I happen to read this series out of order, but I still was able to enjoy it tremendously. Kudos to the author on a job well done.

Synopsis:
Mystery. Magic. Fairy tales that shouldn’t come true. Magic doesn’t grow on trees—except for hedge witches with an affinity for plant magic.

Fairy tales are very real in fourteen-year-old Abigail MacQuillan’s world. Bad things happen to children who are lost in the enchanted forest—Fae snatch them up to eat them, witches tempt them into eating their gingerbread cottages to enslave them, and carnivorous plants lure them into their jaws.

Which is why Abigail most certainly isn’t “lost.” She is on a mission. She must find her missing parents and older brother in the forest before harm befalls them—all while protecting her younger brother as she does so.

Only if Abigail can figure out who in the forest is friend and foe, prove she is as resourceful as her enemies, and come to terms with her own magical gifts in time, will she be able to protect her family from danger.

This sounded like my kind of book 100%
However I DNF this book at 18%. I’m so disappointed! But I think this is more my issue than that of the story. The storyline actually seemed to be getting pretty good! .. I just could not deal with the language/the way they spoke. I need normal English unfortunately.

I loved this book!
Reason? .... it was funny, witchy, magical. Although, YA book, but I would say it's good for adults too.
I am looking for more of books by this author, because it was a great and entertaining read! I loved it!!!

A great start to a young adult series. Full of adventures, so it's never boring. Lots of mystery to keep you guessing. Great characters living in a community that is not always friendly....
A quick read that was totally enjoyed.

I received an ARC of this small novel from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I love Sarina Dorie’s novels...so far, I haven’t read one that I didn’t like. This first instalment in the hedge witch series is just as good as Womby’s. This series though has a new strong female heroine by the name of Abigail.
It starts out with Abigail and her smaller younger brother scrambling through the forest, looking for their older brother Niall. They are all trying to escape to the Morty realm from the land of the Fae after the death of their parents. During their time in the forest, they encounter another young witchkin named Lucifer Thatch, who they can’t quite determine if he is a friend or foe. He is apprenticing under Baba Nata ( similar to the whole Baba Yaga story but not) who he takes them to for some answers on where their older brother might be. Without spoiling it all for you, the rest involves some very nasty fairies, death, heartbreak, realization and coming into powerful plant magic, and revenge.
It’s a great introduction into the characters and the world itself. I’m reading the second one now and looking forward to it.

Abigail is 14 years old. Her parents and two brothers live in a land where witches and Fae live. Her parents are missing. Her oldest brother takes charge telling Abigail to watch her little brother while he goes off in the forest where the Fae live. Abigail and her little brother go to find her older brother as he hasn’t come back. She does discover what happened to her brother. The Fae have him. While Abigail tries to find a way to help him to escape, her younger brother falls into the trap. Will she be able to help her younger brother escape the trap as she has discover her older brother is dead? Abigail must find a way to get her little brother help or he too will die. She is afraid to trust anyone. She knows only that she can’t trust the Fae at all. When she finds the witch of nightmares, can Abigail trust her? Will her little brother live?

An engaging story with twists and turns that keeps you reading. I found myself hoping that Abigail would find someone to help her with her little brother. As I finished reading this book, I knew I had to read the next one!

This book follows Abigail as she wonders the forest with her younger brother Emmet, in search for their older brother and parents who went looking for food. I found the idea of the different realms interesting in this book as they were familiar, unlike most fantasy books - I also liked the Scottish accent despite it taking me longer to read. I kept forgetting how young Abigail was as she was very proactive, but that's just me showing my age.

I did find the descriptive language at the beginning of the book a bit 'thick' and jarring to read, however it either slowed down further in the book or I just got used to it.

I will be reading the next in the series and definitely recommend this book to those who who like fairytales.

Abigail is traveling, with her little brother, in search of her older brother and parents. She is struggling until a boy apprenticing with a skilled witch offers her help. She has magical gifts but has not been taught how to use them effectively, which she will need to do in order to survive in this realm. There’s a lot of darkness in the world of the fae in regards to children. The reader is left hurting for Abigail but hopeful for her future. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Witch of Nightmares: Book 1 of The Trouble With Hedge Witches Series by Sarina Dorie is billed as dark fairy tales of mystery and magic. I wanted to ring in the cooler temperatures heralding fall with a spooky book. This hit the spot with just a hint of dark fairy tales while keeping it innovative and fresh and female-empowered!

It’s a short book that took me about an hour to finish. I am a pretty fast reader, but the short chapters and fast-paced story definitely helped. It’s got smatterings of the Hansel and Gretel story – a young girl and her little brother are in the forest, waiting for their older brother Niall to return from trying to find their parents, who have disappeared mysteriously. Of course, there’s more to this story than that played out old fairy tale.

