Witch of the Winter Moon

by Stuart Mascair

In the dark days of the second world war, in the early months of the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union, Nadia, a young magician is on the cusp of graduating into a full fledge witch. However, she struggles with the last challenge of achieving flight on her broomstick. While few approve of witchcraft in this age of modern magic and science, a nazi sorcerer has made it his business to wipe out of the witches of the east. Setting Nadia within his sights.
Nadia must call upon all her knowledge and guile to make allies, overcome dreadful violence, and emotional hardships to survive the most bloody and violent battlefield in human history. A task helped by the tomcat Dasha, her father’s old rifle, and the wise words of a Red Witch pointing her to a powerful coven to the north.
Witch of the Winter Moon is a novel about survival and discovering deeper mysteries. Where a magician’s skills can be the key difference between life and death in a world at war.

Genres: Historical Fiction

487 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 11, 2023

Reviews

[Neal Holtschulte]

A young Russian peasant girl struggles to learn witchcraft during the Nazi invasion of World War II in order to avenge her family. Honestly, I was totally hooked by the premise and the book delivers on its promises.

The story soars highest on its unique broomstick when leaning into the blood cost of spells and the horrors of conversing with the dead (and of course, the horrors of war). With a direct style, the writer is also adept at action scenes, which are sprinkled liberally throughout.

Likewise, character is a strength, each speaks with their own voice. Dasha the cat is naturally going to be a fan favorite and provides some needed levity to a heavy subject matter that is treated with the unflinching respect it deserves.

For me, it's details holding back the story. There are too many typos, which I know I should look past, but each one is a distracting froth in my potion. There are some small pacing issues. And a few times, I felt like characters monologued a bit too directly to camera, providing a big picture judgement of the morality involved that felt a bit forced.

But if you're intrigued by the premise, then I recommend The Witch of the Winter Moon. It's a good recipe and even better when you experience the ingredients boiling in this cauldron.

Complete review here: https://youtu.be/hwXOFdw7thY

[Brittany]

3.5* This is a good book. It’s long, it’s heavy. The ending was rushed, I feel like the final battle between Nadia and Rudolph deserved more than the second to last chapter. But the idea of magic during the war is super unique, and it plays on pagan witches and actual magic craft witch lore.

It is very graphic, and although it’s probably not exactly what happened to Soviet Union in ww2, it was very hard to read of people being murdered so openly. Nadia having to watch her mother get shot through the head, finding her mentor Olivia tied down and gutted like a pig, and not to mention all the horrors she endured. Many times I had to stop reading, even after a page or two.

I will say, I loved Dasha the cat. I love that he never left her, and I’m glad he even got his fish at the very end.

Although I get that it’s a book of self-discovery for Nadia in her quest to become a full fledged witch, there was a LOT, too much, self discovery. She’s almost raped, she fights demons, she uses her own blood magic, hides in trees, fights bone demons made from animals and humans alike, enchants a rifle, and yet even when she finds her potential coven, they don’t accept her right away? She has to go through trials?

Anna’s trial of killing a sorcerer at least tested her skills as a witch, Esmeralda is a crime and putting her into the devil cauldron to run from an iron cyclops while battling ghosts of her past was unnecessary, getting the blessing of winter from the winter god from Umbra only helped push the Germans back, and Lydia forcing her to face Randolph alone (oh with a dozen fanatical acolytes) to save witches all over? Nadia deserves a damn break. And yet the epilogue shares witches are barely tolerated at that, even post war.

I’m really glad we got an update on Peter in the end. I’m glad he survived the war.

I did enjoy this book. I’m glad I read it. It’ll be hard to recommend to others, as it’s a beast of a book.

[Samonia Byford]

Witch of the Winter Moon

This was such a good read. Some familiar history and witch lore, but with so many interesting takes on both. The characters were fascinating-even the ornery cat.

It was a good blend of hardship and cleverness while discussing the horrors of war and the brutality humans can show to one another.

This was neither predictable nor shallow. And the level of detail was balanced with the need to move further into the action and plot. Well done.

[Emily]

2.5 stars I had such high hopes for this book. The concept seemed really cool, but it just missed the mark. This is definitely not geared towards YA. There are gruesome scenes that even I had a hard time getting through. The women were all portrayed as weak and whiny. This was not the women’s empowerment book that I thought it would be.

[Laura Paschall]

What a unique idea! What if magic existed during World War II! This story is amazing!!! It’s a modern day folk tale. It’s rich and readable and the characters have depth and intricacy. I must say, I am a fan of Dasha.

[Will]

I'll start by saying this is a really cool concept and the author included a lot of interesting Ukrainian folklore. Nadia is a compelling protagonist and her magic is always described vividly.

However, I think this definitely needed a second pass. More beta readers and editing would have helped. There are some typos and most sentences tell us about the world instead of showing. It's also written in YA style while having overly dark moments that clash with said style.

I hope the author continues to write and produce more works. He has a strong imagination and a good foundation for future books.