The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches is a charming and cozy fantasy romance by Sangu Mandanna. The ebook version is 368 pages.

Witches in Britain live by certain rules, passed down for generations. It is believed that they are only safe when they are not around other witches, hiding their power from non-magical folk. Mika Moon runs a witchy aesthetic Instagram account, not expecting anyone to take it seriously. However, one day she receives a message asking her to travel to a remote and mysterious house to teach three preteen witches how to control their magic.

This was one of those books that feels like a warm hug. It was whimsical and delightful, with easy to digest yet lyrical prose. The cover is really cute, and what initially pulled me in. This was my first book from Mandanna, but I'm absolutely going to read more from her. This was her adult debut; she's written YA and middle grade books previously.

Mika was a golden ray of sunshine among rainclouds, and on top of that she has an adorable dog! I loved all of the side characters here too, especially the dynamics between the three young witches. The full cast is wonderfully diverse, and there are a handful of queer characters. Each character has their own very distinctive personality. The world feels fleshed out and lived-in. I was all-in for the love story here, very quickly, though theirs is more of a slow burn.

I could have eaten this book up in one sitting, but it was so charming that I only allowed myself to read a bit at a time, as a treat. After I finished, I immediately went to my favorite indie bookstore to buy myself a copy--I just know this is going to be one of my favorite cozy re-reads.

We need more heartwarming stories in the world. Especially those with good humor, a sweet romance, and some mystery. If you enjoyed The House on the Cerulean Sea or Good Omens, you should give this book a try!

Tropes in this book include: grumpy sunshine, forced proximity, slow burn, found family

CW: discussion of past traumas

This was such a cozy, uplifting story, a wonderful mix of light fantasy and romance! I feel like if you grew up on Harry Potter, enjoy romance novels and are looking for a heartwarming read for fall this is perfect for you.

Mika Moon is a witch, which to the other 20 members of The Secret Society of Witches is no secret. Though they don’t know Mika has a name for their little group. But witches don’t tell others about their magic, and they don’t stay around other witches for long. But what happens when Mika gets a mysterious DM, shows up at a mysterious house with a proposition to stay? There are definitely more witches and definitely a lot of secrets.

•𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐒•
This story was just like a light fantasy, found family, healing from childhood trauma, warm hug. Mika has always lived by her caretaker’s rules of staying isolated because magic can’t be chaotic and it’s hard to let others be close to you when you are hiding this part of you. When Mika meets the people of Nowhere House she slowly realizes she is worthy of love, worthy of people truly knowing her, and that she doesn’t have to live this life alone. There is a little romance here, but I honestly just loved the whole found family aspect. This was already a little unique family without Mika and I love how they brought her into to fill this piece they were missing and they filled the piece of Mika that was missing. Our little girls Rosetta, Altamira, and Terracota (don’t worry there is a reason for their names) really just warmed my heart with their relationship with Mika developed.

If you want a light fantasy, witchy read that will warm your heart this is a great one! Thank you to @berkleyromance and @netgalley for an E-ARC in exchange for an honest review!

The Very Secret Society Of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna will definitely be on there 100%!

Mika is a witch raised in isolation who is invited to teach three orphaned witches to control their powers. Jamie us the grumpy brooding librarian who is t thrilled with her arrival.
This book is heartbreaking and comforting. It’s a magical feel good entertaining read with a side of angst and an excellent cast of characters! I absolutely loved it! I highly recommend the audio book

3.5 stars

Pros:
- magical wholesome fun 🪄
- cute romance
- nontraditional finding a home storyline

Cons:
- predictable plot (could be a pro for some)
- lack of WOW factor

Reading this story helped me get out of a reading slump, and I really enjoyed the comforting and enchanting atmosphere. The interactions and relationships truly made this story. The romance wasn't overbearing with chemistry off the charts. The sides characters were very well developed, and it was the first book where I honestly wanted more of the side characters.

The only downside was because I wasn't wowed by the plot. I would definitely recommend this for a comforting cute read and definitely look forward to other works from the other.

Thanks to Berkley Publishing for providing me with this eARC in exchange for my honest review!

If there was a literary genre called cozy fantasy, that’s where The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna would be. This book is pure magic in every sense of the word – it’s whimsical, full of heart, and it has a found family vibe that reminds me of TJ Klune’s The House in the Cerulean Sea.

The story follows Mika Moon, a young orphaned witch who has been raised to hide her magic from others and to stay away from other witches so as not to draw the attention of non-witches. Mika therefore is used to living a lonely life, but when an opportunity arises for her to move to a place called Nowhere House to teach three young witches how to control their magic, Mika jumps at the chance, having no idea how much her life is about to change.

