Witches

This Year, a Witch! / Zoey Abbott

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This Year, a Witch!
By: Zoey Abbott
Genre: Children’s, Picture Book
Number of Pages: 40
Published: July 15, 2025
Publisher: Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books
Dates Read: November 23, 2025
Format: Library Book / Hardcover

A little girl has been every cute and adorable thing you could imagine for Halloween – but this year, she’s putting a stop to it and being the scariest, spookiest thing out there… a witch!

With just a little help from her dad, the little girl prepares hard for new costume. She works on her hair, brews, spells and enchantments, and the power to petrify! But, what happens when the night finally comes and she sees herself in the mirror?

A sweet story with vibrant, colorful pages about growing up and learning independence – and how asking for help doesn’t mean you don’t have any.

Pizza Witch / Sarah Graley, Stef Purenins

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Pizza Witch
By: Sarah Braley, Stef Purenins
Genre: Graphic Novel, Fantasy, YA
Number of Pages: 296
Published: September 16, 2025
Publisher: Image Comics
Dates Read: October 21, 2025
Format: Library Book / eBook

All Roxy wants to do is be the best Pizza Witch ever, but that’s hard to do with semi-unsupported parents and her uninspired boss at the Pizza joint. But, her boss finally gives her a quest to retrieve a powerful pizza artifact – the Remarkable Oregano!

With her cat George by her side, Roxy sets off into the unknown for the adventure that finally awaits! Will it be filled with pizza magic, wild challenges, and maybe even some romance?? Or, will her dreams be squashed like a tomato? 

This is a silly graphic novel, but in the best way. Who knew there were witches who specialized in food – and who knew one of those food specialties could be pizza?? And, who could forget a sassy talking cat companion?? Mix all of that together alongside brilliantly bright and colorful artwork and you’ve got yourself a Pizza Witch!

The artwork and style do give the feel of young adult readers, the book states 14+, but I like preteens could also enjoy it <spoiler> there’s one instance with a middle finger being given, the word ass being used a lot, and romance </spoiler>. Adults would love this title for the escapism of it – again, a sassy talking cat best friend and a Pizza Witch!

Overall, this was a fun read that will clearly become a series, and a series in which I will be keeping my eye out for.

Evelyn Witch Gets a Pet / Beth Ferry, Charles Santoso (Illustrator)

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Evelyn Witch Gets a Pet
By: Beth Ferry, Charles Santoso (Illustrator)
Genre: Children’s, Picture Book
Number of Pages: 32
Published: July 8, 2025
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Dates Read: October 20, 2025
Format: Library Book / Hardcover

Evelyn Witch has everything a witch needs, except a pet! She can only afford the mystery pet, which opens to be a plain white egg. Now, she must wait for it to hatch!

As a librarian, I loved that Evelyn went to the library to research things she didn’t know. I also loved her ambition to help get her egg to hatch. She was doing everything she could think of to finally meet her pet!

The overall moral of this story is patience of course – Evelyn does everything she can think of to speed up the hatching, but once she realizes she just needs to wait, the egg finally hatches!

This story has eye-catching illustrations, fun, rhyming lines, and a spunky, eager child who just wants to meet her pet.

Brume (Volume 1): The Dragon Awakens / Jérôme Pélissier, Carine Hinder (Illustrator)

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Brume (Volume 1): The Dragon Awakens
By: Jérôme Pélissier, Carine Hinder (Illustrator)
Genre: Graphic Novel, Children’s
Number of Pages: 64
Published: September 20, 2025 (1st Published January 1, 2023)
Publisher: Hippo Park
Dates Read: September 10, 2025
Format: Hardcover

Brume is convinced she’s the village’s next witch after Naïa vanished years ago. After she briefly believed she turned a local village woman into a pig, she adopted a new pet she named Hubert and took him home. Once she fed him some chocolate croissants, the pet was happy to tag along on Brume’s adventures. When her adoptive father gives her a book of spells he found with her when he found her in the woods years ago, Brume opens her own shop and tries to use the spells in the book.

After trying to stop her friend Hugo’s glasses from fogging up, Brume accidentally casts the whole village into a dense fog. On the adventure to undo her work, Brume, Hugo, and Hubert go off into the forest where only witches are allowed.

This was such a cute and adorable graphic novel! I immediately knew I wanted to read this by just seeing the cover alone! A little girl (Brume) with a wand and a small pig tugging on her dress with a dragon in the background is so eye-catching! I may also be a slight sucker for familiars and animal sidekicks because I wish I had one.

The artwork of this graphic novel is colorful, expressive, and easily digestible. Each page catches your eye and keeps your attention – I would always make sure to relook at each page after reading the dialogue to make sure I wasn’t missing anything.

I did think Brume was a bit mean and disrespectful to those around her. I know some of it was her confidence in herself as well as her ignorance of her abilities, and sure, you could chop it up to just being an ornery child, but it all just comes across as rude. I hope in the next volume she grows up a bit in those areas.

Overall, the story and the panels were fantastic and I can’t wait to share it with others when it’s officially out in English in late September. Those who love a spunky little witch who will stop at nothing to show she’s a true witch, this graphic novel would be for you (even though of all ages!)

