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A review by suz_dugard_writes
The Witches of Moonshyne Manor by Bianca Marais
5.0
I had the privilege of being a beta reader on The Witches of Moonshyne Manor and have been anxiously awaiting the moment when the rest of the world would get to experience the same joy I felt when reading it.
Like Bianca’s previous books (Hum if You Don’t Know the Words and If You Want to Make God Laugh), The Witches of Moonshyne Manor is filled with her signature heart and compassion, but where those books dealt with more serious topics, The Witches is a flat-out romp. Saying it’s House in the Cerulean Sea meets The Golden Girls is absolutely accurate—it’s equal parts kind and hilarious. Bianca’s themes of equality and compassion remain at the fore in this one, but the comedy is turned all the way up to eleven, making me laugh out loud at several points (a feat few books have accomplished, save Good Omens and anything Nick Hornby).
Also like her previous books, The Witches has a few good twists in it that will stop you in your tracks before driving you on to learn more. There are spells, a heist, sinister players (both of this world and not) and a race against time. It's fast-paced and wildly inventive—I never knew what was going to happen next and kept turning the pages long after my usual bed-time because I couldn’t wait to find out where things were going.
The cast of characters is diverse and distinct, with some great animal secondary characters in addition to the witches. If you don’t fall in love with RBG the dog or Widget the crow, you are made of stone.
I could go on and on, but the bottom line is: read it and be prepared to laugh, cry and hug it like you’ve never hugged a book before.
Like Bianca’s previous books (Hum if You Don’t Know the Words and If You Want to Make God Laugh), The Witches of Moonshyne Manor is filled with her signature heart and compassion, but where those books dealt with more serious topics, The Witches is a flat-out romp. Saying it’s House in the Cerulean Sea meets The Golden Girls is absolutely accurate—it’s equal parts kind and hilarious. Bianca’s themes of equality and compassion remain at the fore in this one, but the comedy is turned all the way up to eleven, making me laugh out loud at several points (a feat few books have accomplished, save Good Omens and anything Nick Hornby).
Also like her previous books, The Witches has a few good twists in it that will stop you in your tracks before driving you on to learn more. There are spells, a heist, sinister players (both of this world and not) and a race against time. It's fast-paced and wildly inventive—I never knew what was going to happen next and kept turning the pages long after my usual bed-time because I couldn’t wait to find out where things were going.
The cast of characters is diverse and distinct, with some great animal secondary characters in addition to the witches. If you don’t fall in love with RBG the dog or Widget the crow, you are made of stone.
I could go on and on, but the bottom line is: read it and be prepared to laugh, cry and hug it like you’ve never hugged a book before.