3.5 Stars

THE BABYSITTERS COVEN is, as the book summary states, a mash-up of Adventures in Babysitting and Buffy. These sitters don't know what is going on, but they know something is and do their best to protect those they're supposed to. YA fans who like their stories full of friendship, complex family dynamics, some magic and a little danger will enjoy this one.

I liked the protagonist, Esme, from the start. She's one of those girls who just wants to keep her head down and get through high school as best she can. She's got a good head on her and good instincts. I also really liked her friend Janis and Esme's dad who was trying to raise a teenage daughter as best he could. Cassandra bothered me from the time she enters to almost the very end of the story. There were some other characters, but most of them were fairly one dimensional.

I was mostly curious on what the plot would be and the reasoning behind the girls' powers. Not all of it was explained, so there weren't a lot of details. You kind of have to go on blind faith here. It was interesting though, how things were presented (without spoiling anything I can't give much more than that). The ending definitely builds to a climatic ending with some action and a few twists. I'm definitely curious to see how things turn out in subsequent books. I can see the girls not quite sticking to the rules, especially with some parents involved in the outcome.

I just had a few qualms about the book. There were some really blatant comments and crude descriptions. Obviously a lot of it is the norm in high school, but I don't really want to have to read it in my books, especially in having to deal with it in real life too. At least not quite to the extent here, especially as it really had nothing to do with the story. There's also a lot of acronyms and labels (as an example, Esme's dad was stated as being nerdy for being a Tom Cruse fan and liking Dave Matthews), so depending on the audience they may not even know some of the references or might be offended by them (my daughter doesn't know who Dave Matthews is, but she does love Tom Cruise in the Mission Impossible movies and she shouldn't feel like there's anything wrong with that). Sometimes it's dangerous to be so specific with your audience, particularly if you're attaching a negative connotation to a label or even labeling at all, and using slang too much.

In the end, was it what I wished for? Overall, I enjoyed the story. More so the friendship and family dynamics, as well as the second half of the book where it's fairly clean in content. The magic and the way the sitters' system works is interesting, and I'm looking forward to more details about how it all works as the series continues.

Content: Some crude and blatant gestures and references. Some swearing. Some violence.
Source: I received an ARC from NetGalley and the publisher through The Fantastic Flying Book Club, which did not require a positive review nor affect it in any way.

Thank you so much to Penguin Random House International for providing me with an e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest opinion.

This book was a fun read. I wanted to keep it for this end of October because it was giving me all the Halloween vibes, and it delivered. I've read on several reviews people compare it to Buffy, The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina and The Babysitters Club and I can only agree with all of them. It even mentions them and makes fun of itself because of the similar aspects there were between those fictional worlds.

This book follows Esme Pearl who is a high school student with a genuine love for babysitting. However, one day her world is turned upside down when she gets mad and notices objects floating around her. This marks the beginning of a new adventure for Esme filled with spells, demons and other strange things happening...

As I said, this book was truly a fun read. It helped me relax and made me laugh even though it is more oriented towards young teenagers. It overuses some tropes but it didn't stop me from having a great time in any way at all. I didn't know this was going to be a series and I'm looking forward to the next books! I did felt like the ending was a bit rushed and changed a lot of elements abruptly.

To conclude, a very nice light read with a cool magic system!

The Babysitters Coven feels like a 90s witchy film in the vein Hocus Pocus and Halloweenteen, but with a contemporary teen cast and a third wave feminist flavor.

The setting is a traditional small town where football and athletes rule the day. At the end of the day, however, this book is about the women. The ladies have strong personalities and the power to save the day. In comparison, the men are incompetent, powerless, or out to ruin the day.

The Babysitters Coven realistically explores how teenagers would react to coming into great power. I love the Spiderman line that with great power comes great responsibility, but how many teenagers would take that line seriously when they come into power? There were times when I thought the heroines would turn to the dark side. What draws the line between good and evil is made clear in the type of magic used.

It did take some time to get into the magic. The pace picks up once the heroines begin learning how to use their gifts, building up to the climax at the end. I’m happy that the ladies’ adventures do not end with this book but will continue with the next installment because there’s still a lot to explore in this world.

