Witch hunters are only seconds behind Evie (Evelyn) as she flees with her little sister Dil and her mother through the forest. Her mother is caught and she screams for her daughters to run. Dil doesn’t want to leave their mother, calling back to her as Evie drags her into bushes to hide.

Still they are too close. They see the four men and their dogs circling their mother. They hear sounds that will never leave their ears. Evie knows she must follow her mother’s wishes and get to their aunt in a coven far away. Through the dark, her pain and the hatred that begins to burn under her skin, Evie vows revenge on the four men that killed their mother.

First they come upon a farmhouse. Evie has been here before with her mother as a healer. This is where she learns the names of the men. The girls get to rest overnight and Evie can finally think on the past few hours, weeks and years growing up.

She cannot deny her jealousy of her younger sister Dil. It was Dil her mother taught their witching ways. It was Dil who had a magical way with any beast she came upon, even now as she is captivated by the farmer’s dog’s puppies. Even as they fled certain death, it was Dil her mother told her to care for and turn to.

But Evie refuses to do so. She will be the one to take revenge for her mother, not her 9 year old sister. She will be the one to have control of her mother’s special stone too, and after they reach their aunt’s coven, she takes it from Dil. Dil pleads with her big sister, warning that the stone must be given not taken, but Evie ignores Dil’s cries and sets off on her plan of revenge.

Her courage never wavers, and this bodes well for her in battle after battle, even one of accepting help from another who has be wronged by these men or men like them. Her new friend is kin of wealth and power, but she fights on Evie’s side, again and again.

One by one these men fall, but will Evie finish them all?

I always enjoy a good witch story and WITCH stands out among many. The spellcraft is not complicated or drawn out, and the settings and language captured me again and again. I reread sentences, as I was immersed in a time of fire, hate, mistrust and fear.

• There, stretching as long as a snake asleep in the sun was the road to town.
• Sleep gnawed my bones
• The door scraped ajar and a lantern floated in the night air.
• The crowd. That many headed creature reared before us, belching smoke and shouts.

The main character’s revenge is alive on the page even though she held no magical skills. Something she had always been called by her mother as a child comes to life and her aid when she needs it – you’ll have to read WITCH to learn what it is. This is a revenge story mixed with sibling rivalry, girl power, betrayal, defeat of misogyny and finally love.

Great read.

Author – Finbar Hawkins

Age – 12+

Read a review of Finbar Hawkin’s next book STONE (Click on the Cover)

(2021, Bloomsbury, Action, Courage, Family, Historical, Grief, Friendship, Revenge, Sibling Rivalry, Witches, Magic, Ladies, Lords, Gentry, Misogyny, Discrimination, War, Intolerance, Betrayal)