Mika is an easy character to fall in love with. I felt tremendous sympathy for her knowing what an isolated life she had been living for so many years. Mika also has a huge heart, as we quickly see once she arrives at Nowhere House and starts working with the children. There’s an almost Mary Poppins-like quality to her that I especially enjoyed. It was fun to watch her interact with the children and to watch her get under the skin of Jamie, the grumpy but sexy librarian who happens to be the children’s guardian.

Mika’s scenes with the children, Rosette, Altimira, and Terracotta were my favorites from the book. Rosette is the quintessential good girl, polite, sweet-natured, and eager to please. Altimira is hilarious. She says whatever comes to mind, no matter how inappropriate, no filter whatsoever, and provides many laugh out loud moments. Terracota is the most challenging of the group, basically introducing herself to Mika by asking her how she would prefer to die. Such a lovely child, haha. I adored each of the children in their own way and loved watching Mika bond with each of them.

The found family vibe I mentioned earlier is truly what makes this book such a special read because at Nowhere House, Mika finds the family she never had but has always wanted. The characters who live at Nowhere House, from the retired stage actor and his spouse who are the house’s caretakers, to the grumpy librarian and his three witchy charges, are quite the quirky bunch, yet they have somehow managed to form a close-knit group and are eager to welcome Mika in with open arms. Jamie and Terracotta obviously take some work but it’s fun watching Mika win them over.

The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches is a magical story about love, family, and about becoming the person you were meant to be. If you’re in the mood for a cozy, uplifting witchy read, this is definitely the book for you.

This book was delightful! Mika Moon finds herself in a unique situation that goes against the Rules when she's mysteriously contacted to ask if she's willing to tutor three young witches. She's intrigued, so she packs up her pond, koi, dog, and cauldrons and heads to Norwich. All her life, she's been lead to believe that it's dangerous for witches to live and create community with each other, but that's exactly what happens. Not only that, but Mika finds herself at home and, dare she say it, part of a family?
This cozy supernatural romance leads up to winter solstice and Christmas, and it's full of romantic tension, adorable witches (even the one who regularly threatens to murder Mika), and Mika's own personal growth. This was a fast read, and I'm already recommending it to others!

Mika Moon has been a loner for most of her life. Being a witch didn't make it easier for Mika to form lasting relationships growing up. Mika has been taught that no one should know about her gifts as a witch and that it's dangerous for more than one witch to be in the same place for too long. So Mika makes it a point to never form any true lasting relationships no matter how much she craves them. There's only one place where Mika lets her guard down - on social media where she pretends to be a witch with her followers! Mika thinks there's no harm in it letting her users see her tricks - tricks she can't legitimately share with anyone else.

Except her social media channel leads her to Nowhere House where a group of adults are keeping watch over three (!) young witches - all in the same spot! Mika doesn't know what to think - she's been taught her whole life that witches can't congregate in the same place for too long. And yet...she decides to help these young witches learn their magic. Will Mika end up learning a thing or two about herself as well?

The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches was such a charming book. I loved the aspects of found family that were woven throughout the book. Not just with the young witches and their caregivers, but also with Mika and her thorny relationship with her caregiver and her past.

While I would classify The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches as more of a women's fiction novel, I did enjoy the romance between Mika and librarian Jamie. They had such great chemistry and I loved their banter!

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and hope to read more from Sangu Mandanna in the future!

This was a bit of a mixed bag for me. The story was good but not "can't put it down" good, the characters were done well but a bit heavy handed on the gay side (I mean EVERY couple mentioned were same sex couples except for the main character). I am always sensitive to authors trying to slide their politics or morality into my entertainment.

The first part of the story was entertaining as she was faced with 3 witch children (one of which was trying to come up with creative ways to murder her) and we finally get a bit of romance but at the same time our heroine spent a bit too much time naval gazing IMHO.

Bottom line: You will enjoy the trip, there are some dull parts but overall, it was a good read but I have to say as a reviewer I had some really great books waiting on me which may account for my less than enthusiastic review. I mean I had just read the latest by Ilona Andrews and was about to pick up the latest from Patricia Briggs as soon as I finished this book, so even being kind there is no comparison in this book to those ladies.

The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches do not have a regular meeting place, nor a regular meeting time. They come together in summery gardens, in cozy tea rooms, and in far-flung lands. This is how young Mika Moon was raised.

