Member Review

I had high expectations for this book because I have read Marie Bruce before - I own a well-read copy of her ‘First Steps to Solitary Witchcraft’. Wicca for self-transformation sounded like an intriguing subject.

The book discusses topics like making changes, habits, dealing with self sabotage, life mapping - it is, in essence, an introduction to self transformation. Unfortunately it doesn’t go very deeply into the subject and much of the content I have already encountered, in greater depth, in other similar books. However, this book contains actionable, easy to follow prompts in each section to help you put what you have read into action.

Unfortunately, I found the ‘Wicca’ part to be more like an add-on rather than an integral part of the text. In fact, I feel you could remove it all together and not impact the flow of the book. Some chapters contain a ritual or two but the core text of the book does not weave Wiccan ideas and values throughout it. This was disappointing and made the book feel more like it was the author’s first foray into writing a self-published book, rather than an established author’s traditionally published book. Being an existing reader of Marie Bruce, I know she can do better than this.

On a personal note, I wasn’t keen on the book layout either. To be brutally honest, it felt very amateurish. I feel books should not have photographs unless they directly add to the text, such as in a step-by-step craft book. The photos and illustrations in this book (all from Shutterstock) were dotted here and there and were just random esoteric-style images. They contributed nothing to the text and could easily be removed. Doing so would improve the book and make it look more professional. I would have preferred illustrations that weaved around the text and actually added something to it, as well as complemented the text and it’s content. I also like to read books in a serif font. I don’t think sans serif looks professional enough for use in a book, but perhaps that’s just me.

I would recommend this book to someone who wants a gentle introduction to self transformation, but not to someone who wants to learn about doing so through the subject of Wicca. I was disappointed with this book and feel it could have been so much better. I hate giving bad reviews because I know how much work writers put into their books, but for this reader, the book could be improved with either more Wicca or dropping it completely, and a complete reformat of the ebook.

With thanks to Netgalley and Arcturus Publishing for this advance review copy. All opinions are my own.