🍁 Audiobook Review 🍁

Title : Rewitched
Author : Lucy Jane Wood
Genre : Cosy Fantasy
Rate : 🌟🌟🌟🌟

Thanks to @netgalley for an early copy of this book. It was published in Sept 2024.

Belladonna Blackthorn hasn’t lost her magic spark, but she hasn’t seen it in a while either.

Balancing work in her beloved bookshop and trying to save it from her boss while also concealing her witchcraft, Bella is burnt out. And therefore perfecting her magic is the last thing on her mind.

As her 30th birthday approaches she is summoned by her coven, she is tasked with trials to test her worthiness as a witch or lose her powers forever.
She has the month of October to fix things but there are signs of dark forces working against her.

With the right people by her side and and unlikely mentor figure by her side, will Bella be able to beat the dark forces and save her magic.

This book was so charming and cosy. It’s definitely got fall feels to it but I enjoyed listening to this in January.

I loved Belladonna’s character. She is so real and feels like she could be any one of us. Her love of books was also a plus.

It was so heartwarming and makes you realise that you need to trust your instincts and have faith in yourself.

I would definitely recommend and I can’t wait to read more by this author and hopefully more from this series too.

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It definitely delivered on the promise of 90's witch vibes and the characters, although somewhat lacking in depth, were endearing. I also thoroughly enjoyed the overall message of self love, the fear of failure not always having to have everything 'worked out'.

3.5 rounded to 4.

A cosy, autumnal fantasy, Rewitched delivers witchy charm and self-discovery, though it wasn’t quite what I expected—and that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

✨ A witch navigating burnout & rediscovering her magic 📚 Found family, romance & personal growth 🎧 Brilliantly narrated by Evie Hargreaves

I went into this book expecting something different, but once I adjusted to its tone and pacing, I found plenty to enjoy. The audiobook narration by Evie Hargreaves is fantastic, bringing warmth and personality to Belle’s journey. While the story leans more into personal reflection than high-stakes magic, its themes of self-worth and resilience make for a comforting listen.

If you love gentle, character-driven fantasy, this is worth picking up.

I enjoyed this, but not as much as other cozy fantasy books I have recently read.
It was interesting enough to complete it and I did enjoy it.

A delightful and cosy read that offers a perfect blend of mystery, magic, and heartwarming moments. The story follows Belle, a charming yet unsure-of-herself character, as she navigates life in a small town while working at a local business with a toxic boss. The subtle magic woven throughout the narrative adds a sweet and simple touch, making the story feel both enchanting and relatable.

REWITCHED is a cosy, autumnal tale of believing in yourself and the magic of family and friends.

There is a lot of humour from the everyday hitting against the magical as Belle tries to juggle both sides of her life. The characters too bring plenty of amusement, with the absolute opposites ruling witches, Belle's scatter-brained but brilliant mother, and more.

It's such a nice cast of characters and I loved watching her relationships develop across the book. Her mentor, Arty, was my favourite as he was both sweet and wise, like a grandfather figure. Rune has some nice chemistry with Belle, and Ariadne is such a best friend - and the strain it all takes on their relationship.

It has surprisingly high stakes for a cosy fantasy. It's not the main focus of the story, coming in largely at the end with an epic showdown, but over the course of the books, the stakes do rise from simply Belle needing to save her magic to realising something more might be going on. It was a nice balance, letting it stay cosy but allowing for that big showdown.

The audiobook is read by Evie Hargreaves, who does a great job with the warmth of the book but also the vast range of accents and age ranges found within the cast. There's even a little discussion between narrator and author at the end, which was an interesting insight into the process of both writing and recording the book.

A cosy witchy romantasy, this book tells the story of Belladonna Blackthorn - a bookseller who conceals her mediocre witchcraft from the non-witches around her. When her 30th birthday arrives, she is faced with a trial that will test her worthiness as a witch, and she faces losing her magic forever. Cue magical mentors, and a handsome watchman who’s sworn to protect her.

I really enjoyed this audiobook. It had all of the cosy, magical, autumnal vibes I was looking for, and the bookshop backdrop was gorgeous. The eclectic cast of humorous and quirky side characters were also a particular highlight, and I appreciated the overarching themes of self-discovery and found family.

