alindstadtcorbeax
Written on May 28, 2020
Definitely enjoyed this, but it didn’t blow me away.
"Sterling’s rich, magical world dazzles readers with its fantastic intricacies." —Richelle Mead, #1 international bestselling author of Vampire Academy and The Glittering Court series
Hannah's a witch, but not the kind you're thinking of. She's the real deal, an Elemental with the power to control fire, earth, water, and air. But even though she lives in Salem, Massachusetts, her magic is a secret she has to keep to herself. If she's ever caught using it in front of a Reg (non-witch), she could lose it. For good. So, Hannah spends most of her time avoiding her ex-girlfriend (and fellow Elemental Witch) Veronica, hanging out with her best friend, and working at the Fly by Night Cauldron selling candles and crystals to tourists, goths, and local Wiccans.
But when a terrifying blood ritual interrupts the end-of-school-year bonfire and evidence of dark magic begins to appear all over Salem, Hannah's sure it's the work of a deadly Blood Witch. However her coven seems less than convinced, forcing Hannah to team up with the last person she wants to see: Veronica. With everything she loves on the line, Hannah will have to test the limits of her power if she's going to save her coven.
"Infused with page-turning suspense, bittersweet romance, shocking twists, and tragic turns, Sterling has written a standout debut." —Dana Mele, author of People Like Us
- ISBN10 0451480341
- ISBN13 9780451480347
- Publish Date 4 May 2020 (first published 28 May 2019)
- Publish Status Active
- Publish Country GB
- Imprint Razorbill
- Format Paperback (US Trade)
- Pages 336
- Language English
- URL https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780451480347
Reviews
Definitely enjoyed this, but it didn’t blow me away.
Amber (The Literary Phoenix)
Written on May 9, 2020
I can come at this from so many angles. Should we talk about modern day Salem? The complicated romantic relationships? The magic system and its origin story? All three? Okay!
Modern. Day. Salem. Salem, MA is one of my favorite cities in the world, right up there with London and Paris. There’s this deep energy in that place that grounds me, whether it’s the gravity of its history or just my perception of its buzzing aura. Either way, I love Salem, and I’m trash for any book set in Salem. Sterling’s perception of Salem is spot on and felt so familiar to me. She managed effortlessly to bring that city to life, but not make it too cliche, which is a feat in a book about a witch coven… set in Salem. Honestly, excellent work.
Hannah, Gemma, Morgan, Veronica, everyone was so good. Each character was unique and layered, although I think I would have generally liked to see more exploration across the board. That is, except for Hannah. The many layers of Hannah were presented to the reader and she was raw without being reckless. Hannah’s emotions are written flawlessly – from her fear, her powerless, to her heart-wrenching grief… you feel what Hannah is feeling. One of my favorite examples of the depth of emotion here was Hannah’s complicated relationship with her ex, Veronica. For all the books I’ve read, I’m not sure I’ve read more than a handful that acknowledge the messy, confusing nature of being fresh out of a relationship, still loving the person, and knowing that you don’t want to go back down that rabbit hole. The complexity of Hannah and Veronica’s relationship was awesome.
I appreciated the conversation between Morgan and Hannah as well. There’s a lot of time in real life spent talking about misjudging people and making harmful (unintentional, perhaps, but still harmful) comments and assumptions about them, but that rarely happens in books.. Off the top of my head, only Leah on the Offbeat had a similarly styled (thought different topic) conversation that hit these cords and I really appreciated the dialogue between Hannah and Morgan about Morgan’s sexuality.
So, generally, the characters were great and while I am not Gen Z and I don’t have any right to judge representations of their generation, my impression was that the characters were very well crafted. They felt real. And I really appreciate all the LGBTQ+ rep, including a trans character. Love comes in all sorts, and it’s beautiful to see it so effortless. Doubly so because this book didn’t set out to make a social commentary. It’s like Isabel Sterling just opened her arms and said, “This is the world. This is our world,” and she’s right. No further explanations needed.
As to whether or not this was good rep, it is not my place to say, as I am not within that demographic. I will say that Isabel Sterling is part of the community, and therefore, the relationships were #OwnVoices rep. Beyond that, I leave it to those with true life experience to lay out the successful (or lack thereof) of her representations.
I really appreciated the way Sterling tied the magic in and together. The different abilities and their limitations are clearly thought out. There are consequences to their actions, and even though Hannah kept breaking rules… she also got punished for them. The origin of magic with the Three Sisters story told by Hannah is lovely as well, weaving in allusions to mythology and traditional rules like the Rule of Three. Overall a very well-done magic system that works within scientific and cultural boundaries to be believable.
