3.5 stars rounded up. This was an interesting magical tale. It's perfect for the fall/Halloween season, but can definitely be read year round. I liked the characters and found the romance sweet. The plot didn't pull me in as much as I would've liked, but the characters and overall vibes make it worth checking out.

I read an ARC of this book from NetGalley. All comments are my own.

I enjoyed the book. Gave me "Goosebumps" type vibes for some reason. I would continue the series if it turned into one. George was a fun character to follow. Perfect amount of gloom and happiness for a teenager. Her friends were also very healthy. I would recommend to middle school/YA/ and adults like me that enjoy everything.

"Touch of Death" by Taylor Munsell is a must-read paranormal novel perfect for the spooky season and readers who enjoy a riveting, fast-paced story that will grip them from the first page.

Georgina lives her life trying to avoid touching anyone. If she does, she's forced to experience how that person will die and has to live with that knowledge. While it sounds like a pretty cool gift, it's more of a curse. Especially when she discovers someone at her high school is going to die soon, and it's at the behest of her own hands.

Georgina turns to a fellow witch in her coven, Trixie, and the friends she has entrusted with the knowledge of her gift to help her find a way out of the predicament she's found herself in, even though she knows deep down that there is no way of undoing the future. As Georgina works with her friends, she discovers that if she wants any hope of stopping the future from happening, she needs to learn more about herself and her magic or she might be the cause for more dangerous and violent events.

This was a fantastic read! The writing is beautiful and poetic, and the pacing is done so well that the pages fly by. It helps that the plot is so intriguing and the characters all have a great sense of humour that will make readers smile and laugh out loud. Georgina was relatable. Even though she has powers others don't, it was easy to sympathize with her character and to understand her thoughts and actions. Munsell does a brilliant job at depicting her characters and making them likable, especially Jen! The story is full of plot twists that will keep readers guessing, making this a thrilling and exciting read!

"Touch of Death" by Taylor Munsell is expected to be published on September 17th, 2024. I highly recommend adding this book to your TBR and looking for it in stores on its release date and giving it a read!

Thank you to NetGalley and CamCat Books for providing me with a copy of this e-arc and the opportunity to share my honest opinion in this review.

Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read a copy of Touch of Death before publication on Sept 17th.

This book has a similar feel to Sabrina the Netflix TV Show. A teenage witch who can feel someone’s death with just a touch of her hand who is coming of age and dealing with her powers going a little haywire. Too many deaths in there very small town have her questioning if there is something else at play. Along with her witchling girlfriend and mortal best friend they work together to find out what going on!

Great writing defo recommend.

Thank you Taylor/NetGalley for giving me to opportunity to read this magical ARC! Review: 4 Stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐

In this gripping supernatural tale, the life of sixteen-year-old Georgiana "George" Colburn is anything but ordinary. As a death witch and medium, George is cursed with the unsettling ability to foresee someone's death with just a touch. The narrative plunges into tension when George, already struggling with her unwanted gift, foresees herself killing the new student. What follows is a compelling journey of self-discovery, where George must confront her fears and the darker side of her powers.

The story is infused with a strong blend of suspense, paranormal intrigue, and emotional depth, particularly in George's evolving relationships. Her complex feelings for Trixie add a layer of tender vulnerability to the otherwise chilling premise. The book handles the theme of destiny and choice with nuance, making readers ponder the fine line between the two.

While the pacing could be tighter in places, the story's unique concept and the protagonist's relatable struggles make it a captivating read. The blend of magic, mystery, and the challenges of adolescence is well-executed, making this novel a must-read for fans of young adult paranormal fiction!

This book was great, it held my attention the whole time even though the protagonist was a 16 year old death witch. I found her extremely believable and yet not horribly annoying as some teenage characters can be. The entire story kept me reading, I didn’t want to put it down. The only complaint I had was I wanted to know some of the other characters a little more.

Thank you to NetGalley and CamCat Books for the ARC.

4.5 stars just because it's a romance too or it would be 5 stars.

