The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches
Ratings406
Average rating4.1
it was nice and cozy.The spicy scenes appeared only after, at the end but it was still very enjoyable because of the conection between the female lead and male lead.But maybe thats just how I think.
Although there were some good, inspiring and interesting messages in this book, I felt I was reading a book for kids. It failed to connect with me and I felt those messages, lessons or words of wisdom could've been told in a different, more adult manner.
Still, it was by no means a horrible read and there were definitely times I had a cozy feeling when reading it. That alone makes it better than other reads in my book.
Somehow this ended up being just “Meh” for me. I didn't connect with the characters and all this “Oh you, poor traumatised thing, let us show you what true love and kindness is” felt somewhat phoney.
For some reason, I expected more going into the book. Maybe it's just my unreasonable expectations that didn't let me enjoy the story more.
I expected twee but got saccharin. Felt like YA but with this R-rated sex scene awkwardly shoehorned in the middle. The entire conflict ends up being just one big misunderstanding. Desserts are described in detail, but the setting, which is supposed to be so magical, gets no attention. House in the Cerulean Sea did it better.
DNF. It pains me that I couldn't finish this audiobook because I had high hopes of liking it. I got to chapter 10 before deciding it wasn't for me for many reasons:
1. No escapism. So, when I read a story, there are certain things I don't want to read about. Racism is one of them, and it came up a handful of times and soured my mood. This obviously didn't bother most people, but I'm not most people.
2. Characters were uninteresting - EXCEPT IAN AND KEN. The only reason I didn't stop reading earlier was for these darling men. I LOVED this old married couple. Ian made me laugh so much, and Ken obviously adores him. I would happily read a story all about them.
However, Mika was.... Bleh, Jamie was annoying with his hot and cold personality, and Lucie was a forgettable Mrs. Potts from Beauty and the Beast. And worse, I didn't connect with the 3 girls at all! They weren't charming, nor endearing, just... there I guess. The youngest cursing was not funny to me either. Mika says that hearing a child curse is hilarious, but only if they do it ONCE. When it happens often, it's no longer funny.
That being said, I LOVED the kids in The House in the Cerulean Sea. Maybe I shouldn't compare these two books, but I can't help but do so. Every time Terracota tried to be “evil”, I kept thinking how Lucy pulled off the act much better.
3. Uninteresting Plot. The whole point of Mika tutoring the three girls on magic is to prepare them for a visit from a guy coming to grab some documents from the house. With a title like, “The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches” I just expected... something MORE interesting than what we got. The “villain” is basically a racist white man who can call the cops on them and blab that the girls are witches. Really?? That's the best you can do? If I knew that going in I wouldn't have started this story. You can take the girls somewhere else for goodness sake! There are so many other options than trying to teach them how to control their magic in two weeks by hiring Mika.
So yeah, for all these reasons, I'm stopping here. Despite Ian and Ken, I'm just not interested in reading how Mika and Jamie fall in love. She's boring, and he's offensive at times. And the girls aren't cute. Sorry folks! I was very disappointed, but I would encourage others to give it a try as I seem to be in the minority of disappointed readers.
I really enjoyed this book. It gave me very similar vibes to the novel The Midnight Children by Dan Gemeinhart. Not so much in the story, but definitely in the underlying theme regarding the importance of family and having a sense of belonging.
This book has the same exact structure to The House in the Cerulean Sea, specially for the first half approximately. However, here the characters felt flat, I didn’t care for any of them and their stories and traumas didn’t feel authentic but forced. I even struggled to differentiate between the three witch children.
I almost to DNF’d at 40% because of this, but I was too lazy to choose a different book so I continued. It didn’t get better.
This book is, probably primarily, a Romantacy, though it could also be considered Cozy Fantasy (if an erotica scene and sexual tension doesn't disqualify it from that genre for you.) It's modern day fantasy featuring witches. If that sounds good, and you truly just want an uncomplicated, standard grade read of either of those genres, this book will serve you well.
What follows is a breakdown of why it wasn't really what I wanted, in the end.
------
Firstly, and primarily, I wasn't impressed with the overall writing. The pacing is not very good. Events are supposed to take the course of a few(?) weeks, but it's hard to tell what is happening relative to when, because a lot happens and evolves in the relationships of the characters that really feels like it should have evolved slowly over a long period of time. Especially the romance--rushed to the point that I kept wondering *why* these two characters feel the way they day about each other. I feel like I read the cliffnotes version of a longer romance story instead of actually getting to enjoy the entire story. Overall I'd say the romance has the same feel and depth as a Hallmark movie.
The erotic scene + the sexual tension also feels a bit strange in this book. For me, personally, it pulls it out of the Cozy Fantasy genre--too explicit for that. But it was also just one scene. I feel like if the author had wanted to go in that direction, then commit! Draw it out, make it extra steamy! Throw in a couple others! It could have transformed the meh, lukewarm romance into something more interesting and complicated; the characters didn't like each other at first, but make them attracted to each other sexually, and *acting* on it, while the emotional development is still struggling, and bam, you've got some pretty standard erotica tension to work with.
