The Lost Witch (A Novel) by Paige Crutcher
Narrated by Aoife McMahon
Publisher: St. Martin's Press, St. Martin's Griffin
Genre: Romance, Sci Fi & Fantasy
Published: December 27, 2022

The Lost Witch is a standalone witchy tale set in Evermore, Ireland by Paige Crutcher.

I definitely got lost in this book! The story was captivating and I loved the characters. The time travel element was done in such a unique way. I truly enjoyed this book and look forward to reading more by the author!

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Brigid is a powerful witch who seemingly has it all. She is happy and content with her life, but she is lonely. She wants a child more than anything else. When she goes against everything she knows to have that child it has repercussions that she never could have dreamed of. Falling for the seduction of Luc, the head of the Knightly coven, she has that child but the child soon becomes ill and Brigid will do anything to save her. Finding herself after a traumatic encounter, transported 100 years into the future, Brigid has to figure out why she is there and how to save her daughter. The characters in this book were amazing as well as the world that Crutcher created. It kept me wanting more and kept me engrossed to see what would happen next. This book had a little bit of everything, love, heartache, laughter, ugly monsters, and crazy witches. I really enjoyed everything about this book. Thank you, NetGalley for the eARC. 4 stars.

I wanted to love this but I just couldn't get into it. This was a DNF for me. I hope to have the chance to read another Crutcher novel.

A great story. It was a bit confusing to connect things as it jumped from the past to the present to other worlds, but a title I will recommend!

An interesting concept that had a good execution - i just didn't connect with the characters as much as I should have,

This was a tale described as a struggle between two gods over an uncontrollable power and the witches on each side. The Goddess is described as having healing magic, and nurturing the land and its people is what she teaches, and is what Brigid Heron does to help her village Evermore. Luc Knightly is a trickster god, who has the Witches of Knight at his command. Their goal: control the lough.

This was a cool concept, but I feel like there could have been so much more than I got from this novel.
For example, Luc was built up so much that when we actually interact with him the description instead seems flat, and he doesn’t seem as powerful as the Goddess at all. The Goddess is shown to be mysterious, powerful, but a friend, and her interactions with Brigid show that. Luc is supposed to also be that for the Witches of Knight, but instead, they betray him fairly easily, and don’t seem like they believed in him to begin with.

Luc is also supposed to have a romantic relationship with Brigid where he falls madly in love with her after she wishes for a child, but I could not feel the chemistry between them at all. I think the time jumps back and forth made it confusing, since we couldn't see the progression of their relationship, and when they meet there isn't really sexual tension between them because her memories are lost.

The later half of the novel was supposed to resolve a lot of questions, but I felt like it just made it worse.
The purpose of sending Brigid to the future to save her daughter was not explained clearly, and the descriptions of Brigid and Dove healing the people together confused me as well since she was supposed to have been separated from her mom when she was 12. With a main character having missing memories, I expect confusion, but the confusion never really left. I think the author tried to do too many things in too little pages, which was sad because I enjoyed the setting and the premise. My favorite characters in this story were Ophelia and Finola, and they saved this book for me.

I really wanted to love this book but it fell very flat for me. The story was very slow and rather confusing.

I want to start by saying I love everything witchy; this cover is stunning. However, I couldn't finish this without wanting to crawl out of my skin. I have LOVED everything Paige Cruther has written; this one didn't feel like it was edited the same. I was so confused. I had to re-read chapters to figure out what was going on, and my dyslexic brain thought it was being stabbed because of how many times I had to re-read sentences. Honestly, I have 0 clues about what happened, which made me sad. I will try and borrow the audiobook from the library and see if that happens but it's not top of my list. Paige, I still adore you and will read everything you publish, even if I wanna cut my eyes out while doing it.

Thank you to Paige Crutcher and her publisher for this free copy in exchange for an honest review.

I was really interested in the Celtic folklore, the best friends' relationship and their radio show, but I was 45% through the book when I had to stop reading because it didn't get any less confusing for me. It's a careful balance between having the main character be confused and without memory but still giving the reader enough information to piece some things together themselves. I felt as lost as Brigid which was taking the fun out of the story. The tension she was trying to build between Brigid and the love interest didn't work for me either because I knew nothing about him. I think the author did a good job maintaining the time jump storyline and developing the side characters, but not the main characters or the background lore. I'm still curious to read Paige's next story because there was a lot of potential for me.

Thanks again!!!

3.5 stars, rounded down.

One sentence summary: Fantasy story with Irish mythology, with a witch from 1922 that time travels 100 years into the future, has lost her memories and needs to save her small town from a curse.

Supporting characters include a trickster god/love interest, her great-niece and great-niece's best friend.

There is A LOT going on in this book. Since Brigid has lost her memories pretty early on in the story, a lot of the book is regaining the memories with her. While it's a cool technique for story telling, I think it worked better as an idea and less in practice. Unfortunately, it takes so long for Brigid to remember things that the story starts to drag. I ended up skimming a lot of the middle of the book, and I don't feel like I missed out on much.

The last 3rd of the book brings the story together and ends in a mostly satisfying way. I think what bothered me about the story was that the story was ALMOST a romance and ALMOST a fantasy (technically, it was both)-- but it felt like there could have been more of a lean on either genre.