This being said, I didn't find the plot particularly engaging - I wasn't 100% invested in the central romance, and there were a few moments throughout where I felt my interest in the story lull. It felt as though it could have been cut down in places to keep up the pace and intrigue.

Overall, this was a fun listen - if more for the cosy vibes than anything else!

I adored this audiobook.
I'm obsessed with witchy books at the moment, and this scratched that itch!
Evie Hargreaves was superb as a narrator. She had a lovely warm and friendly voice and was very expressive through the book. But, it never felt like she over-acted.
I loved the author and narrators' interview at the end too! It was fabulous!
I'm already excited for the next book!

Loved this so much. I’ve seen this author on Instagram and I was so excited to listen to this audiobook. It’s such a lovely story and has a the cosy autumnal witchy vibes. If you ike Gilmore girls then you’ll love this.

*Delayed review due to personal circumstances*

I thought I'd give this genre a go, considering its not my usual.

Bella works in a bookshop in London, and tries to steer clear of all magical capabilities she has, unless of course it's small spells to tidy away books or make umpteen cups of tea.
After failing a trial to keep her magic, Bella has to fight to change the covens mind therefore using her magic to its full potential.

The narrator does a wonderful job of bringing the characters to life, and this book is perfect for those that are looking for cosy witchy vibes.

Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

This book was such a fun read! Lucy Jane Wood perfectly encapsulates the "coming of age but as a 30 year old woman" genre that I am coming to know and love from authors such as T Kingfisher. This novel follows our protagonist as she tries to reconcile her magic with her mundane life, and figures out how to dig herself out of stagnation. With a great romance subplot but magic and friendship at its heart, I adored this novel! Can't wait to read more from this author.

The narrator does an incredible job of embodying the main character, while differentiating between narrative voice and dialogue, which made this a thoroughly enjoyable read!

This did start off a lot slowly than I would have thought, however being the first book in a series, it does need to set up the story and introduce us to the characters. It was refreshing to read an adult fantasy where the main character is turning 30, as I find usually the main character is usually in their early to mid 20's. I really enjoyed that whilst there is a hint of romance in this, it doesn't feel like the main focus (I do however look forward to seeing the slow burn romance continue to develop in book two), and instead the focus is on the main character and her turning 30 and her magic and the magic around her and it was just a really fun read.

Rewitched by Lucy Jane Wood

Rewitched is a delightfully enchanting and heartwarming read. Lucy Jane Wood masterfully crafts a story that blends magic with meaning, creating a narrative that is both captivating and comforting. The writing is eloquent, the charm irresistible, and the balance between quaintness and depth truly remarkable. I found myself completely smitten with every aspect of this beautiful book.

NB: read this over the summer as an arc but I’m still thinking about it fondly. An absolute gorgeous read!

I was fully convinced from the get go that this one was going to be for me- Being from the UK i struggle with listening to British narrators- thats in no way a reflection of the narrator, just a preference of mine.

Once i got past that i became quite hooked! I think there's a particular character that stole my heart and all along i was hoping he wasnt going to be who the other characters said he was!

-I liked the bumbling-ness of the MMC however i do wish the romance could have been developed more
-The FMC was meant to be 30 however she bickered and whined like a teenager which was a little off putting and then when we have scenes with 15 year olds, they appeared to be much much younger too.

The whole audio-book aspect of this was done really well and i will definitely be reading the next book set in this world

I am absolutely obsessed! This book is the best cozy witchy book I’ve read this year!

The names are just so witchy! Belladonna, Artorius, Bonnie… how cute are they🥹. The fact that Belle works in a bookstore is just amazing. The way the bookstore was described was so relatable (I work in a bookstore)! Also… Belle has a tortie cat!!! Which is what I have!!!

The banter between Rune and Belle is just fantastic. But this is in fact a slow burn. But I love that Rune tries to act tough but he’s such a softie.

I love how we follow Belle’s witchy journey and I love the mystery with the twists and turns. It really kept the book interesting and fun to read.

I want to say that I loved that Evie Hargreaves narrated the book. She was so perfect! And I truly hope she narrates the rest of the books.

Thank you NetGalley and Pan MacMillan for granting me access to the ALC in exchange for an honest review.

This is a such a great light hearted witchy book. It's perfect for this time of year.

I love that someone can have such an amazing imagination to write the way this author does about Witchy business.

I love Belladonna, she was such a good character, she was funny and a bit crazy and so relatable.

