An e-ARC was provided by the publisher through NetGalley in exchange of an honest review. This does not effect my opinion in any way.

EVA EVERGREEN is the story of this girl, EVA, who only has a pinch of magic. She departs from her town, to carry out a quest and become a novice witch. But even if Eva has the best intentions, she discovers that she’s not welcomed in the town she’s supposed to help and on top of that, the Culling (a magical storm) is coming and she has to do something about it.

Julie Abe wrote an enchanting and whimsical story. She has such a way with words it made me wish I could jump in the book and go on a novice quest myself. Reading this book and how Julie wrote it made you feel like you were living what Eva was going through. The author imagined such a wonderful world you almost wish it was real (or at least the food, I wish the food was real). EVA EVERGREEN is pitched as the perfect book for fans of Kiki’s Delivery Service and if I didn’t watch this movie (yet), I can tell you that the book has this subtle fantasy anime vibe that will made you love it if your into animes.

Eva was a great main character. She works hard and is such a great kid in general. What I particularly liked about the book is that the author didn’t choose to go with the “random power-up” route as in, she didn’t decide to have Eva suddenly have a lot of magical power. And it is such a great move when you think about it. To be perfectly honest, I got a little frustrated about that: I wished so hard that Eva’s power would become more than just a pinch because she kept messing up with her spells you know? I guess my frustration was coming from the fact that I knew Eva was so much more than the spell she couldn’t do and I wanted all the other characters who were doubting her to know too.

I said it was a great move from the author and I stand by it even if I felt some frustration here and there. I believe the message behind Julie Abe’s book is to make you understand that you don’t need to be powerful to be meaningful, you don’t have to be as great as the other witches to be one yourself. It is such a great message in a book targeting young readers because I hope it will make them understand that they can also be powerful even if they didn’t have the tools to be in the first place. In Eva’s case, she started with next to nothing. She had a pinch of magic but even with that, she had no guarantee when casting a spell. But she still believed, you know, she believed she could do as great as the witches with more magic than her, she believed because she has great idea and the will to do great.

Maybe I’m reading to much into it but I feel like it was what the author was going for when she wrote her book. It was a nice touch in a wonderful and magical setting.

I believe EVA EVERGREEN is the book you want to put in young readers’ hands, when you want them to read a enchanting story about a witch going on her quest to prove she’s as much of a with than the others. You’ll spend a great time with Eva and her flamefox Ember and wish you could be there too.

(Also: I need the sequel right now).

Find my review on my blog: https://delphreads.wordpress.com/2020/01/11/review-eva-evergreen-semi-magical-witch-by-julie-abe/
Find my review on goodread: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2995478180