From the author of The Orphan Witch and The Lost Witch comes a new tale about a witch named Aline Weir, a book of magic and a beguiling and powerful creature whom she must free, even if it puts her life and soul at stake. The story follows Aline who from the time she was a child has always felt like an outsider. She has kept her talents hidden ever since a disastrous middle school slumber party where all the girls in the school ended up turning against her because of something that was done to them.

Her world is turned upside down when she meets an otherworldly spirit named Dragon and learns that she has a responsibility to help lost souls crossover. She is later under the wing of three eccentric bookstore owners (Chlo, Morai, Liset). The women pretty much become the family that Aline so desired growing up which gives her comfort knowing she can be herself and nobody will look at her differently. During her time at the bookstore, she not only finds a book called Mischief, but she starts dreaming of a man who makes her heart beat faster.

Aline’s life takes an unexpected turn when the wrong (or perhaps right) person witnesses her using her powers and she is invited to a town that doesn’t exist on any map. Arriving in Matchstick, Aline learns of a lost magic that desperately needs to be found and only her unique powers can do it. But what she’s not told is that Magic is a person. To make matters worse, there is a witch who is not only dangerous but seductive and has been waiting for a witch with a power like hers for centuries.

*Thoughts* So, my thoughts are all over the place when it comes to reviewing this book. The plot got really confusing and convoluted. I felt all sorts of emotions for Aline in the beginning. She meets an unusual ghost, Dragon, who fills in the blanks on why Aline can see and talk to ghosts. She teachers her about the keys that she needs to find. Her parents are horrible. They are totally unaware of what happened to her, including being cast out at middle school.

You have to ask yourself where did Aline get her abilities, and why that person chose to ignore their powers. Aline wasn't given much heads up before she ended up in Matchstick. She couldn't understand why she was look at with so much hope. Her only true friend was Dragon, and yes, while the Fates took her in, they didn't really prepare her for what would happen to people like Magic she meets and falls in love with. In the end, this was a story that you likely would enjoy if you were stoned.

My, oh my. I don’t have the words, which is an awful place to be when you’re supposed to be reviewing a book.

This book is and isn’t.

I empathized with Aline so much. My heart broke for her with each loss. And even though her life would have been entirely different if she never traveled to Matchstick, it was the path she needed to take at the exact time she needed to be there.

This book is magical and meandering. It’s love, lines of connection, and all the ways things are and aren’t. It often reads like a fever dream, and that is where the beauty of this book lies. It’s vivid and wild, peaceful, yet fraught with danger. Have patience, accept the story will follow multiple lines, and let it take you where it will.

I’m going to need more from this world. And even though Crutcher’s books are standalones (yay!), I don’t want to let this world, the lines, the people, and the magic go.

Many thanks to St. Martin’s for sending this my way.

I have read other books by Paige Crutcher and was just as enamored with "What Became of Magic" when I read it on NetGalley. Aline is a lonely girl when she met the ghost, Dragon. But then she discovers her power to find the keys that can help ghosts. And she finds more friends in the 3 women who own a local bookstore. But there is more in store for Aline than she ever thought, when she needs to save Magic. This story has love, magic, suspense and friendship.

Aline is different, the town knows this, her classmates won't let her forget it and her parents well they couldn't care less. Somehow, she made it through. Aline is a witch, one who can talk to ghosts and find lost things. When a friend goes missing, she goes on a quest to find her and put magic back to rights.

I can only describe What Became of Magic as haunting, not because it was spooky, but that it will stay with you in the back of your mind for days. It is beautifully written in a manner that is easy to comprehend, without losing charm, or being over simplified. Gripping and alluring What Became of Magic could easily be a one sitting read.

I received an arc of this and am leaving this review of my own volition.

After a disastrous middle school party, Aline Weir hid her ability to talk to ghosts. She uses her power in secret to help ghosts move on, enjoying her time in a bookstore with the three mysterious women who run it. When Aline discovers the Book of Mischief, her powers are enhanced and she's again observed using her power. This time, she's invited to Matchstick, a town that doesn't exist on any map. Within this town, magic is lost and needs to be found. However, she’s not told that Magic is a dangerous person waiting for a witch with a power like hers for centuries.