With talks of covens and grimoires this book really does take you into the story. I listened to the audio version of this book and the narrator was really good too.

There are some really exciting parts in this book. The Narrator brings the exciting bits to life so much I was on the edge of my seat. I loved her accent too.

Absolutely brilliant book, I was listening at every opportunity and I've been so busy lately that this was a really nice switch off on times when I wasn't busy.

This is the autumnal read I’ve been looking for! 🍂 It’s truly magical. ✨ Ever-Loving 🧡

I listened to the audiobook as I read along and was completely captivated. ~ I loved the narrator, she was a perfect choice. Her portrayal of the different characters, their personalities and accents were brilliant. She truly brought them to life, especially Bonnie, Bella’s mum, it captured her kind, sweet ditziness brilliantly.

Her narration also made it so I could easily visualise all the amazing magic that was created, the book store, how the characters looked and the phenomenal scenes that took place at Hecate house.

I absolutely adore audiobooks and will be adding Evie Hargreaves to my list of fave narrators.

The story itself is wonderful and here are some of the aspects I loved. 🧡

*Love the reading of her letter

*The spells and riddles are cute & clever (clever magic system as a whole).

*I looooove Artorius Day. So adorable & lovely. The voice accentuates his personality.

*i didn’t expect to get teary 🥺

*And, of course I loved Rune, Ariadne & Bella. 🥰 ~ “Solo spinsterhood! lol Brilliant!

*I really enjoyed the interview with the author & the narrator at the end.

Thank you, Macmillian audio UK, for this gorgeous audiobook. It was everything I wanted & hoped for! 🍁🧡

3.5☆

This is a very cozy, witchy read. I was expecting a bit more but it was enjoyable.

It was lovely and atmospheric but it went a bit overboard at times, I skimmed paragraphs of description that really didn't need to be so long. This honestly could have been 100 pages shorter from cutting out over describing alone.

I really liked Belle, she was a bit of a mess (in a charming way) and I enjoyed seeing her come into herself and her powers. I didn't really vibe with the romance. There was no connection built between them and we didn't even really see much of the love interests at all but somehow they were together in the end, it just didn't make much sense even though I could see the potential. I loved her other friendships and her relationship with her mother though.

The plot was predictable but I didn't mind that, it was a cozy and cute read. I think because it was very character driven I was happy to follow along on Belle's journey and didn't care if the end and the "bad guy" was predictable.

While I did have some qualms with this one, they're minor enough and overall I really enjoyed it. I would recommend Rewitched as a perfect autumn read that really has great characters, all the cozy feels and a lovely message about learning to have faith in yourself

I'm not a huge fantasy reader, so any book in that genre I read needs to anchor itself in our world. This one did that fantastically. The marriage of Belle's witchy life and her mundane, mortal life was great.

I loved watching Belle learn to properly use and not abuse her powers, and the whole scenario reminded me quite a bit of the episode of Sabrina where she is also in front of a magic judging panel to determine her powers. I loved that aspect of it. That said, it did feel a little odd that the focus was on her keeping her magic, and not Belle changing her attitude.

There are some fantastic 90s references in here. Many people have pointed out the references to Charmed and Sabrina, but it was the reference to Isadora that truly won me over.

There was a romance in here, and if I'm being totally honest I'm glad it was such a small part of the plot. The book should have been (and for the most part was) about Belle getting her life back on track.

Oh, and Artorius? I would die for you.

Ummmm... that was great?! Not that I thought it wouldn't be but I'm not the biggest fan of cosy fantasy. And this is a very cosy book but it also has a plot that doesn't involve mundane stuff? I couldn't care less about you saving your coffee shop honestly, but that's not the point. I had so much fun with this one, it's very much fantasy and coming-of-age first, romance third, and I feel like it wasn't really marketed as such, so it could be a little misleading. However, the plot was very entertaining, I loved seeing Belle's growth as a character, it was also nice to have a character who just turned 30, that made her journey a bit different from what you might usually get in the genre. the world building was very fun and the book had low stakes in the sense that it wasn't world ending drama but still held some consequences in the main character's life. I loved the characters, especially the mom and the old man, they were so sweet and very funny, this book has a very British humor to it which I love and is super sarcastic. This is the perfect fall read and I'm so happy I listened to it. 4.5 stars