The story and the idea of this book is brilliant. The importance of women and the idea that in order to join the coven, you must first find your true self is👌🏼however, the execution is where I struggled a bit. In my opinion, the first part of the book was executed beautifully, I was hooked from the beginning and invested in the coven’s scavenger hunt. However, the second part felt a bit disorganized following the beginning of the story.

With that being said, I think this book is still well-worth a read. The story and symbolism is 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼Tying together beautiful imagery and the importance of women and relationships, I loved how Indigenous traditions & cultures were weaved throughout.

VenCo by Cherie Dimaline follows Lucky St. James as she discovers her true powers and goes on a journey to fight an ancient evil, discovering family along the way.

I loved the blend of the real and the fantastic in this book. Lucky is dealing with poverty, racism, and trying to take care of her grandmother, who has the beginning stages of dementia. There are queer and trans side characters, and really this is a book about female power, wisdom, and community. I loved hoe many different kinds of magic got explored, and the importance placed on memory, self-confidence, and belief. And fighting the patriarchy.

I am, however, tired of male villains who are defined by a literal magically ability to sexually manipulate people. Beyond being a bitter man who was rejected by his witch lover, Jay Christos is just a self-indulgent rapist who happens to be immortal. I mean, his character suited the story, and the end was fantastic, but seriously.

On the whole, this was a nicely paced book that wove together a bunch of stories into a magical, complex tale.

CW: sexual assault, death, fire injury, transphobia (condemned by text), racism, dementia

I have mixed reviews on this one. I went in with high expectations from the reviews and readalong that I saw so many people enjoy, and so this is probably partly a result of those expectations.

I liked:

- Magical elements
- Some characters were great and added humour or emotional pull to the story
- The humorous parts to the story
- The plot was captivating

I disliked:

- I struggled to connect to the MC
- It took a solid 70% or more for the story to start moving
- This incredibly slow beginning would've been fine, but it really dove into a lot of characters and their background, but I didn't see any development for them, so we just got to really know their past and that was it, so it felt a bit disconnected
- The story seemed a bit anti-climactic, with this big battle you're anticipating ending fairly quickly

Again, this could be because of the expectations I went in with, but for a witch book, I'd recommend others first. I did enjoy it, and it was a great poolside read, with a slow-moving plot so I didn't feel I was missing anything by putting it down and picking it up multiple times.

Thank you to NETGALLEY and PENGUINRANDOMHOUSECANADA for the ARC! I enjoyed the magical and witchy story overall!

This book seemed right up my alley and exactly like the kind of book I would absolutely love as I love the themes explored in this book and it’s a witchy book ✨. I liked the humor, the characters, and the overall story but I just found myself a little bored too often. The acknowledgements really made me like this author and I will definitely be reading more from them. I’m giving this a high 3 stars.

Thank you to Netgalley, Penguin Random House Canada, and Cherie Dimaline for this ARC ebook. I got to it a little late so VenCo was already published February 14, 2023.

There will never be enough amazing words to describe the stories that come out of Cherie Dimaline her fingers. What an artist! As a huge fan of previous work, I was extremely excited to get my hands on a copy of VenCo (thank you NetGalley and Penguin!). Wauw. I have a lot of thoughts about this story and all of them positive. The power she brings to the females of this book: wauw again! This was a brilliantly done story.

I've loved all of Cherie Dimaline's books to date, but this one just didn't do it for me. It wasn't quite what I expected. I made it halfway through before I decided to stop reading. The plot moves along slowly.

I absolutely loved this book. Fast pasted, feminist and totally badass. I want more of these characters- they were all so well drawn, so much so one book can't contain them!
Hex the Patriarchy!

This book!!!! The premise, the cast of characters, the execution… all so good!
I’m giving this 4 stars because around the 3/4 mark there was a bit of a lull and then the wrap up felt really quick. But that didn’t take away from the experience of reading this!
The story of an unlikely coven of witches, a race against the clock, a big twist. Chefs kiss!

3.5 matriarchs out of 5

"They were called weeds and grew as such, undaunted, in spite of every effort to control their spread. But they also made tea, wine, and medicine. People didn't want them, but only because they didn't understand what they really were."

A sixth witch is about to join the coven... VenCo, to be exact; a circle of powerful, magical women who convene in the heart of witch country: Salem, Massachussets. For centuries, destiny has been setting up this reunion, one that is said will change the world. But danger lurks, and time is running out. Can they complete their circle before age-old enemies collide?

If you enjoyed The Change by Kirsten Miller and My Heart is a Chainsaw by Stephen Graham Jones, you should definitely check this one out. 👌🏻

Lucky, the main character, is a spunky son of a gun.. and so is her grandmother, Stella. Together they embark on this journey to channel Lucky's inner-witch.

This duo 👏🏻 is 👏🏻 hilarious. Their dialogue had me laughing out loud! The love they share is honest and unflinching, with tender moments surfacing between their incessant banter.

While the plot isn't super original, it didn't stop me from absolutely devouring the book. The writing flows very well, regardless of genre tropes. And let's be honest.. who doesn't love underworld/supernatural tropes? Here's to hoping there'll be a sequel!

4.5+ stars

I love Cherie Dimaline’s writing, and this funny, dramatic, feminist, witchy novel was definitely no exception. I love how, no matter who she’s writing about, the author creates strong but realistic and complex protagonists. I really enjoyed the diverse range of characters included here, the plot was intriguing right from the beginning, and the magical elements that framed the narrative were pretty much what I’d hoped they would be, including with the (very satisfying) ending. This book was a win for me, and I’ll definitely be buying a physical copy of it as well.

