Exhilarating, dangerous, and seductive, Witch Season is an action-packed and fiercely romantic contemporary fantasy from debut author and screenwriter Julia Bianco.
That is the price of magic–not just the blood, but the pain to bring it out.
Katherine Barnes is an enforcer, charged with upholding the rules of the notorious Los Angeles-based Aestas coven. It’s her job to maintain order and bring unsettled witches–people who aren’t aware they have magic until it explodes out of them in a catastrophic burst–into the coven’s fold. As a former unsettled witch, Katherine owes her life to Sylvia Page, coven leader and silver-haired rebel who founded Aestas years ago.
When Silas Khatri, heir to Noctis, the most powerful coven in the world, arrives to take Aestas to task for some of their more unconventional practices, Katherine’s dislike for him reaches blistering levels. She hates his money, his good looks, his coven’s dangerous attitude towards unsettled witches. She can absolutely overlook that he sets her off in more ways than one.
But a powerful threat is about to rise. Stronger than any one coven. More insidious than the decades-long power struggle that exists in the hidden witch world. One that will pull Katherine and Silas together despite their differences. And one that will lead to an all-out war.
That is the price of magic–not just the blood, but the pain to bring it out.
Katherine Barnes is an enforcer, charged with upholding the rules of the notorious Los Angeles-based Aestas coven. It’s her job to maintain order and bring unsettled witches–people who aren’t aware they have magic until it explodes out of them in a catastrophic burst–into the coven’s fold. As a former unsettled witch, Katherine owes her life to Sylvia Page, coven leader and silver-haired rebel who founded Aestas years ago.
When Silas Khatri, heir to Noctis, the most powerful coven in the world, arrives to take Aestas to task for some of their more unconventional practices, Katherine’s dislike for him reaches blistering levels. She hates his money, his good looks, his coven’s dangerous attitude towards unsettled witches. She can absolutely overlook that he sets her off in more ways than one.
But a powerful threat is about to rise. Stronger than any one coven. More insidious than the decades-long power struggle that exists in the hidden witch world. One that will pull Katherine and Silas together despite their differences. And one that will lead to an all-out war.
Title: Witch Season (Broken Coven #1)
Author: Julia Bianco
Publisher: Macmillan Audio/St. Martin's Press
Expected Publication Date: June 30, 2026
Review:
Thank you to Macmillan Audio, St Martin's Press, and NetGalley for providing me with an audio and ecopy of this title to listen to/read and give my honest review. The opinions expressed here are my own.
This was a fantastic debut. The blurb drew me in right away. I love a good urban fantasy. Right from the first chapter this one reminded me of Leigh Bardugo's stories. And it did not disappoint in it's execution.
Nora Sofyan is a new narrator for me. I think she did an excellent job voicing the characters. I usually like to have more than one voice for a story that is multiple POVs but Sofyan did a good job endearing me to each character she voiced making them totally unique. Her narration is quite solid and I'd definitely listen to more books with her voicing the characters.
Bianco did a great job with the world building and magic system in this book. The different warring covens and how magic was used/consumed was unique. I enjoyed the unsettled versus the settled witches and what that meant for the overall story line. The themes here are quite dark. There are trigger warnings at the beginning, so listen to those if you have triggers (I do not).
Bianco makes her characters raw and so real. They are complex and layered with excellent development. They were easy to relate to. Each hiding secrets from the others. Each having an agenda for why they do the things they do. I especially enjoyed the relationship between Katherine and Syliva and Katherine and Silas. There was so much push and pull with each of them. So much angst and just enough confusion of feelings to make you want to see where those relationships end up.
The romance was nice, though I feel like there could have been more of a lead up to it. I wanted more emotional connection. The banter was top notch but I'm not sure the characters truly spent enough time together to have the relationship the book tries to show us. But that didn't take away from me liking the characters together. The forbidden love aspect hits hard in this one.
Bianco creates a great found family in this book. Witch covens that act as family. Witches who have lost family or been ostracized. I also liked the politics created between the Covens. The grab for power; the need to be in charge of the magic and what it means for not only the witches but the humans whom they live among.
I was surprised at the length of the book, just over 300 pages. For urban fantasy stories, I'm used to longer book. Bianco did a good job packing it all in for such a short page count. I do think there could have been areas that were expanded upon.
If you're looking for a paranormal story about power, greed, and secrets with found family, some spicy enemies to lovers romance, and a ton of grit, pick up Bianco's debut and give it a try. It will have you questioning exactly who to trust and wanting to know how things will possibly turn out. Warning, while it doesn't end on a total cliffhanger, you can see there will be a second book as things are not totally resolved at the end of this. I cannot wait to see how Bianco goes about doing that in the next installment.
4.75/5 rounded to 5 stars.
Author:
Julia Bianco lives in Los Angeles with her fiancé and their cats, S’more and Rigatoni. She works in the entertainment industry and enjoys baking, reality television, and playing with her cats’ ears. Witch Season is her debut novel.
No comments:
Post a Comment