Title: The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches
Author: Sangu Mandanna
Publisher: Berkley
Year: 2022
Genre(s): fantasy, romance
Part of a Series: No
Rating: 
Why I read it: Once Upon a Book Club “Sweet Halloween” pick
Summary: Witches like Mika Moon have a lot of rules to follow, rules that guarantee that her life is a lonely one. But when she is summoned to serve as a tutor for three young witches, she starts to question the rules. Will her experience validate everything she’s been taught? Or will she come to realize she doesn’t have to live her life alone after all?
Review: I loved this book and found it to be the perfect Halloween read!
Mika was a great heroine to follow in the book. Her journey to rejecting her life of loneliness and finding strength in her new relationships was wonderful. She was a warm and engaging character who was perfectly quirky enough to show she was a witch.
The rest of the characters were well crafted as well – even Primrose, who annoyed me. But she also annoyed Mika so I feel that is a credit to Mandanna’s writing skills. I also am impressed how she gave each of Mika’s students their own personality as sometimes it is easy to just lump the children all together. So brava to her for that.
I also enjoyed Jamie. He was the perfect opposite for Mika but you could also see how they were still the same. And while he was grumpy, it was easy to see it was more of a protective thing than anything else. It also helped him play off Mika as well. But it also made him a more rounded character – which could be said for all the characters introduced in this book, even Primrose.
I also enjoyed the twist at the end and thought it was well done, though maybe a few more hints could’ve been dropped earlier in the story.
The romance was well developed. It didn’t overpower the story but was enough of a main focus that I could consider this a romance. Mika and Jamie had good chemistry and their relationship developed at a good pace. I really rooted for them.
Mandanna’s magic and its rules were also interesting. Most of the magic was nature based and Mika herself excelled at potions. It was fun reading about her different potions and the ingredients she liked to collect as well. I also liked what happened when too much magic was used and someone need to restore their energy. Everything about it seemed quirky and fit perfectly with the world Mandanna had created.
Bottom line: A cut and fun read – no matter the time of the year.
Sex: Some mentions, nothing graphic
Moonlight Musing
If you have magical powers, what you would you want them to be?
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