Oh man, this book was a wild ride. I was promised a witchy romp with Buffy The Vampire Slayer vibes and, boy, did I get it. This book was gorgeous and hilarious. The author really has a hold of that witty dialogue that really makes a story like this thrive.

I really loved Esme and the gang. I liked how the relationships changed and grew as the story went along. I also really loved that there wasn't a serious romance in this book at all. That was refreshing and made me care so much more about what the author had to say about her characters.

Overall, this was a deeply fun read and I'm looking forward to buying a finished copy when it releases later this year.

I loved this book! As a Babysitter’s Club fan, i was pumped to read about sitters and witches. Throw in the fashion, humor and major pit bull love, and you’ve got a winner of a book.

Let me just say a BIG thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read an ARC of this book!! I had heard some good things in one of my Facebook book groups, and I really like the description "Adventures in Babysitting meets Buffy the Vampire Slayer." It might be showing my age, but the first was a movie from my childhood, and the second is only one of the greatest TV shows ever made- so I was anticipating greatness from this book. It did not disappoint. It's a very quick read, easy to dive into, the narrative voice is engaging and funny. It starts off with a bit of a bang, and then it sort of slows a little bit, but once it gets going again it does not stop! It sets out all the plot threads for the next book (or books- who knows how many adventures it will take for the crew to resolve things). This was a great first book in the series, and I am only sad that I have to wait until 2020 for the next installment! I will highly recommend this to all my friends.

I freaking love this amazing cover! But to me the book read a bit on the young side. There was some fun humor, but I think I wanted a bit more. I would have liked more of a romance in there as well. The character was likable and the dialogue was good too!

I totally loved this book. Definitely gave me vibes from my younger years reading the babysitters club. I love that that babysitter's have super powers! Love this story and I'm hoping there will be another one!

I am in SUCH a spooky Fall mood even though it’s June so this was the 🌙🎃✨PERFECT WITCHY READ✨🎃🌙

The Babysitters Witch Coven stars Emse Pearl, just a regular junior in high school with your average cuckoo mom and distant dad. She and her best friend Janis comprise their own Babysitter’s Club, but things are getting weird. A strange man shows up in the night during with the kids they’re watching, luring them away and scaring everybody… A new girl has shown up at school and taken a mysterious interest in the girls’ club… and to top it all off, Esme apparently has super powers?

It’s all a little spooky.

This book is less a witchy retelling and more modern homage to the og Babysitters Club. I didn’t have some issues which I’ll get into, but let’s start with the good! The modernization worked really well, like the cute descriptions of the girls’ thrifted themed outfits (one of my faves was Lydia Deetz Goes to the Beach).

The humor could be so funny (I laughed at that tampon shelf stocking anecdote in the beginning and I’m not ashamed) and the MOOD of this book, though. The cover, which is absolutely gorgeous and so aesthetic, goes hand in hand with the atmosphere in this book. It’s spooky and Halloweeny and witchy and gorgeous, and I loved it! It’s also a very easy read; it’s very entertaining and voices so it’s easy to get engaged and fly through, despite some pacing problems.

Unfortunately, I did have a few issues with the insertion of the feminism, which could feel a bit “all talk, no work”. On one page we had railing against the patriarchy, then on the very next we had a bitch slap cat fight complete with hair pulling, between our MCs and the bitchy caricatured cheerleaders for “stealing [one of the cheerleader’s] man”. I felt this book wanted brownie points for parroting feminist catch phrases but… Sorry, I’m not your troop leader. 😴

I might as well come out and say some of the issues I had with the self-proclaimed intersectionality of the feminism as well. This book is written by a white woman, starring a white MC. Esme’s best friend is Janis, who is black, and is the only one of the club without powers, and spends much of the book being sidelined as a friend who is growing apart.

Then we have Cassandra, who is the new girl at school, and Dion, her older brother. They’re Mexican. Cassandra is described as a terrible student, she displays a shocking lack of empathy, she gets in fist fights, and she shoplifts. Cool. Dion is basically objectified by Esme the whole book… till (no spoilers), then he’s a fuckboy who gets mistreated by the white MC with, again, a shocking lack of empathy. Their family, also, was (SPOILERS) a primary villain/antagonist, whereas Esme’s family was nice and victimized by Cassandra and Dion’s parent. And Janis’s family didn’t even have page time. I’m not saying the things that happened shouldn’t have consequences, but honestly? It felt weird to me. Little red flags were going up for me as I was reading, and I didn’t like. :/ I’m a white girl myself, so I’m not claiming that I know what’s up and what’s down, but I want to outline the things I read so you can make informed reading decisions.

