Witchworld

Witchworld #1

by Emma Fischel

The witches of Witchworld have no need for old-fashioned wands or broomsticks, not when they have shiny Spellsticks and super-whizzy Skyriders instead. And no one has a cauldron anymore, just a cupboard full of Potions2Go.

Flo Skritchett lives with her mother, the editor-in-chief of celebrity and Lifestyle magazine, Hocus Pocus, and her witchteen sister. All is well, until her grandmother flies in to town and warns them that Witchworld is in danger from a Ghoul Attack! No one believes her – after all, Ghouls died out years ago and she still rides around on a broomstick, for goodness’ sake!

But Grandma’s right, and soon Flo starts to wonder if modern witchcraft can save them or whether they’ll have to look to the Old Ways after all…

Genres: Middle Grade, Fantasy, 21st Century, Childrens, Witches

264 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2014

About the author

Emma Fischel grew up in the country, the middle of five children, and had a happy, muddy childhood. She now lives in London and has three nearly grown-up children of her own – two boys and one girl, all very tall, and extremely useful at changing light bulbs she can’t reach. Emma writes both fiction and non-fiction. Her books have been published by Bloomsbury, Usborne, Watts, and others.

Reviews

[Trish · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'll admit, I only picked this one up because I was sure Chris Riddell had drawn the cover (although at the time no information could be found on amazon). When the book arrived I was delighted by the brightly green cover AND margins (think "Stabilo" highlighter)!

The book begins with Flo's grandmother moving in with her, her mom and sister. What could possible go wrong with having an oldfashioned witch in the house of three modern witches?!
*laughs hysterically*
I very much liked the portrayal of Grandma's old ways with actual broomsticks for transportation, wands, potions and spells vs. the modern gadgets everyone else uses.
Moreover, in addition to Flo's mom and grandma squabbling (which was really funny and quirky), we also had a mystery to solve and a large part of Witchenworld to save! :D

Although this story is for 9+ readers, the author managed to actually address some pretty heavy/important topics such as family, the loss of a parent (and possible illness - Alzheimers - of another), growing up, the meaning of bavery, environmentalism and more.

Plus, Chris Riddell illustrated the first two pages, showing the four main witches of the story

as well as some creatures in this story

AND we had a cute little illustration at the beginning of every chapter

(which he apparently has also done for the sequel that I will be picking up soon).

A fun little read with surprising depth, perfect for October/Halloween.

[anna marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Chrys · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great fun, inventive storytelling with some fantastic ideas - am looking forward to reading the next one.

[Adele Broadbent · Rating 4 out of 5]

Flo (Florence Skritchett) is embarrassed by her grandma. She still uses those old, long , black wands and even cauldrons for her spells!

What's even worse is Grandma's insistence that Ghouls are going to attack their home and town of Haggspit - and maybe even the whole of South Witchenland. They all need to be ready. But everyone knows that every single Ghoul was swallowed up in a huge magiquake in the Great Ghoul War.

Grandma breaks manners, rules and Witchworld laws as she is adamant on stopping the Ghoul invasion. She truly believes that Ghouls are digging their way to the surface and are not far away. Is Grandma getting the Confusions? She is old after all.

Dealing with this, her friends sudden interest in Witchboys and makeup, and soon starting a new school, Flo's life seems upside down, but nothing like what's coming.

Fantastic story with an even more fantastic setting! Witchworld is our world inhabited by modern witches families, their skyriders (brooms), skychatters (cellphones), and wands with WIN (PIN)numbers.

A little scary for some under 9's.

[Rachel Bridgeman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Flo, her mother, sister and Grandmother are part of a fully formed Witchworld which will draw obvious comparisons to Harry Potter but this is very far removed. It lands, fully formed with its own mythology and characters (forest pixies, witchweb and skyriders)and the story is about Flo's Gran who has been kicked out of her nursing home (again!) for insisting ghouls, previously thought to have died out, are gathering forces and making a come back. Is she right, or just right off her rocker? Thanks to Lovereading for this ARC.

