"A Circle of Uncommon Witches" by Paige Crutcher is an enchanting tale that blends magic with mystery in a compelling way. Set in a small town where a coven of witches is deeply entwined with the community, the novel explores themes of friendship, power, and the balance between tradition and change. Crutcher’s writing is lush and immersive, vividly bringing the magical world to life while crafting engaging, well-developed characters. The plot is both intriguing and heartfelt, making it a captivating read for fans of fantasy and witchcraft.

The premise of this book is great. It starts off pretty fast I think - you’re immediately thrown into the “conflict” of the curse. I think what really threw me off was the romance between the main characters. It was kind of…enemies to lovers but also insta love? While I can definitely see the appeal to it for some, it personally wasn’t my favorite. But again, overall a good read.

I really liked this book. The whole book equates love with hope in a "love conquers all" message. The curse in the book focused on romantic love, but I loved Doreen and Margot's relationship and the love they have for each other as well. The writing is beautiful and the world-building was fantastic as well, eliciting something of a dark fairy tale set in Scotland.

The romance was very slow burn but felt rushed at the end. It's an enemies to lovers trope + forced proximity and that's definitely my vibe. I enjoyed watching the subtle softening of Doreen and Ambrose toward one another. At least, it was subtle until it wasn't and then it felt like the author was approaching her word limit for the story and had to rush the realization of their romance.

I liked that there were several morally gray characters with unknown ulterior motives and it kept me guessing the entire time who the ultimate baddie was. The way each of the potentials were written, I found myself feeling compassion for each of them and their stories, especially since they were all motivated by love and the grief that comes from the lack of it.

Honestly, it wasn't just the romance that was rushed at the end but the conflict resolution was rushed too. It seemed like up until about 94% we had a slow-pace that had me double checking to see if this was a planned series or a standalone, such was the lateness that things were resolved. I admit I found the curse itself was a bit confusing and the villain's motive wasn't really cleared up until the last 6% of the book (and still not 100% clearly, to me at least), plus the solution to the curse left me a bit muddled as well in its logistics. That said, I still very much enjoyed the ride.

At the end of the day, I really enjoyed the book and found it to be a compelling read. I wouldn't have minded it being a little longer so that the end didn't feel so rushed. It would have given the author more time to explain things more clearly, too.

I loved the premise of this story but the execution fell flat. The rules of magic here were especially hard to follow. Faced with each new obstacle, the characters would look around and say “Oh, I bet we need to use this random rock” and it would work. I kept looking back at pages thinking I’d skipped something.

However, the thing that bothered me the most was the forced insta-love between the main character, a young woman, and a man cursed many generations before. Their initial interactions reminded of a grumpy grandpa and his granddaughter. To fall in love later was just ewwww.

Thank you to St. Martin's Griffin and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

LOVE LOVE LOVE!!

This book was so good! I genuinely couldn’t get enough of it!
The pace picked up so quickly!
So much happened in one book I feel like it would have been a great duology but is still a great stand alone!

This is a slow-burn story, full of twists and turns, that will keep you guessing. This is a story about impossible choices, overcoming obstacles, and leaning into love. It’s a reminder that life is full and beautiful when we can open ourselves up to its possibilities, and that we create our own prisons when we build walls to keep people up or attempt to amass and keep power.

I really liked the idea of this book and the overall plot. It seemed to move really fast at the beginning and did not have enough world building which left me confused at points. The book slowed down after the first few chapters and I enjoyed the story line. I think I would have enjoyed this story more had it been written as a duology since there were 2 clear parts in this book and that way the first part of the story could have been drawn out more to really explain the family history and magic system.

The author writes beautifully and I really loved the way she was able to paint a picture with her words.

Thank you St. Martins Press and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Unfortunately, this story failed to capture me from the very first page.

The writing is confusing and just not appealing to me. Instead of becoming immersed in the story, it felt like reading a textbook. The dialouge sounds unnatural. The change from enemies to lovers is way to quick for me to find it believable.

This should have been an exciting and emotional book, but I spent most of it squinting at my screen going "wut?"

Thank you to Netgally for the ARC reader copy! This is an honest review

I enjoyed this book but it was definitely a slow burn.
I like that’s there was magical elements to this story that’s what drew me into the description. It would be a good cozy fall book to ready with some coffee or cocoa.

It did seem to go fast from enemies to loves.

I love love to see more about Margot and her husband.

I enjoyed reading this book, I liked many of the magical elements and the relationship/dynamic between Doreen and Margot. However, I felt like I could’ve used more explanation on some of the magic, especially towards the end and the romance was definitely a bit insta-love, but also a very slow burn.

This is a fun little fantasy book with a lot of mystery and adventure! Sprinkle in some romance and you’ve got it all.

A Circle of Uncommon Witches is all about breaking curses, it has a murder mystery vibe to it with trials, secrets and betray. I really enjoyed this book, it kept me interested from start to finish.

