2019 is giving me all the witchy books and I am so here for it. ⁣
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The Babysitters Coven by @heykatewilliams was such a charming read! The nostalgia (think: The Baby-Sitters Club and Buffy the Vampire Slayer) mixed with 2019 humor was absolutely delightful. ⁣
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Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟⁣
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Esme Pearl is a 17-year-old who runs a babysitters club with her best friend, Janis. After a strange incident one night while babysitting, Esme begins experiencing a string of unexplainable events. ⁣
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Cassandra Heaven is the new girl in town. She’s got the good looks, hot older brother, and some of the answers Esme is seeking. ⁣
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Together, the two Sitters begin to uncover the truth about their families as well as the truth about themselves. ⁣
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Esme’s character made this book for me. She is sassy, cynical, and witty with a great fashion sense. Plus, she’s got a pitbull named Pig which won me over instantly. ⁣
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I’m already looking forward to the second installment of The Babysitters Coven so we can learn more Sitter history.

Esme Pearl and her best friend Janis are two high school BFFs that have a passion for quirky fashion and babysitting. Each day presents a new opportunity for this duo to show of their wild style, but they tend to keep to themselves rather than immerse themselves in stereotypical high school cliques. The babysitting club originally started as an excuse to hangout, but they do still get babysitter requests (even on an old school burner phone).

Things start getting really weird for Esme. One night while babysitting one of her regulars, the little boy ends up outside on the roof in the middle of the night and swears that something akin to The Goblin King was after him. To make matters worse, whenever Esme gets remotely upset, things magically start moving…like a certain dodgeball incident that goes awry.

Next thing we know, in comes Cassandra Heaven. She’s the new girl who’s desperately trying to be a part of Esme and Janis’ babysitter club even though she has no real babysitting experience. She seems oddly focused on Esme, and finally reveals to Esme that she knows that Esme is telekinetic and that she is pyrokinetic (firestarter anyone?!). Now it’s up to the girls to figure out where their powers come from and what they mean…all without dying from the dangers lurking in the shadows, of course.

This was such a fun and fast read that was a fresh take on the whole teenage witch trope. I loved the snarky banter, the humor, the Buffy the Vampire references, the bonding over babysitting, etc. This book brought me back to my 13 year old self. That being said, this is definitely one of those YA books that is meant for a younger YA audience and bridges the gap between MG and YA. However, don’t think that those of us older folks can’t enjoy it as well.

Overall, if you’re looking for a fun, witchy read this upcoming spooky season, definitely pick up this wonderful debut by Kate Williams. I can’t wait to see what she comes up with next!

Thank you to Delacorte Press and NetGalley for providing an eARC. This did not influence my review. All opinions are my own.

DNF @ ~20%

Oof, I expected something completely from this book. More detailed review to come, but the narration will probably be the most polarizing element for readers, and I can see many people loving it. It just...wasn't at all to my taste.

Well that was disappointing. You'd think I'd have learned by now that a good cover =/= a good book! Shockingly, I was more on board with the story before the magic happened...you know, the entire point of the book. THAT SAID, eyebrows were raised at the MC referring to a child's toy as "a midget-sized easel" and the amount of times her mother was referred to as "crazy" for having been moved into a care facility.

For a book that prides itself on being so feminist, I was baffled by the girl-on-girl bullying. Esme's narration of Cassandra's first day as the new girl, straight up says all the girls basically hated her on sight because of how all the boys looked at her.

A large chunk of the book is dedicated to the outfits Esme and her BFF Janis wear. Like, a LARGE chunk. Every day they text each other that day's 'theme' and the following narration describes in detail their clothing.

This book is reference after reference, several of which I, a 31-year-old, did not get, which leaves me wondering how the 17-year-olds in this book understood them, let alone how an actual 17-year-old reader would feel about them. On the opposite end, the narration was riddled with text speak: OMGs and NBDs haphazardly thrown in. It's bizarrely in the dialogue as well: even the football coach gets in on it with a handful of AFs.

Unfortunately, my interest waned fast and I ended up skimming the majority of this novel. It's clear from the start who the Bad Guy is and ~what really happened~ to Esme's mom won't come as a shock to anyone. This book's one saving grace was the gassy Pittie named Pig.

Randi’s Reviews-

I received an advanced copy of this spooky read through NetGalley in exchange for my thoughts!

