Reviews, recommendations and reflections on witchy fiction, magical non-fiction, oracle and tarot decks, plus films and TV shows worth adding to your watchlist.
Authors: Lynne Boddy and Ali Ashby Publisher: Collins Reference, supported by National Trust Illustrator: Ella Sienna Release Date: 8th October 2026
There’s something rather magical about discovering fungi on an autumn walk. You can set off along a familiar woodland path and suddenly notice something hiding beneath the leaves or nestled against an old tree that you had never spotted before.
Anyone who knows me knows how much I love fungus hunting. Not to pick or eat them, because you really do need to be an expert for that and I don’t have a death wish. I just love finding them, seeing them and taking pictures of them – you should see the incredible specimens I have stored on my phone. For me, it makes an autumn hike all the more exciting.
The Fungi Spotter’s Guide by Lynne Boddy and Ali Ashby is the perfect companion for anyone who wants to start discovering the wonderful world of fungi for themselves.
Focusing on 40 easily identifiable species, this beautifully accessible guide is designed to encourage beginners to look a little closer at what is growing around them. I particularly love this approach because fungi can sometimes feel like an intimidating subject. There are so many species and so many subtle differences that it can be difficult to know where to begin. This book gives you a lovely starting point without making you feel as though you need a degree in mycology before you can venture into the woods.
And what a collection of fungi it is.
There are some of my absolute favourites in these pages, from the wonderfully familiar Common Puffball to the instantly recognisable Fly Agaric. The Amethyst Deceiver is a particular delight with its beautiful jewel like colouring, while the Green Elf Cup looks as though it has wandered straight out of an enchanted forest. Then there is the Shaggy Ink Cap, which is always such a fascinating find.
The illustrations by Ella Sienna are beautiful and make the guide especially inviting. Fungi are such wonderfully varied subjects, with their unusual shapes, textures and colours, and the illustrations really capture that sense of discovery.
I also love that this is a guide that encourages you to simply look. There is so much pleasure to be found in slowing down and noticing the small things around us. A fallen log suddenly becomes a miniature habitat. A patch of moss might be hiding something spectacular. Even a familiar woodland can feel completely different when you start searching for fungi.
For me, that is what makes this book so appealing. It doesn’t just tell you about fungi. It encourages you to get outside and discover them.
The Fungi Spotter’s Guide would make a wonderful companion for autumn walks, woodland adventures and anyone who has ever stopped mid hike because they spotted something strange and beautiful growing beneath the trees.
If you’re a budding fungus hunter, a nature lover or simply someone who enjoys photographing the curious little treasures found on woodland floors, this is a lovely place to begin.
Just remember, you don’t have to pick a mushroom to appreciate it. Sometimes finding it, photographing it and leaving it exactly where you discovered it is the most magical part.
Author: D.M. Million Publisher: Scarlett Press / Victory Editing Co-op Release Date: 26th October 2026
What would the world look like if witches were still being persecuted today?
It is such a brilliant premise and one that immediately drew me into The Coven of Redthorn Manor. Take the fear and hysteria of historical witch trials, bring them into the modern world and then add secret covens, ancient prophecies, grimoires, elemental sorcerers and a deliciously dangerous battle for survival. You have a recipe for one seriously bewitching read.
Davina has a dissertation to finish, a coven to protect and apparently a destiny that has absolutely no interest in waiting patiently until she has time for it.
As the reluctant high priestess of the Divine Moon Coven, Davina does not exactly feel like the powerful witch everyone expects her to be. She struggles to wield her magic with authority and would much rather bury herself in her academic research into seventeenth century witch hysteria and modern intolerance towards witches. Unfortunately for Davina, the line between her research and reality is about to become very blurred.
Enter Patrick Parris and his Puritan revivalist movement, complete with livestreamed witch burnings. Yes, you read that correctly. Livestreamed witch burnings.
There is something particularly chilling about this idea because it takes something rooted in history and gives it a horrifyingly modern twist. The persecution of witches is no longer something confined to dusty history books. In this world it has found an audience, a platform and people willing to turn hatred into spectacle.
And Davina is going to have to fight back.
I really enjoyed the way the historical elements are woven throughout the story. Her academic background is not simply there as an interesting character detail. Her research becomes an important part of uncovering the truth and finding a way to protect her coven. I loved that combination of academia and witchcraft. Give me a heroine surrounded by ancient grimoires while frantically connecting historical dots and I am very much going to be invested.
Then there is the prophecy.
