Jessica Lewis wrote one of the most raw and real stories about the complexities of Black family dynamics, expertly weaving in magic, grief, and self-discovery into every word. I love Katrell’s character and strength. I loved reading her struggle and triumph. She’s such a fascinating character. This story is just so well-written. So well-paced. Such delicious tension and jaw-dropping twists. If I could hand this book off to every Black teen, I would.

Amazing. Highly recommend this one!

5 stars out of 5 stars

great book and had me on my seat. I enjoyed the characters and all that happened in the book. I enjoyed being in this world and seeing the growth of the characters. I enjoyed the drama of the story and I can't wait to read others books by this author.

I thought this book was excellent! I had a feeling that it would be, since I loved Jessica Lewis's middle grade book, but this one!! The magic system was fantastic, the main character's best friend was awesome, and I just loved learning more about the main character's powers. Highly recommend this one! Five stars!

This was a heavier book than I anticipated but I really enjoyed it. The characters were great, and I thought Katrell's experiences with trauma and abuse and the way it impacted her mental health was well-portrayed. Also the well-meaning guidance counselor who is torn between wanting to help, and not wanting to make things worse for Katrell. The connection between Katrell's magic and her life was brilliant. My only complaint would be that it dragged on a bit at times, I think it could have benefited from a slightly quicker pace. A mixture of fantasy and too real life, this was a great book I would recommend.

Black Girl Magic meets Practical Magic. I'll put it this way: when I read Bad Witch Burning, I missed a few meetings at work because I HAD TO FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENS NEXT. Jessica Lewis crafted a tense-filled story from start to finish, and with every chapter the suspense goes up and up. Katrell is a heroine you can't help but root for, flaws and all. She's been through a lot, where even her dark magic abilities can't fix. So seeing her earn money with her powers is plausible and relatable. Black Witch Burning is filled with Black girl magic, tough characters facing tougher decisions, and one dog you'll love...and fear. Highly recommended

BAD WITCH BURNING is an incredible fantasy novel about a young Black woman who has to turn to raising the dead in order to survive. The book included some of the most raw and realistic portrayal of teen trauma that I've ever read. The tension throughout the book was incredibly done, and the depictions of family, friendship, and teen relationships with educators felt authentic and relatable. I'm looking forward to reading more from this author and highly recommend this book.

All Katrell, all the time. I adore this character. She’s sassy, she has a crap home life, and she has a heart, and I don’t just mean her best friend.

Katrell’s heart shows when her mother, who uses her for the rent, gets exactly what she wants. Katrell works harder, Katrell makes bad decisions, Katrell gives up on her own dreams, but she does it all so she can provide for the very mother who is siphoning those dreams away.

Despite her abusive home life and all that’s been taken from her, Katrell is a strong female character. She puts one foot in front of the other and finds. a. way. It’s something I’ve always admired in my own mother—no matter what life throws at her, she finds a way. Katrell has that single-minded ability to survive, and she does it as a teenager who can talk to ghosts.

SPOILERS AHEAD:

But when she learns she can bring the dead back, that’s when things start going to hell. Katrell is not only in a precarious position, but she now has a gang leader who wants his child back and a dog that scared the hell out of me.

The tension when Katrell is trying to figure out how to fix the psychotic (demonic?) actions of the revived dead, manage to not get killed by the gangster who doesn’t remember giving her his car, and figure out where to go when her mom has stolen every stash of money she’s ever had is palpable, and I was on the edge of my seat. I loved it so much, and I love that Katrell’s answers weren’t always the easiest, the smartest, or the safest, but they worked. I just adore her.

WHAT COULD BE BETTER/I WANTED MORE OF

I can’t say the book could be better. I really can’t. It’s so good! But if I had to pick one thing I wanted more of, it’s more lighthearted moments for Katrell. I mean, she’s accurate to some experiences. But my heart was broken for her throughout almost the whole book, so just personal preference, I wanted more good moments for her.

You can (and should!) order Jessica Lewis’ debut Bad Witch Burning here

*eARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

I don't quite know what I was expecting with this book. I saw VE Schwab's review on Goodreads and maybe that made by expectations higher than they should have been.

It's a good book and I think it will be perfect for some people, just not for me. Maybe my own personal trauma with my mother and my living situation just doesn't mix well with the main character's?

Katrell is at times too distrustful to the ones trying to help her and then too trustful to others trying to harm her. She very nearly loses everything she has.

And yes, (slight spoiler) the pet death hurts a LOT.

Bad Witch Burning was really such a master class in tension, and stakes--not to mention character driven horror. I think that the set up itself would have been a stunning novel, but Jessica put that stank on it--I couldn't imagine anybody else handling it better. A favorite of last year.

