These Witches Don’t Burn (Book Review)

I feel like I’m the only YA fan who didn’t read These Witches Don’t Burn by Isabel Sterling in October this year. I like dressing up for Halloween (this year I was Klaus from The Umbrella Academy!), but that’s the extent of my spooky October activities. I did read a bunch of reviews for it, though, and since they were almost entirely positive, I figured I’d give it a shot.

What’s it about?

Hannah is an elemental witch living in Salem, Massachusetts. When she and her ex-girlfriend Veronica come across evidence of a blood ritual, Hannah becomes convinced that a Blood Witch—the most powerful and most dangerous kind of witch—has come to Salem. She knows firsthand what Blood Witches can do to someone, so, when the more senior members of her coven refuse to, she decides to investigate the  on her own, with only occasional help from Veronica.

What’d I think?

I liked These Witches Don’t Burn, but I’m surprised by the almost universal enthusiasm it has been met with. While it’s cute enough and Hannah’s best friend Gemma is a wonderful, beautiful person that I would love to have as a friend, the rest of the book is honestly pretty meh.

Hannah is an unmemorable main character, but her love interest Morgan makes her look like a sparkling personality. The mysterious villain is far from mysterious if you’re paying even the slightest bit of attention. And, most grievously in my opinion, both the A and B plots of the novel hinge on an unexplained incident that took place before the story starts but which is never adequately addressed.

Throughout These Witches Don’t Burn, Hannah opaquely references a trip to New York that she took with Veronica while they were still dating. Veronica got involved with some nefarious witches somehow and then something happened with Hannah and a Blood Witch that caused her to break up with Veronica and to live in near-constant terror that another Blood Witch—or, worse, the same one—would find her. While Hannah has to keep the details of this event secret from her family because she broke many rules and telling the story would get her in trouble, there’s no reason to keep it from the reader. This is the inciting incident both for the plot of the novel (Blood Witches!) and the main emotional storyline (Hannah’s relationship with Veronica). I don’t know why everything is so hush-hush. It’s not like there’s some big reveal at the end that explains what happened and contextualizes the events that have unfolded as a result.

I actually assumed that this was a sequel and that the New York incident occurred in book one of the series. It would explain the lack of details. Until Google told me otherwise, I assumed that this was the brief recap to get the readers back on the same page between books (like the infamous “Harry touched his scar” passages from the early Harry Potter books). Since it’s not, it’s disappointing. I don’t understand Hannah’s fear, so I can’t feel it alongside her. I don’t know how or why Veronica let her down, so I don’t side with Hannah about the breakup. If anything, I’m on Veronica’s side because she is also scratching her head about what happened, and I can sympathize with that.

Also, Veronica is the most interesting character by a very wide margin. Unfortunately, she’s also quite contradictory. The accusations Hannah levels at Veronica do not match up with what we’re shown of Veronica. She certainly has flaws, and she does behave in ways that would warrant dumping, but Hannah’s “explanation” for what happened between them sounds like it was meant for someone entirely different. I’m not totally sure how Veronica can be one of Hannah’s closest, most genuine lifelong friends and a manipulative and controlling jerk. Not to mention the situation with Veronica’s new friend Savannah.

There are also minor irritants. Namely, Hannah refers to Veronica as “my ex” way too many times. Does anyone actually say “my ex” that often? It’s such a stupid complaint, but the rhythm of the language gets thrown off almost every time Hannah feels the need to remind the reader of the status of her relationship instead of just using Veronica’s name and trusting that people would remember who she is.

The magical system is well-done and entertaining. I’m always a fan of books that do magic differently, and this is one category in which These Witches Don’t Burn succeeds. Learning about the different ways witches operate in the world was my favorite part of this book, and I wish Sterling had focused more on Hannah’s day-to-day as part of a coven.

There’s going to be a sequel to this book, but since I am lukewarm on this book and it is reportedly going to be from Morgan’s POV, I think I’m going to skip it.

What’s the verdict?

Lots of people loved These Witches Don’t Burn. I wish I could’ve been one of them. I expected to be. It’s about a teen lesbian witch balancing life and magic! That sounds right up my alley! Unfortunately, I found that the small inconsistencies and lack of specificity kept me from getting particularly invested in either the main plot or the central romance. It’s very possible I would have liked this book more if I’d heard more measured responses to it. I heard nothing but overwhelming enthusiasm, and I expected to join the chorus, and my high expectations were sadly not met.

B/⭐⭐⭐