Bad Witch Burning is such a well written book! The main character had to really dig in and come to some real solid conclusions about what she truly wanted. This story highlights what toxic environments can do to a family. I sincerely wanted to SMACK her mother. Sincerely. I despised her. I also understood how the character could almost idolize her with love. I was grateful for the network of love that surrounded her in the end. This book should be in the hands of young adults everywhere.

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

I'll admit that this was a hard book to read. When I initially picked this up I expected a wholly supernatural read filled with zombies, saving the world and some fun. The zombies were absolutely delivered, but they were served with a side of family trauma, abuse, and an introspective look at what happens when you're forced to confront the ugly parts of yourself and the toxic relationships around you.

Do not get me wrong, the story was amazing. It pulled several emotions out of me (most of the time anger) and I think that often times that's what a good book does. It elicits and taps into your strong emotions so that you can feel the story more deeply. And while this may not have been the fun action packed story I initially set out to read, it was definitely a moving one and one that I won't forget any time soon.

Katrell is literally forced to make hard decisions every day. She has a best friend who is dealing with her own trauma inflicted on her by previous foster parents, a mother who refuses to work and defends her horrible boyfriend til the end, and a man living her in her house that is not only worthless, but emotionally, verbally and physically abusive towards her. So of course, with everything falling on her to provide for herself and her mother (and that boyfriend) she turns to the only thing she can: her gift to communicate with the dead. And while that helps her make ends meat for awhile, she finds herself overwhelmed and having to tap into a new and dangerous power.

Katrell is a character you're constantly rooting for, but also one you want to beat over the head because SHE JUST DOESN'T LISTEN AND IS SO STUBBORN!! She's so determined to do things her way and believe that she can come through on the other side even when all the evidence points to the contrary. And while it was absolutely frustrating, it's incredibly realistic, especially the way she defends her mother and is in denial about just how toxic the woman is.

I think one of the biggest takeaways is that this is a heavy heavy book so be prepared going in, but if you're prepared for that then I think you'll enjoy it.

A complex and unflinching story of a girl who can raise the dead—and who uses her little-understood powers to try to shield herself from poverty, neglect, and abuse.

Another disappointing read for me, another book that caught my attention with its great premise just to turn out as a YA contemporary with magical elements.

Yes, there are ghosts, magical powers and even dead people who come back to life, but the main focus of the book was on Katrell, her abusive mother and her even more abusive stepfather. Katrell, a minor, has to work in a fast-food restaurant and earn money with her magic to make ends meet, while her mother and the boyfriend don’t work but instead use Katrells money to pay for their next party weekend.

That wasn’t what I signed up for and even though some elements were creepy and interesting, I couldn’t enjoy the book. It just wasn’t what I wanted to read and it wasn’t what I was promised.

I will read any book with witches and this one was great. It gave me Cemetery Boys feels and I loved that. The characters were fresh and real. The struggles they had to deal with heavy and you couldn't stop reading.

From the moment that I saw this cover I knew that I wanted to read this book. Then I read the synopsis and I was immediately intrigued by Katrell and her story. This book was such a powerful read. Yes there was magic and badassery, but there was also a lot about simple girl who's just trying to make it by. I really enjoyed how those elements played in with each other and I found this story to be very impactful in a way I didn't expect it to be. Very enjoyable during the spooky season as well.

This book was good? yes but not anything I felt was overall amazing. The pacing for my taste was very slow and I felt the family conflict was more of the focus than the magic aspects. There is nothing wrong with that just what I was not expecting going into the book. Overall, I felt it was a solid YA and defiantly can see a large market of people really enjoying this story.

The synopsis to this novel seemed very interesting. However, there are some disturbing scenes that make for a depressing read. Thus, this novel was an uncomfortable read for me.

Talk about a stellar debut! This mixed real-life contemporary with paranormal in a tell that darn near feels realistic if zombies walked the earth. I was sold on the psychic energies! I was sold on the magic gone wrong. Heck, I was sold on the dysfunctional mother-daughter relationship. Slap a band-aid on my heart, because this book left me shattered. I cannot wait to see what's next for this author.

Oh, ouch. I didn't expect Bad Witch Burning to be so emotional and difficult. Jessica Lewis's debut is a journey through a teenager desperately trying to navigate crushing poverty, hunger, parental emotional abuse, domestic abuse, and the daily torments of school, bullies, and societal violence. Katrell has always been the family breadwinner, earning her mother charity when she was younger and now straight up earning the only wage while her mother goes unemployed and her mother's boyfriend eats their food and refuses to pitch in. Katrell supplements her income by "writing letters" to the dead, coaxing their ghosts to appear for a few minutes to loved ones for a small fee. For reasons unexplained, her talent changes after she experiences a traumatic event. Now Katrell can resurrect the dead, and she discovers people are willing to pay thousands to return their dead loved ones. When her mother is short rent and utilities, Katrell starts raising the dead to make ends meet, and then more. Then more.

