Overall this book was really good. I haven’t read a book before with this kind of writing style, so I did have a little bit of trouble in that aspect. But I loved the characters and the plot was really good. It kept me engaged throughout.

Piers has always been different. Since she was a small child she has loved poisonous plants. And at 5 years of age, she ate some pokeweed berries and accidentally killed a man. He was an evil man, with bad intentions, but did she know that?

After faking her death to escape a very bad husband, she finds her only relative, her aunt. Here she finds out who and what she is.

I loved this story. The tiny bit of poison ridding the world of evil men, yes, I want that too.

A true twist on your typical witch story and I am here for this!

NetGalley/ St. Martin’s Press March 18, 2025

I recently finished reading The Bane Witch by Ava Morgan, and I can't stop thinking about it.
Piers Corbin Davenport is a woman trapped in an abusive marriage,
She doesn't realize it, but she comes from a long line of magical witches.
They are Bane witches and can consume poisonous plants and fungi that would kill others.
The poison is concentrated in their bodies, and they can literally give the kiss of death.

Piers lives in Charleston and fakes her own death to escape her husband, who has sworn to kill her.
She clumsily makes her way north to find her Aunt Myrtle, whom she remembers from childhood.
Aunt Myrtle lives in a somewhat run-down motel in Crow Lake, Ontario, north of upstate New York.
As Piers learns about her heritage, her gifts, and how to use them, the reader learns about various poisonous plants.
The Bane witches are a special breed, only targeting evil men, abusers, killers, and the incestuous.

This book had all the elements of a great "woman in peril" thriller crossed with an empowering women tale.
Loved this book!
Thanks to NetGally and Ms. Morgyn for an ARC of this great book!
My opinions are my own.

Bane is an old word for poison so this book is about poison witches. They consume deadly plants/fungi and store the poison in their bodies which is used to kill evil men. The story is a crime thriller with a dark fantasy undergrowth of green witchery. The bane witches feed, hunt, and kill their prey, fulfilling an intergenerational vengeance for justice. The story follows Acacia, a survivor of domestic abuse whose insatiable desire for poison leads her on a journey of self-discovery where she meets her long lost past and future. With a serial killer on the loose, Acacia's bane witch powers will be tested, her poison becoming a danger to herself.

I'm always on the hunt for new witchy stories that are original and The Bane Witch was darkly original, tackling topics that are difficult to read about. I don't read crime thrillers, they aren't my cup of tea, but incorporating a witchy plot was unique and kept me interested. There have been many books published recently about green witches and plant magic, so it was intriguing to read a story about poisonous plants.

The characters in this story were messy, the crimes heinous, and the plant/fungi aspects gross, but these elements combined made for a creepy bewitching story that will intoxicate readers with its odious charm.

The Bane Witch will not poison you, but cure you of your longing for a dark thriller about witches unafraid to kill.

I am writing this review at 12:35 AM because I could not sleep until I finished this story. This was the perfect book at the perfect time. A story of witches who eat poisonous substances to then hunt and kill really horrible men… sign me up. I could not put this book down. I was immersed in the woods with Piers and devoured the history of the bane witches. 5 stars. I hope this becomes a series!

This was the book I needed at just the time I needed it. After surviving an unexpected and incredibly painful divorce, I felt powerless. This book, that showcases a line of women who consume deadly botanicals to then use to ride the world of terrible men was a balm to my wounded soul and left me wondering where I. An sign up to be a bane witch

I wanted to love this book but I couldn’t get past the false, overused Wikipedia version of pokeberry that is a key element of it from the first page. Poke is one of my favorite plants in existence, and I’m so tired of uneducated white European folks defining it based on the same bad knowledge being repeated. Indigenous and Appalachian people have been using poke for food and medicine for millennia (ever heard of poke salat, often incorrectly called poke salad? You can even buy it in a can down south). Dolly Parton wrote in her memoir that she used pokeberries for rouge and lipstain growing up (I’ve done it myself, it’s gorgeous). My daughter’s West Virginia fiancée grew up using them (carefully) as medicine. Many people take 1-4 pokeberries a day to manage arthritis pain (swallow whole, never chew or crush the seeds). There’s a Native herbalist I follow who says she always eats a handful when taking people on foraging walks to dispel misinformation. There’s an entire, large Facebook group dedicated to using poke for food and medicine. So to start a book with a child miraculously surviving eating pokeberries and killing a man with them and musing that she has no idea why she has always been able to eat them just threw me out of any feeling that this was a character I could believe in or respect regarding plant knowledge or even witchery.

