Witchy fantasy with great social commentary
Shay, a teenage witch, competes for a scholarship that will allow her to attend the college of her dreams – one that she couldn’t afford otherwise. When asked to star in the school’s musical, Shay feels pressured to say yes because the director is on the scholarship committee. Once rehearsals begin, Shay starts to experience unwanted behaviors from him. Can she put a stop to it without jeopardizing her scholarship hopes?
HOW TO SUCCEED IN WITCHCRAFT was a great YA fantasy read filled with fantastic social commentary. Brophy created a high school world with realistic issues that teens experience and weaved in the magic of the characters being witches with the added witch-related problems they face. It was the perfect level of fantasy and romance. I liked the dynamics between the characters who were either love-to-love-them or love-to-hate-them. The setting of musical theater wasn’t over-the-top which was nice. I’m not a fan of theater themes where the drama of the theater just overwhelms everything else and is essentially a main character. A lot of heavy topics were addressed in this book and even though so much was going on, it worked well. Brophy writes in a way that invites the reader to have empathy for the characters even if they can’t personally identify with the same struggles. She’s hit the mark with this book for the YA audience, though it will still be appealing to some adult readers.
HOW TO SUCCEED IN WITCHCRAFT is recommended for fans of YA fantasy, rivals-to-lovers romance, sapphic romance, queer rep, or witchy books. I really enjoyed this debut and will keep an eye out for future works by Aislinn Brophy.
Thank you to G.P. Putnam’s Sons for the finished copy.
HOW TO SUCCEED IN WITCHCRAFT was a great YA fantasy read filled with fantastic social commentary. Brophy created a high school world with realistic issues that teens experience and weaved in the magic of the characters being witches with the added witch-related problems they face. It was the perfect level of fantasy and romance. I liked the dynamics between the characters who were either love-to-love-them or love-to-hate-them. The setting of musical theater wasn’t over-the-top which was nice. I’m not a fan of theater themes where the drama of the theater just overwhelms everything else and is essentially a main character. A lot of heavy topics were addressed in this book and even though so much was going on, it worked well. Brophy writes in a way that invites the reader to have empathy for the characters even if they can’t personally identify with the same struggles. She’s hit the mark with this book for the YA audience, though it will still be appealing to some adult readers.
HOW TO SUCCEED IN WITCHCRAFT is recommended for fans of YA fantasy, rivals-to-lovers romance, sapphic romance, queer rep, or witchy books. I really enjoyed this debut and will keep an eye out for future works by Aislinn Brophy.
Thank you to G.P. Putnam’s Sons for the finished copy.