The Babysitters Coven is a light magical read with a touch of horror and plenty of teenage drama. Kate Williams’ voice is distinct in this book. I love the snark and the many cultural references made. (Note: I didn’t know many of the references outside of The Outsiders, so I can’t pin a specific decade or category for the references.) Readers who enjoy descriptions of outrageously fun outfits, sisterhood, and humor may also enjoy this one.

Similar reads (for voice): Team Human by Justine Larbalestier and Sarah Rees Brennan, Fang Girl by Helen Keeble

Content
- Language / profanity
- Thoughts on how good looking people are
- Incompetent men

This was a fun witchy book. It was campy and I laughed out loud a few times. The way the magic worked was very unique!

This was fast, fun, and legitimately hilarious. It made me literally LOL multiple times! This is how a witty, snarky teen voice should be written. I loved all the callbacks to old horror movies, Buffy, and of course The Babysitters Club. I'm excited for the sequel.

Step aside Baby Sitters Club, these are not your average babysitters. These babysitters can slay vampires and demons with the best of them! With on point humor, characters to die for, and a plot that keeps your turning the page, Williams has crafted a story that surely be in the same category with all our favorite teens. TBC, while dealing with vamps and demons, is such a fun book. It's a story that doesn't remain serious and dark. The flares of sarcasm, heart felt conversations, and hilarious antics keep it entertaining for any age. If you are looking for a plot driven story. this will not be for you. The plot is lacking in many areas but if taken at face value, the book is more than enjoyable. Overall, I definitely rated this a 4/5 stars for the humor and vamps alone!

Esme is a babysitter, and a damn good one. But when her latest charge sleepwalks out of her window and onto the roof, Esme begins to realize that strange things are afoot. And something is wrong with her as well...

This was a solid read, although it's definitely geared towards younger teens, despite Esme being 17. It felt a lot like Rebel Belle in tone, plot and pacing, although social outcast Esme couldn't be more different than Type-A Harper Price.

I like Esme's snarky voice, which was funny and upbeat, and I really enjoyed most of the book except for the part with the villain (who came out of nowhere) and all things Dion...who was just ick.

However, the overall story wasn't as fun or spoopy as I thought it would be? I was thinking something along the lines of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (as mentioned in the blurb) and also more babysitting and more...coven...but this was mostly just Esme linking up with asshole Cassandra and drifting apart from best friend Janis and trying to figure out what was happening with things moving about her. Aside from Esme (who had an intriguing internal monologue but all of the outward personality of Bella Swan), all of the other characters were mostly one-dimensional or existed within their defining quirk.

Just about the only thing that was interesting was Brian, and now I am showing my age, because a man who is an interior decorator and likes cozy things is super hot (sorry, honey). Although the sportsball obsession was less hot (yes, I married a non-sporty lesbian—they do exist).

Anywho, I ended up listening to the audiobook because I missed the publication date and my digital library had a copy. Go libraries!

The ending has a set-up to more books. I had thought this was a standalone (don't know how, considering the series is right there in the title), but the ending leaves room for more adventures and expansion into this universe. I don't think I'll be continuing though. It was good, but overall fell a little flat.

I received this ARC from NetGalley for an honest review.

Okay, I'm going to be honest: I could not finish this book. I really wanted to. I love witchy and snarky books and I thought it had a fun premise but ultimately, it suffered from sensitivity issues that just negatively affected me. I felt like the author fell into the common trap i see a lot where to show that the main is sarcastic and edgy and hates high school they make a lot of jokes or comments along the lines of "i want to die" or "kill me" . And i get that it is not meant in seriousness and is such a small part of this story but it's careless language. This week is the third anniversary of a friend's suicide so statements or jokes like that affect me in a painful way. I may try again down the road but for now it's too caustic. Other readers without my history with the subject may not even notice it but I wanted to just bring it up for those like me. This is not the only book that has this problem but it's still something that happens too often.

