Title: Bad Witch Burning
Author: Jessica Lewis
Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal
Publisher: Delacorte
Format: eArc
ISBN: 9780593177389
Publication Date: August 24th, 2021
Official Summary: Katrell can talk to the dead. And she wishes it made more money. She’s been able to support her unemployed mother—and Mom’s deadbeat-boyfriend-of-the-week—so far, but it isn’t enough. Money’s still tight, and to complicate things, Katrell has started to draw attention. Not from this world—from beyond. And it comes with a warning: STOP or there will be consequences.
Katrell is willing to call the ghosts on their bluff; she has no choice. What do ghosts know of having sleep for dinner? But when her next summoning accidentally raises someone from the dead, Katrell realizes that a live body is worth a lot more than a dead apparition. And, warning or not, she has no intention of letting this lucrative new business go.
Only magic isn’t free, and dark forces are coming to collect. Now Katrell faces a choice: resign herself to poverty, or confront the darkness before it’s too late.
CWs //animal murder, physical violence, gore, emotional abuse, abuse of a minor, manipulation, manslaughter with gore
Disclaimers
I received an ARC Delacorte via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This kindness does not affect my opinions of this book, which are wholly my own. This post uses affiliate links, and I may receive a small commission for purchases made through them at no cost to you.
My Review
Narrative style: third person | Perspective(s): Katrell
It’s been awhile since I’ve found myself so emotionally-involved with a story, but damn, Bad Witch Burning by Jessica Lewis hit all the raw places. I found myself torn between fury, fear, sorrow, and even moments of joy and relief. This made Bad Witch Burning all the more compelling and bittersweet. But before I gush about how this book utterly destroyed me, I want to highlight the main reasons I couldn’t put Bad Witch Burning down:
- Black girl magic + ghosts
- Katrell is savvy & earns her way
- Doggo sidekick + a badass BFF
- Not all the adults were horrible people
- Elements of horror were *chef’s kiss*
- Unexpected twists & revelations
- I wanted Katrell to get her revenge
Because of these reasons, Bad Witch Burning is hands down one of my favorite books of 2021. It’s emotional, powerful, and dark—readers should review content warnings before diving in—but there was also hope, relief, and empowerment.
Katrell isn’t merely a girl with the ability to summon the dead for a little chat; she’s also a teen struggling to graduate from high school, work full time, pay all the bills, and navigate the complicated feelings she harbors towards her mother.
Abusive would be too light a word for it, honestly. Her mother is a selfish, manipulative thief, and she enables her boyfriend to abuse Katrell. There is an escalating level of domestic violence throughout the story, which some readers might find uncomfortable, but in my opinion, is a crucial aspect of understanding Katrell’s journey. We witness the pendulum of emotions abused children often experience: love for the ones who hurt us, but also resentment, the desire to escape, insecurity, anger, longing, the endless wonders of what if this time is really different.
What if we can go back to before?
Perhaps the most heart-breaking (and relatable) aspect of Katrell’s life is her having to deal with the disappointments of childhood. Bad Witch Burning hit home for me in ways I can’t articulate at the moment. There were times I was close to tears or so full of fury for her situation that I was spitting fire. I found myself screaming at all the horrid people in her life, mourning her losses, caring for her future, and wanting her to find a way out. Her character is flawed, stubborn to the bone and bold in a somewhat frightening way, but I think it’s part of what drew me to her; it makes her character resourceful and independent, sometimes to a fault, but human in a way I feel all readers can relate to.
And it makes Katrell’s choices surrounding her ability, though morally wrong and obviously misguided, all the more compelling. We can understand why she’s so desperate to get money and get out.
In so many YA stories, we can see all the choices the protagonists makes—and the easy ones they’re oblivious to—that make us scream in frustration at the stupidity of it all. However, in Bad Witch Burning, readers are caught up in the perspective of Katrell, who can’t see beyond the here and now. Beyond her pain and the cage of her situation. There are no easy answers or straight paths out of hell.
But the book isn’t always doom and gloom. Perhaps one of my favorite aspects of Bad Witch Burning is Katrell has kind, patient, and caring people around her she can rely on. It’s pretty much an established trope in YA that all the adults are assholes. They’re either willfully ignorant or painfully oblivious. Or they just don’t give a damn. But that’s not the case in this story. Katrell might be surrounded by jerks who use and abuse her, but she also has people in her life who genuinely care for her and want to support her.
Her best friend Will and her gym teacher are two such characters, and we find more good, loving souls throughout the story. This is so important because it truly speaks to Katrell’s journey of learning to let go, to own her truth, to value herself, and lean on others when she needs to. As kids, we really need that sense of comfort, and it brought me to tears to see that happen for her.
In the end, I was delighted and honored to have read Bad Witch Burning. For the first time in a long while, there’s nothing in the story I would have changed or wished had been done differently. I recommend it to everyone with every fiber of my being. The story is intense, traumatic—oh so macabre, but there’s also threads of hope and visceral empathy in there.
And we need more of that in this life, I think.
Don’t miss out on this bold YA paranormal steeped in horror and all the feels. Pre-order Bad Witch Burning today!
