firstly, thank you to the publisher for an arc!

“witch hunt: where evil men want to convict good women”….

this was an absolutely gorgeous and informational graphic novel on biddy early (one of the most important witches in history) and different aspects of witchcraft (difference types of witches and their specializations, tools, familiars, and more)

witchcraft: a graphic history is a fantastic package of beautiful art, thoughtful retelling of history, and insight for those interested in a more spiritual way of life

Wonderful! The drawings are gorgeously whimsical, and draw the eyes to every detail. I found really enjoyable how the history of witchcraft was told through the apprenticeship of Lindsay, with side information about the context, historical facts, and the specific vocabulary of the craft.
Read it from cover to cover!

I don't know how to rate this. I got an arc for this, but it was a weird snippet of the book and not the full book. And, well, I don't want to mess up my NetGalley percentage so here I am writing a review for like, a chapter and a half.

This is probably the most beautiful graphic novel I have ever read. It is beautifully written and illustrated with a beautiful message. I have already put it in my shopping basket. It is a story about Biddy Early, a witch in Ireland. It features some historical facts and fun facts about witchcraft. Given the content, might be more suitable for teenagers.

This is such a beautiful history. Witchcraft has always fascinated me and when I saw this graphic novel on Netgalley I knew I needed to read it. Every page is beautifully illustrated and has a mixture of fictional story and facts about witches that existed in times past.

Biddy Early was a healer and she was ostracized in her community for being a witch. However, many in her community benefited from her tinctures and medicines that were effective in improving their health. Nature is quite healing and Biddy knew what herbs and plants to put together to give healing benefits for different ailments.

It’s sad though that instead of embracing someone who only ever acted with the best of intentions and genuinely helped others, they persecuted her.

While Biddy’s relationship with a young pupil is fictionalized, it still was a beautiful story and helped with the teaching aspect of what witchcraft was and the tools, people, and types were. In this day and age Biddy would be considered an herbologist. Someone who knows and studies the healing effects of herbs and plants and knows what each plant is useful for what ailment.

Often times the biggest part of persecution is not understanding or being willing to try to understand new ideas. These days there’s more opportunities to research and understand the things that are new to us. People like Biddy are no longer persecuted.

It is so important as human beings to be open to others who are different from us. We cannot expect others to believe the same as we do and act the same as we act. When we embrace the differences that make everyone unique we enjoy a brighter more beautiful world.

When we persecute and judge others are world becomes a darker and scarier place. My hope is that acceptance and peace between people will be more and more the norm, but I know that is long off if it ever comes to pass.

Stories like this remind us to be curious and to appreciate one another as we are. It was beautiful beginning to end.

An easy read and a good entry point to the history of witchcraft in Europe.
The particular story we follow is engaging but not layered.
The cover art and the colour scheme are lovely but the main art could have done with more details.
Overall, I recommend this.
I wish it were more layered, darker and deeper.

Witchcraft: A Graphic History tells the story of witches and how magic works through a graphic novel, with a special focus on Biddy Early, one of the most influential witches in history. The storytelling is clear and easy to follow, drawing you into Early’s life and showing why she’s known for her magical wisdom and her influence on Ireland’s popular beliefs.

The book also explains the basics of magic and how it’s connected to nature. If you’re curious about how magic works or the different types, this graphic novel gives a simple and well-researched introduction. For people who already know a lot about the topic, it might seem a bit basic, but that doesn’t take away from how charming and enjoyable it is.

It’s a short, quick read, which makes it great for younger readers interested in witches or anyone looking for a light introduction to the subject. The art style is simple but nice, and it fits the overall feel of the story really well.

Witchcraft: A Graphic History, is a cozy, informative and beautifully illustrated graphic novel about witchcraft, the early beginnings of known witches and the dehumanization of wise women and healers by the ignorance of men and religion all wrapped up in a cozy, pretty and light package. We follow Biddy Early, one of the most well known witches and healers of Ireland, as she and our narrator takes us through a different timelines of magic, rituals and persecution of witches. The illustration is beautiful and informative, it leaves you thinking that some of the rituals we conduct everyday without thinking twice might be perceived as witchcraft in a different time. I had fun reading this, it was light and cozy, perfect for middlegrade as an introduction to the history of witchcraft through the years with some history and little teaching here and there or to have as a table book for visitors. I want to thank NetGalley for the opportunity to read this e-book ARC.

Although this is was not an all encompassing history of witchcraft, it was a nice, light read that included some good basics. The author did a good job of weaving Biddy's story together with other facts about witchcraft, and the art was gorgeous; the color scheme gave the book a very cozy feel.

