The Northern Witch's Book Blog

The Collected Regrets of Clover by Mikki Brammer 3.5 out of 5 Synopsis Clover Brooks has forgotten how to live. It might be because she spends her time caring for people in their final days, working as a death doula in New York City. Or it might be because she has a regret of her own - one she can't bring herself to let go of. But then she meets Claudia: a feisty old woman who has one last wish . . . As Clover begins a new adventure, will she remember how to live her own big, beautiful life? A big-hearted story about figuring out what you want from life - and then finding the courage to go after it. Perfect for fans of Sally Page, Ruth Hogan and Clare Pooley. Review Clover is a death doula - she helps people come to terms with their ending lives. She religiously records their final words of advice, or regrets; to the point where she forgets to live. I received a free copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. The story follows Clover, a woman in her mid-thirties. Despite...

HappyHead by Josh Silver 2 out of 5 Synopsis We are in an epidemic. An epidemic of unhappiness.  Friends, here is the good news: HappyHead has the answer.  When Seb is offered a place on a radical retreat designed to solve the national crisis of teenage unhappiness, he is determined to change how people see him and make his parents proud. But as he finds himself drawn to the enigmatic Finn, Seb starts to question the true nature of the challenges they must undergo. The deeper into the programme the boys get, the more disturbing the assessments become, until it’s clear there may be no escape... Review Seb has been selected to go to a remote Scottish retreat where teens will attempt an intense course in happiness. Except, not everything is as it seems. I received a free copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Seb is just an ordinary teen. He lacks the confidence of others, and struggles with anxiety, but is a likeable chap. He has been selected for the first govern...

The Darkest Part of the Forest by Holly Black 4 out of 5 Synopsis Children can have a cruel, absolute sense of justice. Children can kill a monster and feel quite proud of themselves. A girl can look at her brother and believe they’re destined to be a knight and a bard who battle evil. She can believe she’s found the thing she’s been made for. Hazel lives with her brother, Ben, in the strange town of Fairfold where humans and fae exist side by side. The faeries’ seemingly harmless magic attracts tourists, but Hazel knows how dangerous they can be, and she knows how to stop them. Or she did, once. At the center of it all, there is a glass coffin in the woods. It rests right on the ground and in it sleeps a boy with horns on his head and ears as pointed as knives. Hazel and Ben were both in love with him as children. The boy has slept there for generations, never waking. Until one day, he does… As the world turns upside down, Hazel tries to remember her years pretending to be a knight. B...

Ink Blood Sister Scribe by Emma Törzs 4 out of 5 Synopsis Some books should never be opened. Ink Blood Sister Scribe follows a family tasked with guarding a trove of magical but deadly books, and the shadowy organisation that will do anything to get them back...even murder. ____________ Joanna Kalotay lives alone in the woods of Vermont, the sole protector of a collection of rare books; books that will allow someone to walk through walls or turn water into wine. Books of magic. Her estranged older sister Esther moves between countries and jobs, constantly changing, never staying anywhere longer than a year, desperate to avoid the deadly magic that killed her mother. Currently working on a research base in Antarctica, she has found love and perhaps a sort of happiness. But when she finds spots of blood on the mirrors in the research base, she knows someone is coming for her, and that Joanna and her collection are in danger. If they are to survive, she and Joanna must unravel the sec...