Rosemary and the Witches of Pendle Hill

I love the voice of this book, Rosie is so sweet and funny and her voice sets a great tone for this book. Her thoughts on her little sister are such a great view of sibling relationships. Her love for and annoyance with Louis really reminded me of how I felt about my younger sibling at that age. I loved the characters and thought they were all around well written.

I really appreciated the book’s depiction of mental illness. In the story Rosie’s Dad is dealing with depression and one of her classmate’s mom is receiving inpatient treatment for mental illness. The book shows not only the changes in the characters but also how it affects the rest of the family. The character responds in a way that seems realistic for her age and strives to be compassionate. I was really touched by the scenes where she tries to comfort her classmate while her mom is away. While the book does handle the serious stuff really well it is ultimately a really fun and funny book that had me laughing out loud.

A really great story that veers from pathos to laugh out loud humour. The combination of a family under stress together with a history connected to the famous 'Witches of Pendle' means that Rosemary has a lot to contend with, but with the help of her younger sibling and her best friend (plus a little bit of magic) she is determined to save her family. A fantastic middle grade read.

Title: Rosemary and the Witches of Pendle Hill
Author: Samantha Giles
Rating: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐. 5
Pub Date: 06 Aug 2020

Thank you Netgalley, Agora Books, and Samantha Giles for my free digital review copy in exchange for my impartial review.

This was a cute and fun read. It was a nice break from my usual thrillers and YA/adult fantasy and contemporary books. I haven't read a middle grade book in forever, and this was an amazing one.

The book focuses on Rosemary, the daughter of a witch, and how she deals with some issues and changes in her home life. We get to meet her parents, her friend Adi, her sister Lois, and many paranormal entities - friends as well as foes. Rosemary also has a unique gift of seeing people's moods as colors. We also see Rosemary's dad dealing with depression, and her mom dealing with some level of unsatisfaction in her life.

This read well as a kid's book, but there were instances of words that were too big being used. Words like voluptuous and trepidation don't come naturally to kids, especially a kid who would later ask for the meaning of "linear". Apart from this, this book was really good!

Rosemary and the Witches of Pendle is fabulous.

I absolutely loved this book and would happily read any more if this is going to be in a series.

Samantha Giles has created some wonderful three-dimensional characters and Rosemary who is the main character in the book is adorable.

I loved seeing the world through her eyes and it's incredible how insightful she is in regards to friends and family. The relationship between Rosemary and Louis is incredibly realistic and her irritation at how she behaves reminds me of my own children when they were younger.

The portrayal of mental health illness is thoughtfully written and shows how children can be incredibly perceptive to things that adults often do not see. You see Rosemary and Louis’s father struggling with depression as well as the Mother of a school friend of Rosemary is receiving in-patient care for a form of mental illness. This was a first for me and I thought it was incredible to see two issues that children do have to face and have an impact upon their family. I do hope that other children’s authors acknowledge that sadly children do have to experience and live with others who struggle daily with what is deemed invisible illnesses.

The fantasy side of the story is enthraling and I was drawn into the adventures of Rosie, Louis and Rosie’s best friend Adi as they discover that there is a portal to a magical world in Rosie’s front room. I loved how Rosie’s adventure to help the descendants of the famous Witches of Pendle in Lancashire will impact on the problems that are affecting her family. (I don’t want to spoil the story for anyone)

The book is fantastic and I’m so glad I read it, I only wish my children were younger to read it to!

Rosemary and the Witches of Pendle Hill was such a fun little adventure. I really enjoyed this and thought that the story was really well rounded and perfectly sums up a 9 year old kid!

Rosemary is a typical 9 year old. She thinks everything is about her, she thinks she can fix any problem, and she doesn't like being treated like a "little kid." I felt that the author did an AMAZING job of Rosemary's character. The things she said, thought, and did just put me in the shoes of a child and I loved it.

As for the story line - well done. The magic and mystery the children get themselves involved in was great. I actually was wondering what was going to happen next and did feel worried alongside Rosemary and her family. I loved the aspect of the family members that only "believers" can see and the overall acceptance the kids had for these mysterious people!

I really liked how the author tied in mental illness into the story. It was very kid friendly and makes the concept of depression and other mental health concerns feel normal and okay. The way that Rosemary could SEE how people feel and could see physical rain clouds over peoples heads was great. It made her character show a lot of empathy for others which is a great skill for kids to learn!

Overall, I loved this story. It was fun and cute. I liked the magic and the adventure they went on. I love how it is kid centered and the adults play a side role in this. I enjoyed the characters, especially Rosemary and her sister. They were just so cute. This book was full of imagination and humor. I laughed a few times at the things Rosemary said! Very cute!!

This was a magical children's book and something I would have loved to have read as a child.

Rosemary knows her mum is a witch and has witches that pop by that only her mum and sister can see. One day Rosemary hears that Phyllis has disappeared and notices that mum and some of her witch friends go off to search for her, through the wall. Intrigued Rosemary asks her friend Adi to help her enter the wall and find Phyllis. With the addition of her little sister Lois, the threesome step into the magical world, through the mirror, to help bring Phyllis back and stop the the mayhem that is happening around them.

This book really captured my imagination and had a 'Narnia' feel to it when the children stepped through the mirror. The characters were interesting and brought a uniqueness to the novel. I could picture each character in turn and especially loved the names given to them. The different rooms that the children found themselves in added to the magical feel and gave the book an air of mystery as you never knew where they would end up next.

I particularly loved Rosemary's gift of being able to see a coloured aura around people which beautifully helped illustrate the depression her dad was going through. I thought this was very cleverly explained and would help with children's own understanding surrounding depression. Despite the serious issues that are explored there is also a lot of humour which will definitely appeal to the reader. At the heart of this story is the concept of love, friendship and trust. There were some poignant moments in the novel where these themes shined through provoking moments of reflection and thought which I thoroughly enjoyed.

Overall a great fantasy adventure story with some fantastic characters. I can see this being the start to a great sequel and would love to read more about Rosemary and her magical journeys. Many thanks to Agora books for providing me with an ARC in return for my honest review.

It's a great book that can be appreciated by adult and children.
It mixes history, fantasy and it's engrossing, poignant and heartwarming.
It made laugh and it made me root for the characters. The world building and the character development are excellent and plot flows keeping you hooked.
It's strongly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

This was really cute!!

I loved the family themes and the magical elements to the story played out so nicely. I don’t know it was just so light-hearted. I feel like this is a must read for autumn/Halloween time. I loved how nostalgic I felt too? Reading about Rosemary, Lois, and Adi’s adventures makes you feel whimsical but in a good way. I also really liked that there were mentions of some serious topics like depression and hardships that married parents go through.

Rosemary and Lois live in Liverpool with their mum (a usually out-of-work actor and also a witch) and dad (always-at-work, not magical in any way). They also live with four mysterious visitors, but they don't talk about that - not in front of dad anyway. However when one of these visitors goes missing and the dangerous No-Laws begin to cause havoc, Rosemary and her best friend Adi, together with Lois, are needed to save the day.

Samantha Giles weaves a magical tale deftly with the everyday worries of many nine year olds. Depression, grief and special needs are all sensitively portrayed whilst still managing to be laugh out loud funny.