This was a fun read, a palette cleanser for all these heavy series I’ve been reading! The writing is solid and the character development is robust. I would recommend this if you enjoy a good witchy read.

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

4.5/5 for me, but I rounded it to a 5.

I liked the dynamics between Regis and Piers, that was my favourite part of this book. They are attracted to each other, they work together to solve murders, but she wants to kill the killer, and he investigates her for other suspicious deaths. That was so fun! I just wished this was the whole book, not a small part. Other than that, I thought it took a while for the story to start. 30% of the book was already read, and we finally got to the bane witch part. But overall, it was an entertaining read.

I personally really enjoyed this book. The beginning was very strong and intriguing. Starting the book off with a woman named Piers who is a victim of domestic violence from her husband. Ever since she was young, she had a hunger for poisonous berries, and once ingested death would occur not to herself, but someone else. Not knowing that she is a bane witch until she fakes her own death, and locates her great aunt Myrtle. Piers then is told the truth of her family history. There is also another plot within the main plot, Piers trying to help locate the "Saranac Strangler" because she is allured to him through her abilities. I did however find the ending chaotic and rushed. It took half the book for the main character to learn about her abilities, learn of her past, and what the future might hold. Piers has 6 week to prove to the Venery of Bane Witches that she is able to be one of them. There was also the fact that there was added characters and POVs such as the police officer investigating the "death" and tracking Piers, or the relationship between the sheriff of the town. It was rushed, and I'm not quite sure how she was able to fall in love so quickly going back and forth between wanting to be with him and not. I did really enjoy the witchy vibes, the message of the venery "Using the powers for greater good and killing men to protect woman and children" ALSO loved Myrtle's character!!!!

Thank you to NetGally for the advanced readers copy. I really liked the dark witchy vibes for this book however there were times I found the pacing to be off and found myself checking the page number to see how many pages were left. There were a few actions the FMC took especially at the end that seemed out of character and made the ending feel rushed. However all that being said, I still enjoyed the book and would recommend it to my friends who enjoy witchy reads.

A dark and witchy read from Ava Morgyn! This book was the perfect spooky season read- full of feminist rage, poisonous magic and an eclectic cast of characters. Morgyn has written an original story with great character development in an eerie mountain town. I loved the group of witches and especially the main character Piers and her aunt Myrtle. I was pleasantly surprised that the romance in the story took a backseat to the mystery and magic components which were easily my favorite parts. Definitely worth adding to your TBR when it comes out in January!

Unfortunately, this was not for me. The FMC, Piers, escapes from her abusive husband by faking her own death. She then makes it her mission to save other women from the same thing by being a Bane Witch. The plot seemed intriguing to me at first, but the more I read it, the more I realized it was not my cup of tea. I really did like the writing style, but there were some moments in which there was too much telling. I also found myself bored many times. Please do not let this discourage you from reading, because I can see why other people enjoy it!

Not my usual read, but I enjoyed every minute of it! The prose was poignant and dripping with detail. Morgyn is an emerging voice to look out for.

To be utterly frank, I thought The Bane Witch might fall into the "hate read" category for me. I was incredibly skeptical that an author could weave the familial whimsy of Practical Magic with the twisted and compulsive nature of Gone Girl. I WAS WRONG!

Readers follow Piers Corbin as she flees her deeply violent marriage. Her only hope for survival involves a twisted and methodical plan to stage her own death and forge forward into a new life. Her only chance is to find her estranged great-aunt, confronting her family's past that brims with dark and dangerous magic.

This book moves! The story is utterly compulsive, but it also offers nuanced characters and a cozy atmosphere. I often find, as readers, we must choose one or the other, but Morgyn deftly offers both in an intoxicating blend! The Bane Witch is a story that explores the duality of truth—much of the plot exists in the grey, and that is ever so refreshing! It's feminine rage that honors the good guys. It's girls being bad with a moral compass. It's lovable characters who don't always get a happily-ever-after. Most importantly, it is DAMN good!

It's rare that a book makes it onto my "Slump Breaker" recommendation pile... but The Bane Witch just landed itself on the top!

I know what you’re thinking: “Jaime, why not 5 stars?” Well, friends, I think that's more a "me" thing, not the book. The author offers the most beautiful and evocative atmospheric moments, and greedily, I wanted more!

Thank you St. Martin's Publishing and NetGalley - this book is a witchy season must read!

It turns out that Piers is not just a victim of domestic violence with a hunger for poison....she's a bane witch destined to help protect women by trapping and poisoning dangerous men. After faking her own death and running to upstate New York into the arms of her mysterious crone-ish great aunt Myrtle Piers uncovers who she truly is and starts grappling with what it means to be a killer while also trying to assess where her loyalties lie.

I'm all in on witchy women getting revenge on violent men. I love poison, I love a coven, and I'm always up for a tryst with a sexy local sheriff. For me, all of these elements worked and I devoured this book.

I don't want to give anything away but I did find the last quarter of the book a bit chaotic, a bit rushed, and Piers made some decisions that have me rotting for her a little less. I would still highly recommend for anyone who likes mystery, thrillers or witchy vibes.

