Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book.

I have been enjoying the Witches of Brooklyn series and this one did not disappoint! As usual, the graphics and story line are fun and the characters are enjoyable and laugh out loud hilarious often enough. A fun and enjoyable installment and I cannot wait to see what happens next to Effie and all the other characters!

Another delightful installment of the Witches of Brooklyn series! While it's helpful to read the books in order it's not necessary. Effie is back in school for the fall and navigating being away from her friends while learning more magic. I recommend this series to my middle schoolers often.

I love this series and Effie has grown into her magic so much over the four books. In this one she learns what type of magic she has and that she can talk to animals. Professor Sir (a turtle!) is a great character and I loved that he helped Effie with her speaking abilities. I hope the series continues because I’m not ready for it to be over.

In this graphic novel, we follow Effie and Garance as they try to help rescue a captive mermaid. Effie also learns what kind of magic that she has AND how to talk to animals!

This was a super cute graphic novel. I loved the talking turtle that helped Effie with her animal speech. He was a great character. I can't wait to read the next volume!

Another enjoyable outing with the gals. I missed book three, and all the plot developments that occurred there, so I felt a little adrift at times, but, as always, the artwork is lovely, and there's plenty of warmth and humor to keep me turning the pages.

I'm looking forward to the next adventure with my favorite urban witches.

4/5 stars

(Full disclosure: I received a free e-ARC for review through NetGalley.)

The summer has sadly come to an end, and Effie and her friends are about to start middle school (junior high?): Berrit is studying drama, while Oliver is enrolled in school that offers robotics classes. Effie and Garance are off to the same school, one that emphasizes sustainability (and magic?). For these two undercover witches-in-training, their twelfth year is especially significant: this is when young witches consult a seer to evaluate their potential for developing dangerous magic. It's witch law, after all.

Effie's evaluation goes sideways pretty quickly. Her seer, Becky, is a mermaid - which catches Effie off guard, especially so since she just heard the seagulls at the beach gossiping about a mermaid's return. (Ever since she accidentally awakened a dragon in S'MORE MAGIC, Effie can understand some animal species. Nbd.) As it happens, Becky's sister Iruna went missing a month ago, not long after the Mermaid Parade at Coney Island. Becky implores Effie, Selimene, and Carlota to investigate - and lends Effie the talents of her turtle friend, Professor Sir, to aid in her communication with the gulls. The path to Iruna is paved with heartbroken illusionists, combat magic, and time travel (!).

I've been devouring the WITCHES OF MERMAIDS series, and SPELL OF A TIME might be my favorite one yet. (Although, how do you compare dragons to mermaids? It's a toss up ... until you throw in time travel, that is.) Escabasse manages to introduce one new mythical creature in each installment, and I can't wait to see what she comes up with next. (Sasquatch, maybe?)

I don't love that the kids are mostly scattered this year, but hopefully Escabasse will devise plenty of hijinks to throw the Scooby gang back together. As always, Effie, Selimene, Carolta, Garance, Francis, and Lion are an engaging, eclectic group, and Escabasse expands the 'verse with the addition of Becky, Iruna, Walter and - of course! - the very boopable Professor Sir.

She also introduces a darker, more worrying element in the form of Effie's evaluation, which should be an interesting avenue to explore in future volumes.

I especially love the environmental bent this series has taken; the caper kicks off when Effie and her classmates are cleaning up the beach, which leads her and Garance to wonder about using their magic to rid the ocean of microplastics. And Effie's ability to communicate with animals is especially promising, doubly so in light of Carlota and Selimene's vegetarianism.

Effie and Garance are back, with more magic and more problems (like you do). I obviously knew I was going to have to read this, after enjoying the previous books in this series. The art style is as cute as always, and the story is easy to fall into. What can I say? I just love a cozy, witchy book filled with magic.

Witches of Brooklyn: Spell of a Time is book four in the Witches of Brooklyn graphic novel series. In it, Effie has to learn to talk to animals, control her magic, and go back in time to fix magical mistakes.

