This was such a hard to put down read. I finished the book in three days (which for some people might be more like 3 hours if they don't take any breaks). The content was more serious than I thought it would be, a large portion of Katrell's insecurities and motivation was financial instability and a volatile home life. I love how the love in this story was the love of friendship and from other adults instead of a partner. I only wish the magic portion was a bit more fleshed out, and that they had gone over how they managed to escape some of the consequences of the magic. But ultimately I loved the message that while Katrell made mistakes and felt alone, she was surrounded by people that cared about her and wanted her to succeed.

I really did not expect this book to give me horror vibes, but it does and I loved it. This a novel of pain and survival and Black Girl Magic. The main character is relatable, her voice is authentic, and I definitely saw myself and my students in this one. Huge fan and will read again.

First of all, this book was fucking excellent.
I would end my review right there but this book deserves better than that and you should read it.

This story follows Katrell, a young woman in high school dealing an abusive mother and her even more abusive boyfriend. They rarely have the money for rent, but Katrell works hard after school to try and help. She also writes letters to the dead. But now she’s discovered she maybe sorta kind of can resurrect the dead? And that seems like a really lucrative side job. Until things start going wrong immediately. The dead don’t seem completely normal after they come back, and Katrell gets weaker and weaker with each resurrection. Her home life, her school life, and her night life are about to come crashing down around her.

I won’t spoil any plot elements but boy was this book EMOTIONAL. I can’t relate to half the things Katrell has been through but the author REALLY makes you feel every blow. The writing is fantastic and I could not stop turning pages. I absolutely adore Katrell and Will and they felt so damn real to me. I’ll be thinking about this book for a long time. Also: Please be aware that if you have any triggers for abuse, gun violence, animal death, etc this book does contain some disturbing scenes.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a copy to review.

Wow 😳 the author Jessica Lewis writes a letter to the audience as a preface in this her first book that gave me the first clue that the book would be traumatic. I am not sure where I read the alert regarding chid abuse (physical not sexual) but it wasn’t long into the book that it was clear why the warning was given. I would also like to express my extreme delight in this book; I couldn’t put it down and I will be waiting for any additional books she writes.

Bad Witch Burning is labeled young adult/fantasy fiction and it does not disappoint. I was sitting on the end of my seat, heart pounding as this young gifted teen struggles with life, poverty and a family unit that needs improvement. The morals and values of Katrell’s mother came into question early on in the book and I had to keep reminding my self that the bad witch is only 16; with demands/expectations placed on her by the adults who should be coaching and mentoring her. Fortunately, Katrell’s best friend Will traumatized by past experiences in foster care is always there for her bestie. As her “partner in crime” Will provides support and shelter when things go from bad to worse as Katrell’s gift drags her into an untenable situation where a lifeline is needed to save herself and a lot of innocent lives. It ended in a way that I wonder if there will be a sequel since the type of gift Katrell has is not going away or that could be wishful thinking on my part as again I enjoyed BDB immensely.

I liked this book. Even though I didn't feel there were tons of descriptions, I felt the author did a great job of world building. I enjoyed the story, but a few parts, because I'm squeamish, I just didn't need, lol. I almost felt that the ending was a bit rushed, like we needed another chapter or an epilouge, but over all, I did enjoy this book.

The plot is unique - I don’t think I’ve encountered a story like it… but this is a tough story to consume if you’ve also lived through poverty and abuse. I was frustrated while reading and found it difficult to read more than a few pages at a time because I was so fed up with Katrell. She makes bad decisions too often and too many excuses for bad people she should have just cut out of her life. Overall, it was too triggering for me.

I received an advanced reader's copy of Bad Witch Burning by Jessica Lewis from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was the first book by Jessica Lewis that I had read and I was pleasantly surprised to find an enjoyable new author to follow.

Overall, I felt this was a solid fantasy/YA novel and I found it to be extremely well written. The plot was engaging and not like any other book I’ve read lately. This was a more layered novel than I expected for YA genre, but I liked the world-building that the author did and how well fleshed out the characters were. They each had their own unique personalities and motivations, and it worked nicely together.

This novel had everything - an interesting plot, characters you like and connect with, characters you don’t like and want to see brought down, magic, action, humor, drama, angst, and more!

