"She couldn't stop it. She burst into tears. Big, little-kid crying. Heavy sobs that shook her whole chest. She buried her face in her hands to hide. And before she knew what was happening, two arms were wrapped around her. Warm and entirely enveloping, a shoulder to press her face into that smelled like an autumn dream, woody and spicy, clean and smoky. A chin resting on the top of her head. She let herself be swallowed up, a little sorry creature swept up in a blanket from the cold rain. She let her guard down, just for a moment. It had been a long time since anyone had held her like this, like someone was around every part of her, a wall of safety between her and the world."
As soon as I had finished reading Uncharmed I knew that I wanted to read more books by the same author. Alas, at the moment she only has two books published, but I looked forward to curling up with Rewitched as soon as possible, hopeful that it would be just as good. Well, I have just finished reading it and I wasn't disappointed at all.
Rewitched is another cosy, witchy novel of magical realism, one that speaks of a much quieter magic than that of Uncharmed. In this novel, Belladonna Blackthorne, or Belle, is a witch who hardly uses her magic at all. She is so swept up in life that she hasn't really had the time or the inclination to study the Craft properly, and so she uses magic in a soft, gentle way - to wash the dishes for her, or to brew a cup of tea while she relaxes on the sofa as the steaming cup levitates towards her. That sort of thing. She certainly isn't a flashy witch.
Belle suffers from a deep seated feeling of being unworthy. She feels that she is behind in life, that she isn't up to the opportunities that come her way, that she will never be as a talented a witch as her mother is, so why bother? She remains detached from her coven and is quietly content with her non-magical life, sharing a flat with her best friend and her cat, and working in a cosy bookshop in London. In short, she is rather stuck and set in her ways, suspicious of change because she assumes that change makes everything worse. So she maintains the status quo of her life, working hard to make the bookshop an enchanting escape from the cold streets of London in mid-autumn and enjoying the safety of her small, cocooned life.
Then one day, a stranger turns up at the bookshop. A tall, dark, handsome and very magical stranger named Rune, with a letter from her coven. She must prove how well she has been using her magical abilities for the past fifteen years, or else they will be stripped away from her completely. Now, while Belle doesn't exactly use her magic for much, she enjoys the gentle magical charms that she does make and how they help her life to run smoothly, so she doesn't want to lose her powers altogether. With the help of Rune, and an ex-coven member named Artorius, she has a month to prove that she can become a proficient and well-rounded witch, capable of casting all kinds of magic for all kinds of scenarios and thus, she is thrust into a frenzy of magical study and practice as she tries desperately to prove that she is worthy of being a witch. However, someone is trying to sabotage her progress at every turn and Belle finds herself having to fight for her life and the lives of those she loves.
Rewitched is a lovely magical story that is full of autumnal charm. The scenes in the bookshop are some of my personal favourites, reminding me of when I worked at a bookshop and how cosy the store would be in the dark winter evenings, with the scent of coffee and pastries wafting around the shelves from the café counter we had in-store. Reading this book transported me back there again and made me wish that I could open up a magical bookstore of my own. That would be just lovely! Though I'm not sure what chance there is for independent book stores these days, as even the big book chains struggle to compete with the immediacy of Amazon. Still, its a nice dream to have.
The romance in this story is fun and feisty as sparks fly between Belle and Rune, the magic lessons are interesting, the villains are ones that I didn't see coming and the story reaches its climax on Halloween. What's not to like? All in all, I would say that Rewitched is another triumph of a book and that the author has successfully brought a new cosy vibe to the traditional witchy novel. And she has a brand new novel coming out in September too, which is exciting!
If you like cosy, autumnal mysteries and witchy magical realism, then you will probably enjoy reading Rewitched. I couldn't put it down and read it in a day and a half. Happy reading!
Serene Blessings,
Marie x
AD: This book is published by Pan Macmillan and is available now in all formats.
