How perfect! Certainly got me in the mood for (early) Halloween, definitely recommend.

Josh Roberts has done a fantastic job of capturing the angst of being a teenager, his characters are fully realised and the plot was well rounded. It reminded me of Sabrina the Teenage Witch meets Charmed.
The cover is absolutely stunning as well!

This was a perfect story for my granddaughter, that we read together and I don't admitting I loved it. She actually read ahead in places because she didn't want to stop and wait for me, so it certainly nailed being gripping for its age group. It has just the right amount of paranormal to add tension and remain exciting without being scary. On a personal note I love the tie to Salem witches.

The opening parts, especially with statues and the flying pulls you into things quickly and the pace is steady throughout. I was easily able to see the world and the children, which was described with a crisp clear style. The story really has strength in the characters. I love Abby and Robby. While the theme of friendship was laced throughout and builds between several of the characters I really felt it shine between Abby and Robby.

Highly recommended for readers of all ages.

The Witches of Willow Cove is your classic, middle-grade, comforting read. Perfect for children who like a bit of danger and adventure in their books without too much horror. The action focuses on Abby, a 13 year old girl, who after messing around at an abandoned mansion on Halloween, discovers she has abilities that she previously didn't have. It soon becomes apparent that she is not the only one, and so form the Witches of Willow Cove - a group of previously normal 13 year old girls discovering their magical powers.

The characterisation within the book I felt was very realistic, and I liked that the characters were realistic 13-year-olds. Even though Abby and her new friends are on this huge journey to explore their new gift, they have to manoeuvre through friendship issues galore and this adds to this enhances the realism of the characters.

The character of Miss Winters was equally marvellous throughout - at first a silhouetted, evil figure; then a friendly supply teacher and mentor and full circle back to a secretive villain. At any point in the story you are never sure whether she can be trusted and this adds to the feeling of fear throughout the book.

The Witches of Willow Cove is the perfect read for those difficult girls in your class, the ones who are too old for Jacqueline Wilson, too uninterested in Harry Potter but who want the magic and realism that both author's offer. Josh Roberts has created the perfect blend to amuse and engage those tricky readers.

I don't read books about witches or anything magical, with Harry Potter being the exception. I am almost strictly a contemporary girl. Don't get me wrong, if I find a fantastical book that interests me, I'll definitely read it, it just doesn't happen much.

That being said, I've been trying to branch out in terms of my reading. One goal I have for myself this year is to read more middle grade and adult books. I also want to read books outside of my preferred reading/comfort zone. This is where The Witches of Willow Cove comes in. I was browsing through Netgalley and I came across this arc, and my interest was piqued. 

For one, the cover is great. There are several cover concepts that you can view on Josh Roberts' page, which is linked above, and they all represent the story well. Some might find the cover to be a tad dull, but for a middle grade novel, I think it fits well. The colors are very Halloween-y, which fits with the beginning of the novel.

Secondly, the description lured me in with veiled promises of twists and turns, as well as themes of friendship. I was not disappointed. Now, there were some plot points that were predictable, but it is intended for a younger audience, not an audience that can spot some obvious reveals. There were, however, some plot points that I did not guess, and I definitely enjoyed them. 

The theme of friendship played a major role in this novel. The description mentions 6 teenagers that find out that they are witches and that they band together. It does not mention a couple other main characters outside of the coven, who play a major role in the story line. Each character was unique in their own way, which added to the story as each of their quirks came into play. There are 10 characters altogether, and usually a wide cast would cause for some to be flat and one dimensional. I was happy to find that wasn't the case. 

Overall, The Witches of Willow Cove is a great middle grade book. 

I would like to thank Netgalley, Josh Roberts and Owl Hollow Press for the review copy of this book in exchange my honest opinion. This book is was released May 26, 2020.

This was a really fun, magical middle grade book! It is a great suggestion for readers, both kids and adults, who love the Harry Potter series.

The Witches of Willow Cove is a great read for those in late elementary or primary school, or early middle or secondary school who are confident in reading independently. Fantasy lovers in particular will really enjoy this story of a novice witch and her best friend, facing all the usual trials of being 13 (first crush, conflict with parents), but with a magical identity crisis thrown in for good measure. I enjoyed the action sequences, those are particularly engaging and this really took me back to being a young teen with dreams of discovering I was special and unique, having been gifted with magical powers like Sabrina the Teenage Witch. This isn’t as dark as the Sabrina comics, so I wouldn’t be worried about letting readers adventure solo here. A great solid read, heartily recommend.
Thank you to Owl Hollow Press and Net Galley for the free advance e-book copy of this title.

