Fun and quirky! This was an enjoyable read. Thank you to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

There's a lot about this that is just the standard 'girl discovers hidden destiny + magic' routine, but then there is happily a great amount that makes this pretty distinctive against that well-trodden genre path. For one thing, this is definitely a comedic success, bringing a fair bit of quippiness to enliven the page – but never to poke disrespectful fun at anything it might have. Our heroine is a girl called Luna, found by a trio of witches when she was abandoned as a baby. On an early solo trip around the world (the book is really clunky in chopping from Australia to France and back) she seems to gain her familiar, and she might therefore have made a major step in becoming a witch herself. But this won't be the end of the story, when the familiar's previous owner comes knocking, determined to have it back…

Yes, it lacks some portion of originality, and it is arbitrarily set where it is set, and it has other flaws too – it never gives anything like a full description of a character's look or visage, so we're left to think for ourselves what distinguishes the three aunts, and what age gaps they have, etc. That said, however, the pages really do turn with a fine sense of urgency, and part of that is the brisk manner in which the story just gets on with telling itself, leaving us to fill in all the gaps if needed. This is a light piece, well-told, and more than engaging enough to please. Showing much promise as a debut, it is a solid four stars.

In this fun witchy story aimed at middlegrade children, adopted witch Luna fights to protect her new familiar against established witch Madame Valadon. Set in Paris and Melbourne, The Best Witch In Paris is a story of courage and self-belief. The writing is humourous and heartfelt in turn and heroine Luna is a likeable, plucky character.

A recommended read for fans of The Worst Witch and The Wizards of Once.

Thank you to Netgalley and Text Publishing for providing me with a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.