George is a Death Witch who experiences the death of others upon touch, no matter whether they're touching her or her them. She can also see ghosts. One day she experiences someone's death at her own hand. Her friends and her set out to figure out what is going on and why she would ever kill someone.

When I first started this I was not sure what I was expecting, perhaps more of a romance and less of a horror? I was surprised when it was the other way around instead. I really enjoyed this up and down journey and I could hardly put it down.

Taylor Munsell has a clear, consistent way of writing and her writing voice is easy to love. I would totally read more by the author if given the opportunity.

This thrilling and chilling journey will leave you second guessing yourself as the twists catch you off guard and the characters keep you on your toes.

Would recommend this for a thorough read!

Got this as an ARC so first thing, thank you so so much for the opportunity to get into this cute little read!!

This is such a cute, cozy fall witchy read we all love& right on the brink of spooky season!! This is something middle & high school me needed & adult me loved!

You get to follow a high schooler who is not only coming into adulthood, but also her own fate as the next heir to her small town coven. It becomes up to her and her friends to learn to harness her unique magic and save their town from an unknown evil force. There is also some cutesy lgbt romance (nothing smutty, all very PG) and lots of friend banter.

I have virtually no notes on this one, other than it being a little bit slow but overall nothing major to complain about!! So cute, obsessed with it!!

Touch of Death is a YA book centered around George, a young witch with the power to touch someone and experience their future death. When Jen’s ghost visits George, who has recently died in her small town, she realizes something isn’t quite right. 
This book has power, love, friendship, community, grief, and mysterious deaths, what isn’t there to love?! When Georgiana (George) finds her magic going haywire and has to unravel the reasons why, she doesn’t think she can do it. With her new coven mate and crush, Trixie, her friend Felix, and Jen the ghost they start to discover that their small town isn’t as normal as they thought. George discovering her crush on Trixie was so cute. I loved that George came into her own and started to accept her coven, and the coven started to accept her. She struggled with her magic for so long and seeing her growth was amazing. 

If you like witches, love, magic, and a murder mystery I think you would love this book. Thank you NetGalley and CamCat Books for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

I received this book from Netgalley as an ARC. This is my voluntary and honest review.

This was a fun read, with just enough suspense and mystery to keep the reader hooked throughout. You could easily read this in one sitting. If you're looking for a book that reads closer to upper YA, you may want to steer clear of this book. The writing style is closer to a teen to younger YA novel. With that said, while I believe my younger self would have enjoyed this a little bit more, I still loved this book and ate it up.

It was a gripping adventure with very mild romance, mystery, death, and an easy-to-digest magic system. The cherry on top was the unexpected break from overused monsters/villains. Our author did an amazing job balancing detail with how these witches obtain and grow within their power without being too overwhelming or muddy. Too often in Teen to YA, we either get too much or too little information, especially when magic is involved. I was pleasantly surprised at how well this was presented. I absolutely adored George and her internal dialogue.

This would be a great book for a fall-to-Halloween TBR. Sitting outside on a crisp autumn night with a nice cup of coffee would have made my reading experience even more atmospheric.

A mesmerising tale of two souls, bound by love and magic. The atmosphere in this book was just amazing. The characters were relatable and one would root for them. A very well written and emotional fantasy that will stay with me for a long time.

This book feels incredibly YA. I don’t say that negatively, just to let you know what you’re in for.

Unfortunately, it took me a minute to get through the beginning of this book, YET, once I dove back into this book, i was hooked.

The central mystery felt incredibly light considering the main theme of death. I was intrigued to know what happens but what really kept me going was the tension between George, Jen & Trixie.

The sweet found family aspect is my kryptonite, (I’m looking at you, the living trio).

I find myself wanting more interaction of George & Jen, than George and Trixie. It could just be my love for the ‘mean girl dislike-to-love’ trope pushing this thought though. It’s the shortness of the book that definitely held back the development of characters. I’m hoping there will be another book to show us more.

Easy 4 🌟 rating!
I literally couldn't put it down and read it in under 24hrs! (Extremely rare for me!)

