The first chapter of this book really drew me in, but I found the pacing after that to be rather slow. I also would have liked to known more about Dove. She only plays a small role in the book. I did love reading about the magic and folklore and there were some interesting twists and turns in the story. Not sure if I'd read anything more by this author though.

Fantastic! I love the entire premise of this book, it pulled at all the right heart strings. To find ones coven in a time out of your own, but to also find a family you had lost but didn't know it. That's what we all wish for

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

The first chapter of this book gave me a lot of hope that I would love this book but the more I read the more confused I became. While the authors writing is quite beautiful the story itself feels very jumbled and disjointed. I found myself needing to reread sections of chapters because I was just not following what was happening and could not stay focused.

I liked the witchcraft element and how it was woven into the book but found the time travel ineffectively utilized in telling the story. It felt at times like 2 different books being mashed together.

I absolutely loved the concept but feel it wasn't executed as well as it could have been.

It took me a little time to get into this book, but once I had read awhile I was intrigued. There are two timelines 100 years apart, 1922 and 2022. Brigid Heron is catapulted through time and 100 years later finds herself in Evermore which is besieged by demons from the lough and the witches of Knight are manipulating the demons to gain power and take over.

The story is told solely from Brigid Heron's point of view. There is magic, demons, monsters, witches and a goddess and a demigod, among other things in the book. It gets a bit chaotic at times (but the demigod is a master of chaos). An interesting read. I liked the way Brigid, Finola, and Ophelia pulled together. I also liked the goddesses words of wisdom throughout the book. The podcasts added some flair.

Thanks to St. Martin's Press through Netgalley for an advance copy. This book will be published on December 27, 2022.

The Lost Witch is a fun read full of folklore, ancient powers and chaotic magic with some romance tossed into the mix. My one complaint about the story is that the pacing seemed a little off but it still moved well. I would like to see more about these characters though, as a little backstory could have helped.

The Orphan Witch was a 5 star read for me, so when I saw Crutcher had a new book set to release, I raced to request an ARC of it. Sadly, it took me almost half of the book to get into the story, and I would have given up on it before that point had it not been an ARC. I am glad I stuck with it because things did eventually turn around.

In the first half of the book, the writing was lyrical, but it made reading it clunky and slowed down the pacing because the prose didn’t fit in with character dialog. The main part of the book’s description mentions Dove, Brigid’s sick daughter, but she has so little to do in this book. Her role is minute, and we only see her briefly in the beginning and once towards the end. It’s hard to empathize with Brigid when we see so little of this child she fought so hard for. We’re told a good chunk of the story through the unveiling of Brigid’s memory, but her emotions feel shallow. I believe in Knightley’s love for Brigid because we see it happening in real time. But the way Brigid’s memory unfolds, it doesn’t come across as “her great love.”

Once I hit the halfway mark, the pacing picked up, the prose leveled out to suit the dialog, and it became much more enjoyable. Here is where I found the most to enjoy. I liked the connection between Brigid, Ophelia, and Finola and loved watching them work together. I also liked the Witches of Knight and hope they will be part of the story down the road. Lastly, I enjoyed the lore woven into the storyline. I definitely want to see what the next book will have in store. Thank you, St. Martin’s, for sending this along.

I found The Lost Witch enchanting in the most engaging, powerful way. There's a satisfying complexity in Brigid's search for her lost daughter, Dove, and in her relationship with the often-maddening, possibly untrustworthy Knightly. Paige Crutcher's heart-drawn characters are her biggest strength among many. Despite their being witches (who are as likely to confront the problems of their little world with some Jameson's, wine, and chocolate as with magic spells), they are terribly humanesque in their caring and vulnerability. It's that vulnerability that keeps the reader wondering if they will ever overcome the emotional hunger of the bewildered Damned, and the witches of Knight coven who strive to entrap them at every turn. Fortunately, Brigid's desperate search is also a journey toward maturity and strength. She is clever and brave, and those attributes not only carry her through, but also allow her to lead Knightly, Finola, and Ophelia through their trials. I was particularly drawn to the poignant ending of The Lost Witch, which reminds me of a wise song that says something about not necessarily getting what one wants, but what one needs. It's not a perfect analogy, because if it were, it would be a spoiler, and there are no spoilers here. Crutcher is a natural storyteller. Read The Lost Witch. Hold onto your heart.

The story started out with Brigid wanting a child so she went to her goddess for help. Her goddess told her that she couldn’t give her what she was asking for. Brigid was walking in the forest and she met a stranger by the name of luc knightly and he told Brigid if he could have a look at her mind he would give her the child she always wanted. The story was a bit slow for me. I pushed through it Until i got to a little over half the book and I couldn’t finish it. I couldn’t stay interested in the book. It just didn’t hit it for me.