The middle-grade story called 'the witches of Willow Cove' reflects on the past. The Salem Witch Trials are part of the concept. When six thirteen-year-olds find out that they are witches, everything changes. Their new history teacher is there to help them out until they begin to notice something...

I LOVED this book. It's a middle-grade story but it read like a YA Fantasy. Overall, I'm not a fan of 'fairy tale witches' due to the fact that real witches don't fly brooms nor do they use wands and all. But the respectful way of portraying witches made this book totally different. I also liked the fact that the author actually included some real history in it.
The characters were all round and had a unique personality. I also liked the fact that the main characters are not the only heroes. The book teaches about friendship, love, and working together. It's a very strong message throughout the whole book. All characters benefit from it. Even when certain characters are villains, they still manage to work together.
Fantasy books need a strong setting and 'the witches of willow cove' absolutely has such a strong setting! The dark atmosphere was great and suited the story well. The caves and tombs felt so real.
This author has a nice writing style. It's a quick read, a fun way of telling a story and there is sarcasm + humor included.

Overall, I really liked this story. Nothing bothered me and I also don't think there is anything that can be done better.

The Witches of Willow Cove was such a fun book that I had a hard time putting it down. Six teenage girls find out they have magical, witchy powers on their thirteenth birthdays and all sorts of fun, interesting things start to happen. It would have been exactly the type of book I would have read over and over again at ten years old, wishing I was was one of those girls, preferably Abby.

One of the things that I feel adults tend to forget is kids LIKE spooky stories, even really scary ones. I loved really scary stories as a kid and didn't really find them scary enough which is why I tended to read more adult novels even as a young kid, drifting towards authors like Stephen King at quite the young age. I don't believe in those criticisms as I think kids can think for themselves and just close the book if they are too scared to read further, and for those kids, like myself, who want scary stories, they can still find them. The one is a nice blend of spooky, creepy, and normal. There is a lot of mystery in it, tunnels for kids to creep through, old spooky houses that have been abandoned, and oh yes, don't forget the fog and strange lights. All balanced nicely between every day things like school and getting grounded. Throw in old secrets, centuries-old journals, and other things like this, you have the makings of a book that will just draw kids in, never mind adults like myself who couldn't put down the book.

The characters were quirky and worked well together. I liked all of them, even the ones who were more on the meaner side as there were reasons for their behaviour that were explained rather well in the book. I really liked that the story didn't necessarily revolve around the 'witches', but included another threesome who did some investigating on their own and helped the girls discover the truth to what was happening. It was nice to see the kids work together, even if they didn't realize it until the end, using different means to get there. So, while the story was about the witches, there was so much more to it and the non-magical kids got their chance to prove that they could discover important information and help despite the fact they were not witches. I think that is really important for kids to see.

The plot was fun, interesting, and literally took off from the first page of the book. I have a hard time putting it down and got invested in Abby and her friends quite quickly. However, this does not blind me to the fact that the story, while fascinating, was somewhat predictable and the conflicts were easy to spot a mile away. This did not take away from the enjoyment of the book though as I didn't really care.

The Witches of Willow Cove, so far, is my favourite juvenile fiction book this year by far. I loved the atmospheric setting, and truly appreciated the equal balance of magical and non-magical kids to have their moment in the sun, so to speak. The characters were intriguing, and the plot was fun and action-packed. I liked the parent involvement and was glad to see the kids get in trouble, even get grounded, for some of the things they did. And boy, was I happy to learn the author was currently working on a sequel to this book as he definitely left it wide open for some more amazing adventures to happen next. I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves magic.

I have recently started to enjoy middle grade books and the magical worlds they take place in. The Witches of Willow Cove follows a group of friends as they discover some of them are witches. This story does an excellent job of showing the growing pains of middle school and how many changes are going on. The story line was fast paced and kept you reading by involving a mystery that keeps you guessing. I loved the ending of this story and I can only hope there will be more stories involving Abby and her gang of friends.

Thank you Netgalley and Owl Hollow publishing for providing me with a eARC in exchange for a honest review.