Georgiana is a lovable protagonist in this wonderfully brisked paced YA novel. Light fantasy with a "murder mystery" feel to it, myself as a reader was captivated right from the start!

I was initially drawn to this book because of the cover. However, the book itself was an incredibly sweet story about a young witch. It’s YA fantasy and a perfect read for fans of fantasy of all ages.

Really good YA book. I really liked the characters and the world-building, The mystery elements of the plot was also very nice :)

Touch of Death is a tightly-knit, well paced book. George was a well written main character and watching her work to improve and even fail at times made her succeeding at the end gratifyingly. While Trixie and Felix weren’t explored as much as George, they were still endearing and never feel like they were just George’s friends.
The mystery was well foreshadowed and while it could be considered predictable, I like how the author laid hints towards the answer and gave us a satisfying twist rather than trying to shock the reader. We already know how Silas dies, the reader tension comes from seeing when it will come.
The shorter page count might account for some of the things I didn’t like in this book. Trixie seemed to come around pretty quickly considering what George tells her and Jen becomes friends with George pretty quickly (but she does contribute to the plot so she doesn’t feel useless). The book doesn’t elaborate much on the magic system or beliefs of the witches (there are several mentions of a Goddess but no explanation of any religion) but the book is a YA urban fantasy rather than a lore-heavy fantasy book, so I can forgive not explaining everything.
Overall, this a good YA coming-of-age/urban fantasy with a good plot. I can definitely recommend this to anything who enjoys YA with death, magic, and mystery.
Thanks to the author and publisher for providing me with an ARC!

This is a YA read and if YA books are not you're cup of tea I would steer away from this. If YA books are you're cup of tea I can’t recommend this book enough. Starting from page one I was hooked on as a teenager saying dead people as a 23 year old who used to be obsessed with the show “Ghost Whisper” and “Charmed” simultaneously. This book was right up my alley. Also as a 23 year old that never got to read a book about a bisexual character when I was a teenager the inner 14 year old in be was screaming with Glee while probably watching Glee.

The book focuses on a 16 year old girl Georgina or George as she prefers to be called, is a witch who hasn’t touched another human being since she was 4 years old when she started experiencing how that person would die without being able to control her “gift”, on top of not being able to touch another human being George sees dead people (hopefully someone gets this pun) but regardless a ghost that she can't seem to shake keeps showing up and annoying George (the ghost reminds me of Caroline Forbes from vampire diaries pre vampire turning but I promise she gets better like Caroline did) George then experiences the death of a new student which really startles her and leads her into a deep dive that something must be going on in her town and it’s fallen upon her to uncover the truth.

This book does put you through the emotions of sadness, anxiety, detective (yes this is an emotion), cuteness, awkwardness, happiness, etc. I would say this is a medium paced book with a slow start and figuring out what is going on, but once you engage yourself into this book you can become easily hooked, I am someone who needs to be “hooked” in one to two chapters and if a book annoys me or doesn’t grab my attention I DNF book for good or to come back later and try again. If you are the same way this book will definitely grab you.

This book will be in the top 5 books for my 2024 reads and I am hoping the author will consider releasing a second book because I need Georges story to continue and more town drama to happen.

This book is mindblowingly good. You'll definitley fall in love with these characters when reading it, and the story flows very well. The words used aren't too complicated, like how in some books the words used are very obscure and not often used in the actual human vocabulary to make it seem more sophisticated. Nothing wrong with that, of course, but it makes a story difficult to follow, at times. With this book, that was not the case. Overall would definitely recommend it to other people.

Touch of Death is a wonderful coming of age story wrapped in a neat little witchy bow. Munsell does a beautiful job of exploring the implications of experiencing death at a young age and how such experiences can shape our journey. I recommend this story to any and all who want to enjoy a quick but engaging read!

I loved this book. I loved the lore, the way the magic worked, the characters. I was expecting to many YA clichés amongst the 3 friends but was pleasantly surprised about how healthy the friendships were.
Definitely recommend. And I usually don't like stories that involve ghosts, so that's saying something.