The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches

This book has cast its spell … consider me charmed!

Part romance, part fantasy, part “found family” fiction, this story gave me all the House in the Cerulean Sea vibes while being very much its own magical story. Sangu Mandanna will be a new-to-me author to watch!

Synopsis:  Thirty-one year old Mika Moon was brought up to believe that the power of too many witches existing in close proximity is dangerous. Due to this, she’s led a largely lonely and solitary life where she can’t truly be herself.  One outlet for her, though, is her YouTube channel where she performs magic, knowing that no one actually believes it’s real. Well … almost no one.

Convinced that she’s actually a witch, aged retired actor Ian invites Mika to Nowhere House, where he lives with his husband, Ken, housekeeper Lucie, librarian Jamie, and three precocious young witches named Rosette, Terracotta and Altamira, wards of Lillian Nowhere, herself a witch and the owner of the house. While Lillian is away, he hopes that Mika can teach these young witches how to control their power before a visit from a solicitor in six weeks’ time that will determine whether they can stay at Nowhere House.

Needless to say, things don’t quite go to plan when this eclectic bunch get together! The girls’ unintentional magic hijinks were particularly funny.

My thoughts:  Mika is a strong, funny, intelligent female MC, which is SO refreshing. She’s kind and level-headed, and despite her past trauma, isn’t portrayed as a victim. Her story arc of finding her ‘family’ at Nowhere House was so touching and sweet. I also enjoyed seeing her sunshiney personality melt big ol’ grump Jamie’s heart. They had fun chemistry (and a bit of steam)!

Ian is flamboyant and hilarious and creates as many problems as he tries to solve! It was funny to watch Ken, Lucie and Jamie try to keep him in check.  The girls fight as children do, but at the heart of it, they fiercely love one another and it was sweet to see them find a place in their hearts for Mika too.

This story is a virtual melting pot of diversity which is also refreshing. It has White, Black, British, Indian, Irish, Vietnamese, Palestinian, and Japanese characters, two same-sex couples, the spectrum of ages, yet it never feels like it’s TRYING to hit you over the head with its diversity.  Oh, and Mika has an adorable dog named, Circe, too. So cute! 

The story is written in third person, following Mika’s POV primarily. It’s funny and heartwarming, while tackling a few serious issues like loneliness, manipulation and trauma without ever becoming heavy. I listened on audio narrated by Samara MacLaren, who did an absolutely brilliant job with all the voicing of genders, ages and accents. She has such a soothing voice. If you want a little bit of magic and a whole lot of heart, this is a wonderful story for any time of year!

★★★★ ½