BOOK REVIEW: What Makes A Witch

Mamma Bear Book Review

*A bear trundles in with a book under one, fuzzy arm*

What Makes a Witch is a short, fantasy novella about a down-on-their-luck rat who goes looking for magic and finds their real self along the way. It is a charming tale with the feel of a fable and a wonderful message.  The furry characters are delightfully portrayed, and the world comes to life with a sweet undertone despite the harsh situation that the characters face.

The opening is a little slow, mainly due to a tendency to wax into telling instead of showing (especially in the first two chapters), but it picks up quickly and is worth a little effort to get embedded in the story.  The plot was fairly linear, and the secrets all easily predictable, but the tone and the sweetness of the characters made up for it. I feel like it added to the fable-ish feel of the tale in a very nice way.

 My only real quibble is that the portions that were told or summed up could have been written out as scenes, to give us some depth in the relationships and make a slightly longer, more deeply embedded book.

What Makes a Witch will be a win for most furry fans and fantasy readers who like a fairy tale/fable feel to their worlds.

Mamma Bear gives it a big hug and four claws up! 

Character: 

Greer is delightful, super sweet, and very easy to root for. I found the villains to be a little bit too cut-out villain-y, but that might just have been because there was not enough time in so few pages to fully flesh them out.  

World Building:

The world was gritty and believable and the magic system rang very true and authentic. 

Pacing:  

The story is very short, and feels truncated in places. I think it would benefit immensely from being longer and from having the skimmed sections really played out on the page through a character's eyes instead of told to the reader. Otherwise it has a nice arc with a problem, conflict and resolution.  

 Shiny:

The diamond coating on What Makes A Witch is the message. It is heartfelt and beautifully realized.