra, move into his safe Haven called Witchtown. It is a safe community for those ostracised from the rest of the world when their talents become known. Sadly, it's the latest mark in this pair's thieving trail. Only this time, things are different.
Macie has always felt rather reliant on her mother. As a Void (someone with no magic) Macie has depended on her mother's Natural ability to protect her. This leaves her vulnerable as she can rely on no-one. Yet we are told that in their last residence Macie did exactly that, and it started off what can best be described as an unstoppable source of tension.
Macie is a character who comes into her own in this, with the help of new friends Talya and Kellan. She learns more about who she is, what she wants from her life and what it might cost her to achieve it. Even though her mother is depicted in a rather caricature fashion, there's something rewarding about watching Macie take a stand against what she's been told her entire life.
Though there's some interest in watching Macie learn the truth about herself (which we suspect from quite early on), there's a lot that just doesn't add up and this is, ultimately, frustrating.
When I saw this on NetGalley I, along with many others I would imagine, was expecting lots of details about witchcraft and perhaps some focus on exploring how it impacted on people's lives in this imagined future. I got it, but not quite in the way I expected.
Macie and her mother, Aubra, move into his safe Haven called Witchtown. It is a safe community for those ostracised from the rest of the world when their talents become known. Sadly, it's the latest mark in this pair's thieving trail. Only this time, things are different.
Macie has always felt rather reliant on her mother. As a Void (someone with no magic) Macie has depended on her mother's Natural ability to protect her. This leaves her vulnerable as she can rely on no-one. Yet we are told that in their last residence Macie did exactly that, and it started off what can best be described as an unstoppable source of tension.
Macie is a character who comes into her own in this, with the help of new friends Talya and Kellan. She learns more about who she is, what she wants from her life and what it might cost her to achieve it. Even though her mother is depicted in a rather caricature fashion, there's something rewarding about watching Macie take a stand against what she's been told her entire life.
Though there's some interest in watching Macie learn the truth about herself (which we suspect from quite early on), there's a lot that just doesn't add up and this is, ultimately, frustrating.
a_h_haga's review against another edition
3.0
I bought this on a whim, never having heard of the author or the book. I had some misgivings - it is a YA after all, and finding a YA book without romance is near impossible, but the blurb didn't actually say anything about a romance, so I had hope.
There was a romance there, but it was a really small part of the story, but just enough to claim the title of a YA, so to speak.
The rest of the story was predictable, but entertaining enough. I know I'm not the demographic, so I won't dwell too much on that point and instead chose to have enjoyed the book.
It was an easy listen, the narrator doing a good job and the writing having a good flow that was easy to get lost in - as far as I could tell from an audiobook.
All in all, I'm glad I took the chance.
There was a romance there, but it was a really small part of the story, but just enough to claim the title of a YA, so to speak.
The rest of the story was predictable, but entertaining enough. I know I'm not the demographic, so I won't dwell too much on that point and instead chose to have enjoyed the book.
It was an easy listen, the narrator doing a good job and the writing having a good flow that was easy to get lost in - as far as I could tell from an audiobook.
All in all, I'm glad I took the chance.
easolinas's review against another edition
1.0
Right out of the starting gate, "Witchtown" triggered two massive pet peeves of mine:
1. Stories that conflate fantasy witches and real-life neopagans.
2. The depiction of powerful supernatural/magical people being unjustly seen as dangerous by mean evil bigots... without acknowledging that they actually ARE dangerous.
So I was already in a foul mood when the first chapter of "Witchtown rolled around, simply because I could tell that these were not going to be insignificant flaws. And Cory Putman Oakes did little to endear her book to me as the rest of the tale unfolded -- the setting is dry as old toast, and the story is a fairly predictable tale about a girl who doesn't really want to be bad, and just needs to be inspired by The Power of Friendship (And Teen Romance) to mend her ways.
