Witch Season
Author: Julia Bianco
Series: Broken Coven #1
Genre: Urban Fantasy, Romantasy
Format: ALC
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐✨ (3.5 stars)
Release Date: June 30, 2026
Synopsis
Katherine Barnes is an enforcer for Aestas, a Los Angeles coven dedicated to finding and protecting "unsettled witches", people whose magic awakens violently and without warning.
As someone who was once an unsettled witch herself, Katherine owes her life to Aestas and its leader, Sylvia Page.
When Silas Khatri, heir to the world's most powerful coven, arrives to investigate Aestas and its unconventional methods, Katherine immediately clashes with him. To her, Silas represents everything she dislikes: privilege, tradition, and a coven that treats unsettled witches as problems rather than people.
But as a dangerous new threat begins targeting witches across the hidden magical world, Katherine and Silas are forced into an uneasy alliance.
Saving their covens may mean trusting the one person they least expected.
My Thoughts
Witch Season had me from the very beginning.
It opened with plenty of action, introduced an intriguing magical world, and immediately established a darker tone than I was expecting.
Then the pace slowed down a little through the middle...
...before the final act completely exploded into chaos.
Overall, though?
I genuinely enjoyed it.
I'm always a sucker for urban fantasy, especially when it blends modern-day settings with hidden magical societies, and Julia Bianco created a world that immediately caught my attention.
One of my favorite aspects was the magic system itself.
Magic isn't something the characters can use freely without consequence. Blood plays a significant role in how witches access and control their abilities, giving the entire system a darker, more dangerous feel that I thought worked really well.
I also enjoyed learning about the different covens and the political tensions between them.
As the story unfolded, it became increasingly clear that many of the problems facing this magical world existed because people had spent years avoiding difficult conversations instead of confronting them.
Honestly...
Considering the way these covens function, I'm surprised everything hadn't fallen apart long before the events of the novel.
As for the characters...
Katherine was probably the one aspect I struggled with the most.
I didn't dislike her.
In fact, I understood why she behaved the way she did.
She carries an enormous amount of trauma, and much of her journey revolves around convincing herself that she's healed enough to keep moving forward.
The problem, at least for me, was that this internal struggle became somewhat repetitive over time. After a while, I found myself wanting her character arc to move forward rather than revisiting the same emotional beats.
Silas, on the other hand, took a little while to grow on me.
For much of the book, he came across as the sheltered heir who had spent most of his life accepting what others told him without questioning it.
I kept waiting for him to start thinking for himself.
Thankfully, that growth does begin to happen, and I have to admit...
Watching him fall for Katherine while she remained thoroughly unimpressed by him was actually pretty adorable.
The romance, however, ended up being my biggest disappointment.
It started with plenty of potential, but before the emotional connection had much opportunity to develop, the relationship shifted into insta-lust territory.
Then, just as I expected the romance to deepen, the plot took over.
By the final act, the larger conflict became the clear focus, leaving the romance feeling almost secondary. If I'm judging the relationship based solely on this first book, I honestly think the story would have worked almost the same without it.
I also noticed some repetition throughout the novel.
Certain explanations surrounding the magic system, the Books, Noctis, and Silas's family history were revisited several times, even after those details had already been established.
That said, I appreciated that the book wasn't afraid to lean into darker territory.
Without relying on excessive gore or graphic violence, it still managed to create several genuinely unsettling moments that added weight to the story.
And then...
That ending.
Let's just say Julia Bianco clearly expects readers to pick up book two.
Because I definitely need answers.
Final Thoughts
Witch Season delivers an engaging blend of urban fantasy, coven politics, dark magic and high-stakes conflict wrapped in an intriguing magical world.
While I wished the romance had been given more room to develop and felt the pacing dipped slightly through the middle, the unique magic system, darker atmosphere, and explosive ending left me excited to see where the series goes next.
If you enjoy urban fantasy with witches, hidden magical societies and plenty of action, this is a promising start to a new series.
⭐️ 3.5 stars
ALC Disclaimer
Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for providing the advanced listening copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
No comments:
Post a Comment