Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.
This book was refreshing and so much fun! Hasani was a strong and funny main character, I loved her voice. The concept of magic in this book was unique and interesting. I look forward to more books in this series in order to learn more about how magic is handled in this world.
The narrator for this audiobook was amazing and so engaging!

This wasn't quite what I expected, but I ended up really liking it. Because Wildseed Witch might get marketed alongside other magic Black girl books like Amari and the Night Brothers, it's worth noting that this is a very different sort of book. Less whimsical magic school that feels like another world and more somewhat magical finishing school with elite mean girls and a main character with a makeup YouTube channel. Very different vibes and project.

The summer before eighth grade Hasani discovers that she has magic and is invited to attend a magical finishing school for the summer. Hasani wants to learn magic, save her parents marriage, and grow her YouTube channel. But she struggles to fit in with girls from families with a long line of witches. She struggles to learn the high class etiquette, and a lot of the girls are kind of awful to her. Though Hasani herself can be pretty self-centered and must grow through the course of the book, and come to accept that her parents don't want to be married anymore and she can't fix it. Even with magic.

Part of me wishes there was less of this mean girl stuff, but at the same time I think a lot of it is realistic to the experience of being a young teen who thinks the world revolves around you with other teens who are trying to act like they have things more together than they really do. I could see it resonating with actual middle school students quite a lot. Parts of the middle did drag a bit, and as a YouTuber myself I had some questions about how that was depicted, but by the end I think things were explained in a way that made sense. The audio narrator is great! I received an audio review copy of this book via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

4 stars! I really enjoyed this book!! Wildseed Witch is a lovely middle grade novel about young teen witches in Louisiana.

Our main character Hasani is a Wildseed - a witch who does not come from a historic magical family - and is invited to attend a charm school where she struggles to fit in with the rest of the girls, all of whom were born into magic and know that magic is their birthright. Hasani is such a believable teenager - her magic first appears when she finds herself under extreme emotional stress - and I adored learning along side her.

My favorite part of the novel is what happens after the girls finish their summer at Les Belles Demoiselles. Hasani has to learn how to navigate the world with magic she understands and can control, and like all humans (not just teenagers) has to learn how to deal with impulsive mistakes.

All the girls and teachers in this novel are POC, and it's refreshing to read a book about a magic school for young teens that doesn't star an almost exclusively white cast. This is a fantastic alternative for youth who are into fantasy and want to read things that are more inclusive.

Thank you netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of this wonderful audiobook, I look forward to the rest of the series!!

The blend of magic with technology is sure to draw in readers. The history of slavery and weaving in the Creole culture with an emphasis on proper etiquette, depending on one another, and hints of global issues, like climate change and pollution, are woven throughout the plot to

What a fun and "charm" filled middle grade story. This is a fun contemporary fantasy that touches on many issues that MG girls may have; friendships, family life, fitting in, popularity, making mistakes and growing up. Thank you to Amulet Books and NetGalley for this advance copy.

Thank you to the publishers, author and NetGalley for the free copy of this audio book.

While I am definitely not the target audience, I thought this was a cute, quick & easy read! I enjoyed the main character's personality, and it was fun to see her maturing throughout the story. The narrator was excellent in this as well!

