The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches

4/5

I had waited a long time to read this book and it was as whimsical and cozy and amazing as I hoped it would be. I was hoping for a bit more romance, however, but found family vibes were strong and great.

The children were amazing and I loved the little rivalry (?) between the middle one and Mika. It was hilarious up until Mika got hurt. But I loved that Jamie stayed by her side until she woke up, it was sweet of him.

Mika's love for magic was so pure and her making potions was so interesting. I loved the shooting stars scene when Jamie visited her and I'm glad it wasn't insta-love for either of them, but I wish the romance was expanded. The author, at least in this book, not sure about others, likes to tell us instead of show us, which is something I'm not really a fan of. When Mika thought to herself that she was in love with him (and the rest of the team) I was like “When did that happen?” They interacted so little “on-screen”, most of their relationship was just mentioned in throwaway lines which is not what I hoped for.

The other thing that bugged me was the pov switch halfway through the chapter and instead of fleshing it out, it was just a few sentences that, if taken out from the book, wouldn't affect the plot at all. Like Ian's pov thrown halfway through the chapter when Mika told Jamie she wanted to talk to him. Why was it there? Completely unnecessary. And there were other instances like those 2 sentences from Jamie's pov after Mika made a move on him in the car. Like come on, give us a full chapter from Jamie's pov, not 2 sentences that don't affect the story in any way.

The plot twist at the end was kind of predictable but I liked it because the clues were all there and I loved that the author decided to follow through, instead of switching things at the last second. And it conveniently wrapped up the plot, which I enjoyed.