[Rach (pagesofpiper) · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really lovely witch world, where everything is slightly different. Full of action, adventure and heart. I love the feisty main character. There's a distinct lack of male characters in the book, I would love for Flo to go to her new school in the next book and find a nice friend, rather than the two silly girls she's friends with now. I really enjoyed the family relationships in the book between generations and the banter they all had with each other.

A really entertaining children's book.

[Gabriel Clarke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Or maybe 7/10 - the world building is perhaps a tiny bit minimal. On the other hand, bonus points for the inimitably wonderful Chris Riddell drawings. And then there's Flo's grandmother - ah, that we could all have grandmothers like her. My daughter (nearly 8, wanting to dye her hair black and with a worryingly intense interest in vampires) might like it, if she can get over the barrier that I did...

[Chris Zable · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found the characters simplistic, and the author sometimes just gives something a funny name instead of describing it (I still don't know what pelloligams are except that they migrate). But it was a fun read, the girls adored it, Flo is a kick-ass heroine, and it has some good life lessons (real courage is doing things despite being afraid, there are a lot of things more important than boys and looking good, etc. )

[Sanja_Sanjalica · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really like the characters, especially granny. Accompanied with Chris Riddell's illustrations, it's a really fun book. On to the second one.

[Tammie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read- October 2021
- This was a fun read and would have been a 3 stars but I just couldn't get over how vile the mum in this book was.

[Manika · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Sugar Pill · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mislim da bi se ova knjiga veoma dopala klincima jer je i duhovita, i tužna, beskrajno zabavna, brza za čitanje, a ima i dramatičnih momenata i avanture.

Tu je čitava plejada likova potpuno različitih karaktera. Flo je povučena, učenjak, ne ume da slaže. Njena sestra je tipična tinejdžerka kojoj su najveća briga izgled i momci. Majka, urednica časopisa, izuzetno zaokupljena poslom, veliki radoholičar. I baka. Baka je car. Izbačena iz doma za stare veštice zbog priče o gulovima. Žena bez dlake na jeziku, koja odbija da bude veštica na moderan način.

Osim što zemlja veštica u kojoj žive ima neobične i stroge zakone, ima i bogatu istoriju. Deo te istorije je i da gulovi ne postoje hiljadama godina jer ih je utroba zemlje progutala tokom magitresa koji se dogodio dok je buktao rat između veštica i uglova.

Pa ipak, zašto onda baka ubeđeno tvrdi da su sve te milenijume gulovi preživeli pod zemljom i da se vraćaju na površinu i dolaze da sve veštice pretvore u jedne od njih? Da li je baka stvarno luda i izlapela kao što svi misle ili zna nešto što drugi ne znaju?

Moja najveća zamerka za ovu knjigu jeste što njen najuzbudljiviji deo traje svega dvadesetak stranica. Zbrzan je i nedovoljno razrađen. Sve prebrzo dolazi na svoje i kraj je pomalo bajkovit, što nije nužno loše, ali mi nije legao način na koji je to izvedeno.

[Nadiya KW · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this book, Flo is a witch who has lost her father from a ghoul. Yet she does not remember this event because she was 4 years old. Her father died saving her from a ghoul who is more powewrful then a single witch. And with Flo’s crazy grandma believing there is still ghouls in the world everyone dissaproves of her opinion, and the book she brings around showing people that ghouls are still alive. Then later in the book grandma was right and every single witch unites to defeat all of the ghouls for everyones safety in the world.

[Aimee · Rating 2 out of 5]

This just didn’t work for me. I found the writing style (lots of repetitive phrasing and sentence fragments) a bit grating. The characters were boring: the Mum is always either shrieking or hissing, the sister is too typically teenaged, and Flo and the grandma aren’t a lot better. I’m interested in the world itself, and I wish there’d been more world building happening in place of the numerous fights between the Mum and the grandma. That said—I read it to my six year old and he was really into it, so maybe more like 2.5 stars.