How could I not pick up a book with such gorgeous cover art?
The description promises witches, flowers, and black girl magic in Louisiana, and I was immediately sold.
While the ideas are wonderful, the story didn't work so well for me. This book feels a little like several stories condensed into one volume, and would have benefited from cutting storylines and expanding on the ones remaining. I understand that this is a middle grade story, but I'm not convinced that I would have been satisfied as a middle grade reader with the loose ends and cursory non-explanations given for important story aspects. What is the difference between charm and magic? How does either actually work, other than feeling like tingling? Does each person have a finite amount of magic? Is this summer camp exclusively for 13 year old girls the only magic education available? Why do the teachers use fake identities? How does everyone connected to Hasani through social media live close enough to just pop over?
I struggled to enjoy anything pertaining to the school (which unfortunately for me was a large portion of the book). Authority figures leave the acknowledged brand new Hasani on her own with no explanation of even basic information, then punish her for breaking rules that aren't communicated. Exaggerated bullying is ignored. Teachers behave in a detached way all summer, then act as if they've been rooting for Hasani all along when she passes her test after abruptly becoming good at everything.
It is entirely possible I'm being too hard on the story because I'm outside the target audience. I can see where young girls would connect with Hasani, especially regarding her makeup YouTube channel. But therein lies another of my concerns with this book; namely, the way the explosive growth of Hasani's YouTube channel paints an unrealistic picture of social media popularity. Although the story later provides an explanation for her meteoric rise, it does little to offset the impression of her nearly effortless success. Perhaps I'm underestimating young girls! but if I as an adult felt so strongly from this story that becoming famous on YouTube is easy and immediate, how can I expect a different reaction from a 10 year old?
Channie Waites does a really fantastic job channeling Hasani's personality and enthusiasm, as well as nailing accents and voices for other characters. I love that Hasani gains friends without losing her original best friend. I love that Hasani and her mom have a good relationship. I love that Hasani mostly feels confident in herself and proudly shows off her makeup and clothes even when they don't match what everyone else wears. I love that several girls share their love of math and coding. Maybe most of all, I love the initial description of the way magic feels: "somewhere between blushing and your foot falling asleep." Brilliant!

Thank you NetGalley and RB Media for an early listening copy of Wildseed Witch in exchange for an honest review.

RATING: 3.75 Rounded Up

Hasani plans to spend the summer after 7th grade creating content and growing her makeup YouTube channel. She is also hoping to get her parents back together. What she isn’t expecting is to discover that she is a witch or getting a chance to attend the most coveted schools for young witches.

I really enjoyed how much of Louisiana culture and African American history Dumas included throughout the novel. All of the scenes with Grandme Annette were my favorite. The lessons and advice she gave Hasani were critical to her growth and understanding of what it means to be a witch. I also appreciated Dumas highlighting that it’s ok for a Black girl to have and show big emotions especially anger.

Hasani’s time at Les Belles Demoiselle’s was mired with a lot of competitive mean girl behavior. I get why it was included because Hasani came to the school as the new girl and was from a family that wasn’t wealthy or have a long line of witches. It just felt it was done with a heavy hand unnecessarily because the students weren’t really competing for anything. They were there to learn. Ironically, I don’t feel the instructors did much teaching. It was as though they expected Hasani to just know what to do. It didn’t make sense because she knew absolutely nothing about magic prior to coming. I never fully grasped what the difference was supposed to be between charm and magic or why they didn’t want Hasani to use magic.

After Hasani leaves the school the focus of the book completely shifts to her YouTube channel and attempting to help and find a missing fellow YouTuber whose channel is struggling. There’s also the plot line with trying to get her parents back together. It started to feel like three different stories were being forced together. It made the book feel very disjointed.

After finishing the book I still don’t quite understand the magic system especially within the context that it was used at the school. I’m hoping the sequel fills in the gaps about the magic within this story. Overall, I wanted to love this book. The cover is gorgeous and the audio was well done. There were aspects that were wonderful and nuggets of wisdom woven throughout but as a whole it missed the mark for me.

DNF at 40%

This is a situation where I’m just not enjoying this as much because I’m not the target audience.

However, this book is perfect for preteens; especially preteen Black girls who want to see themselves in stories where their culture is embraced and they can do magic!

I struggled with this story mainly because of the cattiness amongst the girls at the magical school. I felt that it was a bit over the top, but that isn’t to say that this isn’t exactly what preteens are going through.

This is a fun witchy story about a young girl learning how to fit in and how to take accountability for her actions. It addresses bullying and how difficult it can be for kids to accept changes in their lives such as a new school and divorce. The audiobook narrator did a great job of bringing the characters to life.

Wildseed Witch is a modern coming of age story filled with familiar obstacles and emotions that young readers will easily connect with.

Hasani has one big goal for the summer, grow her youtube channel and connect with followers. It seems that fate has other ideas though. Upon being introduced to her fathers new girlfriend Hasani learns that her intense emotions can conjure real magic! Within these pages you will travel to a magical summer camp and learn lessons of both the magical and practical kind.

I found Wildseed Witch to be charming and whimsical I think that it will connect with young readers because of it's efforts to be "of the time" but I also think it being so relevant is what will inevitable make it somewhat forgettable in years to come. There's a lot of lessons within these pages worth reading but I didn't find it to be one of those tales that moved me.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

4.5 stars rounded to 5 stars:

Very sweet, yet witchy middle-grade novel. Well written, decent character development, perfect locale. The MC is described as an ethnic, lovable teen witch with a thirst for social media fame. What Gen-Z can’t related to that?

