I found the beginning of this book to be slow and confusing, which unfortunately set the tone for how the book was going to go for me.

This story has the love between a mother and child, romance, action, friendship and sacrifice, all wrapped up in a pretty bow. I enjoyed Brigid's journey from the past to the present as she searched for her missing child, Dove, and discovered friendship in the coven of her family as well as rediscovered her love of Luc. It was all sweet, even with the damned showing up all the time and having Evermore stuck in a curse that people couldn't leave. No, it is not a deep story, but I enjoyed it and thought the ending was perfect.

I wanted to love this book because it’s historical fantasy and witches which are totally my jam. Unfortunately, this book fell flat in many ways.

I didn’t really love any of the characters and that made connecting with the story and rooting for the heroes rather difficult. I also felt like the romance plot wasn’t really romance? It was definitely not my favorite.

Overall, I’d read more of Paige Crutcher’s books but this wasn’t my favorite.

⭐️⭐️⭐️

I loved this book! I have been very into mystical characters lately, and this book and everything and more. It was so cute and I would definitely recommend to all who need a fun, light read.

A story that involves witches, magic and an Irish island? Sign me up! I enjoyed this book and combined both physical reading and the audiobook. I loved the audio version especially because the narrator had a beautiful Irish accent which really made the story come alive.

I did like the magic aspects of the story, but sometimes it felt a bit confusing because of the types of magic and powers (witches and gods). The dual timeline was okay, most of it takes place in 2022, but at times I was confused as to which time I was in. That may have been because the main character was dealing with memory loss, but was seeing glimpses of the past.

The book was a little slow in places, more in the middle, and there seemed to be more telling than showing which didn’t help that. Despite that though this was a fun read and listening experience too.

3/5 stars

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the eARC of this book.

The Lost Witch by Paige Crutcher

311 Pages
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Release Date:

Fiction, Sci Fi, Fantasy, Celtic Mythology

Brigid is a witch. She serves the Goddess and tends the lough. She wants a child but the Goddess denies her request. Lugh Knightly, the creator of the lough, hears Brigid’s cries. He gives her what she wants, a daughter. Dove, her daughter, reaches age twelve but tragically is taken by the lough. When Brigid awakes after Dove’s disappearance, it is one hundred later. She meets Finola and Ophelia, descendants of her sister, Agnes. Together they work to regain Brigid’s memories, fighting the Damned, who are controlling the lough, and find Dove.

The book has a steady pace, the characters are developed, and it is written in the third person point of view. I love the connection of Brigid the witch to the Goddess. If you like Celtic mythology, you will enjoy this book.

This one was a bit of a miss for me. I appreciated the story, but I couldn’t get into it and couldn’t connect with the characters. It definitely had fairytale vibes, which I usually love, but I really couldn’t care about what was happening. The overall setting (the magic, and the portals/time traveling) was pretty cool, but the plot lost me.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press/St. Martin’s Griffin, and Paige Crutcher for an e-arc of The Lost Witch in exchange for an honest review.

Originally posted on my blog Nonstop Reader.

The Lost Witch is a character driven fantasy tale by Paige Crutcher. Released 27th Dec 2022 by Macmillan on their St. Martin's Press imprint, it's 320 pages and is available in paperback, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately.

This is an Irish mythos based fable with original twists, built up quite skillfully. The writing is contemplative and the pacing, at times, ponderous. It never fails to be readable, but it is deliberate and might prove challenging for fans of very fast action driven stories.

The main themes of evil vs good, light and darkness, play out across a dual time-line story in 1922 and the current day. There are curses and time-slips, and a protagonist who can't remember how she traveled from 1922 to 2022 and unleashed a curse which she needs her descendant's help to unravel.

The first 40%+ of the book is chaotic and quite choppy. The author is certainly adept enough that it's clearly intentional. Once the readers finds their way into the story, the vistas open out and it's more or less smooth sailing. The denouement and resolution surprised me quite a lot and were much better and more satisfying than anticipated. Although it's not derivative at all (and in a completely different setting), there were some flashes of Outlander and readers who are very fond of Gabaldon's series will probably find a lot to like here.