But of course there are consequences, and with more money comes more problems. It's easy to understand Katrell's desperation and her denial that things aren't so bad. For a girl working herself ragged to keep the lights on, money should fix everything, but there are deeper issues at play with Katrell than she realizes and money turns out to be the least of her problems, especially when her Revenants, as she calls them, start acting strangely and she begins to lose control.

Bad Witch Burning is a strong debut. It's dark and anxiety-provoking in all the good ways, and the characters were all fleshed out and popped off the page. While there's absolutely no discussion of where Katrell's power comes from, and no discussion of why it changes so suddenly (trauma? coming of age? we don't know), the book works well without dwelling too much on it, especially since Katrell herself isn't immediately interested in why she can do these things but how she can utilize them to her benefit.

The only thing I found frustrating was the pacing from about 30% to about midway--things felt repetitive: Katrell resurrects someone, gets paid, gets hit/something happens at home, revels in having money, rinse/repeat. The plot spins its wheels a little and I wasn't sure where the book wanted to go. I also found myself frustrated with Katrell's refusal to have any revelation that stuck long enough to build off of so she could gradually change. She does a character 180 at the extreme end of the book, which works for the plot, but also made any emotional development she went through to get there feel repetitive since she kept backsliding to her default position by the beginning of a new chapter.

But! Frustrations aside, I really liked this one. Will look out for more Jessica Lewis in the future.

Katrell has the ability to communicate with the dead by summoning them by letter. She charges a small price for others to utilize her ability and uses this money to help pay the bills to support her mother and her deadbeat boyfriend, Gerald. During a summoning, she receives a warning from the ghost that if she continues, bad things will happen. Her next summoning results in a resurrection and Katrell realizes she could make even more money if she were to continue resurrecting peoples loved ones. But things quickly take a turn for the worse, and Katrell needs to figure out how to fix what she started, before more people get hurt.

I didn't expect this book to be as hard-hitting as it was. I had expected a fun filled fantasy about a girl raising the dead for a little extra cash, but it was so much more than that. This doesn't feel like a debut at all! I was instantly sucked into this story and these characters. I found it hard to put the book down, because I wanted to know what was going to happen next. Katrell's character broke my heart, and I wouldn't say she is necessarily a likeable character. But she has been through so much abuse in her life, its understandable why she would be hesitant around other people. I wanted so badly for her to get out of the situation that she was in. I hated Katrell's mother and Gerald, and it made me so angry every time she would stand up for her mother and her behaviour. I'm glad that she had positive adult figures, such as her guidance counsellor and Will's mother to look up to. I also really liked Katrell and Will's friendship, especially when Katrell had to realize how important and valuable it was.

I do think that the pacing is a bit off, and there is a lack of worldbuilding in regards to Katrell's ability, which is why I took a star off.

Overall, this is a really wonderful debut, that will pull on your heartstrings in unexpected ways.

I got a ARC graciously from the publisher and then forgot about it (my bad) until I saw the hardback at the library. I only mention this as there was a letter at the start of the ARC by the author that was missing from the hardback. I think that is a shame as it gave the personal framing that helped me as a reader understand the story. Some of that is alluded to in the acknowledgments but that is at the end of the book. My main issue with this book was partly that is was advertised wrong. I keep seeing it labeled as a horror book. It’s not at all. This is almost entirely a YA coming of age and family drama. The emotion and the plot focus on the domestic issues. In that way, and particularly for the first 25%, the magic felt tacked on. People delt with it too easily for the MC being the only one with magic in the book. Its source was never explained and if other people in this world had magic was never touched on. I also think this book couldn’t figure out its goal in other ways. I have trouble commenting on this as I understand the author is writing from her own background and history, but this is a book about a lot of pain. I went in thinking this was a very different book so that is my issue but also, I think partly my issue with the book as well since I think it had trouble balancing family drama and horror (fantasy) and who exactly the audience is.

Katrell talks to the dead, which is great, but doesn’t pay enough to support her unemployed mom and her mom’s current boyfriend—and neither does the job she works at a fast food restaurant after school. But when her ability to talk to the dead goes on the fritz, she gets a weird warning from a ghost about her abilities getting getting stronger (and to not do magic no matter what), her hours get cut and her mom’s boyfriend murders her dog in front of her, Katrell snaps. And suddenly, Katrell’s dog Conrad is back. So what if he’s acting kinda funny—she now has the ability to summon the dead and her most loyal companion. Katrell knows people would pay anything to get their loved ones back, and well, she needs the money.

