This started out really great, the magic system is fabulous. But the writing wasn’t my favorite, and it started to drag halfway through. It is a lot more dark and violent than expected.

Ava Morgyn’s “The Bane Witch” is a captivating dark fantasy that beautifully blends elements of magic, mystery, deadly plants, and luring/destroying evil men. The novel follows Piers, a young woman on a path to escaping her extremely abusive husband while grappling with her past and understanding her unique powers. These “powers” have drawn the attention of both dangerous enemies, potential allies, and found family.

The author's skillful storytelling and intricate plotting make this book a must-read for fans of the genre. The characters are well-developed, and the setting is vividly portrayed, drawing the reader into the dark and mysterious world of the story. I appreciated the eerie woodland cabin setting, the poisons, and the curated collection of deadly fungi and other botanicals. The pacing is perfect, with just the right amount of twists and turns to keep the suspense building throughout and creates a remarkable foreboding atmosphere for the reader.

The strength of “The Bane Witch” lies in its characters, particularly Piers, who is a flawed but compelling protagonist. Her journey of self-discovery and healing feels authentic and raw, as she struggles to reconcile her inner darkness and feeling of helplessness with her new found strength and desire to protect girls and women from predatory men. The supporting characters, particularly her Aunt Myrtle, Sherif Regis, the enigmatic bane witch clans, and their intricate dynamics add layers of intrigue, fascination, and emotional interest.

Morgyn's prose is lyrical and atmospheric, creating a haunting mood throughout the novel. Overall, “The Bane Witch” is a spellbinding read for fans of dark, character-driven fantasy.

TRIGGER WARNINGS: Attempted rape, emotional abuse, domestic violence, pedophilia references, sexual abuse, sexual harassment.

Thank you, #NetGalley, #AvaMorgyn, and #StMartinsGriffinNY, for the ARC in exchange for my honest review of #TheBaneWitch. I loved it!

Quite an interesting read! Piers suffered so much, to finally become herself, her way! I quite enjoyed the pace at which the whole story unfolds.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGallery for the advanced copy in return for an honest review!

Overall, the book was pretty good. I loved the idea of the plot, but to me, it wasn't executed as well as I had hoped. Some things were over-explained, while other crucial details weren't explained nearly enough. The pacing of the book was also strange; the parts I wanted to drag on switched way too fast, and the annoying parts dragged on way too long. The ending was also a bit abrupt, and I wish the story had gone on a bit longer to close out all the loose ends.

Thank you Ava Morgyn, Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for this free ARC in exchange for a review.

This fantasy thriller had good characterization and a story that held my attention. It's sad how rare that is in novels coming out these days.

If you’re looking for a witchy thriller with a hint of romance this fall season, this is the book for you!! Ava Morgan paints a beautiful setting and a terrifying atmosphere in this book. Major trigger warning for domestic violence, rape, and suicidal ideation. This thriller follows our cunning and calculating FMC Piers while she discovers her true calling. There is nothing more refreshing than a FMC who doesn’t need a man to save her. There is nothing she can’t do, including eating poison and jumping off a bridge to her death. Piers will have you rooting for her the entire book. You definitely won’t want to put this book down. Just remember, a very little poison can do a world of good!

Kindle Copy for Review from NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press.

I received a free, advance copy of this book and this is my unbiased and voluntary review.

A witch who has a penchant for poisonous plants and men will fake her own death to discover the truth behind a stranger’s death. She will find herself in a deadly situation as she seeks the truth before it ultimately be the end o her. It’s not your typical witch story as the character seems rather intriguing.

Wow what a story! I didn’t really know what to expect going into this one but I could not have enjoyed it more. The characters were fabulous and the eerie, dark magic was so different than anything I’d read before. I loved the imagery the author used with her descriptions of the fungi and the effects of the various poisons. The magic system could be a bit difficult to grasp at times, but not enough to distract from the plot or inhibit the understanding of the book.

I was sucked in right at the beginning and could not put it down until I finished. If you like dark magic books you’ll absolutely love this one!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC copy!

I read this book’s description and instantly started reading and didn’t come up for air until it was done.
Piers has always been drawn to poisonous plants and has never questioned the fact that they don’t seem to effect her too much. But after faking her death to escape her abusive husband she tracks down the only family she knows of, her great aunt Myrtle. Her aunt reveals to her that she is more then she ever knew, she is a bane witch, one in a long line spanning centuries. When they eat a poison they become poison and use that power to rid the world of evil men. And with a serial killer operating in the area she might have to put her new found powers to the test.
It’s a great dark thriller, with magical realism. This is one of those books that makes you want more books written about the side characters and the ones who came before.
Thank you so much to @stmartinspress and @netgalley and @avamorgyn for letting me review #thebanewitch
Look for it March 18, 2025
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Looooved! It's giving Gone Girl, but witchy, and it was excellent! I had all of the emotions throughout the entire read, and the ending was exactly what I hoped for. I highly recommend this read!

Witches who eat poisoned plants to kill evil men? Okay, sign me up! This book ended up being a little darker than I had expected and the writing style wasn't quite my cup of tea. Overall it was a good read for me.

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.