4 stars!

Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Witches of Willow Cove is a refreshing, extremely well developed fantasy story about witches. I didn't know what to expect when going in and honestly that made me love it even more. This is such a captivating and fascinating story and kept me gripped to the page.

Abby and Robby are best friends. On the night of Abby's 13th birthday, coincidentally Halloween, her and Robby decide to head up to Whispering Hill to explore what is said to be an old haunted asylum. In the face of danger that night, Abby discovers that she is a witch and can fly. Abby isn't the only witch in town but under the teaching of Miss Winters, her and her new witch friends start to discover a world of magic and more about her powers.

The world building in this was incredible and the intricate backstory and webbing of details makes for a wonderful experience while reading the book. It's been a while since I properly enjoyed a middle grade fantasy novel, but this just restored my faith in the genre.

The Witches of Willow Cove is a wonderful, fun, heartfelt, adventurous story about friendship and magic. Absolutely wonderful.

The Witches of Willow Cove is a middle-grade book full of magic! Six girls find out they are witches on their thirteenth birthday. A new suspicious stranger moves into town to teach the girls how to use their newfound magic. This suspenseful page turner book will keep you on the edge of your seat all the way until the end. Even at the end, you are left wondering if there will be a sequel. This is the perfect book for kids who want to read something “scary” but not too scary.

Brilliant book my kids loved it too we love be Abby and her friends. Full of magic, weirdness and friendship a really good read.

A fun if derivative fantasy for middle-grade readers. The fast pace sped me through the early chapters, although I found the pile-up of names confusing at times, and the breathless pace became a little too frantic in places.

Rating: 4/5 stars

Witches of Willow Cove is a magical middle-grade adventure, about six teenage girls who discover their powers of witchcraft on their thirteenth birthday.

What I loved:
- This book was quite the pageturner: once you get into the story, you want to see where the adventure takes you. 12-year old me would have loved this book for that.
- The friendships in the story started off a little iffy for me: there was some girl-girl-rivalry between friends that I wasn’t sure I would enjoy, but the author addresses all of this wonderfully and develops the friendships in a way that made me appreciate the individual characters even more.
- It’s often hard to find the appropriate level of “creepiness” in a middle-grade novel, especially since children round that age are very different in their ways of interpreting this. I felt like Willow Cove was a perfect mix of being atmospheric and slightly spooky, without terrifying readers to the point of nightmares. A perfect early-fall read in my opinion, even for kids who don’t enjoy scary stories.
- One of the best and most unexpected things about this story was how both the magical- and non-magical kids were viewed equally, and offered their chance in the spotlight. Often we see the chosen-characters taking over the story and having to save the world for the rest of us. Here there was a clear place for each individual character to shine and take control for themselves, no matter their powers. I think it’s a wonderful and important message for children to see you don’t need magic to be a hero in your own story.

What I didn’t love:
- I can’t help but feel the plot wasn’t too original, and although I enjoyed the story, I did feel like I had read it before many times. I felt like a lot of inspiration was taken from the Harry Potter series, Roald Dahl and even Victoria Schwabs middle-grade writing.
- Much of the magic and history of the town is explained by one character to another, rather than shown. Especially when it comes to something so vivid and interesting as magic, I feel this is a big missed opportunity. It really dragged the pacing down and hampered my enjoyment a bit at times.
Overall, I would definitely recommend Witches of Willow Cove to children ages 10 and up, or even any adult interested in middle-grade witchy stories. I’d wish this book was available in Dutch already, because I would love to give this to my nieces to read some time.

#netgalley #arcreview #justreleased
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The witches of Willow Cove - Josh Roberts
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Abby is just an ‘normal’ teenager, at least that is what she thought she was...
I loved this book, it shows friendship, characters bonding, help from an surprisingly front.
It’s an fun read, that sucks you in from the start and I en-suite a lot 📖🙌🏻
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Blurb

Six teenage witches. One mysterious stranger. A secret that could destroy them all.

It's not easy being a teenage witch. Seventh grader Abby Shepherd is just getting the hang of it when weird stuff starts happening all around her hometown of Willow Cove. Green slime bubbling to life in science class. Giant snakes slithering around the middle school gym. Her best friend suddenly keeping secrets and telling lies.

