This was such an interesting read. The setup at a witch college instantly hooked me, and I liked how different Orlando’s character felt. A shapeshifter who can’t control their powers and who switches between male and female forms—it was refreshing to see a main character that didn’t fit the typical mold.

The story itself had a lot going on: grief, love, identity, and this dangerous resurrection spell hanging over everything. I thought the relationship between Orlando and Bastian had some good tension, and I was curious the whole time about his true motives. It gave the book a slightly darker, more mysterious edge, which I enjoyed.

Witchlore was a very enjoyable read! While I got off to a slower start reading it, I quickly began forming theories about what was going on and ended up on a pretty thrilling ride to get some answers. It was a very even split of ‘I can’t put this book down because I need to see if I’m right’ and ‘I can’t put this book down because I need these two to admit they like each other’. I had a very good time with the outcome of both. It ended up being a very sweet, cozy book with a good set up for a magic school and a thought provoking exploration on the nature of gender identity, grief, love, and healing.

If witches are society’s freaks, Lando is a weirdo among weirdos, a shapeshifter who can’t even do magic. When their girlfriend is killed and everyone blames them, Lando teams up with Bastian, the mysterious new witch at school, to attempt a dangerous resurrection spell.

There’s so much to love about Witchlore. It’s darkly funny and twisty, a true passion project.

Lando makes my heart ache. Their battles with grief, mental health, and survivor’s guilt hooked me from the first page. And their struggle with gender identity, echoed in their inability to shift on cue, was one of those perfect moments of fantasy giving us a lens for understanding real-world challenges.

What kept this from five stars for me:

Too many words, not enough depth, and super repetitive. Lando’s guilt about their dead girlfriend, for example, was dredged up so frequently that I started making a beep sound every time it was mentioned to demonstrate the repetitiveness for my significant other. He didn’t last half a chapter before, “Cut it out. I get it. It’s a lot.” That word count would have been better used in worldbuilding. The shifter/witch prejudices and magical school were dead interesting, but they’re barely explored. More, please!

The romance didn’t land. I think it's because Lando and Bastian are together every waking moment, which makes the relationship too convenient to be believable. Something felt off about it, like when your friend starts dating someone and forgets you exist, and their new relationship becomes their personality. I would also have loved to see a couple more fleshed-out characters to challenge Lando and add depth.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher, Wednesday Books (of St. Martin’s Press), for allowing me to read this lovely, spooky book just in time for Summerween!

I love a magical school, and I also love a queer romantasy so I thought this would be a slam dunk!

We have a shapeshifter dealing with grief, who is the only non-witch in the magical academy. They are often ostracized and bullied, and are going through a very personal loss.

This story is not as light and fun as it may seem. There is trauma, grief, identity, and emotional turmoil.

Unfortunately I just struggled to connect emotionally to the characters.

Based on other reviews this seems to be a personal issue, and you should definitely still check it out if the plot intrigues you!!

So I actually ended up DNFing this book because it wasn't holding my attention very well. Plus the MC was very woe-is-me sometimes, but they started having some revelations which was nice! I thought this book had great nonbinary rep. The author did a great job of using shifting to explore the spectrum of gender within and outside the queer community. Ordered a couple copies for my system, hope teens like it and find themselves in it.

An excellent addition to YA shelves everywhere. Even though I am cisgender and heterosexual, I really felt for Lando and their struggles with identity and pressure from those around them to conform to a single gender solely based on their physical presentation. Even with active danger around them, they never let themself be spoken down to, going so far as to insult monsters when they sling accusations of naivete. Bastian and his motives remained nicely murky but not outright threatening right up to the final act, so I was guessing about how everything was moving until the very end. Such a satisfying ending with minimal "last minute side character intervention", I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and look forward to reading more by Emma Hinds.

I was really captivated with WitchLore. I enjoyed reading about the rivalry between the witch/shapeshifter conflict, this storyline arc holds a special place in my heart since my college days. Any rivalry between witches and other supernatural beings draw me in!

Lando (our main character) lives a life unsure about their family history, and as the book progresses their knowledge about magic is further complicated. They spent their entire life alone, and it takes a while before anyone is allowed into their world.

If you like books with shapeshifters, witches, and navigating magic, this book is for you!

Thank you Wednesday Books and Netgalley for the gifted copy.

Orlando has had a rough time of it, not only do they face discrimination for being a shapeshifter among witches, they also have their girlfriend die in front of them, only to then be blamed for her death. Dealing with the trauma of it all, they are just trying to keep their head down and get through classes. When Bastian shows up, he doesn't seem to care that Lando is a shapeshifter, that they change genders or that their classmates seem weary of them. Further, he presents an intriguing proposition... Perhaps by working together they can bring back Orlando's dead girlfriend.

With little options, and feeling like they don't have a lot to lose, Lando and Bastian team up. They face hellhounds, boggarts, and the past and they try to work to make this spell happen. In their search for answers and the spell to bring her back they discover that maybe what they actually need is each other. Together they work to gather spell ingredients and also try to figure out why each ingredient is leading Lando to shapeshift more than they have before.

If you enjoy stories that explore complex grief, learning to love again, and challenging misconceptions I would recommend this book. I enjoyed the exploration of those characters and that they weren't perfect. I think the story did a good job capturing how hard life can be when you've lost someone. Thank you to the publisher for providing an advanced readers copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Final Thoughts
Why You’ll Love It
If you gravitate toward queer representation, emotionally rich protagonists, and mythology-infused fantasy, Witchlore is a deeply affecting and imaginative story that handles loss, identity, and love with care and nuance.

