Thank you so much for allowing to read this book it was absolutely perfect. I loved everything from the the characters, to the setting, to the dual POVs

Deep in the birchwoods of Norway, Kaija & Minna have lived with their mormor ever since their mother was burned for being a witch. However their mormor just died, and Kaija has no interest in being stuck up there all alone, just the two of them, even though that is what Minna wants. So Kaija packs up her things and leaves in the middle of the night, and sets off for the village - the same one in which the townspeople burned her mother. She knows she will have to change her name and appearance, and then quit using magic, so the villagers won't discover she is a witch. She is more than willing though, in order to be part of a community. Minna, enraged at her sister's leaving & still burning with a rage over what happened to their mother, casts a curse over the town, not realizing that curse will not only affect the townspeople, but Kaija as well.

This book started out as a really slow burn, and I will be honest - I almost put it down and didn't try to finish it, but I am so glad I dd. Once the story started picking up speed, the book got really good. - so good that I didn't want to put it down. I think part of the problem may have been all of the Norwegian words and phrases all throughout the book that you either needed to look up or puzzle over for a minute to decipher what they meant. Also, the first couple of chapters are just of the two women fighting about where they want to live and why, and no one is willing to give, so it gets a little tedious. The story is told in alternating chapters between the two sisters, so you get to see both of their lives as they are living apart from one another. This is a story of family, love, retribution, forgiveness, and of course.....witches. I highly recommend it!

•Dual POVs
•Slow Burn
•Written in First Person
•Revenge

The book is slow burn and the plot is intriguing. There are two sisters but their odyssey is different. One wants to take revenge so the other wants to live her life apart from shadows. Magic runs in both of them but the one is willing to sacrifice it in exchange of life so the other wants to take her revenge. Kaija is building a life in village while Minna is left alone in darkness entangled in rage. It’s been thirteen years. Their mother was accused of being a witch and burned alive. And the grandmother died too. The consequences of the curse that has been done by one of the sister are dire. Would it bring their life at stake? Or destroy the life Kaija has build? Will her attempt to connect with the community will go in vain?

The description of Birchwoods of Norway is pretty intriguing. I liked the characters. The author has done a great job by showing how different the sisters were but still at the end, they were there for each other

Thank you Netgalley, Author, and Publisher

I received this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

First off, wow. For a first time published author, I’m very impressed with Chelsea Iversen’s writing for The Witches at the End of the World. I didn’t know what to expect but the writing really flowed. Chapters are switched off with each sisters POV which had a nice flow to it.

Due to having to flee their Norway village after their mother was killed for witchcraft, sisters Minna and Alaina are raised by their grandmother in the middle of the forest. Although raised and taught the same about their magic, one sister has darker thoughts of the village while the other dreams of a life there being a normal girl.

Although slow a few times, the story definitely had me pulled in. When I wasn’t reading it, my mind was wondering how the story would go and how would the book end. There are books out there about witchcraft and witch trials but what about the loved ones who are left after persecution? This story shows a side we don’t always get to read about. I definitely recommend this book to anyone who loves this type of genre.

Thank you to NetGalley and SOURCEBOOKS Landmark for the ARC.

Witches seem to be popular this year but this is a very different sort of witch tale. Kaija and Minna are haunted by the fact that their mother was burned as a witch. They react differently and both of them tell their stories in this quiet and powerful (albeit slow in spots) tale of sisters and magic. Much of this rises on the connection between the two, Know that Norwegian words are scattered throughout but they are always understandable thanks to context. I liked the atmospherics (how often do we get a book set in 1677 Norway?) and the characters feel very real. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A good read.

Rating: 4/5
I received an eARC for my honest opinion.

? Would you choose to live in fear of being a witch and having to live in the forest so you could practice without having to be drowned or burned alive?

In this book you will follow two sisters that have lost their mother at a young age due to her being a witch in a village that fears all things they deem evil. This is during the era of witch hysteria in Norway and really all around the world during this time and later that we had this hysteria. You will see how these sisters handle the death of their parents and how they choose to move on in their life, as well as how they handle their choices, the good and the bad.

I liked the plot; it was something different for me; one sister who wants to forget everything that she is to be normal and one who will do anything to protect what she is the life that she must live. You will get to see both of their POVs with this book, and it will help you to understand what each of them are going through and how they’re feeling. I loved that they were so close, yet they wanted different things but, in the end, it always comes back to family and what makes you feel safe. I enjoyed that this author did their research on the common practices of the pagan witches in that country at that time, I love seeing when authors get things right because they take the time to learn about it before making the book. I know that I have done a lot of research on pagans, but I have always loved Norse mythology and you will see parts of that throughout the book. You will enjoy the pace of the book, it’s not fast but not slow, there are slower times throughout the book, but I promise those will pass and you will see how this book is perfect at the pacing. You will get a feeling of something just isn’t right, feeling of foreboding, more so in the beginning of the book but you will see it throughout the book as well here and there.