The Babysitters Cover is the perfect fall read! Why? Because one, it's funny. Two, magic. Three it has an overall fall feel to if. We following Esma and her babysitting club. She is working and save up her money. We soon meet Cassandra who is kinda a rebel but she wants to join Esme babysitting club because of a note her mother left her. But turns out there is more than just one kind of babysitter. Esme and Cassandra have magic powers that are used to fight off the evil that is trying to take over the world. This book is a page-turner. I read it in just three days because I wanted to know what was going on with these characters. This book at times seems to be characters driven while overtimes it is plot-driven. The Babysitters Coven is adventures, sarcasm, and spells!
I can see how this is perfect for Buffy fans. It has an adult who has a job that needs to get the girls ready to fight evil. I like the role that Esme's family plays in the story. (trying to keep from spoilers.) Pig the Pitbull, you can't help but smile when Pig is in the scene. The only downside I have about this book is that it did read on the younger side of YA, however, this spell of a book is quirky and a perfect match for autumn.

The book has a great premise and the title really pulls you in, but sadly it just wasn't for me. But I know that it's something my niece would really enjoy so I did order her a copy when it was released.

Kate Williams is especially good with her humour. It is either she is a comical personality, or she just has that comedy seeping out of her whenever she writes. The Babysitters Coven gave me a good, hearty laugh, but it also evoked a creepy atmosphere.

This book was so much fun! I love witches, girl gangs, and all things nostalgic. If you love those things also then this is the book for you!

It starts with a babysitters club but ends with so much more. These characters where all so much fun. Esme was our narrator and I personally never minded being in her head. She goes on quite the adventure. We see long lasting friendships, new friends, parental relationships, and a tiny bit of romance! The romance is just enough and has a fun end game! The parental relationship angle was great. It added depth and surprises. Cassandra is a wild card and crazy destructive BUT so much fun. JANIS is a goddess. I need say no more than that!

I don’t want to give things away but I really had fun reading this. This gives me sugar and spice and Jawbreaker movie vibes. Very campy in the best nostalgic way. They don’t make movies like this any more or books! THIS WOULD MAKE THE BEST MOVIE/TV SERIES TO BRING BACK THE VIBE. So please give it a chance I don’t think you will be sorry.

Author interview at my blog tomorrow https://foreverboundbybooks.wordpress.com/

Perfect read for the month of October! I breezed through this book because it was fun and I wanted to know what happened next. It's not super scary or anything. And the plot just felt like a perfect thing to read in October (when I tend to read more spooky/Halloween/witchy/creepy books).

The Babysitters Coven is a fun adventure in babysitting mixed with lots of action and supernatural powers. Esme Pearl is seventeen. She and her best friend Janis have a babysitters club together, which basically amounts to a shared cell phone and a list of regular clients. When they get together for “meetings”, it is just an excuse to hang out, or go thrift shopping. Both Esme and Janis love fashion and text each other each night to describe their next day’s outfits. I honestly wish I had the fashion sense and confidence in high school that these girls have!

One night while Esme is babysitting Kaitlyn, a regular that requires many bedtime stories before falling asleep, an incident occurs. She hears a sound after putting Kaitlyn to bed and rushes upstairs only to find the door to the little girl’s bedroom locked. After struggling, she finally gets inside and the window is open with little Kaitlyn out on the roof. Esme coaxes her in and gets her back to bed, but is obviously shaken from this incident, however, this is only the beginning.

Strange things begin happening to Esme at school, things she cannot explain. It’s almost as if she is moving things with her mind, but that can’t be possible, right?

Cassandra Heaven is the new girl at school and even though her fashion sense is nothing like Esme and Janis, she still has that cool-girl appeal, like nothing can touch her. She approaches Esme about the babysitters club and just like that, they have a new member after years of it being just the two of them. Janis is wary of the new girl, but Cassandra welcomes her and finds they might have more in common than meets the eye.

Finally, Esme lives with her father. It’s been just the two of them since her mother was sent to live in an institution. Though Esme and her father visit on weekends, Esme still feels unconnected to her mother. She doesn’t really know anything about her past other than the snippets her father has let slip over the years.

