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

Maud is such an awesome character. She is made with love and magic and deals with everything that is thrown at her with her own quirky magic.

I am hopeful that this adventure will continue and there will be a third book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Inkyard Press for providing a copy of this eARC for review.

I am very much enjoying this middle grade series. I had read a YA novel by the same author and loved it, and decided to venture into her new project (The Gingerbread Witch). After zipping through that, I promptly searched for a way to read the second novel (The Unsleeping Witch). While it took me longer to start this novel than I had hoped (school started and the struggle is real!), I tore through this in a couple of hours once I started.

The characters are incredibly likeable. I love that everyone makes mistakes (even those we're meant to favour), because the characters are just more relatable when they are flawed. They share their doubts and fears, and they go through periods of hopelessness (don't we all?). I did feel that more could have been done with Maud's ancestry, but I'm hopeful that this will be the topic of a third book!

I very much appreciated Hansel, Gretel, and their parents' interactions as a family, and I wouldn't say no to a short story about their reactions when not in a crisis situation! Ludo is still absolutely a favourite character of mine as well. He's just such a sweetheart!

I think the contrast of having the Wolves and the Witching Guild was interesting, as it explains in a fairly straightforward way for kids that although their may be two sides to a fight, neither side is necessarily 100% in the right.

A good follow up to the Gingerbread Witch. It took a bit to get started and then moved at a nice pace with an interesting twist on the sleeping beauty story. I look forward to more adventures.

Cute read for kids - unfortunately I missed the "children's fiction" part and thought this was YA/adult!

Found this to be a good twist on Sleeping Beauty with lots of mystery to keep readers engaged. I haven't read the first book but will definitely go back now for it! Characters are very relatable and their struggles ate realistic. Thanks #Netgalley and #Inkyard for the eARC in exchange for a honest review. All opinions are mine.

This was a great sequel the Gingerbread Witch, it had everything that I was looking for from the first book. It had a great concept overall and I enjoyed getting back to this universe. The characters felt like the same from book to book. Alexandra Overy has a great concept and I’m excited to read more from the author.

I have not yet read the first book in this series, but will definitely being going back to do so now. The author does a great job of giving some background as to what happened in that book (so readers new to the series don't feel left behind) without making it feel like you are re-reading that first book (so readers who read book 1 don't get bored). I loved the characters, writing, and pacing of this book. I was drawn in right from the beginning and couldn't wait to find out what would happen next. There were some great twists and turns that kept me on my toes. The twist on the Sleeping Beauty spell was clever and one of the bigger surprises in the book. I loved the character of Maud - her struggles with feeling like she isn't excepted/doesn't fit in with the witches or witch hunters is a feeling that I think younger readers will relate to. Gretel has a similar struggle as she tries to navigate being a witch hunter and having a witch as a close friend. I am looking forward to future books in the series to see how Maud and Gretel continue to navigate their friendship. The bickering between Gretel and Nuss was also pretty humorous. And of course, Hansel will now be experiencing similar conflicts as his secret has come to light. Overall, this is a thoroughly enjoyable book with great characters and lots of action. I highly recommend this for classroom and school libraries!

While this was okay, had some fun moments, I definitely wasn't the biggest fan. The storyline was a bit weird, writing style was meh, and I just couldn't find the interest to stay immersed in the story.