This was okay. I think it fell short on my end. I had a hard time with creating a movie in my head-

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC

This was a fun and easy read! There were some parts that fell a bit flat for me-the romance was part of that. It was insta love but also suuuuuper slow burn. The last part of the book was the most engaging and was where I felt way more pulled into the story and invested in the ending. I have to mention I absolutely love the cover!
The magic and history was unique and interesting (who doesn’t love centuries long curses?).
To sum it up, this was a good read and I enjoyed it!

I loved the concepts that the book revolved around. However, the execution just wasn't for me.

There were parts that I was all in and ready for more but I felt like I was being 'talked at' most of the time. By that I mean I felt like the story was less 'showing' me the story and just telling. I'm not sure that even explains what I mean. I suppose a better way to say is it was more like reading a history book than immersing into a tale.

The romantic aspect was extra slow burn and the turn from enemies tolerating each other to love was quite fast. We didn't get as much interaction and play between the two characters. Which is fine, but I went in anticipating it being a little more romance based than it turned out to be.

If you like a story with a heavy family relationship vibe, sideline romance, detailed information about the past and how it relates to the current resolution, then this is definitely for you! It just didn't happen to be my jam.

Wow, a lot happens in the span of 300-some pages in this one. So much so that I’m scratching my head at the decision to cram this story into one book instead of a series. On the one hand, I (sometimes) appreciate a standalone but there’s so much going on, and quite a bit of complexity to this story that it really deserves more pages to properly work through it.

Regardless, I’ve rated it a 4 on its potential. I really liked the characters, and I think the story is unique and elegantly written. It’s just so confusing at times that it’s hard to follow, and I’m definitely still a little unclear on the specifics of the different curses, spells, and how the three original witch clans became only two (maybe one? See I don’t even know.)

Regardless, this is a great story for someone who loved Harry Potter growing up. It has some similar motifs, connectedness to the earth, overarching message that Love Conquers All, and interesting magic. I really do just think it all needs to be expanded and massaged more. For most of the book, I wasn’t actually sure who the real villain even was, which made the story that much more compelling.

Despite being, at times, hard to follow, the writing is beautiful throughout. The author paints a vivid, and richly hued picture, that is reminiscent of dreaming of a dark fairytale.

Overall, I’d recommend giving this one a read but I will keep fingers crossed a series comes out of this so we can explore this world more.

I thought this book was such an easy quick read. I read it in two sittings. I love the plot line of the trials and the twist of them not being the trials that were expected. I did not see the end coming about Ada and the girl she loved but it was nice to get her back story to see why she acted the way that she did.

I wish we got a little more romance between Dore and Ambrose and got more at the end after she woke up. It would've been cool to see an epilogue of like 6 months later.

otherwise - loved this book!

Thank you NetGalley for this e-ARC in exchange for my honest review!

I enjoyed reading this book, I liked many of the magical elements and the relationship/dynamic between Doreen and Margot. However, I felt like I could’ve used more explanation on some of the magic, especially towards the end and the romance was definitely a bit insta-love, but also a very slow burn.

I think many people will love this book, it just wasn’t a great fit for me!

This book follows Doreen MacKinnon, a thirteenth generation MacKinnon witch. This family of witches have been cursed to never find true love, as a result of a relationship gone wrong over three centuries ago. After Ambrose MacDonald cursed the MacKinnon line, the family retaliated by trapping him in a sleeping state. When Doreen locates Ambrose and wakes him from his slumber to force him to help her break the curse, she finds herself thrown into a series of deadly trials, where she may even find love. As sparks begin to fly, she must choose what she is willing to sacrifice: true love, her family, or herself.

I really enjoyed the descriptive imagery of this book and found the plot interesting. I particularly enjoyed the pacing of the first half of the book, but thought the plot became a bit rushed in the second half. It felt like Doreen and Ambrose’s feeling developed very suddenly, and I would have liked more depth in this development. I also thought that the style of the dialogue was sometimes at odds with the descriptive style of writing. Overall, still an enjoyable book with tropes including enemies to lovers, deadly trials, and generational conflict.

Thank you to NetGalley and Paige Crutcher for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

4 stars rounded up. I love a witchy book, especially with romance and fantasy elements. There were many aspects of this story I enjoyed but I do feel like more could've happened. Certain moments/connections felt a bit rushed and underdeveloped. However, I still had a good time reading this and I'm confident others will as well. Also, this book cover is gorgeous 😍 thank you Netgalley for the ARC!

A three hundred year old curse on an entire family line of witches. By another witch. The curse? Marry by 30 or die. Find love or die.

While her own people try to stop her, Doreen is determined to break the curse and endure the trials and find her true love.

But her helper is the one who made the curse and his involvement is suspect at best.

Good story.

NetGalley/ St. Martin’s Press February 25, 2025