A review by wittyg
The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna

adventurous hopeful lighthearted mysterious relaxing medium-paced

3.0

Interesting world creation, relatable main character, fun premise/plot... And then it fell flat. Loved the first half, and then it seemed to run away from itself.

Biggest complaints (summary of my own, as well as collective thoughts from our book club):
  • Lots of F words. Didn't bother me much, but it was a source of complaint for others in my book club. With the main character being a 30 something year old woman in modern England, it seemed to make sense contextually, but could be offensive for some.
  • The kids aren't written well - their vocabulary choices, phrasing, and romantic teasing weren't realistic for even the most mature of children
  • There's a pretty descriptive sex scene that was pretty uncomfortable for most of our book club members, albeit a pretty short scene. I think the bigger complaint with the sex scene was that it didn't seem to add anything to the book, nor did the timing make sense. Instead, it seemed to serve a "so now everything will be happy ever after" purpose. The tone also felt inconsistent with the rest of the book, almost as if the author has a ghost writer or chat gpt step in lol. 
  • The ending felt rushed and abrupt, and one-dimensional. There was lots of potential based on the world building and character development, but it fell flat.
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