I can't get over this book. The plot is fun, but nuanced. The characters are flawed, but so lovable. The teenagers talk like actual teenagers. There is no unnecessary romance. Black girl magic at its finest.

Bad Witch Burning is a novel about standing up for yourself, being true to who you are and never giving up on your dreams. Katrell has powers to contact the dead, after an experience with her moms boyfriend and her dog, Trell discovers she can do more than just talk to the dead, she can bring them back. And she needs the money this new turn to her power can do to make a better life for her and her mom, so she agrees to do it. I loved this book, the story was interesting and I was hooked from the first page.

This was an interesting, creepy read that was easy to jump into.
Katrell has grown up rough, her mom has a string of dead beat boyfriends who abuse Katrell and leech off her until they pack up and split. Katrell's mom neglects her and makes her sixteen year old daughter work to support both of them and I hated her with a passion. Parents who chooses their partner over the well being of their child make me sick. Luckily, Katrell has her best friend Will who lets her stay over when it's too tough and supports her.

Katrell has a crazy ability to talk to the dead by writing letters. One day her ability changes and she's able to summon the dead as revenants. They look like themselves, they can talk and function and people are willing to pay a lot of money to have their loved ones back. Things quickly spiral out of control when the revenants become violent and start attacking people. Katrell is also suffering physically and needs to stop her creations before someone is killed.

The story was interesting and unique and I stayed engaged throughout. Katrell isn't perfect and seeing her make mistakes made her relatable and real. I really enjoyed her friendship with Will and thought they were a great pair. Will and her adoptive parents also had a nice relationship and I liked how they didn't pressure Will and gave her space.

This wrapped up well and I'm happy it's a standalone. I think this was well written and I'll be looking forward to more books from this author!

I voluntarily read and reviewed this book.

This was a DNF for me. This doesn’t happen often but I just couldn’t with this.

Domestic violence and letting people walk over you after your moms bf killed your dog? No thanks. I can usually power through to see what a book is about but I’m a huge dog person so that was my limit.

It wouldn’t be fair to give this 1 star because of my personal issues so I’ll leave it at 3 because the premise itself seemed solid.

I really liked the idea and premise of the book. I just wish that there was a little more explanation in the magic of the world. Like why did Katrell's magic just change and will it ever change back? I was just left with questions at the end that I wanted answered. I also didn't really connect to Katrell as a character. She annoyed me with how much she just let her mom walk all over her. I felt like Will in the situation. I know it was her mom but it just irked me how she just thought that behavior was okay. I understand she was in an abusive situation but eventually I would think you would get sick of it and just take Will up on her offer and go live with her. Overall, I really enjoyed the writing and the story.

Great book. Read it cover to cover on a rainy day. Great writing. Loved it so much. I would reread it.

I read this book in one sitting and I wouldn't have it any other way! Jessica Lewis is such a master of craft, suspense, and horror with bite and I couldn't help rooting for Katrell despite every flaw. She's such a tough character who drives the story in a way that had me flying through the pages.

Her voice pulled me in right away and I don't want to give too much away, but this is definitely a book to read all at once. Every description - from the setting to the magic system to the action - was so vividly painted and relatable. It's not often you find a fresh take on zombies! This is a must read if you're looking for a strong #ownvoices book full of Black girl magic. I think this is going to be a book is so important and one that teens will see themselves in - a book that reflects their tenacity, their struggle, and their will to survive.

NetGalley ARC Educator 550974


An amazing read. Trigger warnings for child abuse and neglect.

A child, taking care of herself, her mom and the many deadbeat boyfriends, who come and go. She has a dog and a timid best friend. Beyond that, she can talk to ghosts. One day mistakenly, she discovers a new power, one that may burn the world around her. You will not regret reading this. From start to finish I could not put it down. I will be recommending this to all of my friends and students. So many will relate to Trell and Will. I am so glad that Jessica is still here and wrote this book. Brava.

I have received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

First off, I hated Katrell's mom and her mom's dumb ass boyfriend in Bad Witch Burning. They were both manipulative people and I just despised them so much. They never deserved her one bit. Especially when they couldn't even take care of themselves, keep a job, or pay to have a roof over their heads.

