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literary_steph's review against another edition
3.0
Words have power. These words would weigh the heaviest in their promise. "I will accept the cost."
The Orphan Witch follows 32 year old Persephone May on a spellbinding journey filled with love, sacrifice, family, curses, some swoon worthy moments and an atmosphere that lives and breathes magic. The writing is incredibly bewitching. Although not a page-turner, I found the witches, curses, complicated history, and the fact that magic always comes at a cost to be tricky, layered, and intriguing. If you're looking to curl up with a book about witches this fall season, look no further. This debut adult fantasy novel by Paige Crutcher made me feel like I was wrapped in a warm blanket and sipping chamomile tea by the fire.
"A lost thing is always waiting to be found."
Read if you like:
» adult standalone fantasy
» prophesied chosen one
» love & sacrifice
» lost & found family
» witchcraft, secrets, & curses
» a cursed island, think Storybrooke from Once Upon a Time
» a world within a world, think Inception
» enchanting writing & unhurried pacing
» broody, bad mannered librarian & a few passionate kisses
What I didn't like:
I don't mind lengthy chapters, but when they cause the story to lose some its momentum or cohesiveness, I notice. It has a tendency to feel drawn out or wordy, which led to my lack of enjoyment.
The Orphan Witch follows 32 year old Persephone May on a spellbinding journey filled with love, sacrifice, family, curses, some swoon worthy moments and an atmosphere that lives and breathes magic. The writing is incredibly bewitching. Although not a page-turner, I found the witches, curses, complicated history, and the fact that magic always comes at a cost to be tricky, layered, and intriguing. If you're looking to curl up with a book about witches this fall season, look no further. This debut adult fantasy novel by Paige Crutcher made me feel like I was wrapped in a warm blanket and sipping chamomile tea by the fire.
"A lost thing is always waiting to be found."
Read if you like:
» adult standalone fantasy
» prophesied chosen one
» love & sacrifice
» lost & found family
» witchcraft, secrets, & curses
» a cursed island, think Storybrooke from Once Upon a Time
» a world within a world, think Inception
» enchanting writing & unhurried pacing
» broody, bad mannered librarian & a few passionate kisses
What I didn't like:
I don't mind lengthy chapters, but when they cause the story to lose some its momentum or cohesiveness, I notice. It has a tendency to feel drawn out or wordy, which led to my lack of enjoyment.
runandread's review against another edition
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
shimauchiha's review against another edition
3.0
Read this if/when you want stories with:
-Families, sisters, bonds between women.
-LGBT representation.
-Witches.
-A soft magical system.
Don't read this if the followings are deal-breakers:
-Slower pacing.
-A lot of "Telling" writing.
-A somewhat derivative plot.
-Chosen one narrative.
My thoughts:
Honestly, I just found it utterly unremarkable.
-Families, sisters, bonds between women.
-LGBT representation.
-Witches.
-A soft magical system.
Don't read this if the followings are deal-breakers:
-Slower pacing.
-A lot of "Telling" writing.
-A somewhat derivative plot.
-Chosen one narrative.
My thoughts:
Honestly, I just found it utterly unremarkable.
sunshine169's review against another edition
2.0
The Orphan Witch focuses on a witch named Persephone who is lost in the world with no family and powers that she doesn't understand. A seemingly chance encounter with a woman named Hyacinth brings her into a world that is both confusing and magical. I have a soft spot for the wandering and add magic and I was excited to read this book. Unfortunately it did not work for me. I found the story to be confusing much of the time. The plot is a little flip floppy which made it hard to grasp what exactly the issue is that needs to be resolved. Character names sometimes get mixed up. The book could have used another read through from an editor. This was an e-arc so maybe it did in the final print.
Thank you Netgalley for an e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Spoiler
At one point Hyacinth is talked about in the past tense to another character but the character is never actually told she diedThank you Netgalley for an e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.
quossie's review against another edition
2.0
Confusing, and not in a good way. The plot sounded great on paper (no pun intended); in practice, it felt like a bit of a mess. Strange pacing, characterisations that never quite rang true.
Not for me.
