Persephone May destroyed me. I loved her, hoped for her, rooted for her, and wept for her. There was no intention of loving The Orphan Witch. Or feeling such a kinship with a character who shares the same foster background as me. But I found myself in the lovely world, with this girl who only wants to belong to a family, to be accepted and embraced no matter what, to be loved unconditionally by SOMEONE. But life and curses and magic seemingly get in the way. And we must see it all to the end with Persephone May.

A lovely, magical, and poignant read in the veil of Alice Hoffman that will rip your heart-strings out to weave them into something so complicated yet universally human.

We all want family, Persephone is no different. And yet her appearance , her aura , the things that happen when she is near keep her alone and isolated. An invitation to a place that offers no objection, and promises she will be left alone opens a world she could only imagine.

This was not at all what I expected and I ended up loving it. The characters were great and the story was engaging. So much so, that I finished it in a day. Will definitely recommend.

Delightful, well-written, full of details, and a wonderful story full of love, loss, yearning, and magic. From the moment I began reading this book until the final page, I was captivated by the story. The fictional emotions Crutcher is able to create for characters are easily transferred into emotional reactions by readers that won't want to put this work down. I bought a copy for myself and several friends!
Fans of the witchy topic, nonfiction, or fiction will find something to draw them into Persephone's story that has been so elegantly and eloquently crafted by Paige Crutcher.

I tried to read this one in multiple formats but it just didn't grip me the way I wanted to, so I just was unable to finish it. I liked the concept, but the main character seemed immature at times to me when she's supposed to be an adult, I think?

Clever, heartfelt, and bursting with mythical wonder. An excellent selection for readers who are still waiting on their Hogwarts letter in the post. Big thanks to NetGalley and this publisher for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this lovely book.

4 stars

Persephone is looking for a home her whole life. She has also been plagued by horrible accidents that happen when she meets another person's eyes. After the latest incident, Persephone takes a chance on a brief meeting with Hyacinth Ever and takes the invitation to visit her home on the Isle of Wile. Once there Persephone discovers the family she never had, impossible magic powers and a curse that will destroy it all if it is not stopped.

I liked this book. It was a bit of a dreamy read for me with a huge helping of Practical Magic mixed with Charmed and sprinkled with The Good Witch. (Yes I have watched way to much witchy tv). I liked the story. The dreamy feel I got was in the writing and the sort of knowing that was shared throughout the book without actually telling the reader. This drove me a tiny bit nuts but I actually want to know instead of guess.

The plot was interesting but it was not fast. Despite the urgency of the coming curse everything moves along at an exploratory pace. Which was fine but made it easy for me to pick up and put down the book. I think I wanted a bit more urgency or drama or something.

My favorite parts were the library and Dorian. The ending was good but a bit abrupt for me. I wanted just a tiny bit more.

This is a coming of age story and finding where you belong with magic. I can’t believe this was a debut. I look forward to reading more from this author!

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the eGalley. All opinions are my own.

Thank you Netgalley for the advance reader copy of The Orphan Witch by Paige Crutcher in exchange for an honest review. I read another review about this book and they referred to it as a fantasy thriller. This is my genre, I love urban fantasy books, but also enjoy a good mystery/thriller. This book checked all the marks for me and I enjoyed it thouroughly.

This is described as sci fi and fantasy and I guess it does fit in those genres to an extent but there's a steak of romance running through this as well.

As I hate reviews which try to recap the storyline I'm not going to go anywhere near that but I found ythat after a few chapters the story grew on me and I wanted to see where it would go and what would happen to the main character in particular as well as some of the supporting cast.

Well written, fairly easy to read and certainly not a waste of good relaxing time.

Paige Crutcher took me on a journey of Persephone May’s coming of age with magical islands and worlds, Persephone being chosen to end a curse. She finds the unique abilities she possessed and always thought a hindrance, are indeed very special. After setting foot upon the mystical Wile Isle she finds out who she is, by family she never knew she had, but always wanted. This is about found family, magic, mystery, a 100-year-old curse, and let’s not forget.. star-crossed lovers. I enjoyed this magical, quite unique Persephone retelling. I even splurged, purchasing a copy for my daughter as fantasy/magical realism are her favorite genres. This is a modern day witchy tale I know she’ll enjoy!