The pacing was great, the story was predictable at times and not at others. I’m glad there’s another book on its way out, because I would love to read more of these characters. And I’m glad there’s a prequel novella, because I spent half the book going, “Okay, but WHAT DID HAPPEN IN NEW YORK!?”
Definitely one I’d recommend picking up if you’re a fan of anything witchy, but with a contemporary feel.
Sarah Says
Written on May 2, 2020
My favorite part of the book was the queerness and the magic. We get a lesbian POV, a bisexual love interest. And there is also a new friend who is Trans.
I love me a tale of witches and magic and I quite enjoyed the POV’s elemental magic.
katie
Written on Sep 15, 2019
Quirky Cat
Written on Aug 11, 2019
This novel follows Hannah – a real witch living in Salem. And she’s not at all like the stereotypes might have you expect. She’s an elemental witch – giving her control over the elements around her. Her whole coven is, actually. There are also casters and blood witches, who probably fit more of the stereotypes about witches.
Along with being a fun and interesting read, These Witches Don’t Burn is delightfully LGBT friendly. The romantic subplot is not a hidden one – the cover alone kind of gives it away. But it was still a pleasant surprise in many ways.
I really enjoyed These Witches Don’t Burn. This novel perfectly balanced a lot of elements (no pun intended) and emotions with the pages. It had a lot going on, from the personal tribulations Hannah was dealing with, to the larger threat targeted towards her coven.
These Witches Don’t Burn was fast-paced and a very speedy read. I think I got through it in just a sitting or two. But I didn’t feel pressured to rush through it. Instead I simply enjoyed this novel for exactly what it was.
Sterling used some interesting storytelling techniques to get her point across, all while keeping us in the dark for as long as possible. There are events in Hannah’s past that are quite relevant to a huge chunk of her story – and yet we’re only told about it in bits and pieces. It succeeded in holding my interest, though I’ll confess I did stop reading for a moment and double-check that this was the first in the series.
I enjoyed trying to put the pieces of this puzzle together; trying to figure out who was the blood witch (if anyone) and who the witch hunter was. In the end, I had my suspicions, but I still enjoyed the twist.
Hannah had to deal with a lot in this novel. First there’s the kind of crazy ex-girlfriend (whom I’m calling crazy because she was seemingly controlling and emotionally abusive), then there’s the potential love interest in her life, and finally the family drama and coven issues. But of course, none of those issues will stay in nicely formed segments of her life. It all has to bleed through. I think that’s what made this tale feel a bit more realistic for me.
I still have some questions about Morgan and some of the other (unnamed) characters. But I’m sure that later novels in the series will touch upon them. At least, I sincerely hope so! Until then, I’m just going to have to look forward to more news.
For more reviews check out Quirky Cat's Fat Stacks
girlinthepages
Written on Dec 21, 2018
The world of These Witches Don't Burn divides witches into three categories: Caster Witches, Elemental Witches, and Blood Witches. Hannah, the protagonist, comes from a family of Elementals who are part of a fairly good sized coven in town. I think the author did a great job with the world building, and I enjoyed learning not only about the type of magic witches could do, but the rules around witches who are still coming of age and when they could learn certain types of magic (it reminded me a bit of the original Sabrina the Teenage Witch).
The story starts off normal enough for a YA paranormal teen novel: some of the teens are witches and must hide their powers from their "Reg" friends, while balancing relationship drama, part time jobs, and navigating the high school social hierarchy. However, things start getting spiced up when dark magic and rituals start appearing around town and of course our protagonist and co. start investigating, as fictional teens do. I was surprised by how high the stakes and tension felt- there'd be one "incident" that I'd barely recover from and then another one would happen right away- it was almost action scene after action scene that made it hard to put the book down and definitely kept me engaged enough to want to read the sequel. Despite the "culprit" not being that hard to spot, the journey to Hannah and her friends discovering who was behind everything was still entertaining and took some twists that I did not expect.
There's also a lot of diversity in this story, which is great. There's a lot of different types of relationships highlighted, as well as diversity in religion (Wicca is mentioned quite a bit, both through characters who are casual practitioners and those who are seriously involved with it) and even diversity in the types of witches and an examination of the prejudices and stereotypes that were held in this fictional magic system. I also really liked how the author explored and explained a bit about Wicca through Hannah's boss who is an avid practitioner, and how Hannah doesn't discount Wiccan magic just because it's practiced by Regs- rather it's just a different kind of magic.
Overall: These Witches Don't Burn is a refreshing, modern take on a witch story with a lot of diversity that feels very natural and many twists and cliffhangers. However, I do feel like more could have been done with the Salem setting to feel more atmospheric and I didn't feel overly invested in the characters (especially Hannah, she felt like a rather typical YA protagonist to me who happened to have powers). Overall though I did enjoy my reading experience and look forward to the sequel!This review was originally posted on Girl in the Pages