I read and adored The Baby-Sitters Club series when I was a kid, so when I first heard about The Babysitters Coven, I was all on board. Give me anything with a supernatural twist and I will devour it, which is exactly what happened with this book. It is a fast read because you will want to pick it up the second you set it down. There were many laugh-out-loud moments as well as times that it made me tear up. It leaves you guessing at the full story until the very end. This is a wonderful first book in a new series that will surely become a new favourite!

Did not finish.

I started reading this yesterday, got about 80 pages in, had to put it down and have no inclination whatsoever to pick this book back up. The idea I had of this book, it being promoted as buffy meets the babysitter's club, are not even remotely met. The characterization in this first bit were cringey at best. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind that Esmee is more of an unlikeable mc and I think the basic tone was very young teen. But the constant chat speak while in Esmee's head was too much. And I realized that I was just not the right person to read this book for review and as such won't write a review for it on my blog. I did post these same thoughts on Goodreads.

The cover, OH.MY.GOSH. THAT COVER!!! Plus a witchy book, yes please! This was such a fun book to read. I loved Esme and Janis. Especially Esme. This book has a bit of everything. Action, paranormal phenomenons, funny moments. I absolutely am looking forward to the next book in this series.

The Babysitters Coven starts out as a really fun book, but a whole new world is introduced about halfway through, which is jarring and hard to follow. The ending has some good tension, but overall, the story feels very basic. 2/5 stars.

I was really excited to read this book. It said it was Adventures in Babysitting meets Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Plus the cover is absolutely beautiful. So I really thought I was going to enjoy this one. Sadly I really couldn't get into this book at all. I feel bad because the author was so nice to send me some goodies since I was part of the blog tour. I just really wasn't a fan of the writing. There were all these just weird comparisons that just didn't make sense and just felt like she was trying to hard. Plus I just couldn't find myself getting into the story. I found it very dull. It's such a shame because this book has such a great concept but just wasn't executed well.

3.5 Stars

When I first read the concept of this book, I wanted to read it immediately. Babysitter's Club meets Buffy? Yes, please! While the book did meet that brief, there were some aspects that I didn't love. I really enjoyed all of the great pop culture references (Labyrinth, Buffy, Harry Potter and more) as well as some of the discussion surrounding difficult issues such as Esme's mom's condition and how the town/school treated her because of it, as well as her internal dialogue about her worries and fears. Esme's voice/point of view is rather harsh at times, which could be considered unlikable or polarizing, but for the age of the character it is understandable.

I do wish that some things had been a little more descriptive. At times the relationships between people didn't seem to be as close as they were described. Also, a lot of the characters (granted, more minor characters) could have used more description to differentiate them from each other. That being said though, this was mostly with characters that only appeared a few times and I'm sure that if they show up in future books they will be fleshed out more.

The last half of the book was jam packed with action and went much faster than the 1st half, which I really enjoyed. There were definitely a lot of twists and turns that were surprising, but there were also many twists that were pretty predictable. There were times that I had a hard time liking Esme and Cassandra (mostly Cassandra) because of their decisions, but I could see some of those things being addressed in future books. In that respect this book set up future conflicts really well.

All in all I did enjoy this book and as I said the last half was really quick paced and enjoyable. If you're looking for books that have great pop culture references, lots of mystical and paranormal content and babysitters who have to protect the world, then you'll probably enjoy it. It was definitely a fun book with a lot of quirks and capers.

Thank you to Netgalley and Delacorte Press for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I was so excited to get an arc of this book, and man. It did not disappoint!

This was such a fast, intriguing debut novel. Esme and her bff, Janis, are fashion queens. I loved the descriptions of their outfits and the names for them. They’re just trying to get through high school then make their way out of their small town. Then something crazy happens. Esme learns she has telekenesis and things.get.cray. I was a babysitter when I was younger, so I loved that so much of the book revolved around that. I loved the magic and spells. Cassandra was iffy at times, but in the end I really liked her! The friendship between Janis and Esme reminded me of me and my highschool friends. We still talk to this day, and I feel like that’s the relation ship they have!

This is a perfect fall/Halloween book! Curl up with it, a PSL, and a nice blanket and you’re in for a good time! This was a super fast read that kept me intrigued the whole way through. I can’t wait to see what happens to our Sitters in book 2! (Coming fall 2020. SO FAR AWAY!)