This book was excellent! The plot was new and refreshing. As readers, we got to see Piers make a full journey, everything coming into completion at the end with a plot point that I won't spoil but that was perfectly timed. A heroine who can save herself, a romance subplot that added to the book and didn't take away (and a MMC who let the FMC be her own woman - so refreshing to see). This book had a great narrative, I never felt like putting the book down because I was irritated with the choices the FMC was making. I just really enjoyed it all around. This will be a definite buy for the library I work at and I think others will really enjoy it as well. 5/5 stars and HIGHLY recommend.

I loved every word of this book. I see the possibility of individual stories, but I really like that this is a stand-alone. It has all the best witchy-elements and I've not seen this particular witchy-trope before. It was a great read to the very end!

This story was SO grabbing! Each of the characters had so much life and you could feel everything from stomach churning, relief, heart ache, to empowerment. The version of witches was so unique and FLAWLESSLY done! This book will for sure be one I will re read!!

What an incredibly book. Magic, mystery, murder - I love the empowered women them of the story. There are a load of triggers here, including but not limited to rape, domestic abuse, and murder. Despite these subjects being ones I tend to avoid, this book was so well-written, the magic such a unique approach, and the previously mentioned women empowerment, I just couldn’t put this book down. In fact, I woke in the middle of the night and read for two hours!

The description of Gone Girl crossed with Practical Magic is apt - as long as you remember it’s a very dark Practical Magic.

This was such a great read, it really drew me in from the first page and kept me reading late into the night. The book is about a woman escaping an abusive relationship and rediscovering herself. I really liked the unique storyline about a line of women with magical powers defending other women. This didn't feel like the typical witch trope. The book was fast paced and I enjoyed Piers character development along the way. I loved how even though Piers had a lot of trauma in her past she discovered how strong she was with the help of her family. This was my first read by Ava Morgan and now I want to read everything else she's written. Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Publishing for the arc.

If you’re looking for a dark thriller/fantasy/mystery that’s incredibly unique, The Bane Witch checks all the boxes. While being intriguing and cleverly crafted, this book does need to come with a fair amount of trigger warnings such as (not limited to) SA, CSA, domestic abuse, miscarriage, suicide, graphic descriptions of violence and murder. That being said, if you can get past how dark it is, it’s a fun psychological cat and mouse book that’s hard to put down.

Piers, a victim of extreme domestic abuse, stages her suicide as a means of escaping her husband who she intuits is going to kill her if she doesn’t get away from him. She runs straight to her estranged and quirky aunt in a reclusive mountain forest neighborhood up north to discover that her world isn’t what she thought it once was because she isn’t who she thought she was. Piers is a bane witch who has the power to ingest deadly toxins without harm in order to poison and effectively kill off deadly men. Unfortunately for Piers, she didn’t understand the burden she was born under, and in her bid for freedom, she left a trail that puts not only her but her whole family at risk for exposure. Can Piers tie up all her loose ends before her mistakes catch up to her?

I would like to thank St Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thanks so much to Ava Morgyn and St. Martin's Press | St. Martin's Griffin for the eARC. This is a perfect Spooky Season book. It's like a fantasy romance murder mystery book. It's not too spicy either! It took me a a bit to get into it but still a good book.

"If I had shown up on your doorstep, told you that you were an ancient weapon magically designed to be a defender of women and children by taking the lives of predatory men...."

This book was so good! It's a murder mystery mixed with a darker version of Practical Magic. The magic system felt really unique and I loved all the female empowerment/rage!

It's important to have books like this one, and I'll tell you why:

I've gone on record in other reviews stating that I suspect I've outgrown the normal 'urban fantasy' tropes. I find them trite and predictable. But THIS novel, it has all the ingredients: magic in the modern word, a shadowy supernatural underbelly beneath reality, a person discovering their powers in a very 'yer a wizard, Harry' way so that exposition and world-building can be conveniently dumped onto the main character as a proxy fish-out-of-water, romance/sexuality blooming in the midst of life-and-death stakes. But it's all done SO WELL!

Highly recommended for fans of bloody fantasy/crime novels, female empowerment, and sweet dogs named Bart.

Talk about a book that you can't get out of your head! This was a chilling and yet beautiful story all around. There are so many monologues and scene descriptions throughout the novel that I just thought were a masterclass in writing. I have no doubt that certain scenes will be staying with me for a long time.

Ava Morgyn did such a fantastic job making me feel both dread and feminist empowerment throughout each chapter. There are some heavy themes throughout this book, such as assault, abuse, murder, sometimes offering graphic descriptions of such details, so I do hope that the publisher includes a trigger warning at the beginning before the book is finalized.

I love the concept of bane witches and how their magic works. Anytime Piers and the venery would dive into their lore, I was hooked, but it would often cut back and forth with a police procedural b-plot that I wasn't all that invested in. Those chapters are vital to the plot, but anytime they popped up, I just kept wanting to go back to the women and see what they were up to! Overall, The Bane Witch was a captivating, eerie page-turner of a thriller that I hope to find more of in the future.

Big thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Griffin for the advanced review copy!

This book has me hooked almost from page one. I was enthralled by the magic in this story. The mystery surrounding it and how the poisons worked were all working together to keep me turning page after page after page. It was so intriguing how the magic pulled those seeking evil in so they could be destroyed. I loved this one and can’t wait to read more from this author.