The Lost Witch is the perfect read for anyone who loves the magic and mystery surrounding witches.
The time travel element was the perfect addition and it made me love the story even more.
I loved all the pop cultural references, especially the one about going back in time to find a red haired Scotsman to be the father of your baby.
Brigid is a strong independent woman and she only longs for a child of her own. In order to make this dream a reality ,she makes a deal with Luc, the God of all things trickster. Something goes horribly wrong and Brigid is thrown 100 years into the future. When Brigid wakes up in her basement she has no memory of what has taken place. There is a lot of jumping backwards in order for Brigid to regain some of her memories. I, for one, admit to not being 100% on trusting Luc to tell the truth, is he just looking out for himself?
I loved all the characters; Ophelia, Finola, Brigid, Dove and yes, even Luc .

Paige weaves all the wonder and mystery of witches into a fascinating story.
Good vs Evil
Looking to your past in order to move forward
Taking care of others

If you like Ireland and all of it's magical history this is one story you will want to check out.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for eArc. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

"In Paige Crutcher's The Lost Witch, a witch discovers that finding your way home is sometimes the most perilous journey of all.

1922. Brigid Heron is a powerful witch and healer in the seemingly lost, but charming small town of Evermore on a forgotten isle in Ireland. However, there is one thing that she longs for above all else: a child of her own. She is even willing to be seduced by the mysterious Luc Knightly, head of the Knightly coven, whose pull is potent and impossible to resist. When their child is born and falls ill, Brigid will risk anything to save her daughter - even tap into the forbidden magic of the Lough of Brionglóid. But when the wild magic takes her daughter from her, Brigid is swept away as well.

2022. Evermore is under siege. The witches of Knight have been using their chaos magic to widen the rift between the island and the Otherworld. Creatures from folklore prey on the villagers, consuming their very humanity.

Brigid awakens in this world with no memory of how she traveled into the future, but she learns that she helped unleash this curse on Evermore. To seal the lough and stop the witches of Knight, she must work with her magical descendants, Ophelia and Finola. But the knowledge she seeks lies with Luc Knightly himself - mysterious, handsome, and powerful. To save Evermore, Brigid may have to lose everything once again."

Magical families coming together yes!

This book was a fun read, full of folklore, ancient powers and unruly magic with a little romance thrown in for good measure. The characters of Finola and Ophelia could have used a bit more development, but I thoroughly enjoyed their sense of humor. I also would have like a bit more depth to Brigid's daughter. The pace had a few fits and starts for me, but overall moved the story along fairly well.

I don’t think this was the book for me personally, but I still think it’s a well-written book. The author has a beautiful way with words & does an incredible job of creating an atmospheric environment. The author has a lyrical quality with the writing.
I typically enjoy books with time travel, but I really struggled to just get lost into this one. There was a disconnect for me but I can’t actually describe where it is. It could be that I was expecting more of a romance & I think this book maybe leans more towards women’s fiction, which is purely a personal preference. I still think the author has a talent for writing & this will work for others:
I was glad that I finished the book & was able to see where the story was going. I wasn’t super connected to the story but I appreciated how everything came together.

Massive thanks to St. Martin’s Griffin for the arc, which I voluntarily read & reviewed. All thoughts & opinions are my own.

A town damned and the healer who damned them. A sister who sacrificed everything and a daughter lost in time. That was her story.

The Lost Witch was a story that at times took a movie Memento like concentration by me because of it's use of flashbacks. Brigid is a witch that lives in the village of Evermore, floats off the coast of Ireland. She lost her mother when she was young, had a father that seems to have chased her sister Agnes away, and wants a child. The problem is that Brigid's goddess Brighid (yes, that did get confusing at times) tells her that in order to become a mother, she would have to give up her destiny of becoming one of the nineteen that tends the flame. So Brigid turns to the lough, a lake that it is said to have immense power but is the opposite of the light powers of the Goddess. Readers see Brigid make a deal with Luc Knightly, the God of the lough. Then when Brigid's daughter Dove, turns twelve, she becomes very sick and Brigid must turn to the lough again. This time, Brigid living in 1922 gets sucked into the lough and transported to current times and without her memory.

Brigid was a lost witch, one with no memory of where she’d been or how she could get back home.

In 2022, Brigid learns that she broke the seal of the lough, causing The Damned (monster like creatures) to periodically come out and terrorize the town, a town no one can leave now. She runs into her distant relative Ophelia and Ophelia's roommate and friend Finola who live in Brigid's old home and try and fight the The Damned to protect the townspeople. Brigid also runs into Luc Knightly who has the memories Brigid lacks and seems to want to help her but his dark magic is what has lead to the problems in the first place. A coven of 4 witches serves him, lead by East, who work to empower the lough and want to destroy Brigid and her good magic Goddess. They have six months before the lough is fully opened.