I felt for Aline from the start, as she was the odd girl that no one in her small town liked. It didn't help that she could see and talk to ghosts, as well as find trinkets allowing them to move on. Her own parents didn't care what happened to her or how she felt, which made me want to reach through the pages to give her a hug and invite her home. I guessed the identity of the three sisters running the bookshop based on their names and my knowledge of mythology, as well as their habit of knitting. All of this is pretty much the prologue to Aline's invitation to Matchstick; everyone insists on being vague and mysterious, not telling Aline anything outright. It's as annoying to a reader as it is for Aline, but she's determined to find her ghost and the sisters, who had become her family. Saving magic and Magic are incidental at first, and later takes on more and more importance.

I found this story a little more convoluted than her other novels, and I didn't really like Magic very much. It's as much about grief as it is about finding yourself and your purpose, using magic as a means of determining an identity. Aline has her work cut out for her, but she does have far more help than she thought she did. I think that says something about the rest of us, too. We're never as alone as we think we are.

The beginning of the book really hooked me with Aline leading a lonesome life based on her being "difference" from everyone else. My heart went out to her at the solitary existence she led for years, but as she comes into her powers, she proves to be an extraordinary person. For much of the book, I felt as lost as Aline, which could be the author's intention to keep you steadily identifying with her protagonist. The povs flip in interesting ways that I found very unexpectedly, but each one adds unique insight to the story as a whole. Puzzle pieces fall together beautifully towards the end of the book. I would have preferred a certain famous literary device not be employed to "fix" anything, BUT the way that it is used works believably for the world created here.

Do add this and her previous two witchy books to your fall reading, if you can squeeze them in. They all require a little stretch of the magic imagination, but they are so worth it. Also, I advise other readers to check out the acknowledgements section at the end of this book. The last few paragraphs caused me to tear up, and I always love a message to readers.

Thanks to St. Martin's Griffin and Netgalley for a chance to read an early copy of this book!

Rating: 4/5
I received an eARC for my honest opinion.

In this book you get to follow a witch named Aline. She can talk to ghosts, and she has the ability to help them find what they’re missing, and what is not allowing them to pass to the next life. She is okay with the fact that her only friend is a ghost named Dragon, as well as the 3 owners of her favorite bookstore. She has come to accept the fact that other people do not understand her or even want to understand her enough to become friends.

I thought this book was cute and different. I loved that the characters in this book are what really made it amazing. You get Aline who is strong but doesn’t see herself as that, she is a fighter for the ones that she loves and is just a fresh breath of air. You will meet Dragon, who is Aline's only true friend through everything in her life, she really is the world's best friend and is always there telling Aline that she can do it and even warning her of the wrong steps she might take in life. You will see the three fates and how they were there helping Aline through all her teen years and throughout her early adult life. Then you meet Magic in Matchstick town, and everything starts to change. You will meet new characters as Magic and Aline try their best to break the curse that another witch has cast upon them to get as much magic as she can.

This was a fast-paced book with a lot of meaning behind it. For me, I took from the book that no matter your past the choices you have made you must come to terms with it and accept it, in order to move on and see something better out there in life. I know a lot of people will take the meaning of the book differently and that is okay because we all take what we need from the books and help ourselves out. It is a slow burn romance, and is appropriate for 16+ age.

I cannot wait to see what else Paige Crutcher will give us next to read.
I want to thank NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to review this book.

I was really intrigued by the premise of this book - a witch who can talk to ghosts and helps them reunite with the keys to send them home? Sound interesting! However, this book really ends up being more about Aline learning more about magic and being pulled into an evil witch's scheming and trying to find a way to...save the world? I guess?

I'm going to be honest, I read this whole book and still don't really understand what happened. The plot got really confusing and convoluted (once we got to the actual plot) and there were so many characters that I really couldn't keep track of most of them. At one point towards the end a new character is added and I truly could not tell you that character's name and I finished the book less than an hour ago.

