This review is spoiler free.
“Marian was wrong. Witches did not all stay in the underworld. The laws she understood were false. One of them had appeared to me.”
Published: 2021, by Hodder & Stoughton.
Pages: 384
Format: eBook/ARC from Netgalley
Genre: Fantasy, LGBT, Romance, Paranormal, Witches, Young Adult, Queer, Magic
Contains: Violence, Anger, Blood/Gore, Death
‘The Witchling’s Girl’ follows Haley, a girl born with the gift of death-magic, and at the age of seven her mother abandons her to the witchling to be raised as her successor. But as Haley grows older and learns her craft, she finds it harder and harder to keep her vows and be the perfect and impassive healer.
This book intrigued me from the start, loving the premise, characters and cover, however, reality was a little less exciting and more disappointing.
Haley was an interesting character, with fascinating characterisation and development and a love story that I much appreciated the representation of. However, there was very little dialogue with her, as it was mostly told through description and narrative, which made it difficult to become invested in her world.
Marian was a more developed character, with her stern persona and the development of her personality and relationship with Haley made it more worthwhile. She began stoic, yet with time and growth, became more caring and loving towards the protagonist. It was a wonderfully blossomed relationship.
Leah’s character was a little underdeveloped too, making her relationship with Haley appear very forced and disappointing at times. There was very little growth between the characters, making it seem as if they were placed in this world with very little purpose or direction.
The novel itself was incredibly slow-burning, making the read appear more like a chore than for personal enjoyment. There definitely needed to be more action to increase the pace of the novel and keep up the gripping investment that the novel’s summary had. The writing style is well written, however, with a gripping narrative voice and characterisation. Yet, everything else kind of fell through.
Overall, I’m disappointed with this novel, having expected to absolutely love it, however, there just wasn’t enough pacing to keep my intrigue.
2/5
A Little Fool Reads 
Oh dear, now that’s a negative review right there. At least you gave some very good and fair reasons why it wasn’t for you. Well done for being honest about it. Let’s get the less-good ones out the way at the beginning of the year. 💜
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Thank you for appreciating my honesty, it was a difficult review to write purely for that reason. Good plan, now onto something better! 💪💖
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