Disclaimer: I received this e-arc from the publisher. Thanks! All opinions are my own.
Book: Bad Witch Burning
Author: Jessica Lewis
Book Series: Standalone
Rating: 5/5
Diversity: Black MC, Fat side character
Recommended For…: young adult readers, paranormal, fantasy, urban fantasy, witches, horror
Publication Date: August 24, 2021
Genre: YA Paranormal Fantasy
Recommended Age: 15+ (violence, gore, child abuse, emotional abuse, alcohol abuse, slight language, grief, animal death TW, domestic violence TW)
Explanation of CWs: Animal Death scene played out, it’s a tear-jerker and a pain inducer. There is also graphic descriptions of domestic violence, child abuse, and emotional abuse. There’s also gun violence and gore.
Publisher: Delacorte
Pages: 352
Synopsis: Katrell doesn’t mind talking to the dead; she just wishes it made more money. Clients pay her to talk to their deceased loved ones, but it isn’t enough to support her unemployed mother and Mom’s deadbeat boyfriend-of-the-week. Things get worse, when a ghost warns her to stop the summonings or she’ll “burn everything down.” Katrell is willing to call them on their bluff, though. She has no choice. What do ghosts know about eating peanut butter for dinner?
However, when her next summoning accidentally raises someone from the dead, Katrell realizes that a live body is worth a lot more than a dead apparition. And, warning or not, she has no intention of letting this lucrative new business go.
But magic doesn’t come for free, and soon dark forces are closing in on Katrell. The further she goes, the more she risks the lives of not only herself, but those she loves. Katrell faces a choice: resign herself to poverty, or confront the darkness before it’s too late.
Review: I fell in love with this book from the first page. This book is so well done and it’s one of the best witchy books I’ve read in my life. The book has well done character development and the world building is immaculate. I loved how well the magic system was detailed and how realistic it is from what I hear from my real life witchy friends (that it takes a part of you to do it and can cause you pain/some future issues). The writing is very well done as well and this book is very evenly paced. I do have to warn you though, you’ll be consumed by this book and the overwhelming sadness in it. This book is such a tear-jerker and it’s so haunting that it’ll make you think about it for days or weeks to come.
The trigger warnings in this book are recommended to read and self-consult with. The animal death scene royally effed me up because I was so distraught with myself over it. The author had an amazing way with words and makes you feel like the characters are actually there, but damn it hits hard when death happens.
Verdict: It was so good and so sad and so good.
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