Because apparently being a reluctant high priestess with a dissertation and a coven in danger was not enough.
Davina discovers that her ancestry holds the key to an ancient form of magic and that she has a role to play in stopping the Second Burning Times. Her lineage, her magic and her destiny are all tangled together and suddenly the stakes could not be higher.
I also loved the atmosphere of Redthorn Manor. It has that wonderfully gothic, secretive quality that makes you want to wander through its rooms despite knowing there are probably approximately seventeen things lurking in the shadows that you absolutely should not disturb. It feels like a proper witchy sanctuary, filled with history, magic and secrets.
But as the danger grows, even Redthorn Manor can no longer keep the coven safe.
This is where the story expands with the arrival of The Equinox, a secret coven of elemental sorcerers and their high priest, Cato.
And oh, Cato.
Sexy and infuriating is a combination that rarely fails to cause trouble and Cato certainly seems to know how to get under Davina’s skin. Their dynamic adds a lovely spark to the darker elements of the story and I was very happy to have a little romantic tension brewing alongside all the impending magical catastrophe.
What I particularly enjoyed about The Coven of Redthorn Manor is that beneath all the spells, prophecies and supernatural battles there is a story about fear, intolerance and the consequences of allowing persecution to take root. The book takes something that happened centuries ago and asks what it might look like if those attitudes were still alive and thriving in the modern world.
And honestly, that makes the story all the more compelling.
There is something wonderfully rebellious about a story where witches are not simply hiding in the shadows but are being forced to stand up and fight for their right to exist. Davina’s journey from reluctant high priestess to someone who must embrace the magic within her gives the story a satisfying sense of discovery and growth.
If you are looking for a witchy read with gothic atmosphere, ancient magic, secret covens, dangerous enemies, prophecy, romance and plenty of reasons to keep turning the pages, The Coven of Redthorn Manor deserves a place on your shelf of wonders.
Just remember to keep your grimoires close.
You never know when the Second Burning Times might begin.
Midnight margaritas are back. The Owens sisters are back. And, thankfully, so is the magic.
Being a teenager in the ’90s, I remember watching Practical Magic for the first time and loving it immediately. I wanted to live in that house. I wanted to grow herbs in the greenhouse. I wanted to grow up and make midnight margaritas a thing. I wanted to own my own botanicals store.
So, after more than 25 years of loving this movie and watching it hundreds of times, I remember hearing in 2024 that they were finally going to make a sequel. I was ridiculously excited, only to discover that we were going to have to wait until September 2026 to see it. At the time, that seemed like such a long wait.
One thing I’ve learned as I’ve got older, though, is that time seems to move faster and faster. And here we are, in 2026, seemingly in the blink of an eye, and Practical Magic 2 is finally in cinemas.
Of course, when there’s more than 25 years between a movie and its sequel, an enormous amount changes.
I didn’t have a mobile phone in 1998. There was no such thing as texting. Social media didn’t exist. No Instagram, TikTok, Facebook or Twitter. MySpace didn’t even exist yet. When physical copies of the first film were released to buy, I bought it on VHS. To connect to the internet, we had dial up modems rather than super fast fibre connections. There was no Google. If we needed to know something, we looked it up in a book. There was no GPS. If we needed to get somewhere, we used a map. And there was no such thing as online shopping. We actually had to go to the mall!
So, making a sequel to a movie after more than two decades and somehow keeping the same magic, tone and recipe that made the original so special was always going to be a tough job.
And plenty of sequels have failed to capture that original feeling. Hocus Pocus 2, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles all left me feeling somewhat underwhelmed.
So I walked into the cinema excited, but also slightly nervous that I might end up disappointed.
Thankfully, there was absolutely no need to worry.
I loved it.
Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman play sisters so brilliantly, and both look absolutely amazing in the film. The aunts, played by the iconic Stockard Channing and Dianne Wiest, were everything I needed them to be, and the new cast members did a great job too.
There’s considerably more VFX than there was in the original, but given how much filmmaking technology has changed since 1998, that was inevitable. I’ve seen complaints from some people about this, but personally, I was completely fine with it. For me, it added to the magic rather than taking anything away.
The story was great too. It’s only loosely based on the book, which I imagine may disappoint some fans of the book series, particularly because the story has clearly been adapted to work with the ages of the original cast. But for me, it worked.
I laughed. I cried. And I am not normally a film crier.
But after 25+ years of watching these characters, they genuinely feel like old friends, almost like family. You’ve spent so long with them that you’re invested in what happens to them, and that emotional connection is something that can’t really be recreated with a completely new cast of characters.