Katrell might be able to speak with the dead, but her supernatural abilities aren’t something she has time to contemplate most days. Her mind is too full of other urgent calculations – how many hours she needs to work to cover rent for her and her mom, how far she can make her food budget stretch this week, and how many nights she can stay over at her friend Will’s house without becoming a burden. Any ghostly communications she’s involved in are just part of her side hustle, harmless gig work that supplements her minimum-wage income and provides some comfort to others. The stakes change one night, though, when her mother’s boyfriend shoots her dog, and Katrell learns that she can raise the dead (humans and canines alike), not just talk to them. As Katrell’s financial situation grows desperate, she decides her only solution is to start charging a premium for this new brand of services.
Before long, however, Katrell’s control over the undead begins to unravel, as the revenants start behaving strangely, then violently. She can no longer ignore the terrifying implications of her powers but must instead confront the darkest corners of her own heart, and allow others to help her, before it’s too late to rein in the destruction she’s set in motion.
Even as YA fiction has become increasingly diverse in recent years, this novel is groundbreaking not just in its nuanced and well-informed depiction of a life in poverty, but moreover in its assertion that a young heroine’s journey toward material and emotional safety is a story worth attending to. Indeed, Katrell’s personal journey – learning to accept care after living in precarity – is very much grounded in material concerns, yet it reveals astonishing depth under Lewis’ skillful hand. Her story is certainly deserving of a place alongside other narratives of self-actualization and self-discovery within the genre.

Gritty, visceral and at times disturbing, Bad Witch Burning was a book that just hooked me into it. Our MC, Katrell, bends over backwards to provide for her mother and her dead-beat boyfriend, even if it means talking to the dead. But as things get harder and Katrell finds herself in a bind, she begins to use dark magic to resurrect dead bodies. This magic, however, comes at a steep price that outweighs the financial benefit, and soon Katrell finds herself not only facing poverty, but finds herself close to losing everything. Readers should definitely check out the CWs in this book as there is a lot of triggering content for some. I really found Katrell to be a compelling character, someone flawed and multidimensional who has a really great character development arc throughout the book as she learns that she doesn't have to shoulder everything by herself. You can't help but empathize with the situation Katrell is in and feel the righteous anger that permeates these pages in regards to social inequality and violence against women, especially young women of color. I also really loved how there wasn't a romance in this book. Katrell's story stands on its own without it, and that is always refreshing to me when an author can do that. Lewis's writing is fantastic and you can see how much of her heart she pours out on these pages. I also am living for the strong friendship between Katrell and Will and how well done it is. Bad Witch Burning is a story about how far someone is willing to go to survive, and the decision to take it all on ourselves or to let others into our messes can make or break us.

CW: poverty, abuse, trauma, PTSD, mentions of the foster care system, parental neglect and abandonment, drug use, animal death (major catalyst for the overall plot), violence, death and murder, gun violence, toxic relationships, gaslighting

Definitely a heavier book than I anticipated. It was an emotional read. This book touches on trauma, abuse and what happens when a child is forced to be the parent. I definitely felt for Katrell, even when she was doing the most. It’s not the zombie story I signed up for, but it was still a great read

This started off super strong and then it lost me a little bit. I thought this would be more involved with fantasy and explore Trell’s powers but it got off topic a lot. Granted, the topics are very tough and sad such as parental neglect, poverty, and domestic abuse. Also, pet death in the first chapter or two. It’s such a real situation so with that it felt more like a contemporary book with magical realism.

Still a good read to end 2021 with! Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book.

Bad Witch Burning follows Katrell, a poor Black kid who’s not so secret power of speaking to the dead somehow manifests into something a little more sinister. As she brings back the dead, she’s also met with the perils of what it means to face money when everyone around her save for her best friend Will, is trying to take it from her.

Overall I thought this book was well written. I could definitely feel the desperation from Trell and the how authentic the writing was from the author. I loved the opening letter from the author which set the tone of the book and you can definitely tell this is being told from the heart. From my personal background, I know this book isn’t meant for me. I could sympathize with Trell’s tribulations, but I haven’t had to face the hardships she has. However, I think this book will be super meaningful to many underprivileged readers out there that have been in Trell’s shoes and I’m grateful they will have a book to relate to.

Loved this book! Absolutely loved the main character and the story! I read most of this in one sitting I loved it so much!

I enjoy some horror but this one got too far fetched/silly for me later on. Good premise, enjoyed the first half a lot.

Bad Witch Burning by Jessica Lewis is the kind of book that you have to force yourself to put down. I’m talking the sun will come up while you are still reading if you started the night before. When I first heard about this book, I was told that it would capture me and hold me hostage until I finished. Why did I ever doubt? It took me two sittings/evenings to finish this book.

This plot was smooth like butta’! I stayed in the story the entire time. I was constantly engaged and on the edge of my seat as I tried to anticipate what was going to go wrong next. Nothing was very predictable to me, so I was invested to find out what was going to happen from one page to the next.

