Reviews with content warning for Alcohol - The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches

If people are looking for a cosy, found family romance with a fantasy backdrop and DON’T want to support the harmful book that is The House in the Cerulean Sea, I would point them in this book’s direction. Reading it makes you feel safe and loved, just like the MC Mika who is finally finding a place to belong. The little family at Nowhere House is quirky and incredibly tight-knit. Ian and Ken’s relationship dynamic was darling in particular. While Mandanna does include sweet, casual moments (which are key to the found family trope), I do wish there had been more of these, spread out so we could see every character interact with every other character. I also wish we had seen Jamie as a father figure to all the girls like the book says he is - we are only really shown his interaction with Terracotta. I also wish Lucie and her story featured more.

Mika has some real depth to her as the MC. Her journey is all about feeling safe enough, loved enough, and valued enough to feel like she belongs. She’s dealing with childhood trauma stemming from exploitative carers, but also from the way the witching society is set up in the UK; that is, according to the mantra “divided we are safer.” Mika really questions this structure, seeing how the three kids she meets are thriving together, and so asks the question: is happiness together worth the risk of danger? I really liked the journey she went on.

The romance was pretty good. I don’t have the same issues some reviewers did where they couldn’t see the chemistry between Mika and Jamie - I personally did, and could definitely see the ways in which they fitted together. Hurt/comfort as a trope is employed, paired with the-LI-goes-feral-when-the-MC-is-hurt, which is a fave combo of mine and was done really well here. An issue I did have was that Jamie felt a little half-baked as a character sometimes. His POV is occasionally included, but not enough to get a real sense of him - given an element of the plot, I can understand why Mandanna didn’t commit to dual POV, but it did have that unfortunate effect. Also, the complication with his backstory (which gave him dynamism) is introduced and resolved within a couple of chapters, so the rest of the time he lacked the depth as a character that I wanted.

The non-romantic subplot was also enjoyable - I thought it was cleverly done and tied in well with the world-building and romance, only adding to the story. And the world-building itself was great. Mandanna really focussed in on the social element of witches, which as aforementioned, heavily plays into the characters and plot. But also the history she builds and how magic is personified was so cool. Don’t even get me started on the potion magic, which is my JAM. I lovedddd seeing Mika explain ingredients and their interactions, and mix up brews.

I thought this was a standalone but to my delight it seems that a companion novel is coming out next year. I’m looking forward to it!

Rep: British-Indian MC, Achillean SC, Achillean British-Japanese SC, Black SC, British-Vietnamese SC, British-Palestinian SC

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rivercat0338's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective tense fast-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

Content Warnings

twistykris's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted 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

5.0

OH MY HEART. I absolutely adored everything about this book. A wonderful cozy, witchy, found-family story, with a dash of a grumpy-sunshine romance.

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ophycore's review against another edition

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adventurous funny hopeful lighthearted 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

5.0

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bebidocrimes's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted 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

I'm finding lighter stories are much easier to audiobook than something I really have to pay attention to and remember important details. This was a cute, magical found family story with interesting characters and British children swearing. Heavy handed with the inclusion of tropes (grumpy/sunshine, 'we are made of stardust', and yeah, the found family), but it was still really heartfelt and I loved the irregular structure of their family as opposed to straight nuclear. Ian, Ken, and Lucy were so important to me.

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chrisljm's review against another edition

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lighthearted relaxing fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

loved every character in this book, but i didn’t enjoy the second half of the book as much as i enjoyed the first half.

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lizacorn's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

This is one of those cosy books were you might cry a bit throughout. Feels like a warm hug with how human and kind it is.
A truly special story.

Also! Loved how everyone’s skin colour was shared.

Content Warnings

kappafrog's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious 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

3.75

The characters and setting were very charming. Sometimes it was a little too sweet for me, bit I got swept up in it anyway. I really enjoyed the magic and witch lore. I liked Mika but especially loved the girls and Ken and Ian. The main drawback holding me back from a better rating is that I found the romance pretty boring and predictable, though there were a few highlights. Jamie was just a character I've seen many times before. That said, I enjoyed this book and would recommend it to a fantasy fan who likes found family and cosy stories.

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