Book Review: Witchlore by Emma Hinds

Official Synopsis: At Demdike College of Witchcraft, Orlando is an outcast. Not just for being the only shapeshifter in a college of witches. Not just for being a really bad shapeshifter, with no control over their magic or when their body switches between male and female forms. But because their girlfriend Elizabeth died - and it was Lando's fault.

Then charming new boy Bastian arrives with a proposition: he knows a spell that can raise Elizabeth from the dead. It's dangerous but Lando will try anything. But as Lando's attraction to Bastian grows, questions start to arise. Who is Bastian? What does he really want? And who will survive the resurrection spell?

This book was extremely interesting to me, it is a modern take on a fantasy, while also feeling like it could fit into something from earlier. I'm not sure what I initially expected, but this book had a lot of moments that really wowed me.

Lando is a shapeshifter, who suffers from a lot of dysphoria and refers to themself as non-binary, not that everyone around them accepts that. They also have no control over their shifts, which leaves them as an outcast. They are struggling with having their girlfriend die while they were trying a spell, leaving them to feel like it was their fault. Lando returns to college, where they don't fit in and still struggle with accessing their own magic. Shapeshifters aren't super accepted by the magic community, and the witches around them are not nice. When they meet Bastian, a new student who becomes very interested in Lando, they aren't sure how to let someone close again.

When Bastian says there is a way to bring Elizabeth, their ex, back, Lando is unsure if that is magic they want to deal with, even though they wish to have Elizabeth back. As Bastian and Lando work through their quest to get all of the ingredients to the spell, with a plan of when to do it, Lando starts to feel guilty about the feelings they are developing for Bastian. The problem is, each time they think they finish another step, Lando ends up shifting, violently. They end up seeing visions of people they don't know, and changing into someone else. There is barely time for them to get used to their new form before it happens again. Each time they shift it feels like peeling back another layer of history that they don't quite understand.

Now Lando and Bastian have only so much time to complete a spell that could help both of them in the future, but they are falling for each other, and aren't sure how that will play out once Elizabeth is back. When Elizabeth's best friend starts to warn Lando away from Bastian, their feelings start to become confused about their feelings and goals with this whole project.

I really enjoyed this book, especially the way it deals with loss, feeling like you are on the outside of society and how it plays with the roles of gender, especially when you can shift between them. I think putting a non-binary character into a fantasy novel was really fun and an interesting way to explore gender dysphoria. It also explores how loss can effect people, through a few different characters, and how loss can look different on anyone. The book itself is well written and has a lot of interesting moments in the plot. I really liked them interacting with various magical creatures and the descriptions of how their hands moved during spells. Lando's past is also a really fun plot that weaves its way throughout the story as well. The magic system itself felt uncomplicated and easy, which was also very nice.

This book definitely falls into that blurred line between older young adult and new adult, though there isn't really any 'spice' within it.

I rated this book a 3.5 out of 5 stars!

Witchlore came out earlier this week! Oct 14!

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