This one has Abigail MacQuillan, a smart 14 year-old girl who knows her fairy tales, and is willing to fight to protect her little brother Emmet, who’s only 8. And Abigail has magic. She’s certainly no Gretel waiting to get eaten by a witch. She knows a little something about the horrors lurking in the forest: the witch waiting to snatch up kids who try to eat her delicious gingerbread cottage, and the treacherous Fae, who drain people of their magic and then eat them. She’s just trying to keep Emmet safe until Niall gets back to get them to a portal that will take them to a safer place – the Morty Realm, where they won’t have to fear witches or Fae any more.

Of course, it’s the conflict that makes the book so exciting. Niall hasn’t come back yet. The portal is closing soon. Abby doesn’t exactly know how to get to this portal. She really been taught how to use her magic just yet, and the last thing her parents told her and her brothers was to “stay away from witches and magic, be a good person, and take care of your family.”

Of course Abby’s powers tend towards herbomancy, which have to do with harnessing the power of plants, including for medicinal purposes. If you’re a reader of any kind of books involving magic, you know that there’s always a good and bad side to it, and that practicing without training can be dangerous. And when you’re lost, alone, hungry, thirsty, and afraid, it’s even harder to figure out if there’s anyone you can trust out there. Can Abby save her family and stay on the good side of her abilities?

I loved the parallels to fairy tales, while putting a much more modern spin on it. The time frame of the story is unspecified – sometimes it seems like it takes place in the distant past, while at other times, there’s mention of more modern events, like The Little Mermaid, and electricity becoming commonly used in people’s homes. However, it also states that time in the Faerie realm passes differently. Regardless of when this took place, there is a definitely girl power vibe to the story, which I’m all about. Instead of the kids being kind of naïve, Abby is pretty aware of the dangers that surround here, even when Emmet isn’t.

There’s some themes here that I wasn’t really surprised to find in a YA book, and they all involve discrimination based on something, most of which people don’t have control over: education level, accent, race (Fae, witch, human), type of magic used (witches, fae, or cunning), and looks.

I think my favorite part of the book was Abby’s internal struggle and personal growth. It’s hard to go from being the middle child to having to be responsible for someone else and making the tough calls. She’s put into some difficult and scary situations, but she doesn’t just take the easy road. She has good moral character, and thinks her decisions through (most of the time). She isn’t perfect, but she grows throughout the story. Her experiences shape her, but it’s too soon to tell what she ends up doing or becoming. I’ll be eagerly reading the next story as soon as I can get my hands on it.

I’m introducing a new rating into my reviews. It’s called the gasp factor. People who have sat around with me while I’m reading, especially when there’s a surprising reveal, a shocking plot twist, or an unexpected event often look up in alarm when I gasp audibly. The gasp factor is directly related to the number of times I audibly gasp during a reading, and there isn't an upper limit. I wasn’t expecting to introduce the gasp factor just yet, but here it is:

Gasp Factor: 2

Total Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

This book was extremely well edited, had me turning page after page to find out what happened next, and even included a sneak peek into the next book in the series (I love that). I’m looking forward to the next one. I loved the accents, the interactions between the characters, and the magic that’s threaded through the book perfectly. There’s the perfect harmony between emotion, suspense, action, romance, fear, and magic to balance it all out. If there’s one spooky book (series) to get you in the fall spirit and help you prepare for Halloween, let this be the one!

Abigail is alone with her brother Emmett in the dangerous forest. Her parents left to get food and haven't returned. Her older brother Niall went off to look for them and hasn't returned but he said if I don't make it back. Carry on our journey to the Monty Realm - the portal will close in 3 days.

However Abigail refuses to carry on and battles on to find Niall. She has no weapons, just a little bit of magic. And the dangerous Fae who try to tempt children over with sweets and cakes so that they can eat them is on one side of the River and on the other side is the evil Witch, her house is made of sweets and if you are lost and eat her house. The witch was eat you.

But when Emmett is hurt by the Fae, what will Abigail do? Can she help him? Who is friend and who is foe?

A great first book of the series - I am looking forward to reading the next books.
I was drawn to this book because my daughter's name is Abigail. As well as the interesting plot.
The book was well written. With the plot being easy to understand and follow. I was expecting more magical type stuff and more evil witches but as this is first in a series. It will probably increase over the series. I find the first book often is getting the backstory, and a good plot out there. Can't wait until the next book!

A quite interesting book, well written and engrossing.
I appreciated the character development, the world building and the well crafted plot.
I look forward to reading other books by this author.
Recommended!
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

Ok I went into this without really knowing what to expect and thinking about it I probably thought it would be a sweet happy ever after kind of tale but boy would I have been wrong ! Yes our protagonist is young and innocent but this was not a fluffy read but had much darker undertones.
For a start Abigail and her young brother are alone in a creepy forest knowing that Witches and evil, manipulative Fae are close by. Still they search for their missing family but meeting a strange young boy sends them on a dark and harrowing journey that is truly shocking and bloody.
So yes I admit I was extremely surprised by this but thinking about it are not fairy tales traditionally dark, scary and gritty ? This author makes her characters suffer, she doesn't mollycoddle or protect them and if you are looking for shocks galore then this short story certainly has a lot to offer.
This voluntary take is of a copy I requested from Netgalley and my thoughts and comments are honest and I believe fair