“She doesn’t care about you. She never has. She’ll bleed you dry if you let her.”

Five snot-filled, heaving, gasping, weeping tears from my own fucking eyes stars.

There is just so much emotion in this book, and it’s so fucking good and sad and how many words can I use to describe this indescribable book? I knew I was going to be in for a ride when reading the author’s note, but the way Lewis works words and twists emotions is just breathtakingly awe-inspiring.

Katrell is in a shitty situation—she’s going to school and working overtime to support her unemployed, emotionally abusive mom and her mom’s physically abusive, deadbeat boyfriend while they spend their days lounging about the house, doing drugs and then blowing Katrell’s money on trips to casinos and on clothes. Money Katrell was saving up to get groceries and make sure the electricity doesn’t get turned off.

While Katrell’s heartless mom might seem like an over the top characterization…she’s really not. She might be a touch dramatic, but the emotions she pulls are true, and as in Lewis’ forward, based upon her own experiences. And I think that anyone who has grown up with an emotionally abusive mother is going to relate heavily to the someone who thoughtlessly put their own child through shit and gaslit them into thinking that they were together and a team and could get through anything when…the parent was just using them for their own ends, whatever those ends might be. In Katrell’s mom’s case: free labor.

The rest of the book is mostly a teenager in a shitty situation discovering she has a chance to change it, and then making a bunch of ever worsening decisions to get out of the deepening hole she is digging herself in, as the people who want to help watch helplessly as she falls deeper and deeper into the pit.

But why doesn’t Katrell reach out to her friends and the guidance counselor or another friendly adult?

Hahahaha. Really? Really?

A smart Black kid reaching out to a white guidance counselor, knowing full well what foster care is like (thanks to her best friend having been in the system)? Knowing the racist nature of foster care and governmental assistance, and having swallowed her mom’s own bullshit about needing her and being a team and it’s us against the world?

Katrell is smart, but she’s still a child, and the “right” thing is the thing that is something she has spent her entire life fighting against—reaching outside her family unit (her and her mom) for help, even though she’s been getting help from her BFF Will (and Will’s friendly adoptive parents). It’s one thing to have a safe place to sleep and a guaranteed lunch from a BFF’s parents, it’s another to uplift a life and break apart a family that has been fighting to stay together their entire lives, through thick and thin (family here, is with heavy sarcasm, because Katrell is nothing but a commodity to her mom and abuse fucks with your mind).

So. What’s the solution?

You have a new ability. You use that new ability. You get money—lots of money—and then you go a little nuts over it, because it’s something you’ve never had in excess before, and then when it all crumbles down (because it will), you continue to dig deeper because what worked before surely will work again, even though it’s going to kill you. Until you reach the rocky bottom of the pit where you are suddenly faced with two options: continue digging and probably die, or reach up for help and maybe live.

Well shit, I wrote way more than I had intended.

But I do want to add that this book is not an endorsement of the foster care system, but rather about the fact that it’s okay to reach out and get help, that it’s okay to find trusted friends and adults, but that it’s also entirely natural for an abused, traumatized kid to lash out and work shit out on their own instead, even if it gets them into more trouble than before.

Wait…I spent most of this book talking about real life instead of the resurrected people? Well shit. Real quick: they’re super creepy.

This is a fucking must-read, but please pay attention to those trigger warnings.

Fuck! One last thing!! This has ace rep! ACE. REP!!

Trigger Warning: violent death of an animal, domestic violence, emotional abuse, physical abuse

I received this ARC from NetGalley for an honest review

3.5. I get what the author is doing and the character has every reason to be unlikeable but in this case it did make my reading experience less awesome.

4 stars

Bad Witch Burning is a deeply personal tale that utilizes necromancy as a tool to demonstrate the impact of poverty and abuse on the fragile human psyche. Author Jessica Lewis' introduction to this book tells of her own struggles with the issues presented in this book, which I felt definitely helped to engender empathy for our protagonist as she makes many morally questionable decisions in order to simply survive.

In a season where books about witches are plentiful, Bad Witch Burning certainly stands out from the pack. I did find that there was a few pacing issues for me - the middle dragged a bit while the end wrapped up a bit too quickly - but I think that the ingenious story of otherworldly magic and heartbreaking humanity is something that many people need to experience.

Thank you to NetGalley and Delacorte Press for an ARC of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review!

Bad Witch Burning is about Katrell who, desperate for money, starts using her new and unexplored powers of raising the dead.

A powerful, unique and fast read on shitty families, great support systems, and the cycle of bad decisions in between. It will take you through a roller coaster of emotions between sadness, anger and hope.