The issue isn’t that we can’t have diverse characters of all personality types and backgrounds–the issue here is that the characters of color are all relegated to negative stereotypes or background roles. For a book that is very vocal about the future being female, the hot takes were surface-level. I’ll sum my feelings up in two sentences: it felt like reading a Buzzfeed article. Obnoxious, hypocritical, and self-serving.

Look, I really want to love this book, so I hesitated so much with this review, and I debated over posting it. I even had my CPs read over my thoughts to see if I was being fair, or if I should reevaluate my feelings and findings in case I was overreacting. But I can honestly say that after reflection and second opinions, I don’t think I am, and as such, I just can’t be disingenuous. I hope I’ve illustrated my points in manner without (much) emotion, so you yourself can judge without my angry haze. I’m really trying to review in an un-sensationalized manner these days (while still being able to crack a sick joke 😜) and I hope that comes across.

I think edits could fix the problems I had with this book, as well as a few sensitivity readers. It could be a very fun book that’s perfect for Halloween if these problems were addressed. There is going to be a sequel (which I didn’t know till the cliffhanger ending–yikes) so maybe some of these things will straighten out in subsequent books.

Esme feels like the girl I was in high school: not popular, but not an outcast; not cool, but not exactly uncool either; a few close friends, plenty of embarrassing moments, an enthusiastic pursuer of her niche interests, and generally a person any parent would feel comfortable leaving their kid with for a night. Even though the chosen one trope is a little worn these days, it felt fresh in this book, because there really was nothing extraordinary about Esme beforehand. She’s the secretly-destined, super-powered girl every average teenager longs to be.

I loved her friendships with both Cassandra and Janis, and I loved that they took precedence over any romantic subplot. Friendships are the most lasting and life-changing relationships I had in high school, and the conflicts felt natural and relatable.

Her relationship with her parents also felt very real to me, as did the entire high school experience. As a child of the 90s, about half of the references in the book went over my head (and that ratio will probably be higher for teens), however, the cultural references and flair made for a voice that hooked me. This book hit me right in the part of my heart where the Buffy fangirl in me lives.

I disliked this book. I picked the book because I thought based on the description it would be a fun read.

My one compliment is I liked the usage of a dead shopping mall as a setting. Multiple malls closed in my area, so I related to the every feeling of being surrounded by shutters shops.

Babysitter’s Coven is neither deep nor entertaining.
The writing style is poor, countless filter words, telling instead of showing and abbreviations. I’d be fine with them in a text message, but abbreviations like AF appear in dialogue and narration. Either include swear words or use ambiguous language like “she cursed.” if the author’s goal was to hide them from young readers.

The pacing is the book is either slow or rushed. Esme’s many paragraphs describing her outfits stall the plot. The villain isn’t foreshadowed so the climax of the novel feels random. Cassandra and Esme develop their powers rapidly. Any inconvenience the characters face is quickly solved. There isn’t any tension.

In regards to characters, many are unlikeable and all are underdeveloped. The secondary characters are just plot devices with dialogue. Esme is hypocritical, judgemental, and lazy. She doesn’t learn from these flaws or grow at all. I think the author intended for Esme to be likeable, but readers need more than pop culture references to care about a protagonist. Casandra is slightly more bearable, but perhaps that’s only because she isn’t the protagonist.

Additionally, who is the audience? Based on the content, I can’t imagine readers above 14 enjoying this novel. However, the book is filled with references to older media like Buffy, The Craft, Babysitter’s Club, and horror movies young readers might not understand. Also, entire plot points and character types are copied from Buffy.

I’d rather rewatch Buffy the Vampire Slayer instead of reading Babysitter’s Coven,

This review will be posted on my blog a week before the book’s publication:
https://megansreviewingjourney.tumblr.com

This was such a fun read! The book is cute and clever and exactly what I wanted from something with this title, if not a little predictable at times. . It’s rife with pop culture references that make it a great read for teens as well as adults who like to read YA. The book did a pretty good job at wrapping things up, but left enough unresolved that I’m ready to pick up the sequel.

Esme and her friend, Janis, are the last members of their local babysitters club. They work each weekend, taking care of the local children and making a little money on the side. It's better than getting a "real" job.

But, except for her best friend and her babysitting, Esme just doesn't have much else. Her mom was committed to an asylum when Esme was young and Esme doesn't get along well with others. She's dealing with her life, though, such as it is.

Then Cassandra and Dion come into her life.

Cassandra is nothing like Esme, but she seems to be determined to join the babysitters club for some strange reason.

It turns out Cassandra has her own home life issues and Esme may be the key to solving the mysteries that have surrounded Cassandra and her brother since their parents died.

When strange things start happening around Esme, she and Cassandra must work together to understand what's going on.

Final thoughts: Messy book. This is a bad combination of The Baby-Sitters Club and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It's awkward and poorly written with very little to recommend. There is no build-up of anything, including tension. Things just happen without warning and then go away just as fast. Not good and not worth reading the next book.

