Rewitched by Lucy Jane Wood was a novel that was on my fall TBR for quite a while, so I was excited to finally read it this month.
In Rewitched, Belle Blackthorn keeps her witchcraft a secret. When she turns 30, she is summoned for a trial during which a coven will evaluate her magic. While she fails the initial test, she is given the month of October to complete various magical tests and save her magic. If she is unsuccessful, she will lose her magic forever. At the same time, Belle struggles to protect the bookstore she works at from her boss, whose decisions jeopardize the bookstore’s future.
I had high hopes for Rewitched. The plot sounded exciting and for me, the combination of witches and a bookstore seemed like the perfect fall read. I expected a novel almost like a cozy version of The Hunger Games.
Unfortunately, this book didn’t live up to my expectations. I listened to the audiobook and I liked the narrator, but the book itself never fully captured my interest. I kept finding my attention drifting, which doesn’t often happen to me when I’m listening to audiobooks. I think part of the problem was that, to me, this novel would have been better marketed as a young adult novel. I thought that the main character, while being charming and funny, lacked the maturity I would expect from a 30-year-old woman, and I struggled to connect to her. Also, the plot should have been fast-paced given all that happened, but I found that the novel dragged. I actually contemplated DNFing it (something I struggle to do). I stuck with it hoping it would grow on me, but it never really did.
If Rewitched is a novel you’ve been interested in, I’d still give it a chance since reading is so subjective. I rated Rewitched 2.5 stars, but the Goodreads average rating is 3.73. Since I didn’t enjoy Rewitched, I’ve decided not to continue on with the series.
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