Things only begin to make sense when a stranger named Miss Winters reveals that Abby isn't the only young witch in town--and that Willow Cove is home to a secret past that connects them all. Miss Winters, herself a witch, even offers to teach Abby and the others everything she knows about witchcraft.

But as Abby learns more about Miss Winters' past, she begins to suspect her new mentor is keeping secrets of her own. Can Abby trust her, or does Miss Winters have something wicked planned for the young witches of Willow Cove?
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Genre; children fiction, middle grade, ya, fantasy, paranormal
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Stars; ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
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#witchesofwillowcove #released #fun #witches #tbr #bookreview #excited #magic #bookstagram #book #reading #blastfromthepast #creative #photography

This book was fast=paced with lots of magic and mystery thrown in. It's a great story about friendship and coming-of-age, perfect for middle grade readers. I enjoyed the world-building/explanation given for how the magic in the story worked.

The different plotlines came together perfectly and the author kept me guessing until the very end. Most of the characters were compelling and it was hard to pick a "favorite". They were all unique, funny and interesting, with the mysterious Miss Winters very intriguing.

I think this book would be perfect for young readers who enjoy stories about witches, mysteries and friendships..

Boy, do I love a good witchy tale.

When I saw this book's name and cover, I knew I would love this story. While this YA book focuses on a group of 13 year old girls new to their powers and their non-magical friends, the sinister elements surrounding Miss Winters will leave you wondering if she is a good witch or a bad (i.e. misunderstood) witch.

This book was excellent from start to finish. I did learn that there is a difference between the word riffle and rifle. I had to look it up, because the author kept using riffle and it bothered me. I always thought it was rifle. Ends up, you use the word rifle when it is involved in a crime (think of the rifle as a gun to remember to use this term when a crime is involved). All other times, use riffle.

Beyond that little word lesson, I found myself wrapping my mind around how we always remember the big events, like in the Salem Witch Trials. We remember the event, but we never ask what happened before that and why it led up to the witch trials. We don't even ask what happened immediately after in the years that followed to the families or the town.

Back then, Salem wasn't just a town. It was an entire area, filled with farms and such. That's just the background information you will learn from this book.

I really can see this book turning into a film or a TV movie, because kids love witchy stories. After all, the number one film I reach for every Halloween is Hocus Pocus. This book is nice and clean just like Hocus Pocus.

The ending was surprising. I didn't even expect it to turn out that way, but I am glad that it did. It teaches a very valuable lesson to all.

All in all, I recommend this book for those who love witchy stories, YA lovers and middle grade readers. Such a good book. I was entertained from start to finish.

Maybe Disney could option this???

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Owl Hollow Press through NetGalley. Thanks for providing me the opportunity to review.

The Witches of Willow Cove is a very fast paced read filled with great world building, magic, daring, danger, and a ton of heart. It's the perfect spooky middle grade novel for kids who like reading about friendship and witchy mysteries. It reminded me of a mash up between Harry Potter and Hocus Pocus with a dash of City of Ghosts!

I live in MA and it was really fun to read a story about someplace close to me! I really enjoyed the history that was woven into this book.

All the characters are unique, funny and interesting. Amethyst turned out to be my favorite character. The slated villain, Miss Winters is also very intriguing and you don’t really know what she has up her sleeve.

This is a story you want to curl up with on a chilly October evening. I would highly recommend it!

Very fun adventure for kids (and young at heart, ha) Abby finds out she is a witch, so are others in her class with powers activating on their birthdays, and some adults in her life are too. Murder, mystery and adventure. Set near Salem, Massachusetts for an even more witchy vibe.

The kids make the book! Hiding secrets, new friendships, new places- so many exciting changes in a short time. Great fun read!

What a fun ride! WITCHES OF WILLOW COVE was a fast-paced, tightly written tale of adventure, friendship, mystery, and - of course - witches.

There was a lovely sense of familiarity nestled in this book, with wands and broomsticks set side-by-side with middle school life. Sometimes, combinations of such familiar elements can feel too tired or cliche, but Josh Roberts did an excellent job of exploiting all the best parts. Abby was a great protagonist, but perhaps the best part was her relationship with her coven. I adored seeing how the girls grew with each other, especially set against the backdrop of an exciting mystery - is their teacher really who she says she is? What does it really mean to be a witch in Willow Cove?

A classic, confident debut that I'm sure will be popular with all kinds of young readers. 4/5.