Title: Witch Season
Author: Julia Bianco
Genre: Fantasy
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
That is the price of magic – not just the blood, but the pain to bring it out.
Katherine Barnes is an enforcer, charged with upholding the rules of the notorious Los Angeles-based Aestas coven. It’s her job to maintain order and bring unsettled witches – people who aren’t aware they have magic until it explodes out of them in a catastrophic burst – into the coven’s fold. As a former unsettled witch, Katherine owes her life to Sylvia Page, coven leader and silver-haired rebel who founded Aestas years ago.
When Silas Khatri, heir to Noctis, the most powerful coven in the world, arrives to take Aestas to task for some of their more unconventional practices, Katherine’s dislike for him reaches blistering levels. She hates his money, his good looks, and his coven’s dangerous attitude towards unsettled witches. She can absolutely overlook that he sets her off in more ways than one.
But a powerful threat is about to rise. Stronger than any one coven. More insidious than the decades-long power struggle that exists in the hidden witch world. One that will pull Katherine and Silas together despite their differences. And one that will lead to an all-out war.
I…didn’t really like these characters—or this world—so it’s kind of surprising I kept reading. It was a quick read, so that helped. Everyone here was morally grey, so that was a problem for me. Katherine was not really a likable person, and I’m still undecided about Silas. That’s my takeaway, and I have no desire to reach more about these people.
Julia Bianco lives in L.A. Witch Season is her debut novel.
(Galley courtesy of St. Martin’s Press in exchange for an honest review.)
Tomorrow Is Another Day 