The Babysitters Coven centers on Esme, long-time babysitter and newly discovered witch. Esme has never been afraid of standing out, but developing the ability to move things with her mind is a bit different than dressing a themed outfit every day. At first, Esme tries to avoid the signs pointing towards her having special abilities, but newcomer Cassandra is not about to let Esme ignore her potential. The two begin to explore the extent of their abilities, but all is not as it seems. Something dark is brewing under the surface of their small town, and without the use of magic, tragedy is only a breath away.

Kate Williams perfected a fun, spooky story in The Babysitters Coven! I loved the spunky characters, who give an interesting twist to the “teen who gets powers” story. The thrilling twists in this book kept me desperate to know what would come next for the witches!

The Babysitters Coven comes out September 17th! Just in time for spooky fall vibes!

My Recommendation-
I highly recommend this book to readers looking for a fun book to get them in the mood for Halloween! If you love Hocus Pocus, Halloweentown, and all things witchy, you will adore this book!

In her debut novel, Kate M. Williams introduces us to Esme Pearl. Esme and her friend Janis have run a "babysitter's club" for years, based on the books of the same name. Esme loves babysitting. Except one night, after she's put her charge to bed, she hears a noise, heads to check on the child, and is astonished to find the girl on the roof outside her second-story window.

Then other things start happening. A new girl in town - Cassandra Heaven - wants to join their club (even though she has no babysitting experience). Esme's in the driver's seat in driver's ed when without her touching the wheel, gas, or brakes, the car crashes into a tree. Then in gym class, a dodgeball headed right for her turns back on its thrower. What is going on?

Turns out, both Cassandra and Esme have magical talents. Cassandra is pyrokinetic, and Esme is telekinetic. In an interesting turn of events, the girls discover that they are part of a larger group of Sitters, whose job it is to protect the world from The Negative, keeping Portals closed so demons can not threaten the world that they know. But when Cassandra's thought-to-be-deceased father wants to escape The Negative, it causes havoc that Esme and Cassandra are completely unprepared for.

The Babysitter's Coven is a fun read, and the characters are interesting and well-developed. This is the first in a series but it doesn't leave the reader on a cliffhanger. I look forward to more from Williams and The Coven.

3.75/5 ★

The Babysitters Coven is an average, if not a mediocre book at best. The writing was not great and it seemed like the author was trying really hard to appeal to teenagers. But, most teenagers don't talk the way the ones in this book do. Nobody says LOL or AF out loud. This was written like a bad 90's movie and not even in a good way. There were also points where it seemed like the author was trying to name drop every young person reference they could so that it seemed relatable. But it wasn't. And I know this is Adventures in Babysitting meets Buffy the Vampire Slayer but they were practically ripping Buffy off at certain points. There were Sitters and their Counsels, aka Slayers and their Watchers. This sounds like I'm just being nitpicky but it was super obvious that the author just took elements from Buffy instead of basing it off Buffy. And then tried to make it okay by actually name dropping Buffy the Vampire Slayer in the book. I don't know, this book didn't turn out okay until like 70% in and that's because of the major twists that the author threw in there.

Dnf 15%
Why does she have to have so much slang in this book? I don't think im in the mood for this book. It's to teeny bopper. I want actual witches doing witchy stuff not teens that care about their clothes and looks.

I first wanted to read this because of its comparison to Adventures in Babysitting (my favorite movie); however, after reading this, I would compare it more to a mash-up between The Babysitter's Club and The Craft. And what's not to love about either of those?! This was a fun book and a good start to a series in which a whole world has to be explained. I look forward to more in this series that will build this world even more and not revolve around a lot of mystery of powers. And, I must say: this is my favorite cover of the year (so far)!

The Babysitter's Coven comes out later this month on September 17, 2019, and you can purchase HERE. I'm excited for more books in this series!

The driver's ed room was fulling of driving simulators that had probably been considered pretty high-tech back when the school had first bought them in, oh, I don't know, 1963? In all the instructional videos, the women wore gloves and the men wore hats, and everyone stopped at all the stop signs and used their blinker when changing lanes.

Don't get me wrong, I loved the retro fashion, but I wasn't sure that the era represented a realistic depiction of driving anymore. Shouldn't this class have been getting us prepped for how to deal when a guy in a jacked-up Chevy with truck balls dangling off the back made a right turn from the left lane into a Buffalo Wild Wings parking lot and cut you off in the process?

