A review by rabbitholereader
The Blue Witch by Alane Adams

3.0

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Abigail Tarkana is a nine year old witch, about to enter the Tarkana Witch Academy which is a school for young witches with strict rules. Although Abigail's past is shrouded in secrecy, she is determined to be the greatest witch since her evil ancestor, Catriona, but when her magic fails to come in, she is worried she will be kicked out of the Academy. Not only that, but a strong, young witch in the academy, Endera, seems to harbor a hate against Abigail for no particular reason. The odds seem stacked against Abigail but her resilience is stacked higher.

One thing I loved about [b:The Blue Witch|40622095|The Blue Witch|Alane Adams|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1529826949s/40622095.jpg|64396655] is that the pages are rich with norse mythology. There's nothing quite like getting a reader to believe in the magical web being spun by implicating mythical lore to create a firm balance for the story to sit upon.

Especially with this book being targeted at younger readers. I think it's great that children will have the foundation of Norse knowledge if they read this book.

Unfortunately, I found the plot too Harry Potter-esque to enjoy any originality this story had. Maybe I love Harry Potter that much that I see it in every magic-based children's fiction. Not to say that it's a total imitation - overall, it's a good read with lot's of it's own worth - however; there were far too many similarities for me to find it's own merited entertainment.

Also, the world building was a bit lack lustre for me, I think that children of almost any age can enjoy a good setting, so the young targeted age group is no excuse, really. But, from what I gather, The Blue Witch is the start of a prequel series, so I would like to imagine that the world building occurs mostly during the main series, however; not wanting to rebuild and set the tone for a new series - even if it is a prequel series - comes across as a bit lazy to me.

The ending was great. Really ominous and promising. If I was younger I would probably love this book.

Thank you to Net Galley for a copy of this ARC in exchange for an honest review.