I will say that the first part of this book started rather slow and sounded a bit like an after-school special about recycling and plastics and cleaning the Earth. Don't get me wrong, suuuuper important topics (obviously . . . I live here, too!). It did kind of feel smooshed in there, though, and didn't really tie in to the rest of it. Aside from the rocky start, though, this book was every bit as fun as the previous ones!

My Thoughts:

✿ Effie is still coming to grips with her magic and learning what exactly it means to be a witch. Makes sense, given that she's 12. Heck, I'm in my 30s and still don't have a grasp of magic, soooo . . . can't really blame her. It's fun to see Effie's progress on this front as the story continues. Magic comes in a lot of different forms, and not all of them positive, which she's quickly finding out. Even positive magic can sometimes go awry!

✿ Effie is learning that talking to animals isn't as easy as it first appears. I mean, to be fair, it doesn't sound particularly easy, if I'm honest. I've certainly never done it successfully. Effie's got a leg up on me, though, and some pretty great teachers in this book. I'm sure you can imagine how handy talking to animals can be, even if it takes practice.

✿ There's a fun little adventure in this that involves mermaids, time travel, and, of course, magic. Wouldn't be a Witches of Brooklyn book if it didn't involve magic, now would it? There's a missing mermaid, though, and no one has any idea where she is. Somehow, Effie and Garance need to figure out how to find her and, more importantly, how to bring her back safely. I can't say much more than that (you'd have to read it), but once the action gets going, it's a steady ride to the end!

I have loved anything witch-related ever since I was young and this series was definitely one of those that caught my attention. The drawings are unique and storyline is also appealing. I've enjoyed the past books of these series, because it was fresh and new. It took some time for me to review this one, though, as there wasn't much happening in the first half of the book. Truthfully speaking, this book is my least favorite one. I would have thought something interesting would happen since the book title seems to revolve around time, which is also another feature I really enjoy reading in literature.

There was hardly any magic happening either, other than Effie being taken to see what kind of magic she has, but that was pretty much it... just the concept of witches, but no real magic.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing access to a digital copy in advance.

Witches of Brooklyn: Spell of a Time, book four in the magical graphic novel series, finds friends Effie and Garance discovering the mystery of a missing mermaid, Effie continuing her education in the art of magic when she learn she can not only hear animals talking, but now can communicate back! It takes some time travel to solve this one and find the missing mermaid ... and to me, that's where this volume of the series suffers from a slight letdown; the plot feels a bit forced here, even rushed toward the end. But with a series this strong, even a small letdown doesn't hurt too much, and the characters and whimsical artwork remain charming as always. 3.5/5 stars

NOTE: I received a free ARC of this title from NetGalley and the publisher, in exchange for an honest review.

You know, what I like best about these books is that they’re moral without being preachy or about the moral being shown. It’s just part of the story in a very natural way. The stories are cute, fairly gentle and grade school appropriate. It’s just that there’s always something in there where the right and decent thing to do is shown without a big deal being made of it. Each one of these books has really flowed just beautifully around that point or points. Really enjoyable series. And the more I think on it the more I’m inclined to round this up to five stars just for the quality of the series as a whole and the way the characters are developing and growing along with the story progression.

I love this series. The art is perfect - full of life and helps define the characters, set the mood, and drive the story.

Spell of a Time was my first adventure into the Witches of Brooklyn series but it won't be my last - the story was fun, the characters were easy to relate to and the illustrations really made the book come alive. On their latest adventure, Effie turns 12 and is off to the seer to find out about what type of magic she has. She also needs to figure out this hearing/taking to animals situation because it isn't going well on her own.., Like when she tried to talk to the seagulls about a missing mermaid they were talking about. To her surprise, the seer is a mermaid and her sister is the one missing...

Effie and Garance learn more about mermaids and time-travel as they go on an adventure to use their magic to save the day. I was thrilled to learn that you can read the series out of order and still enjoy the book (though I do look forward to reading the others now as well!). I can easily see why this fast-paced series appeals to young readers and I have no doubt the newest book will be well received.

Thank you Netgalley and Random House Graphic for the ARC!