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin's press for an e-copy of "The Lost Witch." Published in Dec 2022.

This was a slow read for me. I had a hard time getting into it but I did mange to push through and it was a good book. Just takes awhile to get to the good parts. I would still recommend this book because it did pick up so if you don't mind a slow beginning them grab this book.

Thanks NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for allowing me to read this ARC.

It took me a bit of time to get into this story. The jumping of the timelines was a little hard to follow at first but it proved to be the connection you needed for the story.

Luc was such a fun character from the moment you met him. A mystery dark male that you just wanted to get to know more.

This book was great for that witchy romance read that we do not get much of anymore!

The Lost Witch
⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Lost Witch was unlike anything I’ve ever read before. The author’s writing style was something I definitely had to adapt to, and at times I felt like I would get confused. However, I did go into this book pretty blind, so that may have contributed to that. However, once I continued on, I found myself engaged in the story being told.

In 1902, our witch Brigid, has only ever wanted a child. After meeting Knighlty, head of the Knightly coven, he is able to help her have a child. Brigid proves she will do whatever it takes to keep her daughter healthy, even if it leads to her disappearance. Brigid then appears in 2022, without any recollection of her past. Brigid helps save the town of Evermore, while putting the pieces of her lost memory back together.

Here are some things I enjoyed:

✨this book shows the love a mother has for their child, and the sacrifices they are willing to make
✨I loved the commentary/bickering between Brigid, Knightly, Ophelia, and Finola
✨I could feel the magnetic pull between Brigid and Knightly

Like I mentioned, the writing style was confusing at times. This book also mentions a lot of different monsters. I was hoping for more clear descriptions of them to have a better visual.

Thank you to Net Galley and St. Martin’s Press for a copy of this ARC in exchange for my honest review. This book released December 27, 2022.

This book centers around the Lough of Brionglóid, it's magic had once been sealed by the goddess Brighid, but a series of events broke that seal and sent the main character Brigid one hundred years into the future without any memories. Her daughter is gone with no one knowing what happened to either of them.

She meets her cousins Ophelia and Fiona who have taken up residence in her home. They are doing their best to protect the villagers from the monsters that come out of the lough.

Another constant is Knightly, he is a demi-god whose coven is responsible for the monsters plaguing the village. A coven he no longer has control over.

Brigid with the help of Knightly, Ophelia and Fiona must reseal the lough and above all, Brigid needs to bring her daughter home.

This is a unique tale with many twists, revelations, surprises. A truly enjoyable read.

I am sorry for the inconvenience but I don’t have the time to read this anymore and have lost interest in the concept. I believe that it would benefit your book more if I did not skim your book and write a rushed review. Again, I am sorry for the inconvenience.

A satisfying story of magic, love, heartbreak,and fantasy.
Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Loved the witchy aspect of this one, but that was about it. The cover is super nice though. Love a good purple book!

The Lost Witch is a page-turning adventure of love, loss, and everything in between. It was a pleasure to read, and I thoroughly enjoyed Brigid’s journey through grief and bargaining.

✨ Review ✨ The Lost Witch by Paige Crutcher; Narrated by Aoife McMahon

Brigid is a witch in the town of Evermore (Ireland) in 1922, and we jump quickly into her magical dealings with her goddess as well as Evermore's competing god Luc Knightly, both who are battling over access to the Lough (the lake of dreams). Suddenly Brigid is transported 100 years into the future and the town of Evermore is facing demon creatures invading the town constantly. She wakes up without her memories, but surrounded by her ancestors Ophelia and Finola, as well as Luc, but who's side is Luc really on?

This was a really delightful magical story with gods and goddesses, fairies and demon creatures, and witches from different centuries. The audio narration and accent were so much fun and had me hooked into this book (and the competing group of witches have an amazing creepy voice - LOVED them). The book mixed humor and fantasy and romance and family and friendship, and it was a great listen.

It did stretch on a little long in places and my mind wandered a little, but overall this was a delight of a book.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: fantasy/magic in a real-ish place
Location: island / small town in Ireland
Reminds me of: Luc/Bridig were giving me Addie LaRue vibes in places, but definitely different
Pub Date: out now

Read this if you like:
⭕️ magic and witches
⭕️ Irish mythology
⭕️ time travel

Thanks to St. Martin's Press, Macmillian Audio and #netgalley for an advanced audio and e-copies of this book!

3.5/5

The Prologue for this book was amazing! I found the plot to be lacking at times but as a whole it was a wonderful read. I loved the premise of her waking up after 100 years in the future with out her memories and she has to work together with a god and her two descendents, Ophelia and Finola. I wish it went more in depth into this plot. While it was covered i feel like it could have been done better.
While I mostly enjoyed the plot the characters were disappointing. They were very one dimensional and I wish she had given the characters more of a voice. All in all I wish they had been stronger and that she showed us more instead of telling us as much as she did.

The setting was wonderfully written and the author did a wonderful job transporting us there in both time lines. I loved the imagery that she included that really helped transport you into the book.

Thank you Netgalley for gifting me a copy of this book in return for my honest review.