Not for me.
katerintree's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
This had all the ingredients to be a book I really enjoyed but the writing failed to engage me. Nothing was quite fully fleshed, I didn’t see enough interactions between characters to believe any of the relationships. It was a slog to finish & overall disappointing.
ameserole's review against another edition
4.0
I have received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
The Orphan Witch started off a bit slow for me. We enter into this magical world and get to know who Persephone is. Now she has no control over her own magic but she always say it as a bad thing. Mostly because of how people in and out of her life reacted towards her. So when things go a little crazy, she ends up taking a random trip to go meet an acquaintance.
I don't think she was necessarily going for answers right then and there but once she stepped onto this mysterious island - she felt at ease a bit. At this moment, I was very intrigued with what was going to happen on her adventure.
I lowkey adored her meeting Dorian and I had so many questions when it came to him being involved. Then there's her cousins who definitely kept me on my toes the entire time. Especially since she kind of just walked into this huge family feud and got all kinds of whiplash from it.
Other than that, the magic was actually pretty interesting throughout the book. I still have some questions about the different kinds because we didn't get that much detail for it all. Plus the family grimoire was barely mentioned after we saw it and I just wanted to see what else was in it. Honestly, I have so many unanswered questions but I've already devoured the last page.
Not sure if we will get another book due to how this one ended.. but I wouldn't mind getting a prequel about their aunt's or grandma's. This family had so many secrets and I don't think we got them all out in the open.
The Orphan Witch started off a bit slow for me. We enter into this magical world and get to know who Persephone is. Now she has no control over her own magic but she always say it as a bad thing. Mostly because of how people in and out of her life reacted towards her. So when things go a little crazy, she ends up taking a random trip to go meet an acquaintance.
I don't think she was necessarily going for answers right then and there but once she stepped onto this mysterious island - she felt at ease a bit. At this moment, I was very intrigued with what was going to happen on her adventure.
I lowkey adored her meeting Dorian and I had so many questions when it came to him being involved. Then there's her cousins who definitely kept me on my toes the entire time. Especially since she kind of just walked into this huge family feud and got all kinds of whiplash from it.
Other than that, the magic was actually pretty interesting throughout the book. I still have some questions about the different kinds because we didn't get that much detail for it all. Plus the family grimoire was barely mentioned after we saw it and I just wanted to see what else was in it. Honestly, I have so many unanswered questions but I've already devoured the last page.
Not sure if we will get another book due to how this one ended.. but I wouldn't mind getting a prequel about their aunt's or grandma's. This family had so many secrets and I don't think we got them all out in the open.
smalltownbookmom's review against another edition
2.0
Not even Saskia Maarleveld narrating could save this story about a family of women witches, a curse and the one woman who has been on her own her whole life but finally finds a place to belong. As a huge fan of Alice Hoffman and her Practical magic books, I thought it would be a no brainer that this one would be another satisfying fall read full of modern day witches, magic and romance (hello hot librarian love interest!) but sadly this story was soooooo slow-moving and I really struggled to get invested or connect with the characters. Unfortunately this was a miss for me, great cover though for this debut author. Much thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my ALC.
stasiareading's review against another edition
2.0
This book was a flop for me. I just could not get into it, I felt it dragged on and I just never felt compelled to pick it up. I would probably have DNF’d it except it was a NetGalley copy and I wanted to be able to give a full review. Many of the ideas and concepts in this book were interesting but fell flat in execution.
The book begins with Persephone an lonely young woman, every time she looks someone in the eye they quickly go mad/try to kill themselves. Seems like an interesting premise.
After causing another person to lose themselves under her gaze Persephone decides to start over and visit one of her few friends, Hyacinth, who she mainly knows via email, who has been begging her to visit her on Wile Isle where she lives. Persephone goes and we learn she is a witch, one of a family of cursed witches. She starts to learn of her powers, about breaking the curse and her part in it from Hyacinth and her older sister Moira. At this point the whole making eye contact and people going crazy element seems to be just completely abandoned. It's briefly explained as part of her being a untrained witch but after that never really comes up again. Why create that element of her "magic" to just abandon it, she just as easily could have been a lonely orphan without the curse who never really made friends and therefore moves around a lot.
