The outcast daughter of a powerful family of witches returns home to New York City and is immediately embroiled in a supernatural power struggle in this wickedly funny fantasy debut from AM Kvita.

After seven long years Joan Greenwood is finally returning home. Unfortunately, her family totally forgot about it.

Joan’s homecoming is lukewarm at best, but soon turns disastrous when news hits that someone has created a spell that can turn an ordinary human into a powerful witch, threatening the balance of the magical world and the Greenwood’s place at the top of it.

When her best friend confesses that he has secretly, accidentally, saved this human-turned-witch from an uncertain fate, Joan is thrust headfirst into a desperate race to undo the spell before it does permanent damage to its unwilling host.

Soon, Joan finds herself drawn deeper into the heart of the city’s magic, into an uncertain alliance with a (very attractive) family rival, and far beyond the limits of everything she thought her own magic capable of.

Welcome home Joan Greenwood.

S.K. Reviews An Unlikely Coven

I wasn’t on board with the premise at first, and I could still do with a bit of world-building to help me out, but this book pays off in the end. Joan is an insecure young woman who’s always felt like her family doesn’t really get her—and they totally do not.  The family dynamics are one thing. The whole witchy vibe is another. Bad things are afoot, and Joan’s witchy family may be on the wrong side. Together, these two situations cause Joan a lot of stress, and she feels ill-equipped to handle it. Don’t we all?

If you enjoy stories about found families with a truckload of magic thrown in, this is for you. As the first book in a series, An Unlikely Coven does a pretty good job of getting the series started. It really kicks into high gear about halfway through, so be patient. AM Kvita shows her writing chops in the action scenes and the character development as Joan battles loyalty to her family and her own ideas of right and wrong.

A personal observation

I hate to say it, but the probable reason I had a hard time connecting at first is because—kids. The writing is a bit quirky, and we talk about and do things that don’t always fit in the cozy little world I laughingly call home. Uniqueness is almost always a bonus point for me, but I felt a bit–well, outdated.

For one thing, we talk about–(whispers) Lesbians. For another, we refer to one character as they.

I seriously have zero problems with either of those things in real life, but I’m a classic reader. I cut my teeth on Sir Walter Scott, Shakespeare, and then on to Agatha Christie, and so on. I have certain reading expectations built on all that reading experience. And, yes, I fully realize that my favorite classic authors had to satisfy the patriarchy and many things were under-represented or ignored totally.

I was reading along, feeling like I wasn’t quite with the story. When I stopped to think about it, I realized I was imposing those expectations–incomplete and biased as they are, they are still ingrained– and should stop doing that. All it took was a minute to make the switch to the modern world–and the world of the story– and I am a happier person for it.

Once I gave myself a stern talking to (and had another glass of wine), I enjoyed this book to the end. It was a ME problem and not a book problem. So if you are a reader of a certain age, hang in there. Enjoy the way the kids are putting things together and marvel at the progression of literary styles you’ve been alive to see.

An Unlikely Coven will be available on October 28. Thanks to NetGalley, Orbit Books, and AM Kvita for providing a pre-release copy in exchange for a fair review.

So tell me! I’ve shared my oldness with you. What changing trends in books and writing have you seen–for better or for worse?