She’s the junior to the group’s flock of senior witches - Agatha, Hilda, Sophie, Primrose Beatrice Everly (Mika’s adoptive mother) and Belinda. Mika herself was raised by Primrose in the wake of her parents’ deaths and has been kept isolated and on the move without regular figures in her life - aside from the society - in the hope of keeping her magical powers hidden. This is how all witches live in this world, but Mika feels alone and isolated. Primrose has rarely been in her life and Mika was raised by a succession of nannies and tutors who were,,, moved on once they learned too much about her powers. Now grown, Mika is simply trying to learn how to make real connections with others, mortals included. That’s when she receives a summons to tutor a passel of young witches after one of the videos she’s made to entertain herself on YouTube grabs the attention of a potential employer.

It’s immediately apparent that all three young witches have been adopted from other places and are not biological sisters, but rebellious eight-year-old Terracotta, spirited ten-year-old Rosetta and sweet seven-year-old Altamira are close and all possessed of incredible powers – dangerous powers. Mika finds herself working alongside the household staff – the kind married couple Ken and Ian Kubo-Hawthorn (a former actor), who tend the estate’s garden and run the house, respectively; sweet elderly cook Lucie, and handsome Scottish intellectual James – Jamie - Kelly, who takes care of the library. Ian wants Mika to teach the girls how to control their powers for an upcoming meeting their mother has set with a powerful colleague, Edward Foxhaven. If word gets out – either to Foxhaven or to Primrose – that the house is filled with witches, the children will end up being forcibly separated. Mika instantly realizes she’s found her place in the world, but can she convince the rest of them – especially Jamie - on whom she is rapidly developing a crush – of that?

This is such a fun, adventurous book about finding your way in the world, found families, and living the life you truly want to live. The worldbuilding is delightful and the author also manages to address subjects such as racism, transracial adoption, and child abuse. It’s fluffy and warm without being saccharine, sexy without being gauche, and funny without being ridiculous.

Mika is a completely winning heroine with a wonderful sense of self and a determination to make her way in the world as an independent person. Her rapport with everyone, including Jamie, is perfectly handled, but I had a fondness for her kinship with Terracotta.

The romance between Mika and Jamie is very good, but may not appeal if you don’t like ‘I hate you but now I love you’ entanglements. Nevertheless, it’s an entertaining ride to watch the two of them fall in love.

I especially enjoyed the worldbuilding and how Mandanna manages to create a completely realistic world of witches who are feared and loathed for who they are. The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches is a perfect gem.

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I loved this so much. It was warm and funny and so magical. It's a book about found family & witches and I loved it. Mika was such a fun and warm character to read about and I loved the romance between her and Jamie. This was heartwarming and gah I adored it.

The House in the Cerulean Sea meets Practical Magic

Thank you so, so much to Berkley Romance and Netgalley for providing and e-arc of this. As well as PRH Audio for the ALC. All thoughts and opinions are still my own.

Wow. This witchy contemporary will forever live rent free in my heart. This was everything I wanted from a cozy witch romance and so much more. If you're looking for the perfect cozy, heartwarming story full of magic, found family, and reluctant love (of all kinds) add this book to your tbr immediately.

This entire story felt like a warm hug. From the very beginning I was swept away to this house of misfits and magic. Every character in here is well developed and full of personality. And I loved each and every one of them.

This is pretty well balanced between contemporary and romance. And overall this is the heroines journey to love in all forms - self love, familial, platonic, and romantic. As someone who grew up alone, she's been self reliant her entire life. When suddenly she's thrust into nowhere house were everyone is interested in her every move.

I loved the dynamics of the characters. I loved the reluctant grumpy/sunshine romance. I loved the witchy vibes -the magic in here is very earthly and reminiscent of Practical Magic. There were so many magical scenes in here where I wanted to crawl straight into this book.

I can't say enough good things about this book. It is my new personal mission to make everyone read this book this fall. I absolutely cannot wait to read whatever Sangu Mandanna releases next!

"The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches" is pure magic. It's a captivating read full of romance, likable characters, and witchcraft.

