Review: The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches
- tatedecaro
- a few seconds ago
- 2 min read
4/5 stars
Delightful! "A warm & witchy hug of a book" is right! Reminded me a lot of The House in the Cerulean Sea, but with female witches (kids and adults) instead of the motley crew of various "magical youths."
Mika Moon is witch, but has been taught all her life that she must not only hide her magic, but stay away from all other witches, save for once a year when a group of about 10 get together for an afternoon. Mika was raised by a revolving door of nannies, overseen by the "head witch" of Britain, Primrose Everly. This is because all witches are orphans. No one quite knows why, but if you are born a witch, your parents are destined to die soon after. Mika is used to be lonely. Primrose is rarely around, and every nanny and tutor has their memories erased once they start to figure out that Mika is, shall we say, unusually talented.
Despite a rebellious streak, Mika follows the rules set by Primrose. Well, mostly... she does host an increasingly popular video series where she performs magic, but she makes sure things are simple enough that most people will dismiss them as tricks. That is, until an elderly, eccentric, retired actor named Ian Kubo-Hawthorn gets in touch to say he's seeking a real witch... and he knows she is one.
Mika travels to a remote mansion called Nowehere House, where she meets Ian, his husband Ken, housekeeper Lucie, librarian Jamie, and a trio of young witches - 10 year-old Rosette, 8 year-old Terracotta, and 7 year-old Altamira. They call themselves sisters, though they're all from different places/families, found by the witch-matriarch of this makeshift family, Lillian Nowhere. Lillian is an archeologist and almost never at home. Ian, Ken and Lucie want to hire Mika as the girls' tutor. Jamie, meanwhile, is entirely against the idea of letting a stranger into their private, hidden world, but has acquiesced because Lillian's lawyer will soon be paying them a visit, and if he finds out the girls are witches, he'll tell the world. Mika is charged with trying to teach the girls how to control their magic. For example, not setting things on fire randomly when they get upset or floating up into the air when they're not paying attention.
The found-family in this novel is wonderful. The relationship that blossoms between Mika and the girls is lovely and heartwarming (once she is able to win them all over). I loved the Ian and Ken characters - eccentric and loving and silly. Mika learns to let her guard down and actually put down roots, and even makes peace with Primrose, who she's always viewed as a sort of "keeper," instead of a mother-figure. And there's a slow-burn romance that normally I would find annoying, but in this case it was just right.
UP NEXT: The Writing Retreat, by Julia Bartz
