Article contributed by Madalena Daleziou
What would you do if you received a book written by a witch who was killed in a late 1800s witch purge, and you found out that you could learn her craft, in a world that seeks to bring witch-hunts back, no less? B*Witch by Paige McKenzie and Nancy Ohlin aims to answer just that.
The year is 2016 and the new government is extremely suspicious of witches. The so-called law 6-129, which forbids witchcraft, has gradually relaxed over the years, but the prejudice has remained. Most teen witches practice secretly, but if they are found out, expulsion from school or being grounded is usually the worst they can expect… things are about to get bleaker though. With the government’s increased prejudice against witchcraft and an emerging hate group, called Antima (Anti-Magic), many young, self-taught witches practicing in secret, now have reason to believe their lives are in danger.
When Iris, a secret witch who lives with Sensory Processing Disorder and frequent panic attacks, moves to small town Sorrow Point, she hopes to be free of the witch-hate she witnessed in New York. Little does she know that her new high school, is home to not one, but two secret covens, and, most horrifyingly, to several Antima members. When witches from both covens start receiving threatening messages with anti-witchcraft content, yet strangely charmed that implies a witch’s hand in their distribution, coven leader Greta and her friends, Ridley and Binx, must solve the mystery. This also may mean working with Greta’s once coven mate and now rival, Div, who follows a darker branch of witchcraft and leads a coven of her own.
Despite their common enemy, cooperating isn’t always easy: the covens have conflicting interests as both seek to recruit the gifted Iris and another new student and suspected witch, Penelope. Even within Greta’s generally benevolent coven, signs of discord increase as the stakes get higher: Greta, whose magic is as traditional and ethical as possible, often finds herself at odds with the more mischievous Binx. The latter is a cyber-witch who prefers to practise magic through technology, creating her own apps and being active in an online videogame called ‘Witchworld’, where she has befriended a rare male witch. When Binx trusts her new friend a bit too readily and comes to believe that a more aggressive approach is needed to fight the Antima, Greta feels her friend’s actions might expose the coven. But as the threats against the witches become more and more frequent and terrifying, the girls must work together if they want to solve the mystery on time and survive.
B*Witch is a very readable, with short chapters that don’t tire the reader. A lot of chapter titles are intertextual references, which is a nice touch. At the beginning of each chapter we get a passage from The Good Book of Magic and Mentalism by Callixta Crowe, the 1800s witch whose book the girls use to learn their craft. These passages nicely foreshadow each chapter’s content without revealing too much, as the authors do a good job at maintaining suspense until the last few chapters. The ending did feel a little abrupt, with a new plot point being introduced without much foreshadowing, but the plot twist was still an interesting one I had not seen coming, and the openness of the ending leaves room for more to be written about these very endearing witches.
Although the figure of the teen witch has been used a lot in the past few years, both as an aesthetic and as a political statement, Paige McKenzie and Nancy Ohlin offer us a fresh take on contemporary magic. Each of the main characters interprets Callixta’s book differently. From Greta’s traditional, sustainable magic and trust in feminist deities, to Binx’s use of mobile apps and even Pokemon cards, the reader is immersed in a fun, playful microcosm. We are constantly reminded, however, that the magical safe space Greta, Binx and Ridley have created for themselves is fragile, threatened by both external forces and their own families, even their own coven. Knowing what is at stake, makes it easy to care about them.
The book is very diverse, with the witches coming from many different cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds, and from all across the LGBTQ+ spectrum, as well as a main character struggling with her mental health, an issued addressed with honesty throughout the novel. All these different identities are part of the characters, but they aren’t all we get know about them: each has her own quirks, preferences and compelling backstory. Some characters, such as Mira and Aisha from Div’s coven, as well as Penelope, could have been a little more developed, but, in general, the authors manage to convey who each character is, and most importantly, what she wants. Since we get to know a bit about each witch’s home life and personal struggles, the ending could have dwelt a little more on the ways their experiences throughout B*Witch might influence their future decisions about their problems, but, once again, the openness leaves room for readers to draw their own conclusions. Fighting for their right to be themselves and practice their magic in love and peace, definitely teaches Iris, Greta, Binx and Ridley a lot about themselves – and each other.
B*Witch is an inclusive, fun, and suspenseful book that teenage witch fans will enjoy, and many of them might identify with at least one main character. All in all, this is a story about identity, belonging, loss, and girls supporting one another. A very interesting collaboration with a lot of potential, that left me hoping we haven’t seen the last of the two covens.
B*Witch is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers as of July 7th 2020.
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Synopsis | Goodreads
A lone witch has powers. A coven has a multitude more.
New girl and secret witchl Iris just wants to get through her first day of school without a panic attack. The last thing she expects is to be taken in by a coven of three witches-soft-spoken Greta, thoughtful and musical Ridley, and fiery and spirited Binx. They may be the first witches Iris has met IRL, but their coven is not alone in their small northwestern town.
The Triad is the other coven at their school. When the Triad’s not using spells to punish their exes or break up happy couples for fun, they practice dark magic. The two covens have a rivalry stretching all the way back to junior high.
When tragedy strikes and one of their own is murdered, the rival covens must band together to find out who is responsible before it’s too late. Someone’s anti-witch ideology has turned deadly . . . and one of them is next.
With an inclusive cast of teen witches who leap off the page with style, attitude, and charm, B*Witch is a singable read perfect for fans of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Mean Girls alike.