Other than that, I actually enjoyed this book. Katrell and Will's friendship was one for the books. I really enjoyed them being together and trying to bring some joy back to people's lives. Especially after they lost a loved one. Mostly because Katrell has a pretty unique power that goes through an upgrade with a lot of consequences to it.

In the end, I wasn't that upset with what certain characters went through but I didn't like the deep dark road that Katrell was tumbling down. I'm glad that she got help towards the end and got her one piece of happiness. She definitely deserved more people in her corner - even if it was a little late to do so.

Book Review for Bad Witch Burning by Jessica Lewis
Full review for this title will be posted at: @fyebooks on Instagram!

Thank you to Netgalley for this arc ebook!
I requested this because I felt like it was something my students would read and j like to preview books before mentioning new titles to them. This did have some sensitive topics in it, but I think that they could be used to spark meaningful conversations in our student/teacher book club!

Bad Witch Burning is a contemporary fantasy by Jessica Lewis that is slated to be released in August by Delacorte.
I received this as an ARC and have tried to make sure my review is as unbiased as possible. That said, I absolutely love this book.


Trigger Warnings: animal death, physical and emotional abuse of a minor, gaslighting, murder/manslaughter with some gore. It’s not super graphic, but it does happen.


This book is light on the world building and heavy on the characters, immersion, and emotional response. It hit me hard from the author’s note/dedication and continued until the end of the book (and beyond, really, because the book hangover for this was real!) It’s unapologetically #ownvoices and #BlackGirlMagic, and shines a harsh light on real world issues faced by teens every day, with a new spin on zombies/undead/necromancy and ghosts.

I never thought of myself as someone who enjoyed contemporary fantasy because I love lots of worldbuilding, but I’ve read a string of contemporary fantasies lately that are changing my mind and this one is no exception. It doesn’t suffer at all from the real world setting, and in fact, that aids the story because the focus is on the characters, who feel multi-dimensional and fully realized.

The magic is not a hard magic system, but it isn’t prone to info-dumps either. While the main character, Katrell, already has her powers at the beginning, they’re easily explained as we see them in action, and the exposition is delivered in brief snippets that are strong with voice, so it didn’t feel like exposition. And then when her magic suddenly does change, the nature of those changes are discovered by the reader and Katrell hadn’t in hand.

The plot is easy to follow and straight-forward, delivered in a single point of view, first person (Katrell) present tense. Normally I don’t love first person, but it really worked here to pull me in. The storytelling is straight-forward without tons of descriptive language. There are descriptions, but they aren’t poetic. They’re mostly focused on Katrell’s emotional response to the events and the motivations for her choices, which make this a fast-paced, tightly woven story without fluff but which packs a lot of emotional punch.

Quick bit about the plot: Katrell is our protagonist, a 16 year old who’s balancing so much trouble and responsibility that high school seems like the least of her concerns. She is far more worried about having a roof over her head and something to eat, even if it’s just a couple of Pop-Tarts or some crackers and peanut butter (hidden in her room) for a meal. She juggles (badly) school and two part-time jobs, taking as many hours as she can get because her mom is “in between jobs” (and has been for months), and her mom’s deadbeat boyfriend-of-the-month comes over, eats all their food (which is why she hides food), and never helps with any bills. They’d have been homeless by now if it weren’t for her side-scheme. Katrell can talk to the dead, and people are willing to pay money for conversations with their dearly departed loved ones.

But then a ghost tells Katrell to stop talking to the dead or she’ll “burn everything down”. Katrell tries, but then her hours get cut and rent is due. As if that wasn’t bad enough, her mom’s boyfriend threatens her and hits her, and her mom won’t defend her, just telling her to respect him so he won’t get angry and hit her more. Katrell has no one to turn to. Her mastiff is her loyal companion, but he wouldn’t hurt a flea, and her mom tells her it’s her fault, but also promises that it’s “you and me, forever” and “things will get better soon”. Things spiral from there.
I’m not going to go more into the plot because I don’t want to spoil anything. From here on I’m going to talk in vague terms.

But the characters are where this book really shines. Let me tell you about the characters.