Was it perfect? No.
There were moments that were a little cheesy, and there were definitely points where I found myself looking at one of the characters thinking, Surely you realise you’re walking straight into a trap?
But overall, it was everything I wanted it to be.
The house was back. And this time, they actually built it rather than creating it entirely on a studio set, which meant we got to see so much more of it. The garden was there. The whimsical ’90s fashion was there. The tone, the music, the magic, the sisterhood, which is, after all, what witchcraft is really about, and of course, the cocktails.
And then there was some not so subtle product placement that has left me desperately wanting a SharkNinja Slushie Maker.
Unfortunately, when I looked up the limited edition Practical Magic one and saw the $399 price tag, I decided I’ll probably be sticking with my blender when making frozen cocktails.
Because apparently even magic has a budget.
I really hope we’re not waiting another 20 years for the next instalment.
The other two books in the series are set before the original movie, so if they were adapted, we may not get to see Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman return, unless, of course, they play their ancestors. But would a Practical Magic movie really work without Sally and Gillian Owens?
Personally, I don’t think so.
So rather than going backwards, I’m hoping they write something completely new that allows us to see Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman return as the Owens sisters.
Because after waiting 25+ years for them to come back, I’m definitely not ready to say goodbye to them again.
Of course, after the movie we popped in to a bar for a few margaritas – it was 3.30 in the afternoon though so they were midafternoon margaritas! I was back home in my new Primark Practical Magic pyjamas and tucked up in be long before midnight…
What happens when the plants we surround ourselves with become something far more sinister?
Authors Lauren Jane Barnett and Tony Mardon, the creative minds behind Natural Thorn Killers, have explored the darker side of the botanical world, uncovering the strange, unsettling and downright terrifying ways that plants have found their way into horror. From deadly flora to botanical folklore, their work invites us to look at the natural world in a very different way.
And if you’ve ever wondered what secrets might be hiding among the plants of one of London’s most famous botanical gardens, there’s no better place to explore them than Kew Gardens.
This month, Lauren and Tony are bringing their fascination with plant horror to life with a very special Plant Horror Tour at Kew Gardens, offering guests the chance to discover the sinister stories, myths and murderous plants lurking beneath the beauty of the gardens.
I caught up with Lauren and Tony to talk about Natural Thorn Killers, their love of plant horror, the fascinating relationship between nature and the macabre and what inspired them to delve into the darker side of the botanical world.
The Kew Gardens Plant Horror Tour is coming up this month and places are limited, with tickets already selling fast. If you’re a lover of horror, folklore, plants or simply fancy seeing Kew from a darker perspective, now is the time to book your place!
Dates and Times
Friday 9 and 24 October 2026 4pm to 5.30pm | 6.30pm to 8pm
Thursday 29 and Friday 30 October 2026 2.30pm to 4pm | 5pm to 6.30pm
Prices
Members: £40
Non-members: £46
Tickets include booking fees and general admission to the Gardens from 10am
1 Let’s start with the obvious question. How did the idea for Natural Thorn Killers come about? What was it that first made you think there was a whole book to be written about plants in horror? Was there one particular film that made you think, “Yes… there is an entire book hiding in this subject”?
LAUREN – I had the idea while I was writing my first book Death Lines: Walking London’s Horror History. I kept coming across horror movies with plants in them – Triffids and creeping vines in Dr Terror’s House of Horrors, and even Hawthorne bush in Satanic Rights of Dracula. My dad was an avid gardener so I grew up with plants everywhere and I think that helped too. Eventually I started having a look and when I realised there were so many movies, and so many iconic ones, I was shocked no one had written a book about it. There would be a mention or two in Nature horror books, but these fierce flora deserved a spotlight of their own.
TONY – Yes It was Lauren’s idea. She had it before we met but when she asked if I’d like to write it with her I immediately said yes. I’ve always loved plants in horror. There is something fascinating about the idea that nature can be so malignant. There is a lot of literature about animals in horror so this seemed like a natural progression. And plants are pretty unstoppable- the way they spread- The Jordy Verrill segment of Creepshow is a great example of that. Why Lauren asked me to co-write I don’t know – I didn’t even have a fungal infection!!!
2 Your book covers an enormous range of films, encompassesing everything from killer trees and alien flora to fungi and cornfields. How did you decide which films made the cut?
