Reviews with content warning for Bullying - Wildseed Witch

Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

Wildseed Witch by Marti Dumas

9 reviews

gretchen_lynn's review against another edition

medium-paced

3.25

I liked the idea, but the bullying was way too much for me after experiencing very similar things. Finished, but it was a struggle. If the bullying was not such a big part of the book I would have rated it much higher.

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km_loves_books's review against another edition

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hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

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

3.0

As an adult reader, I think I may have been reading into this story a bit too much. The magic system was interesting, but there really was no explanation of how it works. It just seemed to “activate” for the main character and that was it! The very next day she is invited to the magic school and barely anyone has any questions or objections, even the adults! I also think that the author tried to tie in some smaller storylines throughout and then rushed to wrap everything up at the end which led to those storylines not quite having the full effect they could have had. I saw that there is a second novel in the series, but this book did not have a cliffhanger or anything that would lead into a second book or series.

Overall, I may recommend this to students who are of similar age range to the main character (say 5th-7th grade).

Will I continue with the series? Probably not.

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bookcaptivated's review

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emotional hopeful 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? Yes

4.0

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jdieperink's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful lighthearted 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

4.0

Extremely sweet and earnest middle grade fantasy book. I adored this story except it made me feel like I was 12 again (which is a testament to how transporting it is!).

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kayladaila's review

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emotional hopeful mysterious reflective 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

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naomiysl's review

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adventurous reflective tense slow-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

A lovely addition to the magical school genre, deeply rooted in it's cultural environment. The only thing I didn't love was the "poor girl in a rich school" trope, which I just feel like is overdone. But even though it's overdone in the genre, it was well done in this book, and didn't take over the other narratives. I hope that future books in this series expound upon how the magic works, because there is clearly lot there!

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emily_mh's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Let’s start with the good stuff, because there was a lot of it! First up, Hasani was an incredible MC. She was hilarious and delightful, and her character development was incredible. As well as this, the magic system was amazing. It was based on floral magic, which is a personal fave of mine! As the book went on, it was obvious how much effort Dumas had put into thinking it through; so many different, creative facets were developed. I’m really excited to see more of the magic in future instalments.

The reason for this book’s rating is that the pacing was a little off, and the plot lacked direction; what you thought would be the focus, didn’t actually end up being the focus (if that makes sense). However, I believe that the series will get better and better and that this won’t be a problem in future instalments.

As a side note, I listened to the audiobook for this one. It was really enjoyable, and the narrator, Channie Waites, injected a lot of life into the narrative. I will say it did get a little ridiculous at times, and the English accents were nonexistent. But I far prefer over-the-top narration to robotic narration.

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purplepenning's review

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emotional funny inspiring mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

I think upper elementary and middle schoolers will love this original, magic boarding school tale that is rooted in Creole and Black American culture of the Deep South. It has a fresh and mesmerizing magic system, and taps into relevant social, family, and friend issues. As an adult reader, I felt like there were some pacing issues and then realized that I was just frustrated by the way Hasani has to struggle to piece together information about the school, her magic, the social cues of her classmates, and even what's going on in her own family — which is a pretty realistic portrayal of a middle schooler's life.

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chippyreads's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

The Good: Black girl magic, magical girl finishing school, flower/plant magic, no romance/love interest, coming of age. The narrator was amazing.

The Bad: Pacing was off, too much emphasis on bullies, bad teaching styles, finishing schools are ick and mysioginistic, MC is a bit of a brat.

Hasani is obsessed with YouTube and has Summer goals of getting to 100 subs. She makes beauty/makeup videos and aims to post everyday. On her way to stay at her fathers house he tells her about his girlfriend and Hasani’s magic suddenly manifests and disrupts traffic. Thus being sent off the magical girl finishing school on a full scholarship.

I loved the idea that all the girls have a flower affinity and it becomes their identity. The school sounds super cute and at first seems cozy.

This book had so much potential, but so much of it was off.

The narrator did an amazing job. I’ve read a book narrated by Channie Waites before and she came through for this bratty confused teen.

Hasani is bullied because she's a ‘wild seed’, which translates to magic without magical immediate family members. Her classes don’t make any sense and her teachers don’t actually explain anything to her. The school KNOWS she is a late bloomer (get it? Because of the flowers??? sorry…) but they don’t take her aside and explain how things are done. She spends the first 24 hours not knowing where the bathroom is because no one tells her, she doesn’t look for one and she DOESN’T EVEN ASK. Where is the magical school induction? A teacher goes out of her way to tutor her in etiquette at the table but no one thinks to help her with magic? The adults in this book are horrid. Handing out detention after detention makes her skip down time, basically cutting her off from any social interactions with the outside world. Abuse anyone???

The introduction of kittens was adorable but Hasani refuses to refer to her roommates kitten by its given name, she’d much rather she refer to it by the same SHE gave it. Rude. Entitled. Spoiled.

Not a fan of Hasani, comparing her school to Hogwarts, twice. Anyone still referencing HP in their writing clearly hasn’t read the room. Also her school is a FINISHING school. So she learns manners/etiquette and how to sit at a table. Can we not??? Ew. Schools like that exist to keep women in tiny tidy boxes so we’ll marry well and be a good housewife. Outdated and grotty concepts of how women should act.

The pacing was a bit off. We spend the first 60% of the book at school then the last 40% solely on YouTube at home with friends. The whole friends/bullies thing was off. The pacing of some of the friends to enemies and enemies to friends were way too late. Hasani clearly has a lot of growing up to do, which happens way too late in the book.

The story was good, the lessons were great (Hasani needs to learn more lessons), the relationship she has with her new bestie is cute, I loved the lack of romance, and I enjoyed the black girl magic. This book just didn’t quite hit its mark. I’d probably read another if this is a series because Hasani has potential, fingers crossed she rebels and destroys the whole system.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

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