The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna

Published on October 14, 2022

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As one of the few witches in Britain, Mika Moon has grown up following the Rules, which state that magic should be kept hidden from non-witches, but also that witches must not interact with one another for fear of their magic mingling and attracting attention. While Mika generally follows the Rules, she does make one exception for the online videos she makes, where she “pretends” to be a witch, believing that no one will see the truth.

When someone notices Mika is in fact a real witch, she gets a series of strange messages asking her to become a live-in tutor for three young witches who are hidden from the world at Nowhere house. Upon her arrival, Mika discovers that the home is protected by wards, cast by the witch who owns the home but is constantly away on business. Instead, the girls are left with two caretakers, a retired actor and the home’s librarian. When Mika accepts the position, she is welcomed by most of the home’s residents, however Jamie, the librarian, shows a clear dislike for Mika and one of the young witches has a habit of rebelling and refuses to listen to her new tutor.

As the residents learn to co-exist with Mika, secrets and lies begin to threaten the safety of Nowhere house, which could lead to the exposure of witches. Mika must make risky decisions in order to keep the girls together, while also protecting their magical abilities, and it may just be a task too big for Mika to handle alone.

The author of this novel covers a wide variety of topics, looking at isolation and loneliness while also looking at family dynamics and how people can come together to create their own found families. While the novel does have some heavy topics, Mika’s quirky and bright personality keeps the overall tone of the novel light. The author also provides a lighter perspective to magic in this novel and does not include the usual darkness that surrounds many other novels about witches. While I do wish the author provided more information about the mysterious history of witches and why they must be kept apart, there was simply not time for Mika to uncover and solve all these problems in one book.

Overall, “The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches” is written in a way that is quirky and bright and at times, laugh out loud funny. This novel is a good choice for readers who enjoy rom-coms but are looking for something a little different.

Star Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

 

 

 

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