Keep in Mind
The emotional tone is quite mature, and while the worldbuilding is compelling, some readers might desire more depth. If you're looking for high emotional stakes and modern magical realism, this debut should resonate strongly.

I found this book to be an enjoyable read. The story kept me engaged from start to finish and had some moments that really stood out. Overall, it offered an entertaining reading experience.

I will acknowledge that this story had an interesting premise, and I rarely see books about shapeshifters so that was cool. However, I felt a detachment from the book and didn't feel connected to the characters. All in all this was fine in the moment but I probably won't give it any more thought.

3.5 stars. Thank you so much Wednesday books for the e-arc of this book!

This book looked so perfect for fall and I loved the idea of it. I’ll talk about the strengths of this book first. I absolutely loved the witchy vibes and academic setting. The main character is a shape shifting witch named Lando who is nonbinary. The book heavily discusses themes about identity and queerness which is amazing. Bastian who was named after a Neverending Story character is pansexual and I love his sweet self so much.

The book explores themes of grief and does mention suicidal attempts, so definitely consider that if it’s a trigger for you. When Lando loses their girlfriend in an accident, they use Bastian to help bring her back from the dead. Along the way they have to obtain ingredients for the spell which puts them into very dangerous positions. They also meet many creatures along the way and there’s one hilarious scene with cheese and a boggart that really stood out to me.

Now onto the part that didn’t really work for me. There’s a plot twist at the end that didn’t feel very organic. There were some moments leading up to it that I thought “oh okay yeah I guess that was hinted at”, but I thought that plot line was unnecessary considering the story had so many great working pieces to go on.

Overall I do think this story is going to find its readers and be especially important to young adult readers who are nonbinary and queer. The themes of grief and small romance will also resonate with readers. I wish the ending had gone a little bit differently, but I’m still so glad that I got to read this!

i'm so different. so weird. no one gets me except this strikingly handsome jerk. good god release me

Lando and Bastian kept me on the edge of my seat the whole book!!
I absolutely did not see the ending coming!!!
I absolutely loved the world Emma Hinds builds in this book! Shifters and witches living among ordinary folk. Witches are known but shifters remain unknown to the public at large..
We meet Lando as a terrible tragedy strikes. We follow them through grief and magic.
Absolutely could not put this down!

I really loved the concept of this book, especially the way shifters weren’t just changing their appearance, but also grappling with their gender identity and how that affects their place in the world. It added so much emotional depth, and honestly felt really fresh and thoughtful.

Orlando is such a strange little gremlin of a character (in the best way): they are a nonbinary shifter from a powerful magical family, and yet, totally isolated because they can’t cast or control their shifts. That sense of being constantly on the outside, especially after the tragedy hits, was so well done. You really feel their loneliness, especially with everyone around them low-key mocking them for not fitting the mold.

Then Bastian shows up, and things shift. Their connection was sweet without being overdone, and I liked how it slowly opened Orlando up. The plot itself is simple, but it works: there’s enough tension to keep you reading until the mystery unravels.

The one thing that I didn’t like was the dialogue. A lot of characters felt like they were just yelling at each other constantly, and it didn’t always make sense or feel earned. I wanted more nuance there.
But overall it was a very soft, slightly dark academia-flavored read with a unique magical world and a lot of heart. Definitely enjoyed it.

Thanks to NetGalley for the eARC!

This book was quite interesting and unique imo. I really enjoyed Lando and Bastian as characters, both individually and together. The magic was very cool too. And this cover is gorgeous!

The past matters, it makes us, but today the future is wide and waiting. Something that seemed impossible yesterday is now wondrously feasible."

I adored this book. Witchlore is a beautifully written YA fantasy full of heart, magic, and emotional complexity. From the first page, I was drawn into Orlando’s world, a place where shapeshifters are expected to conform, but where one character refuses to be boxed in by expectation. What follows is a story of identity, grief, and resilience that left a deep impact.

Emma Hinds captures the disorienting nature of loss so well. There are moments of raw honesty in how grief is described—how it distances us, distorts our relationships, and shapes the way we carry on. I especially loved the way the story handled found family and what it means to be seen for who you truly are.

The quotes I saved from this book are many. Hinds writes with such lyrical emotional clarity that certain lines stayed with me long after finishing. One favourite was: “In a lifetime of being a shifter alone, a shifter set apart, she makes me feel seen.” That perfectly sums up the quiet power of this book.

There is magic and rebellion here, but also tenderness and introspection. I was cheering for Orlando, not just in their quest, but in their journey toward accepting their whole self. The story doesn’t just offer escape—it invites reflection.

Read this if you enjoyed: The Midnight Bargain, The Raven Cycle, or stories that blend fantasy with emotional coming-of-age themes and rich character depth.

I looked up the author after I finished <i>Witchlore</i> and was completely unsurprised to discover Emma Hinds has written a massive amount of Harry Potter fanfiction. This book is not a rip-off, but the influence is glaringly obvious—the school bully even has Draco Malfoy's coloring.

I found the characters one-dimensional and annoying, and the world building half-assed. I think anyone interested in reading <i>Witchlore</i> would do best to get it from the library as it's certainly not worth the cover price.

DNF at 20%
I may come back this? But I just don’t love the characters. They don’t seem like juniors in college at all to me and I wish there was more background or something for me to care more about them. They’re very bland and I don’t care which is a bummer.

This book pulls no punches. It is rare to see a book like this that actually puts to words (accurate words, at that) the feelings that most people tend to avoid. This books will most definitely find a dedicated following with YA because it gives voice to emotions, feelings, and situations that sadly remain mostly voiceless. Well done!!!