- I love the way this universe expands with each new book, and the addition of mermaids and time travel was so spectacular!
- I loved the character design/general art style, especially of the mermaids!
- I found the pacing was a bit slow at the beginning, but it wasn’t so slow that I put it down.
- I wish there was more exploration into fluorescent magic, but it looks like that’ll be something in the next book!

I love this series. The characters are compelling, the illustrations are beautiful and attention-grabbing, and the story is lots of fun! This continued on my high expectations of this series!

Reviewed NetGalley:


Honest review by my ten year old daughter.

I loved reading more adventures of the Witches of Brooklyn. I love the magic and fun of Effie and Garance. And the illustrations are fantastic!

I received an electronic ARC from Random House Children's Publishing through NetGalley.
Everyone is gathered to celebrate Effie's 12th birthday when the story begins. Twelve is a special year for a young witch as they visit the seer to learn about their type of magic and their future. Once Effie learns this information, she shares about overhearing seagulls talk about a missing mermaid being seen again. From here, readers see Effie and Garance search for, find and rescue the mermaid. Along the way, Effie surprises herself with a magic explosion, and they both learn to time travel.
Escabasse spins magic and humor together as we learn more about her characters. Effie's aunts are as charming and eccentric as ever. The new characters add to the drama and comedy as they help with this mission.

After Effie moves in with her aunts in Witches of Brooklyn and makes friends with Garance in What the Hex, she starts her magical training and is a little annoyed at how slowly it is going. Now that she has turned 12, however, her aunts take her to a seer who will evaluate the type of magic that she has. This is a bit irritating, but since Effie has some powers that she can't control well, she is looking forward to some guidance. She has flourescent magic, much like Selimene and Carlota. The seer, a mermaid, knows that Effie can talk to animals, but isn't very good at it. Since she also knows that Effie has been talking to some seagulls who seem to know something about the disappearance of her sister, she loans Effie a turtle who helps her learn to modulate her communications with animals. This helps, but Effie and Garance come across some strong magical vibes with the help of the seagulls. They contact the aunts for backup, but because they are tweens, burst into an apartment on their own. They find the missing merrmaid, who is stuck in a spell created by Walter. Walter has created a time loop in order to try to get back his boyfriend, Elliott. The last time the two were happy was when Walter interacted with the mermaid, which is why she is stuck in the spell. It's difficult to unravel this, and the aunts think the best way is to send Effie and Garance back in time to the Mermaid Parade on Coney Island to try to stop the spell from ever being cast. Of course, this is filled with all sorts of problems. Will Effie's ability to harness her magic be enough to save the day?
Strengths: The graphics are particularly fun; colorful, lots of details, and have a great feeling of place, which can be hard to capture. There are a lot of middle school students who secretly believe that they can learn magic and be witches, so Effie's experiences are a great way for them to have a glimpse into that world. The community is supportive, and her aunts are great fun. This has just the right flavor of goofy for middle school, which is a hard thing to get right.
Weakness: Walter has one of those noses that looks like it is going to fall off his face. Very long and thin. I get so distracted by noses in graphic novels. No idea why. Also, I somehow missed book two, so feel like I didn't know enough about the mermaid community.
What I really think: This is a fun graphic novel series that my students really like. It's a great choice for readers who like their stories with a little Steinkellner's The Okay Witch, Fernández's ¡¡Manu!!, or Liu's Wingbearer.

Thank you Random House Children's and NetGalley for the advanced electronic review copy of this wonderful book. I love the Witches of Brooklyn series and this latest addition didn’t disappoint. Effie and her friends are back for yet another magical adventure. Great character development, awesome illustrations, and fast moving plot makes for a fun, quick read. Can’t wait to share yet another one of Effie’s adventures with my students.

Thank you, NetGalley, Sophie Escabasse, and Random House Graphic for sending me an E-ARC in exchange for an honest review! 🥰🫶
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I love this series! I started reading it last year and was so excited to see book 4 on Netgalley! I loved this one just as much as the previous installments! The stories are fun and the illustrations are beautiful! I really loved the inclusion of mermaids in this one and the queer rep! I can’t wait to see how this series continues. I would highly recommend the Witches of Brooklyn graphic novel series to anyone looking for a fun witchy read! 😊🫶