Let’s get this part out of the way before we get down to the review: I was given an ARC in exchange for an honest review from Random House Children’s through NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I went into this book with hopes of an atmospheric read with some spooky/witchy elements and that’s definitely what I got. I loved the whole magic system. It’s different (and kind of sillier) than any of the magic systems I’ve read before. I also really enjoyed that this book delivered on the “cross between Adventures in Babysitting and Buffy the Vampire Slayer” promise. The main character and the new girl in town reminded me a lot of Buffy and Faith at the beginning of the novel. Also, the language of this novel and the language used in Buffy are very similar. Everything’s just a little sillier and just a little more sarcastic than what’s usually used in Y.A. so it was great without coming across as too much.

I wish I had gotten more in the way of training and actual babysitting. I know there was a lot of action to pack into this novel so unless I wanted a much longer novel it was going to be hard to get those things. It just felt like it could have taken it to the next level with them. I loved the way this book didn’t feel like other books. Sometimes you read something that reminds you of another book so much that you can’t enjoy what’s in front of you. Not the case with this one. I can honestly say that I haven’t read another book like it. I loved the witchy vibes and the way everyone seemed so real. There’s one moment when the MC casts a spell so her dog can speak to her and everything about that scene had me laughing. The dogs thoughts felt real and the MC’s reaction was fantastic.

This was also a super quick read for me. I read it in less than 24 hours which is a great sign for any book. It’s so perfect for fall and the upcoming Halloween season. I know there are supposed to be more books in the series so I’m sure that I’ll get more of what I was looking for in this one in those books. Just a really fun read.

I remember reading The Baby-Sitters Club books as a kid (I wanted to be Claudia), because of their adventurous yet responsible spirit. The Babysitters Coven revitalizes the series for the 21st century, adding elements of magic and high school life. The main similarity between the two series is the group of girls who form a babysitters club. Other than that, The Babysitters Coven is completely different, and I love it.

Esme is a fun narrator: she babysits, she's learning how to drive, she's awkward in front of her crush, and she's got a lot going on at home. Her narration was funny and quirky, which I appreciated. It set the tone for the rest of the novel. I also liked reading about her friendship with Janice, who is the other member of Esme's Babysitters Club. Love female friendships! The girls went thrifting together, planned out outfits, and hung out after school. It’s so refreshing to see characters commit to a friendship and make it work, even when it’s not a main focus of the story.

Cassandra was a great character. She was chaotic to Esme’s rational, which was a good balance. She did get the pair in trouble a couple of times, but I thought she was fun to read about and her actions moved the story along nicely. I don’t necessarily think she’s a good person all the time, but I liked reading about a character in a contemporary setting who makes those same mistakes, and has good intentions that don’t always help everyone.

I had a great reading experience when I stopped taking the plot seriously. It's not a grave high fantasy, but a campy, witchy book about high school demon-fighters that's perfect for Halloween season. Watching Esme and Cassandra learn about their powers was hilarious, because of the specificity of some spells. There’s a spell for everything—even bad hair days!

My main fault with the book is that I wanted to know more about the Sitters: the history and structure of the organization, and to meet other members, for example. Basically, I wanted more world-building.

Overall, The Babysitters Coven is a fun fall fantasy that makes a great read for anyone—even if you’ve never babysat before! 4/5 stars.

Esme has little to enjoy about her life. With her mother locked away, as well as having to struggle through high school, there’s not a lot to look forward to. Except for the Babysitters Club which she founded with her friend Janis. Babysitting is one thing Esme is good at, and it’s something she enjoys. But when a new girl named Cassandra arrives in the small town and wants to join the club, everything changes. Suddenly, Esme is thrown into a world of magic and darkness, and realizes that the Babysitters Club she founded has more to take care of than just children.

I got an ARC of The Babysitters Coven in exchange for an honest review.

The Babysitters Coven is a YA fantasy novel by Kate Williams. It’s her debut novel, and it’s a quick and fun read about teenagers who start to dabble in magic.

The novel is pretty much plot-led, the characters controlled by events that lead them to continue through the book, influencing and guiding them at every turn. The plot starts out very slowly, and it’s a very familiar story. New girl shows up, magic starts happening, they discover that they’re meant for something more than just babysitting. And then they’re caught up in something much bigger and more sinister than they expected.

The slowness of the initial plot, with the very familiar story, meant that it took me a while to get into the book. Although that might also be because I was sick when I was reading it. But still, I should have wanted to keep going. But eventually, it paid off. The action picked up in the second half of the book, finally giving explanations for the magic, and again with the familiar twists that weren’t well introduced, in my opinion. I was able to call several of them, mainly by trying to remember familiar material.

