Reviews with content warning for Cursing - The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches

This book is easily a 5 stars to me. Super cosy, I loved all the characters, and lot of messages about life. Not a grand novel that will change the world but a sweet, cosy love story about found family.

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caelinsullivan's review against another edition

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hopeful lighthearted reflective 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

4.0

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abbey_marie's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

4.5

I’m giving this book 4.5 stars for the plot. This was an amazing book! Super cozy and witchy and fun, and the characters were all so lively and diverse, which I appreciated. The children are probably my favorite characters, next to the very dramatic Ian (I listened to the audiobook, so his voice was even more dramatic on there, lol). That said, there were some minor parts that made me uncomfortable or where the dialogue felt awkward or misplaced, like the character wouldn’t have realistically said that. So for those reasons, I had to knock it down half a star. But I still think this story is beautiful. It’s so much about facing your past traumas and overcoming them, of finding love and home and family, of trusting people again and giving your heart to them. It’s warm and funny and wonderful. I’d totally recommend it to the right person, given some of the caveats I’ll mention below.

Things I didn’t like (with some spoilers, which will be hidden):

There’s a lot of cursing in this book, particularly the f-word. Now, I curse a lot and don’t really mind it in books, but it felt excessive and at times, out of place. Also, if you get easily offended by cursing and are Christian, be aware that there are multiple (not many, but a few) uses of Jesus f-ing Christ
There’s one instance in which an adult character asks another adult character (discreetly) about their sex life with the eldest (10-year old) child present. The child picks up on this and says something like, “He’s asking if it’s been a while since you had sex.” I don’t know if maybe this is normal and sex-positive and I’m just a prude, but that made me uncomfortable. It just seems developmentally inappropriate for her to say that and know about that. Not to mention that the main character says that’s an inappropriate question but still answers it, saying something like “It’s been a while,” which again I found kind of weird and uncomfortable just because if it were me, I probably would not have felt comfortable answering that question in front of a ten-year old child.
The sex scene in the later part of the book was very graphic. I mean, reading reviews, I had expected that it might be intense since some people had said it made them uncomfortable, but other people said it was fine so I just kind of went into it thinking people probably made it out to be more graphic than it was, but let me tell you it was very graphic lol. As other people have said, it does feel misplaced for the tone of the story and I wish it was a bit less detailed. The dialogue was kind of awkward too. “I want my tongue between your legs.” 😬 It was a little cringe with all the licking and kissing and biting. It was basically erotica, which again, would have been expected if the tone of the story were different but I get why people feel it was misplaced. Like, I’ve never watched porn before, but…it’s pretty graphic from my understanding. This scene was really graphic. That said, it is a short scene, and easily skippable.

Things I liked/loved:

The setting was gorgeous. Nowhere House, the cottage, the garden. Beautiful!
The kids were so silly and funny and wonderful. Very realistic too with all of their strong personalities, quirks, and interests. They’re my favorite characters!
The story focuses a lot on finding family, having the courage to let yourself open up and trust and be loved, facing deep-seated core fears, and overcoming past traumas to open up to family and love again. This felt so beautifully empowering as someone who is a trauma survivor and I loved how the problems the main characters had were connected and intertwined with their childhoods and their own stories of trauma. It felt real in a way that a lot of other books don’t and while it doesn’t go too deep into the trauma (meaning at times things are more quickly resolved), it also doesn’t shy away from talking about it more than I think most books do and I really appreciated the sensitivity Mandanna showed towards the characters, their stories, and the dialogue to make that feel very realistic.
The magic in this story is so fun. This isn’t a high fantasy in the way that the system is super sophisticated and it’s hard to understand. It’s more just fun and lighthearted and simple, which I like and I think fit the tone of the story well. It’s very cozy and fun and cute, which was very heartwarming for me to read about. I know some people wanted more magic and to know more about how it worked, but I loved it. The focus is a lot more on the characters and their stories and family than it is about figuring all that out, but I think for this book it’s a great trade-off and I’m okay with that. Because if it was too technical, it wouldn’t be what it is. It wouldn’t be so cozy and fun and lighthearted or relaxing to read like it is.

Overall, this is a great book. I really loved it. Yes, there were some minor uncomfortable parts but honestly, those are really small and made up for by the fact that 95% of this book is super cozy, warm, loving, kind-hearted, and quite beautiful. The plot is why I’m giving this 4.5 stars, as I struggled with whether it should be 4 stars due to the problems I had, but it was a really beautiful story written with so much love, and so I couldn’t rate it lower. If you can get over the cursing, some minor awkward dialogue, and one short (2-3 pages or so) graphic sex scene that’s easily skippable, then you’ll find yourself with a beautiful, heart-warming story about opening up to love and finding where you belong. It’s worth it, in my opinion. I would totally read it again for all of the positive reasons I’ve listed here and I’m glad I did. It’s really opened something up inside me and been very healing and wonderful to read, and I’m so glad I did. ❤️

Content Warnings

annakh16's review against another edition

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funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

If you ever wished that Anathema Device aka the witch from Good Omens had more book/screen time - I think this book is for you.

There’s an all-round lovable cast, found family (my favourite trope), and a cute little romance. I thought the couple matched really well, though I could’ve done without

the smut scene

- too much of a tonal shift in my opinion. There are also a few “plot conveniences“ and the end was somewhat bizarre, but neither bothered me too much. This book was comforting, cosy, and overall just a good time.

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chrisb913's review against another edition

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adventurous funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious 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

This book was absolutely brilliant. I loved the found family, the grumpy-sunshine, the characters, the setting, the magic system, everything worked in this novel for me.

I think the kids were my favorite part. The way she wrote them to be open and honest and just express themselves was a joy to read. I also adored Ian as this lovable grandpa of this little family that just inactive these crazy plans and is constantly being brought back down to earth by his sweet mellow husband in Ken.

I will definitely be checking out some of Sangu's other works as this was just a delight to read.

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pagesofash's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious 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

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burnourhistory's review against another edition

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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

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jenniee_reads's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny lighthearted mysterious 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

Such a perfect comfy, cozy story! The writing was great. The characters were amazing. I read this so fast I almost want to reread it immediately. If you’re looking for a feel good, wholesome, found family story, this is the one!

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