LAUREN – I think the biggest thing was deciding not to do TV or any movies that didn’t have a theatrical release (with the exception of films released during Covid). If we had tried to do either of those we would still be watching things, and we would have six volume son our hands. It did mean we had to wave goodbye to great episodes of Dr Who and The Last of Us, but it also meant we had a selection of works that were all thinking about plant horror with the same constraints: time limits, theatrical quality, and cinema viewership. When you aren’t getting multiple episodes and only have two hours, you need those plant monsters to really punch and make a quick impression.
TONY – We included films like In The Tall Grass that debuted on streaming networks too- in another time, they would have had cinematic releases so that seemed warranted.
3 What’s the most underrated plant-horror film?
LAUREN – Oh that’s tough! Can I pick two? Splinter was an unexpected hit for me. It’s a really unsettling fungal horror that combines a trapped-room situation with body horror and a growing infection. I’m not sure how we found it, but I hadn’t heard of it until well into our research, and I’m shocking it isn’t more popular. The other one I have to mention is Little Otik. It’s Jan Svankmajer, but it’s not one of his better known films, and it’s deeply unsettling. A young couple are struggling to have a baby and the woman becomes obsessed with a tree-root as her child, and it actually does come to life, but has a growing appetite that starts to include blood. The film is surreal and funny, blending in the childish fairy tale with some genuinely tense and unpleasant moments. It’s very unique and surprisingly poignant.
TONY – They are great choices. I really like the Korean film, Acacia. It’s a heartbreaking film about a family who adopt a young boy and his obsession with an Acacia tree, the tree being a Metaphor for the family’s disintegration. I’ve got a soft spot for Maneater of Hydra, The Mutations and Matango (1963) too! Matango is based on a wonderful short story by William Hope Hodgson about an unstoppable fungus called The Voice in the Night…and I am petrified of fungus.
4 What surprised you most during your research for the book? Tell us a fun fact…
LAUREN – I love finding out about unique plants and the Machineel Tree was the favourite discovery for me. It’s called “The Tree of Death” because it has a milky sap that is so caustic it will burn your skin. People and animals have even been burnt by rain that’s fallen off the branches and collected the sap. It’s wildly toxic, and the idea of this tree is similar to the fictional ‘China tree’ in the “Rappaccini’s Daughter” segment of Twice Told Tales. In that film Vincent Price has to wear gloves because even touching the tree will kill you. That film was also a delightful Gothic surprise, so between discovering the film and the tree related to it, it was fun.
That being said, I was probably most shocked to learn there was a soft-core porn version of Little Shop of Horrors
TONY – Ah yes! The soft porn! I remember it well. The sheer extent of plant-horror surprised me. There are the obvious examples like The Day of the Triffids, Evil Dead, Little Shop of Horrors and Attack of the Killer Tomatoes but that just scratches the surface. My fear of fungus was brought to the surface many times when writing the ‘Panic Shroom’ section; I really hate the thought of fungus growing on or in ‘us’. I was surprised by how much some of the visuals in films like Gaia and The Privilege upset me.
5 What’s your favourite plant related horror film?
LAUREN – Choosing favourite films is so hard because I love so many for such different reasons! If we are going for the one I’ve probably watched the most, it would have to be Little Shop of Horrors, the 1986 musical. I loved it as a kid, and was in a local production of it as well, so I know the songs. It’s a good story, and has hilarious characters, but who doesn’t love Audrey II? Of all the alien-invasion monsters out there, it is probably the most beloved.
TONY – .…that’s tough. I might have to say Creepshow. It’s been a favourite of mine ever since I first saw it as a child. The Jordy Verrill segment manages to tread the line brilliantly between comedy and the terror created by an unrelenting, otherworldly, all-consuming grass… Invasion of the Body Snatchers, the original and the 1978 remake, are two favourites also. Oh, controversially, the ‘Mel’ segment from Tales that Witness Madness is a favourite too.
6 You’re taking Natural Thorn Killers off the pages and into Kew Gardens. What can people expect from the tour that they won’t get from reading the book?
LAUREN – One of the amazing things about Kew Gardens is the vast number of plant species they have, so you get to see everything from Venus Flytraps and Suzuki Grasses to The Dutchman’s Pipe and some alpine creepers. There are also plants like the Titan Arum, or corpse flower, which smells of rotting flesh to attract flies. The plant hasn’t inspired horror movies yet, be we couldn’t resist adding it to the tour. And you get to actually be at Kew, it’s a beautiful location, and even appears briefly in Day of the Triffids, so visiting Kew is well worth it on any day, but joining the tour means you also get to see something very few people have: The Fungarium. I’ll let Tony talk about that.
