The Druid Scholar

What is it like to be incredibly special, but also alone because of it? In The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches, we see a world where witches are forced to spend their lives alone because an old curse causes every one of them to become orphaned. With the specter of witch hunts of old looming over them, and the tricky nature of magic as it is drawn to large gatherings of magical practitioners, Mika Moon and her compatriots in magic spend their lives performing magical workings in secret and never fully developing true relationships with others. That is, until Mika is brought to Nowhere house to teach a group of magical girls how to manage their magic before the residents are discovered by a troublesome solicitor who is none too keen on the diverse residents of the house.

This story is a romance, and thus filled with some delightful tropes. The found family vibes in this book are truly immaculate, especially with Terracotta who appears bound and determined to give Mika as hard a time as possible before accepting her into the family. The grumpy x sunshine romance is delightful and compelling, and shout out to Sangu Mandanna for making him an interlibrary loan style librarian of the rare books library at Nowhere House.

I thought this book quite fun and cute. Of course I was in the living room listening to the book on speaker during the spicy bits, but it was too good to let my boyfriend’s questioning looks stop me. It is truly a feel good read, and every character is immaculately crafted. The story line is tight and though I found the final plot twists pretty obvious early on (very few books make me feel surprised, I read too much), they were masterfully crafted for wonderfully dramatic effect. Be warned that though the cast is delightfully diverse, the unfortunate fact that racists still exists in this universe can make for some very unpleasant emotions in regards to such interactions as they happen on the page.

This is an excellent book for readers of witchy romances and cozy fantasies, books like House on the Cerulean Sea and A Psalm for the Wild-Built.