To be honest, I also really disliked the writing style and after reading other reviews and finding out there is a lot of graphic domestic violence and s****** assault meant the book would be a hard no for me anyway. But as someone who spent all last week doing art with pokeberries (it’s the most beautiful ink in the world), having the book start with so much tired drama about a plant I love so much just made me rather scowly.

Note–– pokeberries can certainly be toxic and are nothing to trifle with. They are like fire or even nutmeg (which is quite poisonous in larger doses) and can certainly do you in if you don’t know what you’re doing. Please don’t take this as me saying otherwise. And please don’t think I only DNFed the book because of this. As I said, I also could not get into the book anyway and if there had been trigger warnings I wouldn’t have started it at all.

I read a review ARC of this book via NetGalley.

*Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Publishing for the Advanced Read Copy. All opinions are my own *
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Wow. Wow. Wow. This was the exact read I needed to start fall. This was filled with magic, poison, and the femme fatale powerhouses of bane witches.
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I love a bit of vigilante justice and this book was just that. When you think of the worst of the worst, all you want is revenge against them and their crude actions. Piers truly found herself out in the woods and transformed into the woman she needed to be.
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Escaping her own trauma and saving herself from more she joins her family in cleaning the earth of terrible men. Using the lands poison, a drop is put to those most depraved.
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This has twists I wasn’t expecting, a bit of heart break, and justice for those who deserve it.

good book about witches and poison. Loved that she found her way back to family and learned more about herself and that she found love . I loved seeing the different people she met along her journey.

This is very dark paranormal thriller with a feminist edge. This is quite a suspense building story that keeps you turning pages.
A ancient tribe of witches with a special defined skill are now in modern day killing men that harm women. The tribe dates back to ancient generations of Fae who taught this special skill. Now new generations have taken their place in the coven and are conducting murders under the radar of law enforcement.
The book does have violence and you can skip over those pages if necessary.
The characters are richly drawn, each unique to their task and the main character is well crafted and a savvy survivor. The women utilize a series of poisens to kill and take out their victims. The newer member of the coven has psychic skills and can sense when such men are near her. As she prepares to kill again she has a growing problem with her relationship with the detective.. Its a thriller that has a means to an end, some shocking violent pages.

Thank you to Net galley and to the publisher for the opportunity. My review opinions are my own.

Ava Morgyn gained recognition in my eyes with The Bane Witch. I thoroughly enjoyed her take on justice on dangerous men in our societies. I also had fun with the plot’s strategies of faking ones own death. I could tell as a writer myself, she had a lot of fun with this story with creating the family lineage and their past histories.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!

The Bane Witch by Ava Morgyn had a promising premise to the rich world of witches. There are themes of spooky and witch which serve as a great kick start to the fall reading season with pinch of feminine rage. The plot and plot lines were consistent and kept me engage for the most part. The chcracters were a bit realistic and sometimes the descriptions were too much and distracting. Overall, a spooky and easy read.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!

Definitely spooky and witchy for spooky season. A very dark at times tale with a strong heroine. I appreciated the interesting and different nature of this story and magic.

That being said, trigger warnings should be included. I was not anticipating some of the explicit on page SA and DV and would expect this to cause trauma in many folks not expecting it. Please add trigger warnings before your pub date!

When a book synopsis says Practical Magic meets Gone Girl, it is a hook line and sinker for me to grab. I was absolutely thrilled that this novel was everything and then some!

Deadly vigilante witches who use their powers like sirens to rid the world of evil men by ingesting toxic plants and mushrooms is the perfect thrilling book to add to your list.

5 out of 5 stars!

"A very little poison can do a world of good. It's all about how you apply it."

Piers has pica, an eating disorder, where she enjoys eating pokeweed berries. When she was a child an accidental death occurred to a man after she consumed them. Her aunt, Myrtle, and her mother didn't get along well, and her mother took Piers away. Myrtle told Piers to come to her if she ever needed in the future. Fast forward many years later and Piers fakes her death to run away from her abusive marriage. Things escalate quickly and Piers ends up back with Myrtle with many questions about herself, her mother, and their family. Why does she feel the urge to eat poisonous berries? Why did mysterious deaths follow her along life? Who is she?

I adored this book on a deep level. Please do check trigger warnings before venturing into the book though. Many hard topics are explored in this book such as eating disorder (pica), sexual assault, abuse, and pedophilia. As someone who was in an abusive relationship for years, I feel the author did a great job of capturing it in her book. I felt deeply for Piers and her wanting to escape. She was my favorite character in this book although, Myrtle, her aunt was a VERY close second. The relationships between characters felt very well fleshed out and they had real personality.