TONY – Lauren knows how much I love the fungarium!! The Plant-Horror walk tickets include entry to Kew as well as our tour. Lauren and I will be taking people through Kew, stopping at some beautiful, some deadly and some bizarre plants and fungus that have inspired many of the films from our book. Experiencing these first hand really is fascinating and Lauren and I will, of course, be talking about each one and how they have each influenced horror cinema.
7 You’re going into Kew’s Fungarium to look at parasitic mushrooms. Why are fungi such brilliant horror material?
TONY – As I mentioned earlier, I have a real fear of fungus. There is something horrendous to me about the idea of being ‘grown on’. Even the thought of Athlete’s Foot is terrifying! So when that is amplified for genre films, the terror takes on a far more sinister and deadly reality. And fungus is so ugly! And unstoppable. And damp. And yuck. The Fungarium, which people on the tour will get to experience, is amazing. We will see examples of fungus that have inspired films, in particular…. The Ophiocordyceps unilateralis, commonly known as zombie-ant fungus that literally attaches itself to and grows from the brains of ants and other small creatures. Truly terrifying! I’m hoping this exposure therapy may help. It hasn’t as of yet.
8 Is there a particular fungus in Kew’s collection that has a particularly fascinating story?
LAUREN – The most flashy is zombie-ant fungus, but I love the mycellial network as a concept. Fungi all interact with one another across a huge ‘map’ – little tendrils of fungus that look like hair and are called mycellia. They stretch over almost the entire earth, just below our feet, and mean that fungi can move resources across miles and miles to keep themselves, and their ecosystem healthy. It’s almost like a giant Earthen nervous system. We still don’t completely understand it, and I find that fascinating.
TONY – I’m all about the flashy.
9 What is the most frightening real plant or fungus people will encounter? What is the most poisonous plant currently growing at Kew?
LAUREN – I suppose it depends on what scares you. I always find cacti frightening. I spent a lot of time in Arizona, and you learn to be wary of these spiky guys. My brother even sat on one once. Or fell on it, more accurately. It’s not fun. Kew has a great collection of cacti in the Princess of Wales Conservatory, but I find the “Creeping Devil” the most sinister on our tour. It grows along the ground, turning the desert area into a stretch of barbed wire. The fact that it basically crawls along the desert is pretty unnerving.
The most poisonous plant at Kew has to be the deadly Machineel tree I talked about earlier. It’s so deadly it’s kept in safe research areas, but we will show off the Dutchman’s pipe, a vine that in 1993 led to at least 100 people getting kidney disease from eating it.
TONY – There is nothing scarier than fungus. Not sure if I mentioned that! I have a soft spot for the fabulous Titan arum too that Lauren mentioned earlier. It’s not dangerous but it is imposing. Interestingly, the Venus Fly Traps are really cute. As long as they don’t evolve into the ones seen in Creepshow 2, they will continue to be cute to me, if not to flies.
10 There are some common plants and trees that everyone knows are poisonous but is there a common garden plant that people might be surprised to discover is actually poisonous?
LAUREN – I always love telling people that Rhubarb is poisonous. The stalks are delicious, as we all know, but the leaves can cause kidney damage if you eat them, so steer clear of anything leafy when it comes to Rhubarb.
Nutmeg is another one. I adore nutmeg, but if you eat a lot of it (and I mean a lot – 5 grams or more) the toxicity builds up and you are in real danger. It can even lead to organ failure. So every time you have some nutmeg in your cooking, you have a touch of the toxic.
TONY – And let’s not forget the foxglove! Also, don’t put Deathcap mushrooms in your bolognese.
11 What are some of the most extraordinary ways plants defend themselves from predators? Are there plants that can effectively “fight back” when they’re attacked?
LAUREN – Back home in North Carolina, Poison Ivy and Poison Oak are very common, and those are plants that fight back even if you are being friendly. You so much as graze a leaf, or give it an admiring touch, and you are covered in red itchy welts, sometimes for days. To keep predators away, Poison Ivy and Oak are covered in a resin that induces an allergic reaction, and not a fun one. Some people are severely allergic and can find their throat closing. We learned to hike in long trousers even in the high heat.
TONY – When we were hiking on a mountain in California, Lauren and her Uncle pointed out some Poison Oak and told me to steer clear. Then they told me about the Rattle Snakes. And the bears.