*Thank you Hippo Park and Publishers Weekly for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

What We Sacrifice for Magic / Andrea Jo DeWerd

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What We Sacrifice for Magic
By: Andrea Jo DeWerd, Sara Van Beckum (narrator)
Genre: Fantasy, Historical Fiction
Number of Pages: 304
Published: September 24, 2024
Publisher: Alcove Press
Dates Read: March 6, 2025
Format: Library Book / Audiobook

It’s 1968 and in the small town of Friedrich, Minnesota, the Watry-Ridder family is both feared and respected as the town’s witches. Farmers seek out their water charms and the teenagers, their love spells. As the eldest daughter, Elisabeth, recent high school graduate, is set to take over for her grandmother, marry her high school sweetheart, and live the rest of her life in Friedrich. But as the time draws closer and closer, all Elisabeth can ask is, why her? Why is her path so set in stone?

Elisabeth soon discovers magic isn’t the only thing inherited by her family, and that said magic comes with a much greater price than she realized. The more she digs for the truth, the more questions she has, and the less she trusts her grandmother.

As she ventures out, Elisabeth must find out who she is without her family – without their secrets and magic. 

This novel had a super messy family, one filled with jealousy, small mindedness, and miscommunication. Elisabeth was raised by her grandmother, Magda, to be the one to take over, therefore she was more superior than her sister, Mary. She would talk about how talented Mary could be in the same sentence she would undermine her.

This novel definitely brushes upon gatekeeping and the benefits of sharing information and skills.

Overall, this magical realism read about a young witch adventuring out on her own to find herself is perfect as a cozy read.

*Thank you Alcove Press and NetGalley for a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

I Feel Awful, Thanks / Lara Pickle

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I Feel Awful, Thanks
By: Lara Pickle
Genre: Graphic Novel, New Adult
Number of Pages: 216
Published: March 5, 2024
Publisher: Oni Press
Dates Read: January 31, 2025 - February 1, 2025
Format: Library Book / Paperback

Trigger Warnings: Mental Health issues, anxiety, depression, toxic workplace, 

Joana is a young witch who just secured her dream job creating potions with a coven in London. But Joana will soon discover the reality of her new city life is not as she thought. Finding a flat is hard, her dream job is actually quite stressful, and she’s all alone. Little by little, she carves her place, but sadness, fatigue, and doubts create dragons that threaten to burst her hard-earned success… until she starts talking to a professional who helps her realize that in order to take care of herself, she must know herself.

I loved that this graphic novel tackled what it can feel like to have anxiety and crafted it in a way that also made it magical as well corporate. It’s okay not to be okay – a saying that everyone needs to be told every once in a while. Joana’s therapist, or Dragon Trainer, as she’s called in the book, gives really good advice on how Joana can help tackle her dragons, aka her anxieties.

Joana’s friends were also a breath of fresh air that were extremely supportive in both pushing Joana to get the extra help she needed and helping in her journey all around. Even her relationship with James and his own journey of self awareness and growth was nice to see.

Oh – before I forget, the art of this is beautiful and so very captivating, it’s one of the reasons I first picked up this book. The panels are brightly colored and there is quite a bit of text on some pages, but nothing I felt took away from the overall art.

Overall, this was a beautiful, fantastic graphic novel that dives into taking care of yourself as you battle anxiety, depression, and the everyday stressors of life – but add a magical twist.

The Hedge Witch / Colleen Delaney

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The Hedge Witch
By: Colleen Delaney
Genre: Fantasy / Romance
Number of Pages: 270
Published: May 14, 2024
Publisher: City Owl Press
Dates Read: October 27, 2024 - November 1, 2024
Format: Library Book / Paperback

Trigger Warnings: Death, death of loved ones, torture, blood, violence

Laurel Bay is the middle of five witchy sisters living on Star Island. She runs a tarot reading business to help contribute to bills, and spends her free time jumping into the Hedge World when she’s strong enough. But when Laurel has a vision from her past about her soulmate, she throws caution to the wind to find him.

Owen Davies is a sonofawitch – a descendant of morally gray water witches, his powers are very minimal. He’s aching to find his soulmate, so much so that he has a storage unit filled with furniture he’s made and blueprints for their house he’ll build. Then, a fateful vacation lands him in Laurel’s garden and their paths are finally intertwined.

But witches are after Laurel’s powers and buried secrets become unearthed, revealing Laurel and Owen’s heartbreaking past. But this time around, the soulmates refuse to be separated.

I’m starting off by saying that I’m not a romance reader, yet alone a paranormal romance reader, but I do love witches and the premise of this book sounded fun so I wanted to read it.

Some of the writing was well thought out and flushed out, while a few other parts could have been edited down some I thought.

The romance of soulmates felt real and wasn’t cheesy like I thought it may have been – it was actually heartbreaking when you find out about their past lives.