As a French-speaking person, I can appreciate the effort and proper pronunciation of the French words used in this audiobook. The narrator did an excellent job.

I could easily recommend this to any teen or young person, especially female identity ones. Anyone who enjoys anything witchy would likely also appreciate this book.

(ALC received from NetGalley in exchange for honest review. Thank you!)

Hasani has one big goal – become the next big sensation on YouTube for her makeup tutorials. But she’s distracted from that when she finds out her dad, who was recently separated from her mom, is dating another woman. Unable to control her temper, she feels her first surge of magic. It’s not long before she receives an invitation to attend a prestigious magical academy. As she struggles to learn about her magic and maintain her YouTube followers, Hasani begins to realize she has much more to learn about herself.

This was a coming-of-age story that takes place in New Orleans with a focus on some Creole cultural aspects. The author did a good job at incorporating the culture of New Orleans as well as including the actual names of locations. Some of the history of sugar plantations was also brought in with a magical twist, which was an interesting and meaningful inclusion.

I did feel that the author tried to pack too many things into one book. The main focus felt like it should have been on Hasani discovering her magic and learning how it was used, but then there was also the social media plot as well as the family conflict plot. It felt as if none of the plots were as fully developed or in depth as they should have been just because there were too many things going on. This also left some gaps in explanations that should have been included to make a more meaningful read. As this is the first book in a series, it could have easily been split down a bit.

The author did a good job with Hasani. She was flawed but realistically so, and she had meaningful character growth by the end of the work. The rest of the characters I didn’t find to be particularly compelling though, and I would have liked to see a bit more depth to them.

I listened to the audiobook version of this story and thoroughly enjoyed the narrator. She did an excellent job, and the quality was superb. The cover of this book is also gorgeous. This would likely be a compelling read for older children and young adults (ages 9 to 15 probably).

I received a complimentary copy of this work through NetGalley. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Wildseed witch is an adorable take on magic. With magic being connected to flowers, it allows for some beautiful imagery and magic I wish I could see in person!

This book is about growth. Hasani learns and grows so much as not only a witch, but as a person, in this book. While she starts off a bit self-centered, she learns from her mistakes and grows in a way that is truly important for other kids to see - it's okay to make mistakes, but you need to learn from them and grow, and do what you can to remedy them.

I think this book works wonderfully as an audiobook. The narrator, Channie Waltes, beautifully brings Hasani to life in a way that I don't think the book would've had the same impact in print.

Parts of this book did feel a bit cheesy, especially the aspects relating to Hasani and her Youtube channel. Perhaps it is just that I'm not used to reading about media in my literature, but either way, it wasn't enough to impact the story for me.

The Good: Black girl magic, magical girl finishing school, flower/plant magic, no romance/love interest, coming of age. The narrator was amazing.

The Bad: Pacing was off, too much emphasis on bullies, bad teaching styles, finishing schools are ick and mysioginistic, MC is a bit of a brat.

Hasani is obsessed with YouTube and has Summer goals of getting to 100 subs. She makes beauty/makeup videos and aims to post everyday. On her way to stay at her fathers house he tells her about his girlfriend and Hasani’s magic suddenly manifests and disrupts traffic. Thus being sent off the magical girl finishing school on a full scholarship.

I loved the idea that all the girls have a flower affinity and it becomes their identity. The school sounds super cute and at first seems cozy.

This book had so much potential, but so much of it was off.

The narrator did an amazing job. I’ve read a book narrated by Channie Waites before and she came through for this bratty confused teen.

Hasani is bullied because she's a ‘wild seed’, which translates to magic without magical immediate family members. Her classes don’t make any sense and her teachers don’t actually explain anything to her. The school KNOWS she is a late bloomer (get it? Because of the flowers??? sorry…) but they don’t take her aside and explain how things are done. She spends the first 24 hours not knowing where the bathroom is because no one tells her, she doesn’t look for one and she DOESN’T EVEN ASK. Where is the magical school induction? A teacher goes out of her way to tutor her in etiquette at the table but no one thinks to help her with magic? The adults in this book are horrid. Handing out detention after detention makes her skip down time, basically cutting her off from any social interactions with the outside world. Abuse anyone???