The romance was also...weird? Aline falls in love with...Magic. No, I'm not joking. Magic both is a man and is...magic. He is also occasionally referred to as "Magic the first" because there are ...multiple magics? and then the evil witch....murders those magics? Honestly this is the best I have for the plot - I hope to god that other people understand it better than I did. I can read a high fantasy novel that I understand more than I understood whatever happened here.

The vibes of this book were definitely witchy and fall - if that's your vibe for the season, you may like this! I enjoyed using this book to get into the fall season. The plot unfortunately didn't work for me. I thought the writing was good, if a bit flowery at times.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the eARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

What Became of Magic is a fun story about a witch who can find keys and open doors. Although the protagonist, Aline Weir, is a lonely thirty year old when the novel begins, the book spends a fair amount of time recounting her difficult adolescence. As a teenager, Aline felt more comfortable reading than talking about clothes and boys, and despite her best efforts to forge friendships with the girls in her school, she finds herself on the outside of the social circle. When she begins talking to a ghost at a slumber party she is labeled a freak, and when a romantic interaction with a boy goes terribly wrong, Aline is forced to find solace in the town library which is run by three witch sisters who guard the books.

Aline’s quests eventually bring her to the town of Matchstick, a place between the sun and moon, governed by the laws of magic. She learns that lost magic must be found, and discovers that Magic is also the name of a dangerous person with whom she must contend.

This was an easy magical read with a young adult feel. Aline learns to value her unique form of magic in spite of the pain it has caused her. There are lots of twists and turns as Aline learns how to usher souls to their final resting place and comes to terms with the unexpected surprises of a magical universe.

Thank you to NetGalley for a free copy of the book in exchange for a fair review.

Aline, a young witch, has a tough experience at a sleepover when she discovers she can speak with ghosts. She then isolates herself as she grows up aside from her visits to a bookstore. When she’s in her thirties, her power intensifies and she discovers a whole new world of magic that brings her front and center. The world building was excellent, but I must admit the plot was not as focused as expected. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this advanced copy.

What Became of Magic
by Paige Crutcher
Fantasy Magical Realism Cozy
Ages 16+
NetGalley ARC
Publication Date: September 26, 2023
St. Martin's Press

After a middle school slumber party gone wrong, Aline Weir has kept her gift of being able to talk to ghosts a secret, fearing what the kids at school would say or do to her if they found out. But she does have a friend, Dragon, a ghost girl who helps Aline find lost souls' keys so they can go home, and she has a safe place, a bookstore, and the three women who own it, welcome her. And on those shelves, Aline finds a book called Mischief, and things begin to change. At the age of thirty Aline finds herself on a quest to find and save magic.


While this book is listed for adults, it's not written that way. Every character, even though they are or have been wandering for many, many years, they act and talk like fourteen-year-olds. Even the plot felt like the story was taking place in on middle school playground. There was a lot of going here and going there, but I never felt as if they went anywhere. I was bored with this story and had to make myself read it.

The romance in this story was forced, the characters were 'destined' to be together, and it was acted out like a middle school crush.

But the idea of this story was interesting; a witch who can talk to ghosts and help them move along, and save magic, great premise, but the execution was flat. Even with the riddles and searching for answers, there wasn't enough action or relatability to keep my interest or care what the characters were doing and I found myself skimming the book until something caught my attention, but those things never kept it.

1 Star

This book started out amazing. I was hooked, enthralled with the weaving of the words. As the story of Aline and her ability to talk to ghosts and help them move on. But as the story continued I felt lost and confused at the many riddles and just understanding it all. I'm still trying to figure out what I just read.

Overall, witchy vibes were fantastic but I got lost along the way. 3.5 stars rounded up

really good book and kept me on my on my toes of what would happen. really enjoyed the characters and their journey and would read this author again.