My only issue (mind you I am dyslexic so it's probably just a me issue) was the for a while I thought Reyes and Regis were the same person. I'm not sure why but my brain did not realize two different names were there for about half the book, oops. I think it was because they were both R names with es/is at the end. A small gripe which didn't affect my rating in the slightest, just a me issue.

I think this book is great for anyone who wants to enjoy a witchy thriller, perfect for spooky/fall season. But keep in mind the trigger warning for this book as they are VERY heavy and will definitely trigger some people. My 5 star reads are reserved for my favorite books and this one is right up there! Happy reading.

Thank you for providing this ARC, I very much enjoyed the strong voice that was cultivated early on and the interwoven history of our heroine to spark the mystery and intrigue around poison. I however, would have appreciated some trigger warnings, even on a page before or after the dedication, exposing how there is on-page depictions of SA (Sexual Assault) and domestic violence. While I can read off-page references to SA and some on-page domestic violence, as an SA survivor I did find the on-page SA content to be too triggering and needed to DNF the book. That being said I really loved your tone and voice as an author and hope to read more of your work in the future, albeit if perhaps such SA content is referenced off-page or not a part of the storyline at all. I do recognize how SA survivor, and justice is important and believe that this book would be a 5 star for me and hope that you continue to write such beautiful stories.

Bane: (archaic) something, typically poison, that causes death.

Prior to The Bane Witch, I’d ever only known the word “bane” to be followed by “of my existence.”
I am pleased to have a new definition.

With the Bane Witch Ava Morgyn has created a world where women are both; the bane of certain men’s existence, and something that causes death. She executes this parallel beautifully!


Having just finished the story, I feel a weight lifted off my chest that I didn’t know was there before.
My world feels lighter now, even though the characters and their actions are fiction.

*small spoilers ahead*

As someone who has been a Piers, it was somewhat healing to vicariously live her experience, even if only for a short time.

I am still searching for the right words to describe my thoughts more in depth; my best phrase is that it feels like a love letter to any woman who has experienced DV.

It’s hopeful for those who haven’t fully healed; it’s vindication for those who have or never will receive justice; it’s also an exploration in learning to love and find your self after someone else tried to destroy it.

In the same way Bane Witches kill to avenge their marks victims, this story is both validation and vindication for any woman who has experienced a Henry of some sort.

Thank you to Ava Morgyn and SMG for my copy of this eARC.

A second thank you to Ava Morgyn for writing it, for sharing it, and for allowing me to read it early, too.

This is a 🍄🍄🍄🍄🍄/ 5 toxic mushroom read for me

(PS: if I repeat myself or have spelling errors, let’s pretend you didn’t see them. It’s 1:30 in the morning on a school night and ya girl is tired 😂 but I had to finish and it was worth it!!)

I absolutely loved this book! I couldn't put it down and stayed up until literally 3 AM to finish it. The Bane Witch is a fast-paced, spooky, gripping dark fantasy and such a unique and fresh take on witches in a story. It combines magic with elements of a crime thriller, and the result is eerie, very suspenseful, and overall unputdownable. It is a perfect fit for fans of true crime (myself included) and fantasy lovers alike -- it has a bit of everything really, including an adorable romance and my personal favorite -- FEMALE RAGE.

Ava Morgyn's prose is simply exceptional. Her writing is lyrical, witchy, evocative, and lush. I felt so immersed in the woodsy Adirondacks setting, and it was perfect for the eerie tone of the story.

I was so fascinated by the fmc, Piers. She is such a well fleshed-out and layered character. She meticulously plots out her escape from her abusive husband, and though I'm no crime expert, it seemed to me that Ava Morgyn did her research! And not just on how to get away with faking one's death and murder, but also a great deal about poisonous plants and botany. Once Piers makes it to Crow Lake, where her great aunt lives (with the help of a certain handsome detective who I LOVED)... the pace of the story stays consistently captivating at every turn as Piers must both confront her own ancestral magic and race against time to catch the ever-present Saranac Strangler.

I can't recommend this book enough! It was a perfect fall read for me, and I'm so grateful to have been able to read this ARC courtesy of NetGalley!

Such a great story! Loved reading this just in time for halloween! Overall a cute and quick read for halloween

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this arc!

What a great book! Great read during spooky season! Spooky and witchy are the best mix! I liked the writing style and the characters are great! I enjoyed this one!