Thank you so much to Berkley Books and Netgalley for letting me read an eARC of The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches! I had seen someone talk about this book on book twitter the day it was put on Netgalley for requests and it sounded so good, so of course I had to request it right away.
The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches 5/5 Stars
Summary from Goodreads: A warm and uplifting novel about an isolated witch whose opportunity to embrace a quirky new family--and a new love--changes the course of her life.
As one of the few witches in Britain, Mika Moon knows she has to hide her magic, keep her head down, and stay away from other witches so their powers don't mingle and draw attention. And as an orphan who lost her parents at a young age and was raised by strangers, she's used to being alone and she follows the rules...with one exception: an online account, where she posts videos pretending to be a witch. She thinks no one will take it seriously.
But someone does. An unexpected message arrives, begging her to travel to the remote and mysterious Nowhere House to teach three young witches how to control their magic. It breaks all of the rules, but Mika goes anyway, and is immediately tangled up in the lives and secrets of not only her three charges, but also an absent archaeologist, a retired actor, two long-suffering caretakers, and...Jamie. The handsome and prickly librarian of Nowhere House would do anything to protect the children, and as far as he's concerned, a stranger like Mika is a threat. An irritatingly appealing threat.
As Mika begins to find her place at Nowhere House, the thought of belonging somewhere begins to feel like a real possibility. But magic isn't the only danger in the world, and when a threat comes knocking at their door, Mika will need to decide whether to risk everything to protect a found family she didn't know she was looking for....
This book was cute, cute, cute! I really enjoyed Sangu Mandanna’s easy writing style and how all of the characters just seemed to flow together so well. Mika was a really fun main character and I really liked Jaime, the girls, and everyone who lived at Nowhere House really! The way the whole magic system in this book was laid our was really cool and different. There were some twists that I wasn’t expecting, but overall it was just a fun, cute read with magic and love. Plot and pacing wise, I thought that things were really well done. The book moved forward really well and it moved forward at a good pace without ever feeling as though anything was being rushed or dragged or things were out of place. All in all, I think the The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches was a really fun read and I highly suggest picking it up today!

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Actually 4.5⭐️

I have always loved witches and witchy things, and this book was the perfect combination of that theme with a really heartwarming, funny and lovely story!

Honestly this was giving me House in the Cerulean Sea vibes, but with a more real-world approach to diversity, belonging, and found family, and I really appreciated what Sangu Mandanna brought to the table in that respect. A brown witch mentoring three young witches from different backgrounds with vibrant, individual personalities was something I didn’t realize I needed until now and I loved it!

I also really enjoyed the balance between Mika’s relationship with the girls and how they come to accept each other with her own journey through loneliness and coming to accept herself as part of a family, and the romance was a nice addition without taking over the story which I thought was appropriate for this book

I would absolutely recommend this to a lot of people

4.25🌟 - I enjoyed it!

Witchy and heartwarming! Spooky szn is almost upon us, and this feel-good book is one you’ll want to add to your fall TBR!

This gave me the vibes of Nothing to See Here meets Mary Poppins but magical!

The romance is present, but Mika’s story really shines through in her journey through loneliness, wanting to connect with other witches, and finding found family in the Nowhere House and it’s guests.

Once the romance plot started to develop, it was the perfect blend of slow-burn romance meets grumpy/sunshine.

This cozy read paired with a lovable cast of characters and sweet romance will make you swoon!

This has got to be one of the cutest books I have read in a long time! It was full of magic and mayhem and I absolutely couldn't get enough. I mainly picked this one up because someone told me if I loved The House in the Cerulean Sea then odds are I would love this one as well and let me just say, they did not lie. I can see why these two books were getting compared. Both deal with a wide, diverse cast of characters and the idea of making your own family. I adored almost every character in this book (even when they may have been a bit of a sourpuss *cough* Jamie *cough* at times). Terracotta was probably my favorite. I mean who doesn't love an 8 year old who contemplates the various ways to murder someone.

This book was full of heart, humor, and hijinks. It was empowering and uplifting and I could not put it down. I had never read anything by this author before but color me intrigued. I will definitely be keeping my eye on this author in the future.

A big thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for a digital copy.

4 out of 5 stars. If you ask me, I'll tell you to read it.

Who doesn't love a great story about magic, love, and family found? I had a great time reading this book and the twist at the end was definitely unexpected!

Mika Moon has to hide her magical powers. A lifetime of keeping distance from everyone to stay safe, with the exception of her YouTube channel which she uses to portray an alter ego and connect with other people.
After receiving a strange message begging her to travel to the remote and mysterious Nowhere House to teach three young witches how to control their magic. It breaks all of the rules, but Mika goes anyway.
This is such a charming romance, I'm a sucker for found family and that's exactly what you get with this story.

Aww, this book had all the feels. I loved all of the characters, even grumpy, set-in-her-ways Primrose. I love the found family that Jamie, Ken, Ian, and Josie created in Nowhere House with the girls and how Lillian brought them all together.

Highly recommend this read and I can't wait to read more books from Sangu Mandanna in the future.