Katrell’s voice is so strong and she’s easy to root for even when she makes awful decisions. Her desperation comes through, and her relationship with her toxic mother is the first time I felt really seen, from how she lies to herself to allow herself to keep holding on, downplaying her mother’s abuse and focusing only on the rare good times, believing her mom despite her lies. She’s desperate to prove she’s the good daughter, desperate to keep them financially afloat, and killing herself with too much responsibility and nowhere to turn.

But it’s not just Katrell. Every character’s motivations made sense, and each had their own goals and struggles.
Will is her best friend, and Will’s tragic experiences in the foster system reinforce Katrell’s determination to stick with her mom. Will’s facing her own struggles too, slowly learning to trust her newly adoptive parents, even with such things as being able to look them in the eye or speak to them. She’s got her own goals too, pursuing an art competition even in the face of bullying (mostly due to Katrell refusing to let her give up). And nothing is wasted in this book as even Will’s struggles with learning to drive play a role in impacting the plot. Will is the light shining for Katrell on how things *can* be.

Katrell and Will’s friendship is awesome. Even when they fight, even when Katrell goes and does the very thing Will tells her not to do, they clearly care about each other. Katrell pushes Will to keep improving, to not let fear stop her, but also she’s patient with her, tries to protect her, and tries to think of Will’s wishes and safety—at least, until she's drowning under her mountain of mess (that she built herself) and sets her world on fire. And Will is fiercely loyal to Katrell, including delivering hard words to Katrell when she needs them.

Mike the guidance counselor is amazing. He doesn’t know exactly what’s going on with Katrell because she can’t bring herself to trust him, but he’s pretty sure her home life isn’t good (though he has no idea how bad it is) and he tries to help. He role-models healthy boundaries for Katrell and good goal-setting, which she then uses with Will to encourage her. Mike and Katrell’s scenes are short but sweet and full of impact.

I loved how even minor characters impact the plot, whether they’re setting fires and contributing to Katrell’s burning her life away, or whether they’re there helping to slosh water on the flames. If it was just Will, things would’ve ended differently (even though Will is amazing), because the lifeline wouldn't hold up to the fire. It's too easy for something to go wrong, or to rationalize that you're really still all alone. But four lifelines, all from different people who are showing her what love really means, that's why she can fight back to the surface.

This book was incredibly emotionally engaging for me and deeply immersive. It’s possible that it’d be less emotionally intense if I didn’t see my own childhood in Katrell’s relationship with her mom. I don’t normally cry with books but I did with this one, and I cried after too. I struggled to put the book down to do anything else. The chapters are short and snappy, and there’s no filler. I think every plot point that came up was used, as I mentioned above with Will and Mike. The cover is probably the thing I like least about this book. It’s good, but it’s just not my favorite. But I did come away from the book with further musings on the impact poverty can have on kids especially, as these concerns drive so much of the book and ring with truth.

This book is heavy but it's a good kind of heavy. The troubles Katrell's really dealing with are troubles people deal with every day. The Revenants are just the figurative piece. And Katrell is so determined and Will is phenomenal and their interactions are so wholesome, it keeps it from being too heavy in my opinion.

I'd heard amazing things about this book. After reading it, I can confirm that all the hype is warranted! Bad Witch Burning is stellar. Like all books, I started from the beginning. There is an author note there by Jessica Lewis, and after reading it, I felt every line more fully which makes the book that more satisfying. Katrell is an angry teen, living in a "bad" neighborhood with her mom and her mom's abusive boyfriend. She has to worry about things most teens don't, like paying rent. But she also has the ability to talk to the dead. Cleverly, she uses this skill to help pay the bills and chaos ensues when she accidentally brings her dog back from the dead and realizes this could be a way to make more money.

Lewis does a great job of slowly increasing stakes, tension, and Katrell's desperation, making this a fast read. I saw myself in Katrell, in her anger and her desperation. I'm all for main characters making reckless decisions, and this did not disappoint! Every character had a ton of personality, even the dog. They leapt right off the page, making it feel like i was with Katrell every step of the way. I felt so strongly for her, that I never wanted the journey to end. The themes in this book are timeless and relevant. I 100% would recommend.