I wish I would have loved this book more.

There'S witches, an interracial marriage and even a feminist covent.

And still...

All the men were well...the definition of evil. Especially Gwens husband has no redeeming qualities at all which makes him a blunt and one-dimensional character.

Gwen is such a strong and powerful witch and still she takes ages to fight for herself.

I know where the story was trying to head to but in my opinion it failed to make the point.

The Pudding Lane Witch was not my favorite. Its premise and cover piqued my interest, and I enjoy the history of witches, so I immediately requested the ARC. It started well enough, and I was prepared to like this story, but unfortunately, it didn't take long to realize it wasn't for me. The author's choice to use a third-person point of view, modern terminology, and a rushed ending that felt more like an overview, successfully left me disconnected from the characters with no emotional investment.
Please heed the trigger warnings listed by the author.
#sapphic #slavery #homophobia #racism #witches #London #notaHEA

This was a good, quick magical read. Gwens struggles throughout the book were horrible and hard and really spoke to the historical aspect of this novella. Seeing her personality and power show through the book was interesting and for being a short book there is so much jam packed in!

Thank you NetGalley for letting me read and review

would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for letting me read this book

well i have to say i was really looking forward to reading this book... and i thank the author for the warning at the start of the book.. its well needed...

but i couldnt make up my mind how i felt about this one... i wasnt sure if a young person had written this.... then the style of writing and how things were back then sometimes didnt gel with the fashionable words used today... surely they didnt use phrasings like that back then... it was all very weird

i felt the book if it had had a few re- writes could have been better... though there were times i really enjoyed the book it left me feeling as if it could have been better...

but the storyline though harsh wasnt bad.... that husband man he really got what he deserved... and so did a few others...on the whole i enjoyed gwens characters and though she was put through the mill at times harshly it wasnt a bad read

The Pudding Lane Witch by A. W. Jackson

challenging dark emotional reflective sad,
tense.

Fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5 Stars

This was a book that I saw, while scrolling through Net Galley. It was TOTALLY a cover pick. The cover looked interesting, and I needed a Fantasy to read...so I requested a copy to review. Thank you for giveing the opportunity to read this story.

First, the setup seemed familiar, and I cannot put my finger on why. It doesn't bother me, I just wish that I could...so I could state it, and help people see it, too.

The setup is sad. I knew as it was being revealed, that this type of thing was going to happen. It was like reading a Ken Follett (Pillars of the Earth) or Diana Gabaldon (Outlander) sequence...where the two authors squeeze so much our of their protagonist.

The portions of the book that made me MAD, really made me mad. If I was a worlock, I would've burnt the digital book our of existence...in my fury to protect Gwenivier. 

Early on, and partially around the halfway mark, I kept noticing modern terminolgy in how the author referenced things or experiences. It didn't totally knock me out of the story, but it made me think...that this was being told to another, in a later time...when these word usages and things were the norm. So, I just waited...to see if I was correct.

When the climax the story occurs, I realized that the end of the book was SPEEDING to a conclusion, and I got really sad. I wanted more for Gwenivier...and was hoping that her life would've been full of stories and adventures...so it hit me hard.

I was reading this book as part of a series, so how it ended...caught me off guard. I promise I read the "Note from the Author", so I should've realized that it was a standalone novel, but it hooked me...and I just wanted more.

If you hear from others, that say the same thing, then I'd love to read another story within this world, even IF Gwenivier is mearly mentioned, but follows other characters of your imagination.

I now need to read Madame Voodoo. Thank you. 

This book touched me. The idea of finding someone that changes your world SO impactfully...was powerful to read. Thank you.

The synopsis was promising, and I loved the idea. However, this book was a miss for me.

We follow the 17th-century life of pyrotechnic witch Gweneviere Baxter during the time of the plague and the lead-up to the Great Fire of London in 1666.

Upon finishing witch school, she is married off to an abusive man, a baker who owns a shop on Pudding Lane in London. It is here that Gweneviere falls in love with a black slave named Kambili.

The slavery element was a huge problem for me for three main reasons:
1. Black people were living in London under their own rights, or as apprentices and servants alongside whites, etc.
2. This was a time when the people of London were terrified of travellers bringing the plague with them, and any newcomers were shunned. So, there wasn't an abundance of 'slaves' to treat as badly as implied in this novel.
3. The fact that Gweneviere had to white-splain slavery to Kambili... was awful.

Overall, the content was overly simplistic, and character development was told but never shown. There's a lot you're meant to accept just because the author tells you so, such as Gweneviere's friendship with Polly.

Additionally, there was a lot of content that made no difference to the plot that was left in... so some content felt irrelevant, and I lost interest.