Three and a half stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

I am a huge fan of any magical/witchy book. This book has a basis in Irish mythology which as a history nerd I love. This book was a very slow building story and I would have preferred the plot develop a bit quicker to hold my interest. I did enjoy the magical and romantic aspects of the story. However, I couldn’t connect with the characters like I wanted to do it was difficult to enjoy those aspects fully. Overall it was a fun read. Thank you for providing the book for an honest opinion.

This book was okay. I don’t love rating this book because it’s a good story, it just was a little too slow for me and didn’t totally keep my attention. The characters were great, and the idea of the story was good. It just wasn’t for me unfortunately.

''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.''

The author did a great job of transporting me to this community in both timelines. The imagery was extraordinary. The author weaves a story of light versus darkness that highlights mythology, folktales, monsters, family, love, heartbreak, power, kindness, and helping others. The plot has some unexpected twists and the antagonist’s psychosis was memorable.

Overall, this was an entertaining story that kept me engaged. In the end, I was so scared of how this book could end for everyone involved. I'm glad to admit that I'm so happy with what Paige gave us. If it ended in the way I thought it was going to, well, I'm sure I would be writing a much different review.

I have received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I love these Halloween type books and this one hit the spot. I loved the characters and the world building was phenomenal. I honestly couldn't get enough and I hope she writes another one.

The Lost Witch by Paige Crutcher - 4/5
-Romance - Sci Fi & Fantasy-

The beautiful cover is what truly caught my attention with this novel, along with the fact that I adored The Orphan Witch, so of course I jumped at the opportunity to enjoying this one as well. Brigid travels from 1922 to 2022, in the hopes of saving Evermore.
The Lost Witch as a little bit for everyone, witches, suspense, demi-gods and romance.

Available for purchase at Amazon, Barnes and Noble and Bookshop
Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the eARC.

This was a lovely tale of Irish mythology. It involves Brigid, a goddess and a trickster god who influence the small Irish town where they fight for a loch's control. They use the mortals there as pawns for their gain, mainly Brigid, a follower of the goddess whose life is completely upended due to this fight. It was an interesting and entertaining tale.

I loved the whimsical, purple prose of this book and the narrator. I did get a bit frustrated after awhile about the constant repetition of telling the reader the lack of memories . It was a bit jarring to have modern references peppered throughout, but otherwise I really enjoyed this book about a curse and working with a mysterious trickster god.

This book started off strong, but as it went along, the plot felt jumbled and haphazard. I really wanted to like it more. It had a lot of elements I usually enjoy in a book. There was something off about the pacing, and the snippets of Brigid's memories did more to confuse me than to clear up the storyline.
I did like the characters and the overall vibe of the world they were living in. I think if it had been arranged differently, it could have worked better.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are my own.

THE LOST WITCH
Paige Crutcher, Author
Romance

Brigid has traveled from 1922 to 2022 with no memory of the travel. The one thing she knows is she has to work her magical descendants to save Evermore. She also must trust the mysterious Luc Knightly.

This book is full ups and downs. Then a lot of sparks between Brigid and Luc. You will find this book leaving you wanting more. I would give it a solid 5 out of 5 stars.

I really liked this! While others complained this this is way too fantasy like or way too witchy — that is exactly why I liked it. If you’re going to have witches in your book you should have a fantasy element. In fact, I expect you to. I am an avid fantasy reader and enjoyed that. I will say though that it takes a little bit to get into the book. Pace is questionable.

Extremely difficult to get through this book. I've picked it up on multiple occasions only to put it down again. Perhaps it was the storyline or rather just the characters. Either way it just didn't pull me in nor hold my attention.

Although it was a slow beginning that took a little while to get into, I finally finished this layered story. It was quirky and cute, with romance and magic. It was enjoyable, but could have used more push in the opening chapters.