[Review]: The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches

[silversea]

Title: The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches
Author: Sangu Mandanna
Genre: Cozy fantasy, romance

Happy spooky month! My book club read The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches this month, and it was a fun story about a lonely witch finding a family.

There aren't many rules for witches, but the most important rule is to keep yourself hidden. Another very important rule is witches should not gather together, out of fear of magic going haywire. Mika Moon, a lonely witch, decides to break these rules when a desperate man reaches out to her for her help with teaching three young witches how to control their powers.

This is a sweet story about making your own home, focusing on Mika and the odd inhabitants of Nowhere House, including a grumpy but handsome librarian, Jamie. Thanks to Mika’s cold upbringing, she has few connections with others and feels isolated. As she becomes more comfortable at Nowhere House, she starts questioning the rules she was raised with and fall in love with Jamie. The residents are also misfits of society who are fiercely protective of the safe refuge they made, understand her loneliness and extends their family to her. However, when Mika learns their secrets, she realizes the situation is more complicated than expected.

Unfortunately, I didn’t enjoy the ending very much. I thought the ending didn’t fit in with the rest of the story, with the twist that Lillian was dead the whole time, and the thought of the group trashtalking her while she was buried in the gardens was not comfy at all. It’s also very convenient (and predictable) that Mika’s caretaker, Primrose, just so happens to be Lillian’s mysterious identical twin sister, neatly tying up the house’s issues.

I am not usually a fan of cozy fantasies, but this was a nice breezy read and I enjoyed the romance. It’s a rather predictable story, but still entertaining with charming characters that you just want to root for. I'm also admittedly a big fan of the Jane Austen references throughout the books!

Comments

[elizalavelle]

I really liked the cozy vibes of this one. The ending was a bit predictable and tied up super neatly. I was so delighted by the rest of the story though that I didn't mind. I just wanted things to be nice.

[bluapapilio]

I feel the same way!