[Isa Rive · Rating 4 out of 5]

First impressions are counting here with the black and neon green ‘pick me’ cover, Chris Riddell’s Wednesday Addams like child (all be it, with a spot of pixie colour) and matching green edged pages. Perfect for a tale set in the modern witch world where spells and broomsticks have gone high tech. Grandma however knows the ways of old and has possibly gone a bit senile with her stories of impending doom at the hands of witch-children eating (extinct) ghouls. But young Flo who campaigns to ‘save the forest pixies’ is starting to wonder if there might be some truth to the warnings. Grandma and her daughter (Flo and Hetty’s mum) are like chalk and cheese. Mum is the highly successful but shallow editor of a trashy tabloid witch magazine. A difficult character to be sympathetic of. Hetty is a caricature of a self obsessed with teen who no longer has time for her younger sister Flo. And when Flo experiences dark shuddering visions only Grandma seems to take her seriously. Zinging fun for upper primary.

[Geoff Lynas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bit disappointed by the general lack of internal illustrations. Feel I was lead to expect more. Being Chris Riddell, the few that there were, were excellent. Story had some very interesting ideas in it - witchy versions of modern tech being one. The protagonists family was seriously dysfunctional but ultimately a team, which was good. The heroine, very brave. The climax (a grim battle) was great but I found the build-up overlong. And what happened to the witchbabies? What?

[Yuri's · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was really great.

It was very well-written, a great story, and generally amazing.

One thing I didn't like, though, was that they kept adding the word "Witch" to everything. (e.g Witchchildren, Witchteen, Witchistory, Witchowave, etc.) Apart from that, it was great! I can't wait to read the second part.

[Minty Hardback · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this book it is quite interesting an I would read it 1000 times more then I already have!But overall I would prefer other books...I would rate it 5 if there wasn't better books out there but that's not saying I don't like!

[Larylora · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good book...

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

At first I thought that this story would be too juvenile and full of clever puns for my taste - how wrong I was. A real delight! Good characters and a well paced plot. Very fun

[Jordan Milan · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars. Read in an evening, a lot of fun.

[Kimberly Souza · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really cute story for young readers.

[Emma Hall · Rating 5 out of 5]

Magical and amazing

[Sushan Konar · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is 263 pages long. It is a story about a witchgirl
and her family fighting to save Witchenland from ghoul
attacks. What with spellsticks, wands, and whatnot, will
Witchenland be saved? This is a very good story. But it is
tragic. VERY TRAGIC. So sensitive ones, KEEP OUT! This also
includes magic creatures such as nibbets. It is quite funny.

Review by,
Ushasi Roy Choudhury, Std. IV,
Kendriya Vidyalaya, Ganeshkhind, Pune

[Sarah Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was such a fun, modern middle-grade witch book. Though sometimes the naming of every witch version of modern technology and social media got a bit tiresome, I can see how this is for the benefit of the intended audience.

I really appreciated the feminist morals in the story and also liked that the plot wasn't predictable - definitely took me by surprise a few times!

[Nikki Parry]

Love this book. I cannot remember when I started or finished this book, but I LOVED it anyway! Amazing choice for 9-11 year olds, I should think. It is a great book for learning new words, and it encourages the imaginative mind of tweenies. I am 11 years old, and in comp now, but I still love this book, and managed to read the whole series after this!

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really cute children's book. I'd say low middle grade for a reading level. The story was fun, cute and quirky. I'll definitely keep this one to maybe one day give to my niece. I think she'd love it.

[Tasneem · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this first novel. The world is so interesting, the family dynamics so well described. I loved the two sisters and Flo is such a wonderful narrator. A great series opening, can't wait to read the rest.

[C · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was very enjoyable. My mum and I took it in turns reading it aloud to each other.

[Jacq · Rating 4 out of 5]

Laughed throughout the story, and delighted in all the new words of this wacky and quirky world. The Grotts loved it... And so did I!