The story takes place in an alternate reality where witches actually have quantitative magical power, and are constantly discriminated against by Evil Straw Christians so that they have to live in ghetto-like Havens. No, the overtones of Nazi Germany and Native American reservations won't amount to anything. It just feels like a Tumblrite's persecution fantasy.
Macie and her mother Aubra have been conning their way through all the Havens in the United States, stealing money and covering their tracks with memory-wiping spells. Remember, only evil Christian bigots think witches could be dangerous. Because they're not. Even though they have magic that can rewire your brain and destroy your city. Not dangerous at all.
Their ultimate goal is Witchtown, a supposedly idyllic community built by a legendary witch who will not actually have any impact on the plot, and occupied entirely with witches (and by witches, I mean they're all white Wiccans with no cultural or religious differentiation). Macie also keeps to keep her true nature a secret -- she is a Void, a witch completely unable to do magic of any kind.
Predictably, Macie comes to like Witchtown and the people who live there, especially the local pretty boy Kellen Stewart (I think we found a Twilight fan) and the reclusive goth psychic Tayla. She's also trying to build despite the interference of a fiery poltergeist. But she also suspects that someone has murdered, and that her mother might be about to do something unspeakable in the pursuit of money. Can she gather the strength to defy her mother once and for all?
"Witchtown" isn't so much terrible as it is relentlessly mediocre. The setting of Witchtown has actual promise as a sort of supernatural reservation, so to speak... but the actual setting is never really fleshed out. We're told there are houses... and streets.... small businesses... a mayor... but the actual town remains amorphously dry and dusty. The lesbian baker tells us at one point that it's a place where misfits and refugees from the "real world" can gather and let their weirdness hang out, but I never actually saw any of that happen. It's just a standard small town, except everyone is Wiccan.
And unfortunately, the writing is not much better. Oakes has a fairly pedestrian style with a few moments of flair that blaze out (the final confrontation with Aubra), but her plotting is absolutely atrocious. She seems to simply write about whatever pops into her head, and then knits a few of those developments into the actual main story so that there will be a plot... and then leaves most of those developments in the dust, without even enough explanation to develop them into red herrings.
For instance, it seems like the Natural investors will have some impact on the story. No, they don't. It seems like Autumn and Royce will matter to the story. No, they don't. It seems like the hidden vault of money will be somehow important. No, it's not. These aren't even red herrings -- they are dropped plot threads that litter the story like dropped pins, and are rarely if ever mentioned later.
Furthermore, "Witchtown" has the smug, smothering qualities of the worst religious fiction -- it practically crams Wicca down your throat with all the store names ("Pentagram Pizza") and constant emphasis that all the witches practice Wicca and never anything else, and Wicca is better than other religions (meaning Christianity, the only other religion even mentioned). Christianity is only represented by the ridiculously-named Zealots, and is absurdly eeeeeeevil and intolerant, without even a hint of intellect hinted at -- the only smart and "good" Christian is the one who smugly and obnoxiously lectures us on how all religions are the same anyway. Just flip the religions around, and tell me it wouldn't end up on a "Christian Fiction" bookshelf.
And no, the characters don't save this mess either. Macie is a vague, weak character who only develops a spine toward the end of the story, and spends most of the story feeling sorry for herself. Most of the other characters -- the High Priestess, the baker, the other teenagers -- are nondescript "types" that just sort of float in and out whenever Macie needs them to. The only interesting character is Tayla, who sees others' hidden thoughts but keeps herself from using them entirely through iron will and inner strength.
Despite some promise, "Witchtown" has a messy disjointed plot, a pushy religious message, and a nondescript cast of characters -- try the Curse Workers trilogy for a starkly logical (and non-religious) take on the oppression of the magical.
1. Stories that conflate fantasy witches and real-life neopagans.
2. The depiction of powerful supernatural/magical people being unjustly seen as dangerous by mean evil bigots... without acknowledging that they actually ARE dangerous.
