Witches — Phil Stern

I enjoyed reading this book and found myself absorbed by the characters and storyline. I also appreciated the book’s sophisticated vocabulary. The only disappointment for me was the ending, and there were more typos than I am accustomed to seeing in a professionally-published book

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For a witch to reproduce, they first sleep with a man who will then pass on the magical gene to the next child they have with a mortal woman, which will be a daughter. The author did a great job constructing the Coven’s fictional world. It was entertaining and creative while avoiding the confusion that sometimes comes along with introducing a brand new world to readers. 

Review

At first glance, this book may appear to be heavily pro-women, given the all-female Coven’s superior position of power; however, in reality, the book challenges their questionable customs. In several instances, the witches are blatantly cavalier about their actions regarding the mortal men they sleep with. In other instances, they are downright cruel, seemingly without any cause or justification. While not all witches adhered to this blatant disregard for non-magical beings, it definitely put an interesting spin on the book since I had first expected it to be heavily pro-female. 

Additionally, my favorite character was actually Lord Gesrow, the villain. Although he was undoubtedly insane and evil, the author avoided the stereotypical creation of a one-dimensional antagonist by providing Gensrow with an emotional and compelling backstory that truly made me sympathize with the warlock.   

Summary

Overall, I enjoyed reading this book and found myself absorbed by the characters and storyline. I also appreciated the book’s sophisticated vocabulary. The only disappointment for me was the ending. I thought Tiffany’s final interaction with her mother was a bit disassociated from the rest of the book and could have been integrated better. Additionally, there were more typos than I am accustomed to seeing in a professionally-published book. 

This was a thoroughly entertaining book!

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