Book Review Wednesday: The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna

Since it's now October, I'm reading all of the witchy and spooky themed stories. I finished this new book a few days ago and had to make it my next review. "The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches" was released on August 23rd, 2022 and it has the most captivating title and cover I've ever seen. 

I've heard people compare this story to giving off the feeling that Gilmore Girls does and as a huge Gilmore Girl fan girl, I can cosign that statement. This is a very cozy, sweet, beautiful story about family, love, friendships and learning to let yourself free fall into who you are supposed to be.

The book is a rather quick read and will captivate you from the first page.

Publisher's Summary

A warm and uplifting novel about an isolated witch whose opportunity to embrace a quirky new family—and a new love—changes the course of her life.

As one of the few witches in Britain, Mika Moon knows she has to hide her magic, keep her head down, and stay away from other witches so their powers don’t mingle and draw attention. And as an orphan who lost her parents at a young age and was raised by strangers, she’s used to being alone and she follows the rules...with one exception: an online account, where she posts videos "pretending" to be a witch. She thinks no one will take it seriously.
 
But someone does. An unexpected message arrives, begging her to travel to the remote and mysterious Nowhere House to teach three young witches how to control their magic. It breaks all of the rules, but Mika goes anyway, and is immediately tangled up in the lives and secrets of not only her three charges, but also an absent archaeologist, a retired actor, two long-suffering caretakers, and…Jamie. The handsome and prickly librarian of Nowhere House would do anything to protect the children, and as far as he’s concerned, a stranger like Mika is a threat. An irritatingly appealing threat.
 
As Mika begins to find her place at Nowhere House, the thought of belonging somewhere begins to feel like a real possibility. But magic isn't the only danger in the world, and when peril comes knocking at their door, Mika will need to decide whether to risk everything to protect a found family she didn’t know she was looking for....

My Thoughts

This book was really sweet and had so much beautiful magic woven throughout. I loved being inside Mika's head, seeing magic from her POV and really understanding it. It made it feel so real and it desperately brought back the child in me who wanted to have super powers. 

I loved the incorporation of Youtube and witchy social media accounts as it made the book feel so relevant. The entire premise of needing a senior witch to train these younger 'wards' was a unique gateway and tie in to the overall messaging of the fact that witches need to keep their powers secret from the world. When you hear more about Mika and her upbringing with Primrose, and how lonely it was, it was extremely sad and I found myself constantly rooting for Nowhere House to be her final family. 

Speaking of Nowhere House, I loved all the characters there; Jamie, the girls, Ken, Lucie and Ian - they were all so fun (even grumpy Jamie) but their love for one another jumped off the page. Not one character annoyed me in this book - everyone was so endearing, so open and warm, it brought so much joy to me. 

Even Primrose who had a hard exterior, had her endearing moments; I pictured this ice cold queen who was fabulous in all ways and it made me long to see her be vulnerable.

I was not expecting multiple twists in this book but I got them and they added so much to the story. I was shocked at the turn of events and how the story ended up but it was a really nice direction for the story to go in.

If you love witchy stories and crave something cozy and meaningful, I cannot recommend The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches enough! It's a must-read for the Halloween season.

xoxo

B