You can tell that A Witch's Guide to Burning was a project filled with love for author & illustrator Aminder Dhaliwal. Not only is it very clear from You can tell that A Witch's Guide to Burning was a project filled with love for author & illustrator Aminder Dhaliwal. Not only is it very clear from how much fun she had with the storytelling, but by learning that she's been posting this story in segments to her Instagram since 2021 and has since amassed a good little following for Singe, Yew-Veda and Bufo.
I do feel that maybe I am lacking some of the affection for the story I may have felt had I been among the original following. While undeniably beautiful, it did lack that certain something that really should have hooked me. However, A Witch's Guide to Burning was still such a lovely, worthwhile romp. There's much to be said on burnout culture, as well as the societal longevity of woman's usefulness - namely how long society will allow for a woman to be deemed useful until she just isn't anymore.
Dhaliwal is both playful and poignant with this world and its messages. I genuinely hope to see a continuation of the story for these characters in the future. ...more
Okay, guys. It's 10:47 pm, I have about five assignments due tomorrow morning at 9 am, one of which includes having to watcOriginal Review circa 2015:
Okay, guys. It's 10:47 pm, I have about five assignments due tomorrow morning at 9 am, one of which includes having to watch an hour long video. But I'm going to review this book instead!
Poison Princess is one of those books where you know it's flawed: the main character is way too naive, the love interest is THE WORST, it can be pretty offensive at times, yeah. All of that and more. Yet, I am in loooooooove. Don't judge me - or judge me, whatever because it's not gonna stop me from loving the fuck out of this stupid, awesome book.
Evie thinks she's going crazy. Her mom already thinks she's crazy, because she found Evie's art journal filled with terrifying, bloody, apocalyptic scenes of horror and murder and shipped her off to an institution for the summer. Now that she's back and diligently taking her medication and finished with intense therapy, everything should go back to normal. But it doesn't. Evie endures all consuming visions of a world where vermin and snakes amass on the ground like a writhing ocean, where the sun shines at night, grotesque zombies roam and a red witch uses terrifying powers over plants to violently murder people. On top of that, she's starting to notice that she herself seems to have a strange relationship with plants, too...
Of course, this is all of warring importance to her, up against the obnoxious Cajuns that now go to her school - one Cajun in particular -, her best friend's dire need to hook up with a guy, her boyfriend wanting her to put out, and trying to maintain her grades. I mean, come on, she is a fifteen, soon to be sixteen year old girl, everyone. We all know they have trouble prioritizing.
None of this bullshit matters, though, when her visions come true and solar flares seemingly decimate a huge portion of humanity and take all plant life with them. Now, society has crumbled atop the dusty ash remnants of everyone who was outside when the Flash occurred. Evie is just trying to keep herself and her mother alive, but she ends up getting caught up on a journey with a Cajun man - yes, that Cajun man. His name is Jackson and he's literally scum. I'll let you learn all the ways in which he is literally equivalent to shit one can scrape off the bottom of their shoe on your own because, as I said I have a lot of homework due soon and it is now 10:58 pm so I can't get too in detail over how much I hate him. But seriously. The fucking worst.
Evie sets out on a journey to find her grandmother, the one person she knows will have all the answers on what is happening to her, why she keeps seeing visions of other kids that seem to possess strange powers like her, why she keeps hearing their voices in her head... All of this is somehow tied to the Major Arcana, cards in a tarot deck. She's determined to figure it out, because the embodiment of the death card is out there - and he's waiting for her.
The plot line is fucking magical. The intricacies of it left me downright swooning. And as much as I hate to admit it, I was really caught up in the tension between Jackass McGee and Evie, even though I detest him. I was just honestly surprised at how fleshed out the story was, and I'm chomping at the bit to read book two!...more
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