The Orphan Witch by Paige Crutcher is another book that I’ve owned for quite some time and don’t initially remember why I picked it up. It does have a very pretty cover, so I recently decided to read it.
The book tells the story of Persephone May, a woman who, when she looks anyone in the eye, causes strange things to happen. After the latest incident, where she caused a man that she’d been flirting with to walk directly into traffic, caused a public scene, she decides to visit her friend Hyacinth, who has invited her to stay with her at her home on a remote island. Once she arrives there, she discovers that she’s actually a witch, the island is cursed, and that she might hold the power to saving it.
The concept of this book was pretty good, but it fell mostly flat in execution. The characters weren’t super compelling. Persephone is in her 30s but basically acts like a teenager—falling in love with a man that you’ve met like, twice, I can believe if you’re seventeen, but she’s thirty-two! There’s an assortment of witch sisters, cousins, and ancestors that mostly didn’t have defining characteristics and just sort of jumbled together in my mind. Persephone’s powers sounded really cool—she’s a “walker” with the ability to travel through space and time—but ultimately weren’t really explored in any meaningful way.
Despite my complaints, this book wasn’t terrible – I enjoyed myself while reading it, but I feel like it’s one of those books that will have completely erased itself from my memory within the next few weeks.