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Rainy March is a book witch. That means it’s her job to protect fictional stories from those who would do them harm. There are actually people out there who want to erase stories, ban them, burn them, obliterate them, as if they never existed. And book witches are sworn to stop those evildoers from these dastardly doings.
Book witches have rules, such as not falling in love with fictional characters. But even as a third-generation book witch, and as dedicated as she is to her work, Rainy has had a problem with this particular rule. She always loved the noir mysteries starring the Duke of Chicago, a handsome British-born detective who stars in a whole series of popular books. And when she had to hop into one of his stories to do her work, she couldn’t help but fall hard for him.
Sooooo… she ends up being forbidden from seeing him again after ignoring the rule for a while (and getting caught). Sigh. No one else in the real world measures up to the Duke. But if she breaks that rule again, she could be expelled from the book witch coven and never able to enter a book again.
When her grandfather disappears and a valuable book is stolen, Rainy needs backup. And the one person who can solve the mystery is, of course, the Duke of Chicago. She grabs him out of his stories, takes her feline familiar with them, and goes on a journey to find clues to solve what happened and find her grandfather. They pop into Wonderland and meet Gatsby on the way. But the most important character will be one who will surprise her and reveal long-held secrets.
I adore Meg Shaffer. Her debut, The Wishing Game, is one of my favorites. Just pitch-perfect. Obviously, I snatched up this novel as soon as I could. The Book Witch has much to delight book lovers: magic, romance, stories within stories, lots of classic book references. I did very much enjoy it. The only downside was that I couldn’t get completely on board with the romance. It didn’t feel really solid, maybe in part because the Duke is a book character. But it also just didn’t feel fleshed out; the development of the romance happens mostly off-page. I felt kind of separate from that whole part of the story. (Later, it turns out it mostly makes sense, but I can’t say more.)
In the end, there were some cool little twists and the poignant moments that I expected from Shaffer. She’s amazing at making sweet stories that are charming, bookish, and have just a nice amount of emotional payoff.
Not my favorite, still, but The Book Witch is a lovely tale for those who find every book to be some kind of magic.
Rated: Mild. Profanity includes a couple of instances of moderate profanity, 10 uses of mild language, and 5 instances of the name of Deity in vain. Sexual content includes kissing and understood sex (closed-door). There is some peril and injuries.
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*I received an ARC in exchange for my honest review.
