B*WITCH
by Paige McKenzie, Nancy Ohlin
Series: B*Witch #1
Series Rating:
on July 7, 2020
Setting: Sorrow Point, Washington
Genres: YA Fantasy
Pages: 336
Format: Audible Audiobook, Audio CD, ebook, Hardcover, Kindle, Paperback
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When the new girl in school joins a group of teen witches, she and her friends must team up with a rival coven to take down a mysterious killer.
New girl and secret witch Iris just wants to get through her first day of school without a panic attack. The last thing she expects is to be taken in by a coven of three witches: soft-spoken Greta, thoughtful and musical Ridley, and fiery and spirited Binx. They may be the first witches Iris has met IRL, but their coven is not alone in their small northwestern town.
The Triad is the other coven at their school. When the Triad's not using spells to punish their exes or break up happy couples for fun, they practice dark magic. The two covens have a rivalry stretching all the way back to junior high.
When tragedy strikes and one of their own is murdered, the rival covens must band together to find out who is responsible before it's too late. Someone's anti-witch ideology has turned deadly . . . and one of them is next.
B*Witch by Paige McKenzie and Nancy Ohlin is perfect for fans who want a fantastically written read about teen witches.
Will the two covens get along to stop the threat?
The two covens and the two new witches in town all meet at Sorrow Point High School. The worldbuilding and the magic system that Ms. McKenzie and Ms. Ohlin created are fantastic. I loved how they incorporated it into US history and how, at the beginning of each new chapter or section, there is something about witchcraft mentioned. There is a lot to love about this book, and I just devoured it once I started reading. I also love how they curse by saying “hex” instead of whatever curse word fits into that sentence.
The baddies within this world are fantastic, especially why someone killed the other witch.
The Characters
Here are the teen witches that we meet.
The Triad
First up, I’m mentioning the Triad, who are, basically, in my head, the Mean Girls version of this book.
We have the leader of the coven, Divinity “Div” Florescu. Div is the Regina George of this pack, and she wants to have all the witches at her school to be in her coven. Of course, not everyone agrees with the practice of dark magic, which is what she does. Div’s familiar also happens to be a snake, and it’s pretty creepy. I do love Div, as she’s one of those characters that you just hate while still loving the character.
The other two members are Mira Jahani and Aysha Rodriguez. Now, Mira and Aysha were a duo before Div found them and recruited them to join her coven. Mira and Aysha are the Karen and Gretchen of the group, and they love to practice dark magic. This whole coven doesn’t like to follow the sunshine and daisy route of Callixta Crowe’s teachings through her grimoire, which was leaked to various sites by one of her descendants. I like how Mira and Aysha were friends first, and then they joined Div’s coven while also still honestly showing emotions that differ from Div’s.
The Good Coven
Now, this group loves to practice Callixta Crowe’s teachings through her grimoire and everything that it symbolizes by using their magic for good and not evil.
The leader of this coven is Greta Navarro. Greta is the complete polar opposite of Div. In that sense, she’s all about loving nature, and doing things that are for the good in their lives. Greta’s magic is green witch magic, and I think it’s fabulous. I love how she has this whole garden that she keeps healthy all the time. Greta has a cat familiar.
The members are Ridley Stone and Beatrix “Binx” Kato. We learn a lot about Ridley throughout the book, but from what I can tell you is that she loves music and likes to follow Callixta’s teachings. What I like about Ridley is that even though she moved to Sorrow Point last year is that she still has her own secrets from the group, but that doesn’t stop her magic from flowing when they need her help. Ridley’s familiar is a rabbit.
Binx is an amazing character. She is a cyber witch, and I honestly love how she puts her own spin on the whole witchcraft thing. Binx is Asian American and lets it show through how she dresses and acts at school while not letting anyone know that she’s a witch. Honestly, I love Binx and how she uses Pokemon in her witchcraft, along with using her computer skills to let her magic flow through.
The Two New Witches
For the two new witches and students at the school. We have Penelope Hart and Iris Gooding.
Penelope Hart is a witch, but we don’t know much about her magic. She is also dating a boy named Colter Jessup. Honestly, Penelope seems like a cool character, and I would love to be able to meet her as she seems so cool. Plus, she’s a beautuber! Penelope’s familiar is a dog.
Iris Gooding is an intuitive witch. She has a bunch of anxiety problems and is neurodivergent, so she has an IEP that makes it so she can wear noise-canceling headphones to be able to focus. I have to say that Iris has a lot of problems, but when it comes to her magic, it’s pretty cool. Iris is also a big gamer which is great for Binx to have another witch to talk to about those things if they are able to talk to each other.
Here’s to hoping in the next book, we see more of the two of them and how they deal with their magic.
Five Stars
Overall I am giving five stars to B*Witch by Paige McKenzie and Nancy Ohlin. I am also recommending it to anyone who loves a good teen witch book. I completely devoured this one, and I can’t wait until I get the next book to find out what happens next. Ms. McKenzie and Ms. Ohlin did amazing work on bringing this novel to life and how they made their world work with what they wanted to accomplish.
B*Witch Series
Thank you for dropping by! I hope you enjoyed this review of B*Witch by Paige McKenzie and Nancy Ohlin.
Until the next time,
Happy Reading!
About Nancy Ohlin
I was born in Tokyo, Japan and divided my childhood between there and Ohio. I received a BA in English from the University of Chicago. I am the author of the YA novels B*Witch and its sequel Witch Rising (co-authored with Paige McKenzie; Little, Brown); Consent; Beauty; and Always, Forever (all Simon Pulse) as well as the Blast Off! early-grade history series (Little Bee). I’ve collaborated with Quvenzhane Wallis, Chloe Lukasiak, and other celebrities, and I’ve written or ghostwritten over a hundred books for children, teens, and adults. I live in Ithaca, NY.
About Paige McKenzie
Paige McKenzie is a millennial hyphenate: a New York Times bestselling author, YouTuber, actor, influencer, creator, artist, and producer. Her first book series, the Haunting of Sunshine Girl, was on the New York Times bestseller list for over a month. Paige is constantly creating. Her Etsy shop, the Homebody Guild, is full of her art and designs, and she is always updating it with new creations. Paige also interacts daily with her Sunshiners across a variety of media including YouTube (where she has over half a million subscribers), Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Paige is a founding member of Coat Tale Productions, with three projects in active development. Paige lives in Portland, Oregon, with the love of her life, a seven-pound Chihuahua named Pongo.
Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
- 2023 Goodreads RC
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