I love Cherie Dimaline's work and this was such a fun read! I loved all the characters and I'm eagerly anticipating a sequel!!

What a joy of a read! VENCO is a new book from one of my favourite writers, @cherie.dimaline and I so hope it's the first of a series. It's about witches and the power of women (and mothers) and hexing the patriarchy.

The premise is that a coven of witches needs to be assembled from across Turtle Island by a certain deadline so that they can start the process of reshaping the world. The antagonist is a creature who so profoundly embodies misogyny and patriarchy. So often in these witchy books, the bad guy is one-dimensional and evil; here you see the dimensions of this evilness, the power underneath why he (and systems he supports) have been allowed to flourish for so long. Lines like "by far his best superpower was self-confidence. He never doubted himself." so perfectly capture this type.

The relationships and dialogue between the main witches and all the women they encounter on their journey are so fun, warm, funny, and gentle. There's so much love. For readers who loved the dialogue and tone of Dimaline's EMPIRE OF WILD, this is the most similar of her books that I've read. And if you loved THE WITCHES of MOONSHYRE MANOR or SMALL TOWN, BIG MAGIC, you'll love this.

Thanks to @netgalley and @penguinrandomca for the ARC. VENCO is available to buy now!

3/5 stars

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Canada for offering me an eARC for review!

I enjoyed this book. It was mysterious and full of beautiful prose and the character works was amazing. The representation was top notch and the story covers a lot of really great and important themes that I think will really resonate with people. Beside all of that, though, I found myself struggling to pick it up at times, and I'm not sure if it was the storyline or not, but something about it didn't grasp me as much as I would have liked.

I think this book will appeal to a lot of people, and the reason I'm giving it a three star rating is because overall, I did really enjoy every aspect of the book. It was just the storyline that didn't do it for me.

I thought I was going to love this one, but it just wasn't for me. I just couldn't get into it and kept putting it down. I would probably come back to try again.

I did want to state that the writing is wonderful and almost lyrical how it just flows together. I loved the writing, but didn't love Lucky.

This is somehow my first Cherie Dimaline read although I did buy The Marrow Thieves but haven’t gotten to it yet. But, suffice to say I’m a fan now! This was just such a cozy witchy scavenger hunt-style quest read! Very different vibes from both the higher-fantasy type reads like A Discovery of Witches that I love and the “is it magic or is it the patriarchy” type reads like Hester and The Women Could Fly that I’ve been reading with my bookclub and really enjoying. It turns out I just love a witchy read no matter what!

What Dimaline does with Venco is some great character work—I loved the mixed-indigenous main character Lucky (hi, it me! Representation is everything 🥰) who is quick-witted and resourceful and grudgingly devoted to her grandmother Stella who is slowly losing her grasp on reality and her memory. When Lucky finds a spoon that changes her life she sets out on the road trip of a lifetime to join a diverse and badass coven with Stella in tow and maybe a witch-hunting immortal asshole on her trail.

This definitely felt like it was laying the groundwork for a possibly sequel so I do hope that’s the case, otherwise as a stand-alone it does feel slightly incomplete, I need more from this coven and its premise that it might change the world. Announce the sequel, Cherie, I’m here for it!

Definitely enjoyed and recommend for the witchy-vibes (not that much actual witchcraft though) and the grandma-granddaughter roadtrip plot. I could see this being “not enough” for some readers though, so be ready for a cozy slightly less adventurous plot than you might expect from a book about witches. But ✨I✨ loved it.

I DNF-ed this one. I'm not posting a public review with a star rating because I think this book will appeal to many people, it's just not landing for me right now; I don't dislike it or want to review it negatively. It feels a bit more YA-leaning than I'd like based on my own reading preferences. I'm sure it's good and I reserve the right to come back to it.

This is an amazing story that depicts the power of women when we support one another. My only gripe with it, as with Dimaline’s earlier Empire of Wild, is the recurrence of sex where sex does not need to be. But it’s a small complaint of an otherwise amazing read. Every woman should read this book.

This book was a delight. Powerful interconnected witches, a scavenger hunty-mystery and some good proper hexing. Inter-generational female connections and historical flashbacks thrown in too. I loved it all.

I like Cherie Dimaline as a YA author - but LOVE her adult fiction best.

Thank you NetGalley for this wonderful ARC.

Just get it. Firstly, I live in Ontario and I feel like I know this author. Dimaline has written the start of the next series which will become my next favourite series. I had a chance to read this via NetGalley. I promptly bought the Hardcover! I loved the characters, the depth of backstory and the resonance of this world. I knew these people. I am these people. Intricately woven and vivid as invoking the scents of childhood memory. The woods, the air, the leaves, the connectedness to the energy swirling around us. Cleverly introduced universal people with unique personal stories. In the end everyone was valued, needed and part of the story. Brilliant. Complex, entertaining, rich in details and just plain great reading.

Thank you Netgalley for allowing me to read this book. All opinions are my own.

I will admit I did not finish the book. I enjoyed the characters enough and loved the writing style. I think it came down to sci-fi is not for me. I wanted to like it, but I was not looking forward to reading it. It's definitely a It's not you It's me situation. The writing style is fabulous, just the subject was not for me