Review: A HOLIDAY OF WITCHES by Amanda M. Lee

After reading Any Witch Way You Can and Every Witch Way But Wicked, I was looking forward to this new book by Amanda Lee.

This is a collection of novellas centered around the holidays. I was looking forward to the snarky, candid, funny repartee of the Winchester witches, particularly those from bitter, old Aunt Tillie. I’m sorry to say that this collection fell short.

Most of the stories weren’t even told in the POV of a Winchester witch. What I liked best about the previous stories was that they were told by Bay Winchester, the witch that can see ghosts. But, no, these didn’t have that. There was only one story that was told in the POV of one of the aunts, but the rest were narrated by random strangers that generated more confusion than anything else.

“A Solstice Celebration” – This was the only story I loved because this one had good ole’ Aunt Tillie. This one gave better insight to the Winchester clan as they prepare to celebrate their annual solstice celebration. However, it seems that this could be ruined by the presence of a lost ghost, something that only teenage Bay could see. Humor and mystery: two things that I love!

“Bewitched” – This was narrated by somebody named Sam, who has the same ability as Bay (they can both see ghosts.) Although this had the same witty puns and humor, this story mainly concentrated on the romantic interest between Sam and Clove. There was really no mystery. Okay, there was a missing girl from a teen party, but that’s about it. Still, there was too much lag and not enough mystery, magic, or Tillie.

“Witchdependence” and “Happy Witchgiving”, I admit, I didn’t even finish reading because they were too much like “Bewitched”—told in the POV of strangers with the Winchester witches playing in the background.

So to rate this as a whole, I’d first have to rate individually:

1. “A Solstice Celebration” – 5

2. “Bewitched” – 3

3. “Witchdependence” and “Happy Witchgiving” – 1

So the average rating would be 2.5 stars. This book was such a disappointment.

My rating: 2.5 stars