It also loses marks for the prose, which has some amateurish weaknesses in spots. Some sentences simply do not flow how they should; some, the word choices are questionable (using 'primly' and 'Primrose' in the same sentence really rubbed me the wrong way.) The inner monologue of characters gets repetitive--a lot of people's mouths seem to run away without conscious input from the characters and it's invariably followed by some kind of inner mortification of the fact. And yet, it keeps happening.
The child characters frequently don't feel like children. Their ages are given to us but I can't remember for the life of me what they were because everyone talks like a young adult, even though I'm fairly certain all the kids are supposed to be under the age of ten.
Some of the writing feels, again, kind of rushed. We get brief overviews of activities instead of being allowed to sink in and experience them slowly and leisurely. There's a bit too much telling over the showing. Scenes feel very short. Instead of being tight and snappy, they feel lacking as a result. This is a book that should have either been cut down to novelette length or allowed room to grow so each scene could be marinated in detail.
There are some good, important themes and morals in this book but I kept feeling like I was being bludgeoned with them repeatedly. It circles back to telling more than showing. The same statements get repeated by the same characters, over and over. By the end of the book I was exhausted with it. I was also kind of exhausted with that Hallmark feel I alluded to. Nothing really felt earned enough, so the saccharine ending was just And Then They Lived Happily Ever After.
For me this book started really strong, but ended with a whimper. I think it could have benefited from being cut in half.
"The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches" is an amazing story I absolutely loved!
It begins with the story of a solitary witch who receives a mysterious job offer that leads her to a place unlike any she’s ever known. The job is against her rules to find out what happen grab the book and delve into the story.
If you're into cozy fantasy with found family and feel-good stories you should definitely read this one.
I loved this book so much. From the very start, the writing style captured me, the occasional swear making it all the more enjoyable. I hated Jamie at the beginning, ngl, but god, by the end I loved him so much. The progression to even the first kiss was just so rewarding. I didn't expect to get so emotional reading this book, but god I loved it.
I went into this book expecting a relatively cozy, witchcenttic romantasy and I got none of those. Truly one of the most boring books I've read in awhile despite a really cute cover and oodles of rave reviews.
From the beginning, every character, from a 10 year old to folks in their 50s and 60s all speak with the same flat language. Norwich, where most of the book is set, has particular slang and speech patterns that don't show up at all. Shouldn't at least Lucie, a woman in her 50s, throw in a few colloquialisms (especially considering that the author lives in that area of England and surely talks to people on her area)? A precocious child is fine in a book, but children who sounds exactly like adults and asks questions that sheltered kids who've never left their compound certainly would not ask didn't ring true. And the psychopathic Terracotta? Was she supposed to be cute?
Stormy grey eyes are not a character trait. Scowling can only be read so many times before a reader starts ignoring the word. The “romance” did not hit at all and I think the book would have been better without it. Once in awhile, can we not disprove Harry (of “When Harry Met Sally”), that men and women can be friends?
This is yet another book where the found family trope is too forced. If the characters had been more fleshed out or differentiated, perhaps it could have worked. Lots of folks compare this book to TJ Klune's “The House on the Cerulean Sea.” And I can see why. The difference is that the characters in THOTCS were well-developed, the fantastical/magic elements were relatively unique, and the relationships between the characters evolved.
At the 40% mark, I realized the book wasn't going to improve, so I skimmed the rest and confirmed my opinion over and over. There was so much potential, but it was not to be.
Rounding down from a 4.25. This book started off very wholesome and ended very wholesome but towards the end it got excessively spicy. It was like the book broke the promise of a wholesome plot with little adventures with the baby witches and the older witch discovering herself. But besides the non essential “spiciness” this book served its purpose as a way to cheer me up with good vibes between books that emotionally drained me. Somewhat predictable but nonetheless still effective in its purpose to make you feel happier.
honestly i did not care for it. it felt like the characters liked each other way too fast and i always have a problem with fast love. they knew each other , what, 2 months? c'mon... idk . the book itself was okay. i liked the witchy parts of it. honestly the comedic parts of it didnt do it for me- i did not laugh once LOL :pain:
Such a fun, cozy, fuzzy book. An easy romance with a sprinkle of sparkly magic. I am already wondering if there will be a sequel. I read this book as part of several reading challenges. This was such a popular choice for Book Clubs. And I get it. Totally get it. Interesting that there is also quite some life-wisdom within these pages. Niceness versus Kindness... Home is worth finding, even if it takes a while... This is going to be one of my comfort reads, go-to book for that warm, sweet, smile-on-my-face feeling.
The Very secret Society of irregular witches was so adorable. It had found family, love, and growth and change. I thought how Mika let people into her heart was particularly sweet and how Jamie allowed himself to change as well. I found myself rooting for the romance and giggling when those stolen moments happened in the book. it was a fun read definitely worth the time 4.25 stars
Fue lindo y con personajes carismáticos pero una historia poco memorable. En conclusión: una lectura ligera
It wasn't for me. I was trying something new but I just don't think these kinds of books are my jam. The narrator was lovely, which is likely why I just went ahead and finished it.