The introduction of kittens was adorable but Hasani refuses to refer to her roommates kitten by its given name, she’d much rather she refer to it by the same SHE gave it. Rude. Entitled. Spoiled.

Not a fan of Hasani, comparing her school to Hogwarts, twice. Anyone still referencing HP in their writing clearly hasn’t read the room. Also her school is a FINISHING school. So she learns manners/etiquette and how to sit at a table. Can we not??? Ew. Schools like that exist to keep women in tiny tidy boxes so we’ll marry well and be a good housewife. Outdated and grotty concepts of how women should act.

The pacing was a bit off. We spend the first 60% of the book at school then the last 40% solely on YouTube at home with friends. The whole friends/bullies thing was off. The pacing of some of the friends to enemies and enemies to friends were way too late. Hasani clearly has a lot of growing up to do, which happens way too late in the book.

The story was good, the lessons were great (Hasani needs to learn more lessons), the relationship she has with her new bestie is cute, I loved the lack of romance, and I enjoyed the black girl magic. This book just didn’t quite hit its mark. I’d probably read another if this is a series because Hasani has potential, fingers crossed she rebels and destroys the whole system.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Wildseed Witch is a whimsical and charming story all about finding your place and loving the skin you're in.

While this book is definitely on the younger side of middle grade that didn't make the author shy away from important topics like being a responsible internet citizen, parental conflict and divorce, and bullying.

The main character Hasani is determined and whole hearted, a character that I could really see kids loving and growing with over the course of the series.

I personally loved the New Orleans history and the discussion of the sugar cane slavery, not only was it informative (non American so I didn't know about this) but I thought it was also told in am accessible way to the books young audience.

Overall this book was a little too young for me and I worry the pop culture references with unfortunately date it in a couple of years. I would recommend this to a 9-10 year old though!

Lastly the narrator did an amazing job and needs to take a bow for the French pronunciations.
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Thank you NetGalley and RB Media for an audio Ard of this book in exchange for my honest review.

What a cute little read this was. Hasani is upset that her parents are separated, and wants them to get back together. She finds out she is a witch due to a magical event after getting some emotional news. She is quickly invited to a finishing school for witches, on a scholarship, no less. She ends up learning a lot about herself, her friends, her family, and her magical powers.
It's a fun quick read, and the narration on the audiobook is enjoyable.

Hasani came from a family of non-witches and is called a "Wildseed."
I had a tough time going through this book. After a while, I couldn't really relate and so I started to kind of disassociate with Hasani. She just didn't seem believable to me.
It could be that this book is a middle grade book and maybe it was too juvenile for me. Maybe.

First things first, I absolutely loved this audiobook. The narrator was super good, and it was a lot of fun to listen to her.

The cover of this book as well as it being about a magic school had me interested in this book right away. We follow Hasani, who tries to be a YouTuber and then finds out she has magic. She's send to an expensive summer camp to learn magic, and this is where most of the story takes place.

So, I expected this to be a book about Hasani learning how to use her magic. With, you know, magic classes (to be fair, so did she). Yet that's not really what this book felt like. Rather than the magic, we get a lot of rivalries and mean girls, and just general girl hating for no reason. And I wasn't really a fan of that.

Hasani is very self-centered, which at times gets a bit annoying. There is some character development near the end, but it was more a sudden complete change for the better than gradually getting better over the course of the book. I would have liked to see/feel her grow up, rather than just have her be one way on this page and suddenly mature the next.

Which means my biggest problem with this book is the pacing. Some things that I feel are important happen super quickly (like Hasani realizing and learning from her mistakes), while other things that don't seem as important (the competitiveness for no reason) takes main stage.

This was still a very fun read. The concept was fun, and having a girl trying to be a youtuber felt fresh. Hasani had a lot of personality. I do feel like other characters didn't get as much characterization / much characterization at all.

The plot is a bit predictable, but overall I did enjoy this book.

This book was a wonderfully written fun comming of age story. I loved how the author weaved a world that celebrates black girl magic! I loved seeing how the flowers and nature magic had affect on our characters. I really think this is a great world for young readers to be challenged and to question who they are!