September 2023 Standalone BOTM - The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna

[Alaina]

A warm and uplifting novel about an isolated witch whose opportunity to embrace a quirky new family--and a new love--changes the course of her life.

As one of the few witches in Britain, Mika Moon knows she has to hide her magic, keep her head down, and stay away from other witches so their powers don't mingle and draw attention. And as an orphan who lost her parents at a young age and was raised by strangers, she's used to being alone and she follows the rules...with one exception: an online account, where she posts videos pretending to be a witch. She thinks no one will take it seriously.

But someone does. An unexpected message arrives, begging her to travel to the remote and mysterious Nowhere House to teach three young witches how to control their magic. It breaks all of the rules, but Mika goes anyway, and is immediately tangled up in the lives and secrets of not only her three charges, but also an absent archaeologist, a retired actor, two long-suffering caretakers, and...Jamie. The handsome and prickly librarian of Nowhere House would do anything to protect the children, and as far as he's concerned, a stranger like Mika is a threat. An irritatingly appealing threat.

As Mika begins to find her place at Nowhere House, the thought of belonging somewhere begins to feel like a real possibility. But magic isn't the only danger in the world, and when a threat comes knocking at their door, Mika will need to decide whether to risk everything to protect a found family she didn't know she was looking for....

**This BOTM thread will be open until October 5th @ Midnight (in your time zone)**

[Andy]

Started it! :)

[Andy]

Chapter 4: (view spoiler)[Poor Mika, surely there could have been a better way for her to be raised a little less lonely? :( I !am glad she decided to help the children. Ian and Ken are very nice! :) (hide spoiler)]

[Andy]

Chapter 11: (view spoiler)[Mika is a little too smiley and shiny, and everyone is a little too open to supposedly have secrets and girls to protect, but the banter and found family is cute. Jamie's narrative voice is fun! :) (hide spoiler)]

[Andy]

Chapter 16: (view spoiler)[Poor Mika, Primrose doesn't sound terrible, just very misguided... The part where Jamie keeps pointing out that she doesn't expect people to care about her is quite obvious... (hide spoiler)]

[Andy]

Chapter 20: (view spoiler)[It was very good of Jamie to face his past! And poor boy!!! (hide spoiler)]

[Andy]

Chapter 24: (view spoiler)[Ok, I didn't expect that Lilian would be dead! I totally expected her to be Primrose sister... Apparently no? But also: their plan was bonkers, it was not long term at all! (hide spoiler)]

[Andy]

Finished: (view spoiler)[Ah! I was right about Primrose! :P
I liked the ending very much - I was worried things would not be wrapped up completely... The insight about Primrose's childhood was alsi interesting, but I still think she could have raised Mika herself. (hide spoiler)]

[Emily]

Chapter 5: (view spoiler)[ [I thought the explanation of magic really cute here, often magic in books is meant to be extremely intimidating and I have gotten annoyed with the 'holier than thou' attitude but the explanation to kids was really refreshing to make magic fun.] (hide spoiler)]

[Emily]

Chapter 11: (view spoiler)[ This is where the slow burn really happens for me, I was kind of dreading getting to the part where they would start flirting as I was worried it would seem very forced. The author did a good job of using Ian and Rosetta in the car to address the tension rather than continued internal, one-sided monologueRosetta also just cracks me up lol (hide spoiler)]

[Emily]

Chapter 13: (view spoiler)[ Ugh the dog fur spell? This gave so much more away of Mika's feelings and it was feet kickingly adorable...It was also a moment I wished spells were real because I could use that in the house (hide spoiler)]

[Emily]

Chapter 19: (view spoiler)[ YAS LET THE ROMANCE BURN (hide spoiler)]

[Emily]

Chapter 24: (view spoiler)[I think it's safe to say I was too caught up in the Mika and Jamie love affair that this actually surprised me, all the characters were written so flowery and outgoing that them having a dark secret like a dead woman in the lake genuinely surprised me (hide spoiler)]

[Emily]

Chapter 26: (view spoiler)[YAS JAMIE (hide spoiler)]

[Emily]

Finished: (view spoiler)[Once the twist of the dead body happened I had a feeling Primrose would be involved, the ending did actually have me laughing at the sheer absurdity of what the girls did to the solicitor. I read this book in a day and it was the perfect autumn cozy read I've been craving as the weather gets cooler. I also haven't read a romance in a while so I was happy to have those little flutters reading the two main characters fall in love! (hide spoiler)]

[Andy]

Emily wrote: "Finished: [spoilers removed]"

I understand the feeling! It's a good book to read in a day or two! I also read it much faster than my usual! ;)

[Kira]

This was a cute read.

Chapter 1-5: (view spoiler)[I feel bad for Mika, Primrose could have made her feel a bit less lonely. I am hoping that with the three kids she gets to live the life the has been deprived of until now. Ian and Ken seem nice, Jamie is surely going to warm up to Mika sooner or later and overall this is giving me really cutesy vibes so far. I am excited to see how Mika teaches the girls all about magic. (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 6-11: (view spoiler)[Ian's mom was a witch, that makes so much sense! I am absolutely loving him and Ken and also the way Mika is teaching magic to the kids. I hope Terracotta comes around to liking Mika soon. The explanation Mika gave for the difference between being nice and kind made so much sense. This book is so simple yet so elegant, I am finding it to be a beautiful read. (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 12-16: (view spoiler)[I wonder what secrets is Jamie hiding, I am very curious to learn if he himself is connected to witches somehow. Primrose isn't as terrible as I assumed she was but maybe she raised Mika as she was raised herself, terribly alone and isolated. I love that Terracotta has accepted Mika, it albeit took an accident for it to happen. Also Rosetta's first outing in years was such a joyous occasion (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 17-24: (view spoiler)[Yikes it must be so hard on Mika to find out that she was being lied to after being so honest about her past with Jamie. It was a fucked up move on his past. Who even came up with this diabolical plan? I mean i get that they don't want to part away from the girls but did they really think they could keep Lillian's death a secret? I feel like Peony and Primrose are one and the same (hide spoiler)]

Finished: (view spoiler)[AH i was indeed right, I was glad that Primrose helped Mika and the kids with the solicitor despite everything and Mika stood her ground not letting Primrose separate the children. Primrose did have a difficult childhood herself. I liked the ending very much with Mika finally opening her potions shop and her romance with Jamie was a cute one. The magic in this one was quite something (hide spoiler)]

[Alaina]

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