12 Is there one plant you’re particularly excited to introduce people to on the tour?
LAUREN – The fungi will be incredibly exciting because the team at Kew’s Fungarium have put together some amazing samples for us, but outside of that unique opportunity, I’m excited about the Kitchen Garden. I can’t wait to talk about all the horror films that were inspired by vegetables we eat every day. It makes you look at corn differently…
TONY – For me it is a bit of everything. We have planned the tour to include a huge range of flora and fungus, each of which are in some way connected to or have inspired moments and films within the horror genre. I’m looking forward to talking about these connections whilst being in amongst the amazing gardens around Halloween…hoping we survive the killer tomatoes…
Natural Thorn Killers is available at Amazon £16.99
Title: Books and Bewitchment Author: Isla Jewell Publisher: Titan Books Publication Date: 3 February 2026 Genre: Cosy Fantasy / Romantasy / Witchy Fiction / Small Town Fantasy / Chick Lit
Because some bookshops have a little bit of extra magick.
Witchcraft and bookshops are two of my favoutite things so a stroyline surrounding both of these things meant I couldn’t leave this book on the shelf.
Rhea Wolfe is living a fairly ordinary life in Alabama with her pet parrot when her estranged grandmother dies, leaving her an inheritance in the magical mountain town of Arcadia Falls. Along with discovering she’s descended from witches, she inherits a run-down old video store from her Grandmother that she decides to turn into the bookshop she’s always dreamed of owning.
Of course, things are never quite that simple. The shop needs a lot of work, and luckily Hunter Blakely, the handsome local handyman, is there to help bring Rhea’s dream to life. The only problem? He’s the grandson of her grandmother’s sworn enemy, because apparently even witches can’t escape a bit of family drama. Not to mention the fact that Rhea’s pet parrot now holds the spirit of Grannie dearest.
I really enjoyed Rhea as a character. Her ability to find a book quote or pun for almost every situation added so much humour and felt very true to her personality. I loved watching her slowly find her place in Arcadia Falls, build new friendships and realise that family isn’t always just about who you’re born to, but the people who choose to stand beside you.
Being from the UK and never having visited the Deep South, I do now have one very important question… what exactly are boiled peanuts? They were mentioned so many times that I now feel like I need to try them just to understand what I’ve been missing!
My only slight issue was Rhea’s relationship with her sisters. I couldn’t really understand why she felt responsible for two grown women who who should have been taking accountabiliy for their own lives. In fact, I didn’t really see why they needed to be in the story at all, unless there’s going be a sequel or a whole Arcadia Falls series in which the sisters come in to it more and have theit own story arks and this was just a way of introducing their characters…
In essence, this was a cosy comfort read filled with charm, magic and the promise of new beginnings. I won’t lie, it left me wanting to visit Arcadia Falls… and secretly hoping a long lost relative might leave me a magical inheritance too.
Title: The First Witches Club Author: Maisey Yates Publisher: Montlake Publication Date: 1 March 2026 Genre: Cosy Fantasy / Women’s Fiction / Romance / Witchcraft / Chick Lit
Because every woman deserves to find her coven.
I’ll be honest, it’s very rare that you’ll find me watching a feel good comedy, I’m much more of a horror girl but every now and again, I’ll be in the mood for something light and I absolutely loved The First Wives Club when I watched it, maybe due to the fast it has such an iconic cast, so when I stumbled across this book, the title alone had me interested, and thankfully this clever play on words didn’t disappoint.
The story follows three former high school frenemies – Nora, Daisy and Soraya, who find their way back to each other in their 30’s after their marriages fall apart. Somehow they all end up working at the mysterious, Lady’s Mantle Apothecary that seems to have popped uo in town out of nowhere, and from there the magic really begins.
This is a story about women lifting each other up and finding the support system they didn’t know they needed. Their little coven becomes a place of healing, friendship and second chances and I loved watching those relationships grow.
There are plenty of spells, a few disastrous consequences, lots of working through personal baggage, and, of course, the comforting feeling that everything will work out for the best in the end.
I really enjoyed the tarot aspect, woven throughout the story. It especially resonated with me because I’m on my own tarot learning journey at the moment and I’ve started spotting tarot personalities in people I meet. If that sounds a bit odd, keep reading, it’ll make perfect sense by the final chapters!
Was it a little predictable? Yes. But then, what cosy comfort read isn’t? Sometimes that’s exactly what you want. I closed the book wishing I could pop into that apothecary for a cup of tea… and maybe leave with a spell or two.
A charming, magical read full of friendship, healing and just enough witchy fun to leave you smiling.