The novel is narrated through Esme’s first-person POV, and she keeps up a consistent and entertaining tone throughout the book. She’s funny, focused on fashion, and a very relatable POV to experience the novel through. She’s the character that gets fleshed out the most, and very few other characters come to life like this. Janis does become three-dimensional, but everyone else sort of hangs out in the background. And there was one twist with a background character that was particularly tough to swallow. I don’t want to say what or who it was, but keep an eye out for the Buffy references and you’ll see what I mean.

My favorite parts had to be the interactions between Esme and Janis. Again, this was probably because both of them were the most three-dimensional characters in the book. Their text conversations and their sense of style were amusing to read about, and I had a good time seeing them hang out.

The novel was entertaining and a quick and easy read. It’s something younger teenagers might enjoy, especially if they like Buffy. But the lack of depth in this novel might not be a good fit for more avid readers.

Oh, and I forgot to mention that this book will be part of a series! Not sure how many books there are going to be yet, but I think we’ll find out soon-ish. I don’t know if I’ll be picking up the sequel, though.

The Babysitters Coven will be released September 17. You can preorder a copy of it from Delacorte here.

DNF at 15%. Like many others, I really wanted to love this book. It sounded SO awesome - a witchy babysitter's club! I didn't get far enough to see much of the witch stuff so far, but I can't handle the writing style. I don't know how to explain it but it made me cringe, like it'll be outdated in a year or two? The first page said that the girl she was babysitting had a "midget-sized easel," which would not be the word choice I'd use... It didn't get better from there. I think she was trying too hard to make the MC seem crass and careless about things but it just did not read well.

3 stars

thank you to netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review!!

I did enjoy this story, but I hoped to have enjoyed this more than I did. I’m not necessarily disappointed since it was an entertaining story, but I just feel that something was missing.

I didn’t particularly care about the characters, but the plot was interesting enough for me to enjoy it.

This was an absolutely fun read though and it gave me major Buffy The Vampire Slayer vibes which I adored. I am excited for the sequel to get more depth about the Sitters and the concept as a whole.

Disclaimer: I have never read the Babysitters Club and I got this as a free arc from Edelweiss+.

This book was really fun. It's not fine literature, but I enjoyed reading it and I can't wait for the Sitters next adventure.

I wanted to love this book.  I REALLY wanted to love this book.  It was one of my most anticipated releases of the fall, and while there are some really great aspects that I enjoyed, unfortunately, it just fell flat for me as a whole.  All of the characters were pretty surface level, so it was difficult to connect to, or really care, about any of them.  Everything moves really quickly, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but I think that in both the characters and the plot it hindered the book's ability to become fully developed.  I loved the concept and the plot was really interesting and fun, but it wasn't detailed enough to make an impact.  While I thought the way the spells worked was very clever and cute, the finer details of the system of magic didn't make complete sense with the other things that were established in the world.  Overall, while this book was cute and had good bones, it wasn't fleshed out enough for me and left me feeling very underwhelmed.

This started out so strong for me! I was so loving it up until about halfway and then it fell apart plot and writing wise. My favorite aspect was the outfits that they would come up with and name. I love to wear quirky outfits and take on fashion personas. I could totally see myself doing this in high school. Once the whole Sitters came into play though it read like a Buffy episode and yawn. Loved the first half though!

Esme was content with her babysitting gigs and planning her daily fashion statements, but the winds were a-changing. First, there were the inexplicable babysitting events, as well as chain of strange accidents that occurred in Esme's presence. With the arrival of a mysterious new girl, Cassandra, she began to discover more and more about her mother's past and how it affected her present. Together, Esme and Cassandra assumed their roles as babysitters, but would they be able to fulfill their destiny?

I have a thing for books featuring present-day witches. Maybe it's all the episodes of Charmed I watched back in the day or it could be my love for The Craft, but I always tend to enjoy these witchy stories, and I can say, I had a fun time reading about Esme's adventures.

Initial Impressions

I adored Esme. I am all for the snark (as long as it's not directed at me), and Esme was well-versed in the art. Her observations and musings were quite amusing. I laughed a LOT as I was being introduced to her and her world.