What a fun quick read!
This shows a very brief snapshot of Biddy Early, an Irish witch's life mentoring a young Lindsay Squire (the author).
I personally loved that Lindsay added herself into this - and I think there may have been some confusion reading other reviews that Biddy actually had this little apprentice, but it was a fun little added character that gave the author the ability to explain and describe some of the common tools and practices, as well as the injustices that were forces upon witches.
Do I wish this was longer? Yes. I would have loved to see the trail play out, but it did prompt me to do some research after the book to see what happened - I just wish it was included in the book itself cause the last thing I want to do after reading something is google it to get closure. Perhaps an epilogue similar to how the prologue was done would be enough.
Regardless, I adored the art style, and I would love to have a physical copy of this too because if it was this pretty on a screen - then it will be STUNNING on paper!
Whether you are a practicing witch, a beginner, or just curious about the history of witch trials, this book is a beautiful and whimsy glimpse into the past and present of the evolution of witchcraft and the stigma around it - overall ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5

Thank you to NetGalley and Lindsay Squire for this ARC in return for my honest thoughts

The art of the book is absolutely gorgeous! The color palette chosen gives a cozy warm vibe with all the greens and reds that's very appropiate for the themes of the comic.

With that said, the tile of the book is "Witchcraft: A Graphic History" yet it doesn't actually tell the history of witchcraft, nor does it tell the full story of Biddy's life or the trial she went though. The little stories about her and her apprentice are nice, but I personally couldn't properly enjoy them because every two narrative pages there were two or three glossary pages talking about famous witches, famous trials, elements to use for spells, etc.

I feel like it would have been benefitial to first show the comic and later have a little glossary with all the information details, just in case someone wants to read only one or the other.

There's also formatting mistakes on pages 28, 31, 39, 64 and 70

A good beginner read, great art and historical information. It’s very Eurocentric though. The story is very charming and has a happy ending. Wish we could have seen a version where the people support her in the trial.

the illustrations??? are you kidding me? so stunning! this is a great little graphic novel for those who want to learn more about Irish herbalist Biddy Early (though some parts are fabricated, which is disclosed at the beginning) as well as magic in general!

This was such a lovely look into witchcraft! It's very beginner friendly and the art is beautiful. There were some issue with the text placement, but that was the only thing I noted through my delightful read!

Good book, had a nice time reading it! Illustrations were amazing 🔮

Thank you NetGalley for the advance copy

Alongside gorgeous illustrations, Witchcraft: A Graphic History gives a thoughtful and light education on not just the story of Biddy Early, but also witchcraft and witch hunts throughout history, it has me craving to learn more about the histories touch on, but not deeply explored.

Review posted to The Storygraph on 11/10/2024

"Witchcraft: A Graphic History" was a very interesting read! The historical aspects and characters were woven well together to keep the reader engaged. The art was beautiful as well. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book!

adventurous informative lighthearted fast-paced
3.75 rounded up to 4


The illustrations are beautiful 4.5/5
However guide to witch craft content & the story of buddy early 3/5

I think there are visual glossary pages are great - they give an introduction to key terms. The book covers list of the concepts in a beautiful way form merfolk to tools.
However the main story about Biddy Early is lack lustre and could definitely do with more expansion.

I can’t attest to the accuracy from a Wiccan perspective but merely as a reader who enjoys witchy things .


Ideal reader:
Someone more interested in visuals over content
A visual learner looking for intro into witchcraft

This was a reasonably good look at Witchcraft through the lens of a single witch, Biddy Early.

It looked at various aspects of the craft and interwove these into a fictional historic reenactment of a period in Biddy's life.

For me it was a bit too twee and sweet and didn't really go into any great depth of the history of witchcraft, just this one period in one life with some banal info panels about the history of the various trials and laws that were around in Western Europe.

Reasonable read but just a bit meh really.

The graphic novel starts with one of my least favorite quotes I see on every Salem tourists overpriced t-shirt: "We are granddaughters of the women you did not burn." Now...this is a better departure of the "witches you did not burn" version but still, my shackles are immediately up.

The story is a fictionalized version of the author meeting the herbalist Biddy Early and the story used references from Biddy's history. This not only is wildly speculative about her work with witchcraft, but the fictionalized Biddy talks about forms of witchcraft that are contemporary to us. "Hedge Witch" was not coined until 1990. "Wiccan" is a neo-pagan tradition. No only does this feel clunky, it's leaving out indigenous practices of witchcraft like many books before it. Also the art whitewashes Tituba!!!

While the information in it is mostly sound and the illustrations very lovely, it's taking on too much with a very strange plot.

Squire would have done better to put her efforts into a modern graphic teaching of different kinds of witchcraft rather than try to weave a story with a woman who most likely did not consider herself a witch but rather a healer or herbalist.

I cannot in good faith recommend this to someone wanting to learn about witchcraft.