⚠️ While this is a fantasy book, that's in the background. The story itself is very real, at times grim. If you're looking for an escapist fiction, this is not it. Otherwise, hop on!

This is really story of desperation. Trying to get out of bad circumstances, and finding yourself in an even bigger hole. The cycle of poverty is portrayed so clearly. While the circumstances and the people that cause this desperation in Katrell are very difficult to read about, they feel incredibly real.

I really liked that the overall message was that you don't have to take things on by yourself. You can rely on people to help you carry some of the weight. Especially highlighting the importance of found family.

The characters in the book are written very well. Will, Katrell's best friend was my favorite. But all the characters are nuanced, they have flaws, they make mistakes. Even the "villains" of the story have dimension.

Katrell's decisions and her continuing complete denial around her family and how her powers work, are quite difficult to read. But it is especially heartbreaking because of how believable it is.

The book all up is a thrilling, authentic read that's hard to put down. It has a few surprises along the way, and a lot of heart. It's one of those books that will definitely make you feel many things, though not necessarily pleasant ones.

On this episode of Everything is Canon, Steve talks to Jessica Lewis all about her debut YA novel, Bad Witch Burning, which is described as “For fans of Us and The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina comes a witchy story full of black girl magic as one girl’s dark ability to summon the dead offers her a chance at a new life, while revealing to her an even darker future.”

What’s great about Bad Witch Burning is it uses nuance and subtext, yes, and horror, to broad stroke larger themes as horror often does. This fear and anxiety that Katrell and others experience, and that has manifested on our streets and in our neighborhoods is real.

This slice of life tale barely leaves four square blocks, but what’s happening to those affected, those feeling the impact of social imbalance, is happening all across America. And no, I don’t mean witches and sleepwalkers necessarily, I mean a lack of rent control, crime-infested streets resulting from zero social assistance, a system that just doesn’t care about you until you vote, these are the real monsters, not a 16-year-old girl.

Steve and Jessica talk about her almost becoming a vet, growing up poor, why we shouldn’t be too quick to judge people, Bad Witch Burning of course, and much, much more.

For the full interview, click the link below...

https://www.cinelinx.com/off-beat/shows/everything-is-canon-bad-witch-burning/

This is a great contemporary fantasy book. The story is rather dark and may be triggering for some readers as it deals with parental neglect and abuse. Additionally there are other violent scenes relating to the magic system in the story. The best aspect of the book was the character development of Katrell as she explores her magic and the power it gives her. Her best Will also experiences some wonderful character development through supporting Katrell and learning to stand her ground. The setting serves the story well and really highlights the contrast between the lives of the two girls and how that changes the dynamic of their friendship. The one thing that felt off to me was the pacing of the story it seemed to ramp up and slow down at odd intervals but did come together well for the ending.

Bad Witch Burning had been one of my anticipated releases this month, and I am so happy to say that I was not disappointed at all.


This story had everything I was looking for and exceeded my expectations with the intense emotional impact that it had on me. I was truly unprepared for how deeply I cared for the characters and what they go through, and even the general themes in this book. As you could have seen in the Content Warnings, it does have quite some heavy topics, but they've done well.


I expected this book to be a fun, witchy story about a young girl who can commune with the dead, and decides to make some cool cash with her talent, but it was so much more than a fun ride.


Don't be get me wrong..this book wasn't in any way boring and a plain sob story. It was the story of our main character, Katrell, a young girl who is living in a terrible situation and has to survive an ignorant and irresponsible mother and abusive step-father, and us working thirty hours a week to make ends meet.


But that doesn't define here.


She also has a rare gift that allows her to talk to dead people, and as desperate but also smart that she is, she finds a way to make money out of it. She takes on clients who lay her in exchange for her letting them talk to their relatives or loved ones. Until one day, she manages to completely resurrect a person from their grave. And that's when things take a turn. She starts getting people back from the dead and being paid by their loved ones just so she can pay her bills and breathe.


But she's strong and stubborn and resilient and doesn't let that define her as well.


Katrell is also a poet. She has a way of making words flow. She could get straight A's in English and creative writing. She is an artist.


I absolutely loved her, if you couldn't tell from my long rant. In one word, she's badass.


But she's not the only one...


Will, Katrell's best friend and Queen #2 in this book, is amazing and the best friend anyone could have. Will has gone through a terribly tough time herself, but she's a side character who is complete and still growing.


There were also a couple of characters I absolutely despised, but they were meant to be that way.


Overall, I loved everything about this book. I had a fantastic time reading it, with its plot and magic and setting and characters, and if you like urban fantasy with cute animal companions and unstoppable intrigue, this book is perfect!

Unfortunately this book wasn't for me. The plot was extremely slow, and the parental gaslighting/abuse was triggering to me.