I have read Paige Crutcher’s novel The Orphan Witch which I believe I enjoyed reading if I remember correctly. This one follows a witch who can talk to ghosts but someone witnessed her magic which changed her life. I really enjoyed the story of this book as I was hooked with Aline’s story. I have been reading many stories about witches so once I’m into it, everything about them is amazing. I loved the world the author built along with the very well-written characters. Aline was such an amazing character, I had a fun time following her adventure. There are many side characters in this book my favorite being a dragon. This had a clean, slow-burn romance but the main focus is not the romance but Aline’s story. The ending was well-written and I really enjoyed this story. I totally recommend checking it out if you are into adventures involving witches.

*this arc was sent to me by the publisher to give an honest review in return*

Unfortunately this was a miss for me. The narrative and dialogue were juvenile, the plot was rushed and lacking in cohesion, and the magical elements weren't properly fleshed out or explained. I would classify this as witchy chicklit, I guess? As in, light, fluffy, and lacking in substance.

I don't know if it's me or this book but I STRUGGLED through basically the entire novel. We follow Aline who has grown up with no love shown toward her, except for ghosts and strange individuals. The plot really begins when...well I'm not really sure because I was confused most of the book, but I think magic goes missing or something? Her friends definitely go missing, and she has to rescue them. Honestly, the plot left me wanting more; there was lots of traveling and fantastical worlds and beings and stories and I never really was clear about why they were all relevant to the story, nor did I feel that they progressed well. The characters were lackluster and the ending was abrupt as well. I wanted to love this when I read the synopsis, but it just fell flat for me.

Aline Weir is the odd one out her entire life. Unnoticed or simply ignored by most around her including her parents. That is until she fell through a mirror, met Dragon, and learned that she was more that what she seemed. She had powers. Those powers are put to use when she and an unlikely crew have to work to reset magic and make it whole once more.

This book was okay. A fairly short read clocking in under 250 pages. Despite being a short read, I was a bit confused about most things. The plot felt rushed a bit and slightly jumpy rather than a smooth, coherent story. There are quite a few things that need a good explanation for establishing how the magic works, connections between characters, and various other points. There are explanations but it feels as if nothing is ever fully explained which i found a bit grating but just pushed past it.

The book absolutely had potential to be good, but it fell short. BUT it is a light read if you’re looking for something casual and don’t feel like getting overly involved or thinking things over too much.

2/5

What Became of Magic is filled with twists, found family, a little romance, and (of course) a whole lot of magic. The story was definitely unique and intriguing.

The plot started off strong with a young witch finding out she has powers and through a series of events coming to a magical town in order to save Magic. From there things started to get confusing for me. I feel like there were so many characters to keep up with that I needed a chart to keep them straight. The point of view changes would sometimes throw me off and had me wondering where the story was going. I also feel like the romance part seemed like an afterthought thrown in.

I did enjoy the mysterious vibe. It kept me wanting to read on to discover more. I think that now I have finished the book I would be able to enjoy a reread without getting confused.

I'm giving 3 stars because overall I did think the book was fun to read but I wish it would have been a series so things would have had more time to develop and explained in more depth.

Thank you NetGalley and St Martin's Press for an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. Thank you NetGalley.
The cover art caught my eye, and I"m so glad it did.
We meet our FMC Aline, whom is a witch that can talk to ghosts. Pretty cool, right? However, she keeps her talent hidden. She chooses to help souls find the final keys to send them off to their final resting place in private.
Aline loves the local bookstore and the mysterious three women who run it. It's there she finds a particular book that enhances her powers.
From there, someone witnesses her using her magic, and she's asked to assist in finding a lost magic that only HER powers can help with. But there's a major secret she wasn't aware of. Magic is a person.... a dangerous one at that.


Intresting, right?
The author did an amazing job at th worldbuilding here. The story flowed along at a great pace as well. I'd definitely read other books by Paige Crutcher.

What Became of Magic is a fun magical read. It starts strong but did drag a bit in the middle when the story moves to the magical town because there were a few too many riddles but the beginning and ending were great. I enjoyed the magical aspects of this story,

Thank you NetGalley and St Martins Press for the ARC of this book in exchange for a review.