In the meantime Persephone also finds out she is a walker between worlds and often ends up walking between them while on the island, mainly to the Library of the Lost, a living library, guarded by its captive Dorian. The library is probably my favorite part of the book, its a cool idea/place and has an interesting role in the story and I enjoyed the fact that it was hard to decide if the library was good or bad. In the end I'm still not quite sure on it. I found the romance between Dorian and Persephone lacking, I did not feel it, part of this is I think Dorian could have used more fleshing out, I wanted more of his story, the bits we got were interesting but not enough and not enough between the two of them of build the romance/feelings they develop IMO.
As things unfold and Persephone learns more about her power and past, she also learns more about the island and its other residents. Most importantly, their “enemy” and cousin witches, Ariel and Ellison Way. These two are also cursed witches from another branch of the family. We have a few unfriendly run ins with them and there is clearly a lot of history between all the women. As Persephone learns more about the past with the help of the Library, she learns things are not all as they appear. This leads her to the home of the Way sisters where she joins with them, at this point I had trouble following along with the why behind all of this. Eventually in the end they must all come together to end the curse that haunts their family.
I liked that the ending wasn't perfect, there was a lot in the book about magic and its cost. In many books at the end a lot of times characters get out of paying the cost of magic, Persephone does not, though she still gets a fairly happy ending.
Overall this book was just not for me, the whole time I felt I was slogging through it, I couldn't get into it or connect with it. The story had moment of interest but mainly it dragged on, didn't always make sense and left me wanting more.
If you enjoy found family, strong sense of place and witches you may enjoy this book, but I find myself unable to recommend it.
Thank you to NetGalley for the Advanced Copy
The book begins with Persephone an lonely young woman, every time she looks someone in the eye they quickly go mad/try to kill themselves. Seems like an interesting premise.
After causing another person to lose themselves under her gaze Persephone decides to start over and visit one of her few friends, Hyacinth, who she mainly knows via email, who has been begging her to visit her on Wile Isle where she lives. Persephone goes and we learn she is a witch, one of a family of cursed witches. She starts to learn of her powers, about breaking the curse and her part in it from Hyacinth and her older sister Moira. At this point the whole making eye contact and people going crazy element seems to be just completely abandoned. It's briefly explained as part of her being a untrained witch but after that never really comes up again. Why create that element of her "magic" to just abandon it, she just as easily could have been a lonely orphan without the curse who never really made friends and therefore moves around a lot.
In the meantime Persephone also finds out she is a walker between worlds and often ends up walking between them while on the island, mainly to the Library of the Lost, a living library, guarded by its captive Dorian. The library is probably my favorite part of the book, its a cool idea/place and has an interesting role in the story and I enjoyed the fact that it was hard to decide if the library was good or bad. In the end I'm still not quite sure on it. I found the romance between Dorian and Persephone lacking, I did not feel it, part of this is I think Dorian could have used more fleshing out, I wanted more of his story, the bits we got were interesting but not enough and not enough between the two of them of build the romance/feelings they develop IMO.
As things unfold and Persephone learns more about her power and past, she also learns more about the island and its other residents. Most importantly, their “enemy” and cousin witches, Ariel and Ellison Way. These two are also cursed witches from another branch of the family. We have a few unfriendly run ins with them and there is clearly a lot of history between all the women. As Persephone learns more about the past with the help of the Library, she learns things are not all as they appear. This leads her to the home of the Way sisters where she joins with them, at this point I had trouble following along with the why behind all of this. Eventually in the end they must all come together to end the curse that haunts their family.
I liked that the ending wasn't perfect, there was a lot in the book about magic and its cost. In many books at the end a lot of times characters get out of paying the cost of magic, Persephone does not, though she still gets a fairly happy ending.
Overall this book was just not for me, the whole time I felt I was slogging through it, I couldn't get into it or connect with it. The story had moment of interest but mainly it dragged on, didn't always make sense and left me wanting more.
If you enjoy found family, strong sense of place and witches you may enjoy this book, but I find myself unable to recommend it.
Thank you to NetGalley for the Advanced Copy