Good pacing, good story.

Sorry for the extended delay in reviewing. I'm working on catching up on my backlist of netgalley reviews.

Corner Store Witch is a really quick, really fun urban fantasy read. Leone owns a nerdy comic book store and has a zany group of friends and one really uptight twin. This was a fast and enjoyable read. The writing style is compelling, fun to read and carries the story at just the right pace.

Leone is a nerd, gamer and comicbook lover. She owns a store named "Pulp Magic". Her life is ordinary until a wizard just plops into her store and is running from the Oni. It seems Leone has a latent magic power that gets triggered and she must travel with her friends and the mysterious man to try to get these mysterious tattoos off of her and return to her normal life.

It did drag a little towards the middle but picked up at the end.

I was given a free copy of this book for an honest opinion.

"The Chronicles of Narnia but with more swearing, more katanas, and less allegory."

I'll say! Except I would more so compare it to D&D meets Jumanji meets Narnia. Anyone who loves D&D and anything magick related will love this super quick read. The heroine is kickass, the language is fun, and the writing style is wicked, witty and completely entertaining. I blew through this novel and loved every minute of it.

A very entertaining read that I think most ages will enjoy, even though it is aimed at young adults.

The story was a bit touch and go for me. I’m an advid reader but as of late my attention span is that of a nat so I really have to 2ant to read it for me to stick it out. This one was shorter had great pacing and awesome characters. So glad I gave it a chance.

When a young man fell out of the ceiling of Leone's comic shop, Pulp Fiction, with a staff, she knew something was off. But when oni showed up the next day and she acquired magical tats from the staff while defeating the oni, she knew she was in trouble. But her troubles and her friends troubles were just beginning when she used the staff to transfer her group to another world. Now they are stuck and having to deal with a hostile world while hunting for help with the tats and getting home. Just the first in a series.

Thank you to NetGalley and Throw This Book at Me for offering this book for free in exchange for an honest review!

This book reads like a short story or a manga volume. It's a quick read. In a way it feels like a fresh voice on the scene of fantasy and sci-fi as it offers a diverse cast although it felt a bit forced and undeveloped at times. It does include lots of references for fantasy/sci-fi lovers. The main character is frank and real yet was brought down since she was a combination of forceful and whiny. Definitely be aware that this book is crude.

The pacing for the most part was great, more on the speedy side. I would have liked to see something dramatic with build-up before the end though. I was shocked when I reached the end and felt like nothing climactic had happened. I didn't connect with all parts of this book but it reminded me of a video game and I definitely enjoyed many of the references.

I'd say it's a gallant attempt at an original premise but I think it could be improved in many ways.

Rating: 2 stars

“The Corner Store Witch” eBook was published in 2016 and was written by H. D. Lynn (https://hdlynn.wordpress.com). This is her second publication and the first in her “Corner Store Witch” series.

I categorize this novel as ‘R’ because it contains scenes of Violence and Mature Language. The story is set in the contemporary US, but most of the story takes place in another realm of existence. The primary character is young Leone, an avid Fantasy fan and owner of Pulp Magic, a store of comics, games, and books.

A man from another world literally drops out of her ceiling and into her shop. He is soon followed by two oni (invaders to his world) who are after him. When Leone grabs the staff the first man was carrying in order to fend off the oni, she magically gets golden tattoos on her arms. In an effort to rid herself of the tattoos, she, her sister and three close friends journey into another world.


I liked the 2.5 hours I spent reading this 128 page Fantasy Novella. This is the standard quest story, but with irregular quest members. It is unusual too that nearly all of the questers are young women. It does have a bit of Young Adult appeal. The characters were interesting but I did not relate well to them. Making one or more of the followers stronger would have made a better story. Certainly the way the story concluded sets up sequels. The cover art was well chosen and helped draw me to picking the book. I give this novel a 3.5 (rounded up to a 4) out of 5.

Further book reviews I have written can be accessed at https://johnpurvis.wordpress.com/blog/.

My book reviews are also published on Goodreads (https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/31181778-john-purvis).