So I was already in a foul mood when the first chapter of "Witchtown rolled around, simply because I could tell that these were not going to be insignificant flaws. And Cory Putman Oakes did little to endear her book to me as the rest of the tale unfolded -- the setting is dry as old toast, and the story is a fairly predictable tale about a girl who doesn't really want to be bad, and just needs to be inspired by The Power of Friendship (And Teen Romance) to mend her ways.
The story takes place in an alternate reality where witches actually have quantitative magical power, and are constantly discriminated against by Evil Straw Christians so that they have to live in ghetto-like Havens. No, the overtones of Nazi Germany and Native American reservations won't amount to anything. It just feels like a Tumblrite's persecution fantasy.
Macie and her mother Aubra have been conning their way through all the Havens in the United States, stealing money and covering their tracks with memory-wiping spells. Remember, only evil Christian bigots think witches could be dangerous. Because they're not. Even though they have magic that can rewire your brain and destroy your city. Not dangerous at all.
Their ultimate goal is Witchtown, a supposedly idyllic community built by a legendary witch who will not actually have any impact on the plot, and occupied entirely with witches (and by witches, I mean they're all white Wiccans with no cultural or religious differentiation). Macie also keeps to keep her true nature a secret -- she is a Void, a witch completely unable to do magic of any kind.
Predictably, Macie comes to like Witchtown and the people who live there, especially the local pretty boy Kellen Stewart (I think we found a Twilight fan) and the reclusive goth psychic Tayla. She's also trying to build despite the interference of a fiery poltergeist. But she also suspects that someone has murdered, and that her mother might be about to do something unspeakable in the pursuit of money. Can she gather the strength to defy her mother once and for all?
"Witchtown" isn't so much terrible as it is relentlessly mediocre. The setting of Witchtown has actual promise as a sort of supernatural reservation, so to speak... but the actual setting is never really fleshed out. We're told there are houses... and streets.... small businesses... a mayor... but the actual town remains amorphously dry and dusty. The lesbian baker tells us at one point that it's a place where misfits and refugees from the "real world" can gather and let their weirdness hang out, but I never actually saw any of that happen. It's just a standard small town, except everyone is Wiccan.
And unfortunately, the writing is not much better. Oakes has a fairly pedestrian style with a few moments of flair that blaze out (the final confrontation with Aubra), but her plotting is absolutely atrocious. She seems to simply write about whatever pops into her head, and then knits a few of those developments into the actual main story so that there will be a plot... and then leaves most of those developments in the dust, without even enough explanation to develop them into red herrings.
For instance, it seems like the Natural investors will have some impact on the story. No, they don't. It seems like Autumn and Royce will matter to the story. No, they don't. It seems like the hidden vault of money will be somehow important. No, it's not. These aren't even red herrings -- they are dropped plot threads that litter the story like dropped pins, and are rarely if ever mentioned later.
Furthermore, "Witchtown" has the smug, smothering qualities of the worst religious fiction -- it practically crams Wicca down your throat with all the store names ("Pentagram Pizza") and constant emphasis that all the witches practice Wicca and never anything else, and Wicca is better than other religions (meaning Christianity, the only other religion even mentioned). Christianity is only represented by the ridiculously-named Zealots, and is absurdly eeeeeeevil and intolerant, without even a hint of intellect hinted at -- the only smart and "good" Christian is the one who smugly and obnoxiously lectures us on how all religions are the same anyway. Just flip the religions around, and tell me it wouldn't end up on a "Christian Fiction" bookshelf.
And no, the characters don't save this mess either. Macie is a vague, weak character who only develops a spine toward the end of the story, and spends most of the story feeling sorry for herself. Most of the other characters -- the High Priestess, the baker, the other teenagers -- are nondescript "types" that just sort of float in and out whenever Macie needs them to. The only interesting character is Tayla, who sees others' hidden thoughts but keeps herself from using them entirely through iron will and inner strength.
Despite some promise, "Witchtown" has a messy disjointed plot, a pushy religious message, and a nondescript cast of characters -- try the Curse Workers trilogy for a starkly logical (and non-religious) take on the oppression of the magical.