The characters are what did it for me in this book. I found myself able to connect with more Minna than I did with Kaija, but I think it’s because each sister handled things and I find myself relating to Minna more. The hot-headed temper, the rage, but after some time the calm and level headed, then right to “oh no I have to fix this”. I did enjoy getting to see Kaija live the life that she wanted to. However, you will see small things that make her think and wonder hmm… is this right? All she wanted was to live a normal life; fall in love with a man, live in the village where she used to live with her family, to do things like other normal people. Then you have Minna who is happy living in the wild, away from everyone else, practice her magic without the fear of someone calling her a witch and killing her. You will see how she handles the curse that she put upon the village and why she changes everything.

You will watch two sisters who love each other but want something different drift away for some time but in the end doesn’t family always need family again? I like that this book had magic, lessons learned, finding oneself, and forgiveness

I thought this was a great debut novel and I can’t wait to see what other books Iversen will give us.
I want to thank NetGalley and Sourcebooks for the opportunity to review this book.

I absolutely love this cover and I really enjoyed reading this book. I loved the setting of the northern portion of Norway and the historical references to witch trials. The story follows two sisters who initially appear to be as different as night and day. However, as their story unfolds, will these two sisters find common ground or forever have their relationship fractured by the consequences of each of their actions. Overall, this is truly a book driven by the characters and their relationships. It has themes that examine good vs evil, especially when it comes to religion and feminism. If you love historical fiction that is atmospheric and character driven, then this is a great read for the month of October!

Thank you @bookmarked for allowing me to read this book ahead of publication in exchange for my honest review.

I loved this book! I thought I was going in for a book about witches and I got that but also so much more about being women and family and love. I loved the way this book took place over quite a long span of time but the writing just made it flow so well and nothing was lost in moving quickly through the story at times.
The characters were so well written and fleshed out. I loved them and wanted to shake them at times. These women deserve all the happiness.
I will be recommending this book to everyone especially as a perfect autumn read! And I will read whatever else Chelsea Iversen writes next!

There's potential in this book: it's well written and I loved the setting. I couldn't care about the sisters and I found their relationship quite toxic.ù
Not my cup of tea
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

There's a lot of things I enjoyed about this book: the sister's relationship, the plot that almost mirrors itself in a way, the lyrical style of writing, the character development, and the true witchy vibes.

It did take me a long time to read this book even though its not very long. Mainly because I found the plot a bit plain. I think certain themes and plot points could have gone into more depth and the supporting characters could have been developed more.

Nevertheless, I would definitely recommend this if you are looking for witchy sisters figuring out what they want out of life and making some mistakes.

Unfortunately, I did not really enjoy reading that novel.

The plot was quite flat in comparison with what I was expecting from the synopsis. I thought that the story would have more drama, more angst. I did not feel like it was as developed as it could have been. Also, the pacing was rather slow, and I do prefer faster paced stories.

Minna was a way more interesting character than her sister. And her personality was more appealing to me. She seemed more adult than her older sister (the older sister is twenty-three but behaves and thinks like a sixteen years-old). And her personal story was more interesting to me.

But overall, it did not make the impact that I was hoping for. However, if you’re looking for a slow paced story with sister witches, I recommend it to you. It was just not a book for me.

Thank you to Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for a honest review.

3.75 stars rounded up

This was a quick read following two sisters, Minna and Kaija, as Kaija wants to go back to the village that they left after their mother was burned after mourning their grandmother. From there we see that one sister embraces "the witch inside" while one hides it until things start going wrong in the village where she has settled.

I really enjoyed this read, it was quick and left me wanting more Norwegian lore books. I recommend it overall.

What would have increased the rating here for me:

- Less use of the statement "the witch inside me" - MINNA WE GET IT. I'm equating this to the "released a breath I didn't know I was holding" repetition we see. The amount of times it was used was unnecessary

- More description of place. Iverson gave us a ton of description of the hut and woods that the sisters lived in, but once Kaija ventured to the village, we got little to no description of that place.

- More character building of the side characters close to Kaija in the village

- Backstory of their mother and grandmother in the village

- Explicit explanation of the difference between the Sami, the Norwegian, and the witches as there was none. If you didn't know the Sami are indigenous people, you're left confused.

Overall: Special thanks to NetGalley and SourceBooks for providing me with an e-arc in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.