*I received an advance reader copy for free, and I'm voluntarily leaving a review.*

I DNFed this book at 35%. (Spoilers and TW ahead)
The premise was strong but the modern language and dialogues really threw me off.
Add that to the graphic SA and I just couldn't.
No rating since I do not rate DNF.

Thank you for the opportunity to read this book and provide feedback.

***DNF at 51%***

Okay. I went into this book thinking the synopsis sounded interesting and promising, and didn't really mind the irregular prose style (as other readers have mentioned, the use of modern slang, etc). That can be a stylistic choice and not a failing, so I gave it a pass.

However. This book was... probably 10 years past what would be acceptable for a book about women and people of color. The main character was the epitome of "not like other girls" - she was so beautiful that people repeatedly commented on it (and yet was somehow still the last pick when it came to marriage and was saddled with someone ugly and abusive). She was a powerful witch and good with fire but couldn't cook. She was described as painfully awkward and yet she wins every verbal argument she's part of and makes friends easily throughout the course of the book. She's always getting the last word against her abusive husband, even if she pays for it later. And early in the book she's described as weak and cowardly but repeatedly jumps in to save people and talks back against people who could hurt her. She had a really bad case of Main Character Syndrome, and not in a good way.

And that's not even the worst part. That would be the way the narrative treated all the black characters.

The love interest for this book is a black slave. She's not the first slave introduced in the narrative. No, the first is a man named Jericho who is weak and feeble and whose narrative purpose is to die sadly in Gwen's arms after she fails to save him from his wretched fate. Then the love interest is introduced, a young black woman who is wide-eyed, innocent, and stupid. I DNF'd this book when the white main character had to explain to the poor, innocent black love interest why her being a slave was bad.

This book has the worst case of white savior complex I've ever had the misfortune of reading. I have nothing redeeming to say about it. The prose was weak, the characters were inconsistent, the plot was all over the place, and the whole thing felt like early-2000s feminism that tore down other women in order to uplift yourself.

I HIGHLY recommend the publisher hire a sensitivity reader to review this before proceeding with publication.

I loved the concept for The Pudding Lane Witch and how the storyline tied into the real event of 1666 which devastated large areas of London city. The most interesting aspects of the storyline involved Gweneviere's early life and time at the school, which I would have enjoyed reading more about. The final chapters, concerning her later years, felt rather rushed and I wonder if it would have been better to skip this section and leave the reader to wonder about Gweneviere's future and powers, rather than read of her disappointing ending.
The writing style and language did not seem to fit with the setting of the storyline. I have often noticed, some of the more lighthearted period fantasy dramas such as Merlin and Robin Hood, revert to more modern terminology than medieval that times so perhaps that is becoming commonplace but it jarred for me. And overall, lead to my low rating, such a pity as I had high hopes.

The premise of the book caught my attention, and the beginning mystery hooked me in. However, I struggled with the writing style and thought it would be okay until the writing got too modern for the historical setting. One line completely turned me off and made me DNF the book. I wish it wasn’t so because I was curious where the story was going.

The Pudding Lane Witch is a fun easy read. Some of the language felt out of time for the 17th century, and at parts the story felt rushed.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for honest review.

The Pudding Lane Witch is the type of book you don't want to put down. I rated this book 4 stars because I loved the experience of reading it.

This book just wasn’t for me and I ended up DNFing at 38%.

I didn’t like the characters and I really struggled with the style of writing. The language of the characters didn’t fit with the time period and the actions of the characters didn’t make sense. It all seemed rushed.

The concept of the book sounded really promising, unfortunately I just couldn’t get into the book.

The prologue gave me such nostalgic feelings as it read like a story someone would read to you as a child, I don’t know if that was intentional or not but I enjoyed it.

The book as a whole was beautiful, it’s a book that will evoke strong feelings I felt anger, sadness and happiness when reading.

‘That was the beauty of Gweneviere, even when she didn't notice that Kambili was struggling, just being herself managed to cheer Kambili up.’ Such a beautiful and truthful sentiment.

The only reason it’s missing a star is because I felt it was a little out of balance personally, there was a lot before and after the school but very little about the actual school I’d of liked to read more about it :)

This book has a great concept but was painful to get through. The conversation used a lot of modern words (DILF? sexy?) that were completely out of place. It could have been done very well with some editing.

Thank you NetGalley for gifting me a copy of this book.
This book is tackling the life of Gweneviere, a fire witch. We follow her mainly in the 17th century.


I did not enjoy this book. The pacing felt way too fast. I would have loved to read more about when she was at the school, how her friendship with Poppy grew.

I also didn’t like to see that characters disagreed and then changed their mind right after. It happened mainly at the beginning, but I found that it pulled me out of the book.

The rather abrupt changes of perspectives also did not help. We follow the story mainly through Gweneviere’s eyes but sometimes it was through another character’s eyes. It was not announced, so I usually had to read again to understand what was going on.