Unexpected and beguiling, but also dark and sinister. A story about revenge and legacy, but with a witchy twist. I loved this. The magic system is so original and creative, and the suspense/serial killer aspect was creepy and left with a sense of foreboding as I read. Definitely very dark themes so check trigger warnings, but I loved seeing everything come full circle. Thanks Netgalley for the e-ARC!

4.5 ⭐️


“We don’t fear men in this house,” she tells me. “Men fear us.”

The blurb for this - Practical Magic meets Gone Girl is 100% accurate. This was eerie, suspenseful, and gripping from page one until the end. There’s a touch of romance but that really isn’t the main focus at all. This is a story that is equal parts mystery/thriller, magical realism, crime drama, and supernatural.

If you enjoy books about female rage, this one is definitely for you. There is a host of strong female characters and watching Peirs grow into her true form was very satisfying.

Check TW as there are many sensitive subjects discussed.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the early review copy.

Piers Corbin has always had a taste for poison—both the plant and the man variety. From accidentally offing a stranger with pokeweed berries at age five to escaping a dangerously twisted husband, death has followed her like a perfume. When she fakes her own demise and holes up in the mountains with her estranged Aunt Myrtle, she learns it’s not just a habit—it’s heritage. Turns out, Piers is a Bane Witch: part of a long line of women who eat poison and use their powers to eliminate evil men. Between slinging lattes at her aunt’s café and charming the local sheriff to keep him off her trail, Piers is settling into her new life—until a local serial killer sets his sights on her. Bad move. Piers is hungry.

This. This is exactly what I’ve been searching for. After reading several books about so-called “lady poisoners” that fell flat, this one finally delivered! It strikes the perfect balance of sharp character development, simmering feminine rage, and the kind of sisterhood that feels both earned and electric. And yes, there’s just enough horror to keep the stakes deliciously high.

This was my first book by Morgyn, but it absolutely won’t be my last.

If you're in the mood for a smart, gripping story about women reclaiming their power and dismantling toxic masculinity one dose at a time—this is it.

Thank you to NetGalley & St. Martin's Press for the ARC! 3.75 stars!

I LOVE anything witchy so I was super excited to get this one from netgalley! Thought it was good and would love to explore other books by author!

Piers has faked her death and headed north to escape her extremely abusive husband. After somehow killing a man along the way to her aunt’s house, Piers learns she is a “bane witch”, a poison eater. These women feed on poison plants and eventually come face-to-face with a man who will be the victim of the poison. A serial killer is stalking her new home & he will definitely be her next victim.

Overall, I really liked this book. It was inventive, and I loved the poison eating to result in the destruction of harmful men. The book is pretty violent, but I enjoyed it.

Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Griffin for providing me with a copy of this book.

The Bane Witch has topped my favorites list for this year. It gives all the witchy vibes and feminist power. As I read, I felt the same intensity of The Cullen’s protecting Bella from the Volturi and the anticipation of the deadline quickly approaching for her to be turned into a vampire. The suspense and fear abound as the danger comes from multiple sources. There is romance, terror and grief so the reader feels ALL the feels.

I have shared this review on Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Storygraph

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Goodreads

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/7403704260

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Thank you to St Martin's Press and Netgalley for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

I was absolutely blown away by The Bane Witch by Ava Morgyn! I'll be honest, I mostly requested this arc because I'm a sucker for mushrooms on a book cover. I did not expect this to be one of my favorites books of the year so far but it's definitely in my top few. This story follows a girl named Piers who comes from a family of bane witches, witches with the power to eat poisonous plants safely and to use that poison to hurt bad men. I really enjoyed how morally grey all the women in the Corbin family are. I loooved Piers Corbin! She is such a strong woman and she gets even stronger along the way. I also cried twice while reading this and I can't remember that last book that made me cry. So needless to say, this was dark, gritted, morally dark, and utterly captivating with unique magic and amazing, complex characters.

The Bane Witch turns the unknowing reluctant witch trope and turns it on its head. The cozy cover gives misleading clues to its darkness. Definitely a multi-genre mash-up: Fantasy, suspense, thriller, magical realism, mystery... I somehow missed the trigger warnings for this novel (including but not limited to domestic violence, sexual violence and so on) so please be sure to look into trigger warnings. As a result of that and the much of the storyline, this wasn't my preferred kind of read, but I think others who enjoy the genres I mentioned and don't mind the triggers will enjoy The Bane Witch.

I tried a few times to get through this but unfortunately it just didn't keep my interest. I eventually had to DNF.

I received a free copy from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I would say this is a 3.5 stars, rounded up to 4. The writing flowed in a way that pulled me along almost effortlessly which bumped up my rating. For anyone considering reading this - please look up the trigger warnings first. I may miss a few things on my list, but TWs are for: sexual assault, murder, domestic violence, poisoning, suicide, rape, death threats.

Piers is desperate to escape her abusive marriage - to survive her husband's threats - and to keep him from being able to harm anyone else. She makes a plan to fake her suicide while framing him for her murder and run away to a great aunt that she met only once as a young child - who she hopes hasn't moved, is still alive, is able to help. Meanwhile, her body count starts to increase as she accidentally kills someone without really understanding how or what is happening. It turns out her family can ingest poisons - like pokeberries - and then use them to kill their marks, men who prey on women. She struggles to learn what that means for her life, meet her family's expectations and stay under the radar in a tiny town in the mountains.

