The October Witches features two sides of a family the Merlyns and the Morgans which had me chuckling when I saw this book for the spooky season.

I thought the idea of witches only having access to magic for just one month a year was an interesting one and one that I hadn't ever seen before. There's also the idea of how magic, no matter how long you have it comes with the responsibilities and expectations that can often feel heavy and our main character Clemmie feels overwhelmed as October first arrives with the chiming of the clock. Whilst not magic, this is something readers both young and old may relate to when facing a new responsibility. 

I liked the realities of Clemmie's life - she's only twelve and magic is something she's got no personal experience of and is learning as she goes which often means she has no idea what to do. I liked that this meant she's just a girl with magic, it doesn't make her invincible like can happen in other books. It's a unique take on the magical experience and life for fictional witches - we often have the new-to-magic witch or the incapable one but it's rare to get the wary albeit curious one and Clemmie's wonderful for just being a child and having natural reactions to the chaos around her.

I did struggle to keep up with the plethora of aunts in the Merlyn family (and Morgan too) because they're all chaotic and sometimes it's easy to forget who is doing what which is necessary. What is good is the distinctive differences between the two matriarchal families, and whilst other readers may disagree, the calmer Morgan family did appeal because you can almost hear the cacophony of the Merlyn family when reading.

A pet hate is the usage of 'young hag' - I don't know why but it made me wince, there are other less harsh names for witches. But it's a minor and personal dislike and some readers may giggle instead. I do love how the younger characters are themselves unique, and their reactions to circumstances are very accurate for their age from the silent tantrums, to the refusal to get up and the sarcasm that goes over the heads of their elders and I giggled a few times as I could imagine my children acting that way.

This is a great book for the season, with the aforementioned plot of being denied their rite and sense of being. I wished for more magic, and I think the children reading would lie to see it too but it also has you wondering what else they're capable of.

If able, have a hot chocolate, and a warm blanket and drift away into chaos (or be thrown in) to Clemmie's life as the youngest witch in a coven of Chaos.