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A review by honeycoffeereads
These Witches Don't Burn by Isabel Sterling
3.0
I was looking for a queer-fabulous fantasy book to read for the summer, and I don't think I could've found a better option (but I'm still on the lookout because why not?? lol). I thought the story would at most be a fun witchy read, but I increasingly fell in love with the diverse amount of characters and world-building.
Sterling does a marvelous job creating characters from all kinds of backgrounds, who you can relate to instantly. Hannah, in particular, is a well-rounded heroine who does her best to help everyone she can, sometimes at the expense of her own safety - which creates a lot of fun conflict against the witch hunters. I loved how intimate her crush with Morgan is as well as the complexity of moving on from her ex Veronica. Nobody feels like they were put into the story for the sake of checking a box off for LGBTQ+ representation. (#ownvoices)
The world-building also weaves together a lot of details to offer a little bit of everything - fantasy, mystery, and romance all wrapped up in a contemporary Salem witch hunt. Sometimes the mix of genres inhibited the story because Hannah's relationships slowed the pacing down. And I also felt like the world-building of the coven protecting their witches and how the relationships between Elementals, Casters, and Blood Witches could've been detailed. But Sterling makes up for it with her descriptions. She truly uses all of the senses to put you in the moment of what Hannah is experiencing whether it's something that will make you swoon or make you want to find out what happens next (the violence isn't gratuitous but it might be a little too much for some readers).
What I'd love to see This Coven Won't Break is more improvement with the dialogue and development of the villain(s). The former was sometimes pretty cringey and struggling to capture how teenagers talk (something I think is pretty common in a lot of YA books), meanwhile the latter didn't seem to be developed more than: witches = bad = I must do something about them. However, the Hunter did express that more is going on underneath the surface than just hunting witches because "they're an abomination to humans," so I'm interested to see how much further this goes and expands in the sequel. Otherwise, this was a lot a breeze to read and I look forward to seeing how it finishes it up.
3 to 4 stars overall
Sterling does a marvelous job creating characters from all kinds of backgrounds, who you can relate to instantly. Hannah, in particular, is a well-rounded heroine who does her best to help everyone she can, sometimes at the expense of her own safety - which creates a lot of fun conflict against the witch hunters. I loved how intimate her crush with Morgan is as well as the complexity of moving on from her ex Veronica. Nobody feels like they were put into the story for the sake of checking a box off for LGBTQ+ representation. (#ownvoices)
The world-building also weaves together a lot of details to offer a little bit of everything - fantasy, mystery, and romance all wrapped up in a contemporary Salem witch hunt. Sometimes the mix of genres inhibited the story because Hannah's relationships slowed the pacing down. And I also felt like the world-building of the coven protecting their witches and how the relationships between Elementals, Casters, and Blood Witches could've been detailed. But Sterling makes up for it with her descriptions. She truly uses all of the senses to put you in the moment of what Hannah is experiencing whether it's something that will make you swoon or make you want to find out what happens next (the violence isn't gratuitous but it might be a little too much for some readers).
What I'd love to see This Coven Won't Break is more improvement with the dialogue and development of the villain(s). The former was sometimes pretty cringey and struggling to capture how teenagers talk (something I think is pretty common in a lot of YA books), meanwhile the latter didn't seem to be developed more than: witches = bad = I must do something about them. However, the Hunter did express that more is going on underneath the surface than just hunting witches because "they're an abomination to humans," so I'm interested to see how much further this goes and expands in the sequel. Otherwise, this was a lot a breeze to read and I look forward to seeing how it finishes it up.
3 to 4 stars overall