“She took what was mine, and I want it back.”
Brigid leveled him a look. “Good luck with that.”
“You need me,” he said. “And I need you, so why don’t we help each other?”
Because Luc Knightly never helped anyone but himself.

A lot of this happens in the first couple chapters and I felt a little lost at times, wishing I had some kind of witch primer to understand what was completely going on. As the story goes on, the reader learns that Brigid is not only missing some memories but the reader doesn't know the full story of what happened between Brigid and Luc. Around 30% we get some of Luc's point-of-view (Ophelia, Finola, and East also get povs) and it's clear there was some romance between Luc and Brigid. We do get some flashbacks of their relationship but there wasn't much showing the emotional development or depth between the two. The romance felt pretty weak to me in this.

His touch a light caress, his dimple dug deep into his cheek, his heart in his eyes, and her happiness in the palms of his hands.

I'm not going to lie, 50-70% I felt pretty lost as I tried to follow the story, past excerpts from Ophelia and Finola's podcasts get inserted to catch up and inform the reader about certain things and a cauldron that can give you what you want enters the picture. Now remembering her daughter, Brigid, of course, wants to be reunited with the daughter that had to go into the lough to be saved from her sickness. The cauldron ends up separating Brigid, Luc, Ophelia, and Finola, they lose some of their memories, and then come together for an ending battle scene where they fight the evil coven. There's some happily ever after aspects but clearly some story plots that were given a less happy conclusion in favor of continuing this on down the line in a series. A story of the continuous battle between light and dark magic that had it's confusing moments.

While I personally didn't enjoy this one I did like that it pretty much spanned a 100 years. And had an aspect of time travel in it

This was such a fun read. This is the type of book that you could start and finish in one sitting. Definitely engaging and the characters are very dynamic and relatable. Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for providing me this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you Net Galley and St. Martin's Griffin for this ARC e-book in exchange for an honest review.

The Lost Witch is a magic tale of Brigid who travels time and loses all memories to find her beloved home overtaken by monsters and a coven of evil witches. She discovers two witches living in her home who have been defending the town while waiting on her return. Together they make a plan to save the town, lift the curse, defeat the monsters all while deciding if the handsome, mysterious mayor can be trusted or not.

I really wanted to love this book. The setting was lovely and I loved the balance of magic in the story line as in it wasn't a cheesy take on witchcraft that you typically see in the genre. I loved the first chapter and was immediately drawn into Brigid and her storyline, however, that was short lived. I was quickly lost and in more ways than one. There is a lot going on in this book and I just couldn't keep up with the plot. It felt longer than it need to be as well so it lost my interest rather quickly as well. This felt like the book was trying to be too many things - folklore, magical realism, mystery, fantasy, quirky romcom - it felt disjointed to me. I also felt as though the tone wasn't consistant. It was very serious with some random pop-culture references thrown in to try and make it quirky and relateable. I loved Ophelia and Finiola and their podcast snippbits but it felt like it belonged in a different book.

This had a lot of great elements but, together, they just didn't work for me.

This book was difficult to fully seat myself into . I found myself setting it aside easily as it did not grip me and keep me enchanted. Th writing was lyrical and whimsical, but the plot came out as lackluster and difficult to keep me interested in continuing.

This was the perfect fall read and not at all like all the other witchy books that I have read this year. I could not put this book down!! I read it all in less than a day because the story had me wanting more and more! The world building and the story line was so fun and unlike anything I had read lately! The author is 100% going on my must buy list and I can not wait to read more from her in the future!! Also totally need more books in this as a series!

Thank you to the publisher and Net Galley for giving me an advance copy of this book to review and for their patience while I read it. All in all, this is a 4 star book. The writing as far as dialogue, descriptions etc was very well done, authentic and easy to follow . The characters were developed well and interesting - although I would've liked to know more about Finola and Ophelia before we got to the last third of the book. The plot was engaging and unique. I love almost anything to do with witches and this didn't disappoint! The aspect that took a star or so off for me was the uneven pacing. I almost gave up at the 50% point because it felt like while there was action - we weren't moving forward or really getting anywhere. It didn't feel like the plot was moving ahead - more like meandering around. It picked up after the halfway point though. Then the last 25% or so felt rushed. There were whole sections where the action was just described as "they did this, then this" and then skipped ahead. I felt like some could be cut from the beginning and those sections fleshed out more. The other aspect I really didn't enjoy were the "podcast" snippets. It felt like a distraction and didn't flow well with the tone of the rest of the book. All in all, I did enjoy the book. It had a good message, interesting characters, and engaging plot.

I wanted to get into this, but it was just slow and repetitive. I enjoy a good fantasy and love books about magic, but this didn’t pull me into the story and I even thought about DNFing it a few times. The modern characters of Finola and Ophelia were great, but they just couldn’t carry the story alone.

Thanks to the publisher for providing an ARC through Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.