The pace of the writing pulled me in and kept me reading late into the night, the sentences and chapters flowing one into the other easily.

3.5 stars
A dark, atmospheric blend of Practical Magic and Gone Girl, The Bane Witch delivers a gripping concept I truly enjoyed—witches who wield poison as justice. Piers is a compelling, morally complex character with a gritty edge, and her journey from victim to empowered Bane Witch was satisfying to watch unfold.

While I loved the eerie mood and the originality of the magic system, I did find myself occasionally confused by how some of the plot threads connected. A few twists felt underdeveloped, and I wished the pacing had been a bit tighter. Still, the premise was strong enough to keep me engaged, and I’d happily read more from this world. A sinister and stylish take on feminine vengeance.

This book was decent. It had a good storyline which followed a witch (although she wasn't initially aware) who could eat poisonous berries and mushrooms. Any men she kissed or exchanged saliva with, following her feeding, would die. After running to her Aunt Myrtle's place, she find out her whole family are bane witches and she is tasked with killing a serial killer to prove her worth, and save her life.

The characters were dynamic in it. I liked how in the beginning Piers only trusted herself, but as the book went on she started trusting others more.

A thing I didn't like was Regis' and Pier's relationship. Don't get me wrong! I thought they were incredibly cute! But I thought it would be unrealistic in the real world. Piers lied to Regis multiple times, often surrounding stuff that could get him fired from his job as a sheriff. I'm not sure in the real world he would still be swooning over Piers after everything she lied to him about.

One thing I will definitely point out is there are many mentions of rape and sexual assault. If this is triggering to you, this book isn't for you. This is the main reason I am rating the book a three star.

The Bane Witch by Ava Morgyn; unfortunately this was not my cup of tea. I normally love the witchy folksy kind of vibe, but this felt done to me.

I was excited for this book! I am a sucker for witchy stories and the synopsis was intriguing.
Unfortunately, this fell a little short for my liking. It was too slow and I dragged my butt from one chapter to the other. At times, there are too many redundant narratives that keeps going on and I internally wanted to move along. As much as I love strong female characters. I want them to be practical and strong willed as well. The female here has the tendency to be impractical and whiny and immature which makes her point of view nonsense!
I always love a good recipe here in there if a green witchery is what we are after, It was slow burn that I personally think can be done faster. Writing is beautifully done and I can see for some type of readers that this will be phenomenal,

This book was a bit confusing and was hard to follow since the timeline jumped around so much. It was hard to get into and I was unable to finish it.

First of all I adore this cover! The Bane Witch was a dark and gritty read and the perfect revenge read. I loved Piers as the main character and watching her grow as a character. I also loved the idea of the bane witches eating poisonous plants to kill terrible men and thought it was a really good concept for this story. There's a serial killer, a cute dog and a lot of mystery!

Don’t let the cover fool you, there’s nothing sweet or cozy about Bane Witches.

Piers Corbin hasn’t had the easiest life, and when she marries a handsome and wealthy man, she thinks her world will turn around. Except the book opens with her faking her own death to escape him because he’s incredibly abusive. While she’s on the run, heading up to the eastern US from the South to find her estranged Aunt who she’s only met as a child, men are dying around her. And she’s not totally sure why.
Turns out, she’s a witch, from a long line of witches who can eat poisonous plants and then their body turns it into poison to kill others. As a witch, they crave this food, and it's hard to control it sometimes. Body liquids become poisonous, and as you can imagine accidents also happen. There’s a story about a woman killing her love during an intimate time because her sweat is poisoned. Talk about a mood killer.

The women of this magic tend to use men for utilitarian purposes (conceive children) but obviously long-term relationships can be precarious. Instead, the women have territories they are assigned to, and they use their magical skills to rid the world of terrible men. I absolutely loved the magic system in this story, and the way the women can use it. As Piers meets the women and learns more about them and her skills, we learn more about these dark, powerful and kind of scary women who live on the edges of society, trying to not raise any awareness about their true nature.

There are two problems Piers is facing however, firstly her attraction to the small-town’s sheriff who has taken both a romantic and crime focus in her. He wants to know why she was on the run, where she came from, and if any of the bodies found are because of her. She is tasked to keep him distracted from the truth anyway possible, which means their romantic entanglement gets even more twisted.

There’s also a serial killer on the loose in the forests of her new home. She is tasked by the other witches to prove her worth or else lose her powers forever. Through the rush and the hunt, she is haunted by the question of whether her husband has believed her death, or if he’s going to come and find her.

The Bane Witch is a dark and compelling story about justice, feminism and love. It’s an excellent addition to the witchy stories out on the market.

This was a pretty quick witchy read. This had so much to be such a dark and compelling story full of revenge and poison and power, but it just didn't follow through for me and I didn't click with it or the characters. I didn't feel that pull or interest.

I thought this was very good and I will have to add this to the shop shelves. Thank you for the chance for us to review.

I found some elements of the story to feel a bit clunky. The pacing felt a bit off at times and some of the witchy details didn't come to full conception. Overall, I enjoyed the concept and the characters of the story. I felt like the execution was lacking.