Overall, this book is going to appeal to anyone who enjoys books with witches, soulmates, and a little bit of spice (and even though who don’t care too much for spice, those parts are easily skimable and won’t ruin the plot)

*Thank you City Owl Press and LibraryThing for a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

A Witch’s Guide to Burning / Aminder Dhaliwal

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A Witch’s Guide to Burning
By: Aminder Dhaliwal
Genre: Graphic Novel
Number of Pages: 400
Published: May 28, 2024
Publisher: Drawn and Quarterly
Dates Read: August 1, 2024 - August 4, 2024
Format: Library Book / Hardcover

A witch’s magic is relied on by her town; the more powerful and stronger, the better the town prospers. But what happens when a witch can’t keep up? She’s burnt – her magic and memories erased. When a witch’s burn ceremony is interrupted by rain in Chamomile Valley, a witch is left crumbled at the bottom of the stake. It’s up to a witch doctor and her toad friend to save the signed witch and nurse her back to health.

I don’t remember how I found out about this title. I think from one of the many publisher previews I go to, but I’m always down for witchy stuff, so I was all about it to start. I’m so glad I asked for it, because I absolutely fell in love with it from the first page. 

I know this is categorized as being a graphic novel, but I almost want to say it’s like a mixed media type of book – loads more text than just dialog like your usual graphic novels! The art was beautiful, even in the grayscale that it was in. And, I say grayscale, because I would usually describe manga as being black and white, but there is just way more to this than you see in manga panels.

Lovely book about grief, self-love, healing, friendship, and sacrifice. You can bet I will be putting this on many suggestion and recommendation lists to come. This is also one I will be purchasing my own copy of when I have the chance!

The Unfortunate Side Effects of Heartbreak and Magic / Breanne Randall

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The Unfortunate Side Effects of Heartbreak and Magic

By: Breanne Randall

Genre: Fantasy, Romance

Number of Pages: 322

Published: September 19, 2023

Publisher: Alcove Press

Dates Read: December 16, 2023 - December 20, 2023

Format: Library Book / Audiobook / Paperback

Ever since Sadie Revelare was told about her four heartbreak curse that accompanies her magic, she’s never doubted the price wouldn’t be worth it. But when Gigi, her grandmother, is diagnosed with cancer and only has weeks to live, and her first heartbreak, Jake, returns after being gone for a decade, Sadie’s life feels like it’s unraveling and her magic can’t fix it. Even more, upon hearing about Gigi’s diagnosis, Sadie’s estranged twin brother, Seth, returns as well, uncovering family secrets that will tear her world apart.

Gigi has been the backbone to the Revelare family for generations, and with her death, Sadie must try with everything she’s got, to not only keep her family together, but her magic as well. As her feelings for Jake begin to respark, Sadie must decide if love is more important than her magic.

I don’t actively go about reading romance books, but this had the tagline “for fans of Practical Magic and Gilmore Girls” and I decided to give this a shot. I absolutely called the ending pretty early into the book, especially once everything was established. Though I was a little confused about Sadie’s curse… I still am to be honest. Also – witches who go to a christian church? What?

Overall, the book was okay. The premise of it was excellent, but it fell short for me.

*Thank you Alcove Press and NetGalley for an advance digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

Bring Me Your Midnight / Rachel Griffin

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Cover of Bring Me Your Midnight by Rachel Griffin. A young woman with auburn hair's face sticks out of water that is surrounded by white flowers with a yellow and black center.
Bring Me Your Midnight
By: Rachel Griffin
Genre: YA, Fantasy
Number of Pages: 320
Published: August 1, 2023
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Dates Read: February 3, 2023 - February 10, 2023
Format: eBook / ARC

Tana has been betrothed to the Governor’s son, Landon, from the Mainland since she was born. The marriage would help to seal an alliance between her coven on the island and the humans on the Mainland who see them as a threat. Tana’s coven limits the use of their powers so as to not cause worry to the mainlanders – in order to do this, the coven releases their unused powers into the ocean on the night of the full moon each month.

But when Tana misses the ritual, there is no one who can help her – until she meets Wolfe, a witch who claims to be from a hidden coven on the island that practices dark (high) magic. Instead of rushing her powers out into the sea, Wolfe teaches her how to use the magic he knows, and that magic makes Tana feel alive and powerful.

As Tana learns more and more about the differences between the magic she grew up with and the magic that Wolfe does, she begins to understand the danger her coven is putting on not only the island, but the Mainland as well. With understanding, Tana will have to choose between love and duty; her coven or her heart.

Another wonderful, soft witchy novel from Rachel Griffin. I have really enjoyed all three of her novels and she will continue to be someone whom I will always grab a copy of their book!

This book focuses a lot on belonging and questioning your lifelong beliefs. Which is a theme I’ve always liked about Griffin’s novels – they’re witchy, but a lot of witchy books are usually so set in their rules or methods but in Griffin’s novels, the characters are always open to challenging that and changing those (though those around them may be a bit more stubborn).

With this being in first person POV with Tana, I really enjoyed getting to know her and her coven through her eyes. The covens in Griffin’s books always make me wish I was a part of them and this one is no different!

If you like witches, arranged marriages, secrets, and stories of finding one’s self then this is the book for your reading pleasure.

*Thank you Edelweiss+ and Sourcebooks Fire for a digital advanced readers copy of this book in exchange for an honest review