Rating: 1/5

ARC courtesy of NetGalley

I didn't know what to expect when I started this. To be frank, I thought the summary reminded me a bit of those 80s-90s teen thriller movies. I LOVE those movies, so that ultimately led to me requesting this. Despite that, I still
wasn't entirely sure what I was getting myself into, but I think it was worth it in the end.

I found this to have a very slow start. Like veeerrrryyy slow. It was a slow burn, but I felt that it just dragged quite a bit. I almost didn't really feel like continuing when I was a quarter of the way through. However, I did find it start to pick up the further we went along. By the end, I found it to be quite a thrill ride and was really pleased on the ending!

I found the character development to be good. Was it perfect? Definitely not. I mostly blame the way it dragged and the constant descriptions and exposition put into it. Constantly pointing out a certain character trait just made it lose it's effect. They would get beat into the ground and just made me not care so much anymore. There's also the fact that many of the characters we encounter just don't have much going on for them. For the way this book takes itself though, it was good enough to give us some life to these guys.

Story though. This one shines in the plot department. The quirkiness and thrill of the story is what saves this book. It keeps itself fresh and interesting, and ultimately makes itself fun to read as you go on. Even though it has a rough start, it starts to find itself and just becomes fun. With the meh character development, the story keeps this book afloat. Unfortunately, even though I found myself enjoying it by the end, the beginning is easily forgettable.

Overall, this was an alright book. I'd suggest going to your local library and picking it up there first before committing to buying a copy.

ARC provided to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Beautifully written and a real page-turner. I fell in love with this story and the characters. Couldn't put it down and was so invested into it. Hope it gets the hype it deserves upon release.

This book is SO MUCH FUN and I can’t believe I have to wait another year to read the next in the series. It’s basically the BSC meets The Craft — in other words, it’s awesome.

Great "witch" version of the babysitter’s club books! It has more modern references, of course. I like the fashion sense of the main character and her best friend too. Looking forward to more books in the series from this author!

(will post on Amazon and Goodreads once it it released.)

ughhhhh this just wasn't good. I was so excited for this because I really liked undead girl gang, but this was just not doing it for me!

I received a copy of The Babysitters Coven from Delacorte Press through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I thought this book was charming and spoopy! I really liked Esme and Janis, Cassandra not so much but the way the book dealt with magic was super-cool!

This was such a fun read. It's got some fantastic characters and pop culture references, and the tone and feel is very Buffy, which, to me, is a high compliment and basically means that there's some real danger and action but also enough camp to keep it relatively light, despite the darker elements. I cannot wait to read the next one.

I started this book with no expectations. I like reading books with magic and I do have fond memories of reading the Babysitters Club series when I was a kid. Hoped that this would be a fun mashup of them, and it kinda was. It was definitively fun. Esme was great. I loved her and her relationship with her best friend Janis. The names for their quirky wardrobe choices were hilarious. I also enjoyed all the Buffy references when inteoducedto their Counsel/Watcher. The reveals of the magical babysitters and their purpose and the truth about Esme's and Cassandra's parents were a great reveal. Overall though I just didn't like Cassandra. She is pretty much a selfish little jerk for most of the time. She does have occasional redeeming moments, but I mostly just did not like her. And Dion, Cassandra's brother, well his characterization and actions just seemed totally out of synch. This was definitively setting up series to come and I am interested and intrigued enough to want to check out any upcoming entries. A good start to a series but i hope more babysitters are introduced and that Cassandra becomes more likable.

This was...a bizarre experience. The book established pretty early on that it pulls inspiration from 80s horror, but it's also trying to be current with references and the kind of text speak/slang the main characters use. But the characterization of some of the characters was stiff and oddly hyperbolic, which didn't feel in keeping with the 80s inspiration. It just felt awkward, and like I should be paying attention for some kind of twist later that never came.

Then there's the whole Buffy thing. So yes, obviously there's some analogies to be drawn there. But then the book brings it up, in text, blatantly. And beats the point into the ground. Then brings it up again later, just in case you didn't catch the first time. If the book were longer and there was more gap between those moments, I could forgive it more, but it was excessive regardless. If your readers can't figure it out, maybe don't include it or be content that it might fly over some heads. Or discuss it in an afterword. That's a great spot to talk about inspiration, as many authors have successfully done. Moments like the Buffy scenes are so ridiculous that it takes me out of the book and starts me wondering what the heck happened here in the writing and editing process.

The concept in general of this book was interesting and fun, but the follow-through was weak and disappointing. I'm willing to give Williams a chance since I believe this is her first book, and she's definitely got some fun concepts, but I'm not sure if there's a sequel to this book that I'll read it.

The Babysitter's Coven was an adorable ride that I enjoyed taking. While the storyline was a little slower than expected, it was very cute!