*Much thanks to St. Martin’s Press via NetGalley for allowing me to read and review the ARC.

This was a well written, interesting and unique story. I loved the magical quality and the story of finding where you belong.
Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Persephone May grew up in foster care and has never felt like she belong to any person or to any place. Whenever she lets her guard down with people, she gets strange reactions and often has to leave jobs when things get out of control. At one of these points where she's figuring out where to go next, she hears from an acquaintance Hyacinth who invites her for a visit. A magical tale of finding home goes on from there.

A terrific debut from a writer with extraordinary heart.

32-year-old Persephone has never felt at home in the world, and can't even bear to look others in the eye, lest something dreadful happen. It's not until she is invited to Wile Isle, and discovers that the strange happenings surrounding her, and even her understanding of herself, do have rhyme and reason. She is special: A witch with much to learn.

The Orphan Witch elevates itself over similar stories with a complex plot that pulls Persephone into the river of time--a place she has to work terribly hard to understand in order to find her purpose. I loved her guides, Hyacinth and Moira--especially Moira's grouchy sarcasm and wisdom. They become her family, and part of what she must learn is to protect them, the man who entrances her, and many who came before by discovering her role in breaking a terrible curse. Crutcher creates the ribbon of Persephone's journey with care and elegant detail and emotion. So many coming-of-age characters find their way by leaving home--Persephone comes full circle, coming home to a home she forgot she always had.

The book had a slow build for me which made it hard to get through at times. We meet the main character who has no control over her power and doesn't realize she has power. She is constantly on the move and meets a girl who asks her to come visit her island. The girl and her sister let her know she may be a missing piece to save the island from a curse. I wanted to like it, but unfortunately for me it did not happen.

This book was ok. I liked the premise, but the flow was a bit disjointed. Honestly I could have done without the romance, it felt like it got thrown in because the author thought it had to be. I would have preferred it to focus on the women and their relationships. Overall the book was good, just not great

I don’t recall DNF’ing a book 87% into it. It’s is hard to explain but I really enjoyed the book until about halfway through. The premises were fun, Persephone was an interesting characters and I wanted to get to know her better, waned to understand what was it that she was carrying and was in a way destroying her life. I wanted to know what was going on on Wile Isle, but the book lists me: too many characters, too many twists and turns, too many curses, and new add-one to the curses and turned the story into something incomprehensible. It’s like the book tried too hard and I lost interest. That’s really too bad because it was full of potential. I REALLY wanted to give this a 5-star rating.

Thank you Net Galley and the publisher for this e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Fun! I've recommended it to several students and purchased it for the library. I'm currently clearing out all of the books that were published in 2019-21 from my title feedback view!

The Orphan Witch had such an interesting premise, but ultimately fell short of what it could have been as a novel. When I first read the summary, I was instantly intrigued - woman with inexplicable powers finds her family, who slowly teach her how to use her powers because there’s a family curse. I always love books about people finding where they belong, particularly if there’s also a good romance thrown in there.

And when I first started reading, The Orphan Witch felt somewhat like a Nora Roberts book, which raised my hopes incredibly high. But then this book lost its way a bit. The plot was a bit too meandering for me, the family feud was confusing (particularly in light of what happens toward the end), and the romance was lack-luster. There just wasn’t enough time given to the relationships with the other witches for me to truly understand why Persephone made the choices she did at the end or to truly care about any of them.

Overall, The Orphan Witch has a great premise and an intriguing world, but didn’t quite work for me. I think it will resonate with some readers though, I’m just not one of them.

*Disclaimer: I received an advance digital copy of this book for free from the publisher. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

I liked the premise of the story, as I’m drawn to books with magic as a theme. However, I couldn’t get into the story, picking it up and putting it back down a few pages later. The writing and plot just didn’t grab me.