What I Liked

• I had a great time getting to know the ins and outs of Esme's daily life. Her dad and her dog were top-notch. Her father had a lot on his plate, but he tried to be as present as possible for Esme, which was a challenge given their situation. And, you know, the way to my heart is via the pet. Piggy was a great sidekick, and Williams let the dog shine quite a bit.

• Janis was a delight. She was a good friend, and she really surprised me later in the story.

• Esme and Janis' passion for fashion was too much fun. I loved waiting to hear about their daily outfits, which were so outrageous, and I had the best time shopping with them.

• The spells used to activate their kinesis were rather amusing. They often had to gather quite an interesting array of items, and I got a hoot of trying to figure out the connection to the power.

• There were a few interesting reveals, and I thought the idea of the babysitters, the lore, and their mission was pretty cool.

• I liked that Williams acknowledged the Buffy vibes head-on. I remember reading a part, and thinking, "This reminds me of Buffy," and on the next page, Esme directly drew the comparison. I am a huge Buffy fan and was not sad to see those allusions, though there were these "vibes, I felt like this was still very much its own story.

• When I read a series, I like when there is an overarching story arc, and one that is exclusive to each book. That was how this story was structured, and I am always grateful for any amount of closure I can get.

What I Didn't Like

I wouldn't say there was much I didn't like. As far as criticism goes, it did take quite a while for the whole idea of the babysitters to be revealed, but once we delved into that world, things really took off.

Overall

I think it's important to understand, that this is the first book in a series, and I didn't expect to learn each and everything about the babysitters in this book. With that said, I am looking forward to learning more about Esme and the other sitters and seeing them restore order to their world.

I’ve been excited about reading The Babysitters Coven since I first saw the title and cover many months ago. Then it was compared to Buffy the Vampire Slayer, one of my favorite late 90s/early 2000s TV shows, and my anticipation went up about a hundred notches. When I saw the opportunity to join the blog tour, I knew I had to do it, and I was thrilled when I got the email that I’d been chosen to participate! So, first things first, thanks to the FFBT team, the publisher, the author, and Netgalley for making this blog tour and book review happen.

Now, onto the review.

From the beginning of the book, the parallels with Buffy the Vampire Slayer were really clear. Instead of Slayers fighting vampires, we have Sitters fighting evil, and I am 100% here for it. Esme and Cassandra reminded me a lot of Buffy and Faith.

I really enjoyed Esme as a main character. She doesn’t fall into a lot of the stereotypical YA main character pitfalls and instead comes across as a really average teenager. Even with all of this crazy stuff going on around her, she’s still worried about normal things like her mom’s illness, getting her drivers license, and avoiding the school bullies.

There were two things that really kept me from rating this higher than three stars, and they’re both things that are specific to me as a reader and I don’t think are necessarily problems in general. First, there’s a lot of modern slang in this book, and as I was reading, I imagined myself having to explain to my future child what “I was wrong AF, and now I am sorry AF” means. The only other thing that I didn’t love was how the book just kind of… ends. The action really ramps up a lot, then it’s all over with and the book is over too. I know there’s a second book in the series coming out next year, but I wish there would have been at least a little bit more closure.

All in all, though, this was a super fun book! It was cute, it was weird, and I can’t wait to see what Esme gets up to in the sequel.

I’ve been extremely excited about this book since I first heard about it. Describing it as Adventures in Babysitting meets Buffy the Vampire Slayer was the best way to suck me in because who doesn’t love both of those things?!

I admit that I think I had preconceived notions about this book, which is probably why I didn’t enjoy it as much as I thought I would. I think I expected more elements of adventure and less daily life and outfit references. I appreciated laying down the foundation and backstory, but after awhile, even once the powers were discovered, everything continued to move slowly. I kept reading though because the premise was still pretty cool and of course I wanted to find out what happened. The mystery of who the hell was showing up at these babysitting jobs was too juicy to give up. It wasn’t until about the 60% mark that everything started to pick up and from then the story snowballed and everything moved very quickly. I think that was my major drawback with this book: the pacing.

I did absolutely love the story behind Esme’s mom. I had been wondering if my theory around that was right and it partially was, so that was great. The true villain, not the pawn, was a surprise which was also great. Character wise, Cassandra was not my cup of tea, but I did like Janis and Esme. Their friendship was so cute and I hope to see more of that in the next installment.

Overall, despite the pacing, once I adjusted my expectations I actually enjoyed this read. Were there some flaws, yes, but not enough to make me give up and definitely not enough to miss out when the sequel is released next year. Hopefully, that read will be even better.