I have only read one other book from Bianca Marais, Hum If You Don't Know the Words, and I loved that. I think I went into The Witches of Moonshyne Manor with the wrong expectations. It is so much lighter in tone and content than her previous work and is very much contemporary. The inclusion of a tiktoker caught me off guard!

It took me a minute to get used to the tone and the humour. I'm so picky about humour in books and some of this just didn't land for me. One of the witches is very much sex driven and she felt like a caricature at times.

That said, there was a lot to love about this. It did feel like Golden Girls with witches and had a sprinkle of Practical Magic. It also reminded me of a lighter version of The Change, which also came out this year. I love reading about older characters, so I appreciated that. I also loved seeing all of their relationships and how close they are. There were some surprising reveals.

It's a book I flew through and was a fun way to spend an afternoon!

I was very excited about this book and was thrilled to get the audiobook to review from NetGalley, but this book was not for me.

It took a good quarter of the book before we actually started getting into a story. This first part is setting up the characters and a lot of sex. There is a lot of self love in here and reading about that from 80 year old witches is not my cup of tea. Since I was reading this for review, I trudged on.

Once we got to the story, it did pick up some, but the story was just not that interesting.

This book was so strange that I’m not sure I will pick up another book by this author.

It starts out with a witch hunt. A mob of angry men descends upon the witches of Moonshyne Manor with a wrecking ball, ready to raze it to the ground even before their mortgage deadline from the bank. The only thing that stops them in their place is the mayor's daughter, Persephone, who is ready to smash the patriarchy on behalf of the elderly witches. That's how it begins. But things quickly escalate as we unravel the history of the witches' current problems and hope they can find a solution in time to save their home.

This book has it all. A heist, secrets, betrayals, and witchy recipes. Speaking of the recipes - I kept thinking to myself that I hope nobody tries certain of these recipes because there are places where you REALLY don't want peppermint essential oils. Just sayin'.

I listened to Marais’s witchy story in one day, shushing anyone who dared talk to me while I was listening. I was utterly transfixed by the coven I was reading about – think Golden Girls but with magic!

Moonshyne Manor came to life in my mind with ease. I could vividly picture each witch, each room in the manor, and the incredibly creative game of bilious. But what really made this story sing, is the relationships between the witches.

The love they have for each other, the way they bicker like sisters, the way their flaws are understood and accepted, and the unconditional support they have had for one another over decades. Without giving anything away, this story handles some hard-hitting topics in a fun but thought-provoking way.

Bianca’s books get better each time and now I’m left with just one question……How do I sign up to join the coven?

{3.5 stars}

This is such a fun, witchy romp with great representation with characters of all ages, races and LGBTQIA+ categories. The Witches of Moonshyne Manor are a fabulous found family of senior witches who are about to lose their home. Several spoilery circumstances leave them scrambling for a lost treasure, one that cost them quite a bit to procure in the first place. We flashback in time from the present, where the mayor's daughter is helping them fight off the bank and into the past on the night of the treasure heist when their lives took a bit of a turn.

There's lots of fun magic, whimsical games of fire, reading of tea leaves and potions calling for unique ingredients like unicorn urine and the eyelash of a ruling English monarch. The "sisters" are all women who have had less than stellar circumstances and were drawn to the manor and to one another to form a stronger unit. The "sisters" squabble and certainly make some stumbles along the way as they each interpret the best way forward for the group but in the end they fight fiercely for one another and their home.

I did this one on audio and the narrator was fabulous at pulling me into the story and keeping me on the edge of my seat.

Thanks to Netgalley for advanced access to this novel. All opinions above are my own.

The Witches of Moonshyne Manor was an interesting read. I can see this being a book that would appeal to other readers, but ultimately it was not for me. I enjoyed the Golden Girls vibes and spells shared throughout the story, but I struggled with the large cast of characters, all of which felt a bit flat and based more on stereotypes than on individual people. I struggled to feel for the characters which kept me from being able to keep my mind on what I was listening to. While I appreciate the diversity in the cast, I do wonder if a sensitivity reader has reviewed this? I can't speak to identities outside of my own, but some descriptions felt less than authentic.

Even though it was not a book for me, I can think of several readers who I would recommend this to and feel it would be a good read for an older adult, especially older witches. There was a spirit of fun, hope, and magic woven throughout that made me smile.

The Witches of Moonshyne Manor is funny, feminist and fresh. Caught between fantasy, whodunnit and slice of life, Marais has written a genre-bending work of fiction that leaves you laughing, questioning, and inspired.

In order to save their beloved mansion, five witches must work to solve a decades old mystery and determine where their sister hid the treasures of a heist gone wrong. Despite their aging bodies, the women haven't lost a bit of their spunk or perseverance and when a feisty young feminist with a TikTok and a dog named after the notorious RGB shows up ready to help, they know they will go to new lengths in order to protect their home and one another.

Join the Moonshyne Manor witches, Persephone and Ruth Bader Ginsburg as they uncover one another's' secrets, set aside their differences for a common cause, and generally fight the patriarchy.

Read The Witches of Moonshyne Manor for:

- A sisterhood that transcends all other bonds
- Queer Rep that includes a bisexual FMC and a trans FMC, as well as discussions on gender itself
- An assessment of the different ways people process grief
- A cast of strong, badass witches who embrace their older age rather than shying from it

And so much more!

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest reivew.

DNF. unique story but I just couldn’t get into the plot or the characters. The narrator on the audiobook was exceptional, but I felt the book dragged.

Thank you NetGalley for the advanced copy

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝗪𝐈𝐓𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐒 𝐎𝐅 𝐌𝐎𝐎𝐍𝐒𝐇𝐘𝐍𝐄 𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐎𝐑 (Pub 08.23) is feisty, feminist and so.much.fun!

QUICK TAKE:
- A sisterhood of octogenarian witches.
- Smart, loyal, mature ladies. Ladies that are still as full of moxie at 80 as they were at 20.
- A heist, a manor and the quest to save it.
- Passages that had me laughing out loud. One in particular made me spit out my cocktail.
- Even-paced, humorous, and heartfelt novel.
- Imagine if the Golden Girls got together with a version of Practical Magic
- Bonus: Recipes for cocktails, tinctures and salves.

I am a big fan of Ms. Marais' writing. Her previous books (𝘏𝘶𝘮 𝘪𝘧 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘋𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘒𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴 and 𝘐𝘧 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘞𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘔𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘓𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩), deal with serious topics while her latest endeavor is fantastically spellbinding. What remains consistent is her compassion, wit and personality shining through in the characters and story.

I adored this book full of magical grown-ups being powerful and dismantling systems of oppression. I want them for my friends. I want to be them.
Very satisfying ending

This hilarious coven of octogenarian witches was everything I expected it would be. My favorite character was probably Jezebel and I loved her romantic interest with Artemis. Overall, I think this book would have been better enjoyed in print rather than audio as it was a bit difficult at first to keep track of the shifting perspectives between so many main characters.