More Than Just A Spooky Read
When I was considering this Bad Witch Burning for an October TBR hopeful it was because I was looking for a spooky read. Not too spooky, because I am still in recovery from Tiffany D. Jackson’s White Smoke. But just enough spooky to say I read something seasonal and was a good sport 🤣. I left the real horror reads and scary stories behind in my teen years. But what I got from reading Bad Witch Burning wasn’t just a spooky read, I got something so much more.

A Tale Of Magic And Darkness
The story jumps off like this: Teenager talks to the dead for money to pay the rent. Ghost nana tells her to take a break. Teenager doesn’t listen because the rent is due. Teenager messes around and raises the dead instead of just talking to them, but also starts raking in the cash.
Hustling Pay Day GIF - Find & Share on GIPHY
Pay the bills, raise the dead, got a pretty busy day ahead!
Katrelle has the world on her shoulders. She pays the bills, buys the groceries, goes to school, works a full time job. All the while her mom sits at home jobless and her mom’s good-for-nothing boyfriend of the month eats up all the food and beats on Katrelle. But no matter what, Katrell still tries to be the adult and provider despite the fact they are constantly triggering her survival mode.

Trigger Warning
This story contains both child and animal abuse.

Katrelle’s mom and Gerald are on my list of most-despised fictional characters right now. The cowardice of that disgusting man and the manipulation of her selfish mom… I took a few breaks to get up and fight the air a few times. Those two are downright enraging. The worst part is that Gerald is symbolic of the abuse that can be seen, but her mother is symbolic of the abuse and trauma that can not be seen.

Anger And Magic Should Not Be Mixed
#BlackGirlMagic was used to describe this book, but I would like to add that Katrelle embodies #AngryBlackGirlMagic. The kind of magic that must find a way to coexist with the inner rage, anger and sadness. Katrelle must battle with what is right (leaving dead people dead) and what is necessary (rent has to be paid if she doesn’t want to be homeless). I felt so bad for Katrelle. Her anger was absolutely justified. Paired with her powers, it was also scary. She was burning with unreleased rage.

Childhood Trauma
This book does a really good job of capturing what it feels like to live through childhood trauma. You get a look at the psychology and thought process of a teenager who is being manipulated and abused. Katrelle feels the need to protect her mom even though her mom doesn’t protect her from her boyfriends’ beatings. Whenever Katrelle pushes back and is met by anger and manipulation by her mother, she is confused by her own emotions and second guesses herself. Will, Katrelle’s best friend won’t even let anyone touch her because of her own childhood trauma that she was thankfully able to leave behind.

At times the trauma captured in the story feels overwhelming. Again, I really wanted to fight her mama. Trelle’s mindset is based in the understanding that she needed to protect her mother even though her mother doesn’t actually care about her. Will recognizes this and sees through Trelle’s mom. But Trelle can’t see it because it would be too much for her to handle.

Overall, Bad Witch Burning is a great debut novel. I look forward to more books by Jessica Lewis!

Thank you to NetGalley for providing a digital ARC for free in exchange for a fair and honest review.

"Bad Witch Burning" was a real nail-biter that actually had me feeling uncomfortably as though something might be watching me from the shadows. It's an enthralling tale of a young Black woman's struggle to provide for her family in the best way she can: with her ability to speak to the dead. Between school, a part time job, a wayward mother and an abusive step-father, Katrell's life is anything but easy and she dreams of the day that she can make enough money to get out of her dangerous neighborhood and start a new life. When Katrell realizes that she can not only speak to but resurrect the recently deceased, it seems only natural to capitalize on the ability -- but things go quickly south when the newly-returned begin acting strangely and it becomes painfully clear that her new power is not all it's cracked to be.

I cannot possibly do justice to the power of this novel. Katrell as our beautifully tragic hero leads us down a dark path of desperation and denial that will leave you alternately screaming at and rooting for the protagonist. Incorporating it into the classroom would require some trigger warnings (such as violence and gore), but for the right students, it would be an excellent opportunity to discuss the larger themes of racial disparities, youth poverty/homelessness, self-harm and abuse.

This was a fantastic spooky YA that would have kept me up at night as a teen. I loved the conflict of Katrell needing to make money from her gifts, but not liking the kind of attention that brings. It's what takes this book to a level, where any reader can resonate with Katrell even if they don't have her supernatural abilities. I've always been a fan of books about those who can communicate with the dead, and BAD WITCH BURNING did NOT disappoint!

This book was a lot better than I expected it to be! I loved the main character's voice, and the unique take on magic and spirits. It also provides a really good hard look at classism and poverty and what children who are in foster care have to deal with.

The plot and its resolution were a little chaotic for me, I felt there could have been more done and/or more structure to it.

Otherwise, a solid read!