Waking the Witch: a darkly spellbinding tale of female empowerment

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Ivy is 17, and having been abandoned by her birth mother as a baby she has begun her journey in life in care. Constantly shunted around between children's homes and foster carers, always searching and hoping for a forever home. Dapo Adeola, Tracy Darnton, Joseph Coelho and Chitra Soundar are among the 19 authors and illustrators longlisted for the Inclusive Books for Child...

But, in finding her mother Ivy has uncovered at dark secret about her past. Now, an ancient and corrupt power is stalking Ivy and her only chance of survival to look deep within herself. For not every story in Legend is true and some evils are not what they seem…

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The characters themselves were great, Ivy never felt like a cliche of a character and the writing managed to avoid making her into a classic “Mary-Sue”, as we so often see. The other characters were very interesting and seeing the twists for some of the well-known people of Arthurian legends was refreshing. After growing up in foster homes, Ivy's search for her mother might finally be over. But just when she has a lead and a plan to find her, strange events start following Ivy and her friend Tom. Will they be able to find Ivy's mother and what else might they find along the way?

Ivy is a lovely well-rounded character, despite the trials of her upbringing. She knows her own flaws, but probably hasn’t faced them head on at this juncture. She is sharp, good natured and can assert herself. The setting was throughly atmospheric and the island, wild and isolated from human life (beside Ivy’s mum) really helped to bring the mythological magic to life, especially the sinister feeling of unease and foreboding which impressively managed to linger for the entire book—I have to say I was definitely on the edge of my seat both dreading and anticipating that something terrible was about to occur. When a promo arrived in my inbox for Waking the Witch I was drawn in by the mention of Arthurian legend and Welsh mythology. I love a book that centres around any mythology, they are often some of my favourites. This is no exception. Martha can tell things about a person just by touching their clothes, as if their emotions and memories have been absorbed into the material. It started the day she fell from the tree at her grandma’s cabin and became blind in one eye. We have our protagonist Ivy who has lived in care all her life after being abandoned as a baby, working at a butterfly house. A job she loves except for the pervy Manager who has made unwanted advances on Ivy multiple times. We then have Tom, Ivy's co-worker at the Butterfly House who becomes a central part of the story.

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To be honest, I didn't know much about Arthurian legend before I started work on the book. When coming up with story ideas, I nearly always begin with setting. I was looking up remote areas in the UK and came across Bardsey Island off the west coast of Wales. There were so many fascinating facts and folklore about the place, I knew there had to be a story I could set there. When I discovered it was said to be Avalon and Merlin's last resting place, I began to look more closely at Arthurian legends. Coffee house Caffè Nero has announced the 16-strong shortlist for the inaugural Nero Book Awards, recognising the outstanding books of the past 12... I'm currently reading Her Dark Wings by Melinda Salisbury and Daughter of Darkness by Katharine and Elizabeth Corr (both based on Greek mythology) and really enjoying them. I loved the setting in this. It felt unsettling and creepy, in contrast to the reunion with her mum that Ivy has dreamed of for years, and it helped build an uncertainty around everything she is introduced to/discovers. Do you like young adult fantasy novels of humorous and horror fashion? Look no further than City of Nightmares by Rebecca Schaefer.

An ancient and corrupt power is stalking Ivy, and her only chance of survival is to look deep within herself. For not every story in legend is true, and some evils are not what they seem. Bestselling author Alexandra Christo, author of TikTok sensation To Kill a Kingdom, introduces her new book, The Night Hunt (Hot Key Books), a dark...The book ends in a way that could lead to a sequel but could leave the following chapters to the reader's imagination. Generally, I am a slow reader but I sped through this book wanting to know what happened next - always a sign of a good book! Great concept, poor execution. Marketed as YA, yet the writing style and characters were so juvenile I wouldn't put this in the hands of any reader over the age of 12, despite the gore and mild violence. W aking the Witch is a novel “infused with magic and horror”, based on the folklore of Bardsey Island which is believed to be the real location of Avalon. Burge offers a feminist view of the Arthurian legend, bringing to the fore lesser-known stories and well-loved characters. Thank you to the Tandem Collective UK for selecting me as a VIP for this readalong and to them and Hot Key Books for the gifted ARC.