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A review by thephdivabooks
These Witches Don't Burn by Isabel Sterling
3.0
Centering on teen witch Hannah, whose powers gain strength from the elements, this is the first in a YA series that centers around a coven of witches who may not be as safe as they thought!
The book opens in the aftermath (I should say wreckage) of Hannah’s break-up with her first girlfriend and fellow witch, Veronica. Whatever went down between these two was explosive, and for about the first half I actually felt like I started in the middle of a story, rather than the beginning. I did see the Sterling went back and wrote a mini-prequel that explains the Manhattan trip that led to the break-up, and it would have been great if that could have been part of this book.
In addition to her break-up troubles, Hannah also becomes convinced that a blood witch (one of the three types of witches in this world) may be after her and her coven. The problem is, no one believes her besides Veronica, and they aren’t exactly on speaking terms.
I really liked the world Sterling created here, and I loved having such a female-dominated cast of characters. In addition to women running the coven, I really enjoyed having an LGBTQ+ lead—it felt different than the standard teen witch book and added a layer of complexity to the story.
I did feel that the first half was a bit heavy on the teenage angst and light on the witch-y fun. It was jarring to see how much the break-up impacted Hannah because we never really saw her and Veronica together. I think had I had that context it would have helped me connect with Hannah a bit more in the first part. I will say by the second half I really got into the story, and couldn’t put it down for the last section.
This was a fun fall read!
The book opens in the aftermath (I should say wreckage) of Hannah’s break-up with her first girlfriend and fellow witch, Veronica. Whatever went down between these two was explosive, and for about the first half I actually felt like I started in the middle of a story, rather than the beginning. I did see the Sterling went back and wrote a mini-prequel that explains the Manhattan trip that led to the break-up, and it would have been great if that could have been part of this book.
In addition to her break-up troubles, Hannah also becomes convinced that a blood witch (one of the three types of witches in this world) may be after her and her coven. The problem is, no one believes her besides Veronica, and they aren’t exactly on speaking terms.
I really liked the world Sterling created here, and I loved having such a female-dominated cast of characters. In addition to women running the coven, I really enjoyed having an LGBTQ+ lead—it felt different than the standard teen witch book and added a layer of complexity to the story.
I did feel that the first half was a bit heavy on the teenage angst and light on the witch-y fun. It was jarring to see how much the break-up impacted Hannah because we never really saw her and Veronica together. I think had I had that context it would have helped me connect with Hannah a bit more in the first part. I will say by the second half I really got into the story, and couldn’t put it down for the last section.
This was a fun fall read!