Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna

289 reviews

sonjaelisee's review against another edition

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4.75

Such a good book! Very sweet and wholesome adult romance and found family story. I thought the author did a great job with the different characters and their personalities. The story was a bit predictable but still heartwarming. I did like the magical elements and thought they were incorporated in a natural way. 

I read it around Halloween for the witches but should have saved it for November/December because there are more winter/Christmas/solstice vibes than there are spooky witchy vibes. 
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amaliachimera's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful lighthearted relaxing
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

This was pretty cute and heartwarming, but also lacking depth amongst the tweeness! I was expecting more magic in a book with “witch” in the title, and magic mentioned so much in the blurb, so that let me down a little, and I’d say this book is more about relationships and a little bit of trauma rather than magic. The found family aspect of this book is what I liked the most, since I think a lot of neurodivergent people IRL gravitate towards this idea. (And I felt like the magic aspects were a subtle, maybe unintentional, mirror to neurodivergence.)

I liked most of the characters, aside from the trope of “jerk who MC falls in love with despite being a jerk all the time,” which just makes me sigh. Folks, the heart of gold has to be more visible to make this trope work… liking some kids is not enough!

My main gripe was how random and frequent the word “fucking” and “fuck” were in the writing. I don’t mind cussing, really!! Haha. But it just felt so awkwardly interjected into the dialogue and characters’ thoughts, so much so that I began to suspect the author put them all over to take down the twee level a notch. I don’t think it worked, and moreso, it was jarring against the cozy world of this book! Also the most cringe at the line, “that’s not the only thing that’s hard” 🤢 — which at least was not spoken out loud.
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startjpw23's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful lighthearted relaxing sad 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

3.75

This story is set in modern times. Witches exist, but the general populace is not aware of them. The witches would like to keep it this way for fear of persecution. Witches cannot frequently gather with other witches because too much magic in one location could cause them to be detected. The main character in the book is one of the witches, Mika. She has a YouTube channel where she pretends to be a witch despite the fact that she really is a witch. This brings her to the attention of a group of non-witch adults who live together and are trying to raise 3 young (9 years, 8 years, and 7 years) witches. They ask Mika if she would come live with them and help train the 3 young witches to safely use their powers. Despite the prohibitions against witches gathering together, Mika agrees to come and train the young witches. One of the adults is Jamie who does not want Mika there and is quite grumpy. I went into the book expecting it to be mainly about a witch joining a found family and training 3 young witches. This was a big part of it. But a bigger part of it was a slow burn romance. I found the romance a little too slow burn for my tastes. It seemed to drag on for a long time before resolution. The book is relatively low stake and cozy. I did enjoy reading it. I would have liked more of the training of the children and less of the romance. I just would have liked a better balance. 
There is one slightly graphic sex scene that seems a bit out of place. I recommend this book to anyone who would like to read a slow burn romance with a good amount of found family. Just realize that the romance is the more dominant part of the book. For those who have an issue with witches or a slightly graphic sex scene, this book probably isn't for you.
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locust1266's review against another edition

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

3.0

my feelings for this one are kind of complicated 

things I liked 
1. MC and the kids
2. the witchy elements 

things I dislike 
1 the love interest [ god I have never hated an ML as much as I hate Jamie]
2 the corny writing style [ this book feels like eating an excessively sweet donut]
3 the primrose hate 
4.the romance [ it was completely unnecessary this book would have been better without it; the romantic scenes make me downright uncomfortable] 
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mice_are_nice's review against another edition

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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

3.75

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nothingtosay's review against another edition

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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

4.0

A 'cozy' story where there are some mild angst, but it gets resolved neatly at the end. Perfect for those who just want a fun quick story to read. The plot did get a bit dull in the middle which makes the ending feels a bit rushed but otherwise not too bad.
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sparksofkell's review against another edition

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hopeful lighthearted relaxing 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

4.0

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leannanecdote's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

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fujiopples's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring 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

4.0

"Kindness, on the other hand, runs deep. Kindness is what happens when no one's looking" (Mandanna 127).

so cute, i love witchcraft, romance, and found family!! only bad thing is that they're all british... but i can forgive that ig
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itsheyfay's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious relaxing sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • 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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