Content warnings: gore, death, killing of animals, religion, religion fanatics, prejudice/racism

Rep: sister bonds, witchy vibes, small towns, angry girl

Thoughts
Neutral thoughts:

This was interesting 🤔 this story follows two sisters, who are witches, as they grapple with what happened to them as children and the death that recently happened. The plot of the story is in response to this.

The writing was very simple, but not in a bad way. It definitely got straight to the point and I really felt the emotion that each of the sisters were feeling. I do think that Minna was a more flushed out character, which is weird to say because for the majority of the story, she’s just angry. Kaija, on the other hand, is more soft-spoken. She has a lot more going on in her plot line than Minna does, and I don’t know if this is just something about me but I just understood Minna better than I did Kaija.

This story is very much a slow burn. While there are things that happen, there are some twists and turns, but overall, this is a very slow story. I would say that this is more of a character development kind of book, opposed to some thing that’s action packed.

The historical aspects of this book are really good. I felt like I was in the time period and I felt like I could see everything that was being described to me.

As a side note, a lot of this book focuses on religion, specifically Christianity. The presence of Christianity is not overbearing though. I feel like it’s more of an entity, which is kind of weird to say, but it just felt like something that was there, but there was no preachy moments about it.

Told from two perspectives, this is a tale of two sisters trying to find their place in the world. We follow Minna, a wild tempered witch that decides to stay hidden in the forest and live a solitary life, and Kaija, a softer soul that goes to live in the village and has to hide her true witchy self.

I really enjoyed reading about these witches, their spells and their sisterly bond. The pacing is slower, even more so in the first half, but it isn't boring or redundant. You read about their everyday lives and the ways they're dealing with their own troubles and it's actually quite interesting. I loved both of them, as well as the side characters. Their development was gradual and the ending was very satisfying. I would highly recommend this to everyone who loves more atmospheric and a bit slower books. Most of the story is told through their thoughts, there wasn't much dialogue and I surprisingly didn't mind!

While reading this, I recommend listening to some Viking and Nordic playlists, the songs tie it all together! ⚔️ This is a debut novel (!!) and I would love to read whatever this author writes in the future!

This was not your typical light witchy read, it was so, so good. The character development of the two sisters and dual pov was great. I'm usually not into books that take place so long ago, but this was different, it had me so intrigued.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This is a story of sisterhood, and witchcraft, and being an outsider. Dual-POV chapters allow us insight into the thoughts of both sisters Minna and Kaija as they diverge on completely different paths after the death of their grandmother. I found myself more drawn to Kaija's voice, who wanted another life for herself and wanted to deny her inner witch.

Exploring themes of grief, anger, revenge, love, longing and overcoming the many obstacles thrown at the characters, The Witches At The End Of The World is an easy to read, at times very beautifully written story which transports you to the coast of Norway, in a time when the threat of witches felt very real to the people who lived there.

his is a story about two witches in northern Norway who have lived alone in the woods with their grandma after the village people burned their mother alive years ago. When their grandma passed away, one of the sisters, Kaija, decides to start a new life by going back to the village, leaving the other sister, Minna, alone and feeling utterly betrayed.

As a whole, I liked this story and what it tried to accomplish, though I don't feel like it succeeded in everything. One of the major aspects of the book is obviously the sisters and their dynamic. While on their own, I liked both of their characters, their dynamic together feels a bit strange at some points in the book. There are times where I just couldn't see why they did certain things to each other, or feel a certain way for each other. And I just wish the book delved a bit more into that instead of the plot.

As for the plot itself, it was fine, it worked and wasn't too predictable. There's always something going on so there was never any dull moment, though I wish there were more slower moments focusing on the sisters' thoughts about each other and why they think the way they do. There were also some scenes spent with some side characters that we never really get to know that well that didn't really contribute much.

Finally, the writing style is rather simple and not distracting, with the occasional flourishes of style along the way. One thing that I noticed is the fact that the writer used a lot of Norwegian terms out of nowhere, which is fine by me because I speak Swedish so they didn't pull me out of the story, but if you don't know any Scandinavian languages, then it might be a bit distracting.

Iversen's writing is really spectacular, the descriptions were so vivid I had no trouble picturing the world and characters clearly. However, the story was slow to build and I kept losing focus after only a few pages.

I'm not sure who to recommend this to, but it is well written.

This is a strong 3-star read. I was bored and it was so difficult to not skim. The best thing about this book is the cover.

The Witches at the End of the World follows two sisters who choose very different lives for themselves after their grandmother passes and they are able to follow their own paths.

I personally had a hard time connecting to either character throughout the novel and Minna got on my nerves :/ I liked the concept of the book and the setting, but it just was not my favorite that I have read.