I received an electronic ARC from Inkyard Press through NetGalley.
Delightful updated fairy tale that blends witches, wolves, a candy house and gingerbread. Maud was made from gingerbread by her "mother" Agatha. Readers meet her and see her frustration that she is not allowed to learn magic though others her age are. A disaster happens and Mother Agatha ends up in the oven, and, yes, Hansel and Gretel were there when it happened. Maud sets off on a quest to bring her mother back to life. The other gingerbread animals go with her and other humans join along the way. As with any quest, there is danger from surprising sources and betrayal from someone trusted. They have to defeat evil and wrestle with ancient ancestors to find the solution to save her mom and rescue all of her friends.
Overy keeps the tone light and weaves older fairy tale allusions throughout the book. It is a stand alone but the story could easily develop farther in a sequel.

This is a fun fractured story of Hansel and Gretel, but from the perspective of the gingerbread daughter of the gingerbread witch. I was a good 20% of the way through reading the book before I realized the way the tale was headed. This is my reasoning for the 4 out of 5 stars. The remaining 80% of the book was well written and worth adding to a library collection.

An updated fairytale with nods to the classics such as Little Red Riding Hood and Hansel & Gretel. In this version, our adolescent wannabe witch has been conjured up from Gingerbread thus she's not actually human. That's a good thing as she sets out on an adventure to retrieve The First Witch's Spellbook which has been buried in the Shadowlands and no human can touch it. It is a journey of self-discovery and ones own value. The Gingerbread Witch speaks to friendships and acceptance with dashes of magic.

I loved this book! There were so many twists and turns and I thought it was awesome how the story wasn’t from the perspective of Hansel and Gretel. The gingerbread witch’s cottage sounded so magical. I thought the worldbuilding was really well done and very imaginative and whimsical. I felt like there were lots of layers to this story and you got to learn something new at each chapter. There’s queer rep as well which is great! Mother Agatha was such a loving character, surprisingly since she’s the witch😂 This book had such a heartwarming ending as well. The one thing I wished for with this book was that there was more of a conclusion for the Wolves’ group. Other than that, this was a great book that puts an interesting spin on the tale of Hansel and Gretel, and I think kids will really enjoy it! There are also lots of great messages woven throughout the story about how not all people in a group are bad and to not judge people by those groups.

4.5/5 Stars

Such a page turner! This book had me hooked right from the beginning. The vivid descriptions will help young readers visualize the story. This book is full of twists and turns and has some sweet lessons such as kindness, empathy, and courage. I also loved how the author subtly included a lesbian couple which is something young LBGTQ+ readers look for. This is an exciting book that I would to see made into a movie!

Thank you, Inkyard Press, for allowing me to read The Gingerbread Witch early!

I loved reading the first book in Alexandra's duology, so when I saw her middle-grade debut on NetGalley, I couldn't not request it and needless to say (it is actually necessary, but everyone knows what I mean), I loved this book, a loose retelling of the story of Hansel and Gretel, in which one of the witch's gingerbread creation, Maud, will need to avoid the witch hunters to save her mother.

I love Overy's writing and I thought this was a very fun middle grade fantasy/adventure! I recommend her YA book all the time, and will definitely do the same with this one.

This middle grade chapter book tells a fractured fairy tale including lots of well known characters such as hansel, gretel and little red riding hood. There are several short chapters, about 8 pages each, with no pictures. The book includes lots of magic, as well as creepy spells or potions such as pickled beetle legs and chapter titles like "Witches don't eat children". I can definitely see this book being a hit with the middle grade audience and would recommend this book to parents and teachers of children in the 9-13 age range who enjoy fantasy and magic. Thank you to Netgalley and he publisher for the opportunity to read and review this great book!