After multiple recommendations, I finally got around to this week’s #spellbooksaturday feature…
The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna
★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆
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….
(source: bookshop.org)
This book was a delightful bit of treacle, a sweet and cozy story of finding your family in unexpected ways. Understandably, readers will draw comparisons to T.J. Klune’s The House in the Cerulean Sea, but I have to say that I preferred Mandanna’s work, as it is both without the exploitative controversy (ICYMI) and it actually addresses intersectionality.
Was it overly twee at times? For sure— but honestly, couldn’t we all use a bit of sweetness right now? I don’t know about where you’re at emotionally/mentally/physically, but right now it’s 9ºF here in upstate NY, and a rapist/racist/convicted felon is about to be sworn in as president, and YEAH, I need a bit of brain candy.
Have you read The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches? What were your thoughts? Share in the comments!
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