Fall under the spell of Witchspark. A magical adventure series perfect for fans of Greenwild, Harry Potter and The Hatmakers.
Eglantine Bury can't find her Witchspark. But if her magic doesn't appear, her family and their magical house will fall into the terrifying clutches of the evil Whistlewitch.
Across the land, Princess Victoria faces her own danger, as her secret magical powers start to spiral out of control and cause chaos in the Royal Palace.
Eglantine and Victoria both turn to the disgraced witch Miss Hegotty for help. Her witch lessons are difficult and powerful, but can this secret magic match up to the dangers these two hopeful witches face?
Two aspiring witches, one unusual teacher, a magical house, and a talking dragon-butler fight for what's right, in this major new series from Dominique Valente the bestselling author of Starfell.
Dominique Valente is the bestselling author of the Starfell series.
She was a journalist for over a decade but thankfully came to her senses and now writes about grumpy monsters, dragons and witches instead.
She grew up in South Africa but now lives along the Suffolk coast in the UK and writes in a green writing shed that takes time to warm up much like her brain. She is powered by coffee, chocolate and stories about magic.
Born with one hand, her books are often subtle love-letters to anyone who has ever felt different or wanted to belong.
I received sn advance reader copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review as part of the book tour hosted by Kaleidoscopic book tours.
Witchspark is the first book in a new magical series for children that is sure to be an upcoming best seller. We follow Eglantine, who can't find her witchspark magic and needs it to save her family home; Huswyvern ( Hus )before her evil uncle and his new allie the Whistlewitch takes it away from them. Hus is almost out of magic and needs to seal the bond with Eglantine before it's powerless to protect and help her. Eglantine signs up to join up to the disgraced witch Miss Heggotys magic lessons to unlock her magic (which is banned and punishable by the government if caught) and crosses paths with another witch; Princess Victoria. The Princess is ashamed of her magic as she's been brought up as a royal and told royals must not weild magic and that magic is bad. Victoria finds her first friend in her claustrophobic life who helps and supports her to untangle her magic and use it safely. The end few chapters were absolutely amazing and so well brought to life for the reader to envisage. I really didn't want this book to end and can't wait to see where it takes us in book two.
Magic is just a tale, well until it's not. Being touched by aisle-spark, a substance that awakens magical creatures and gift humans with magic but somehow only wealthy or well-connected people are waking, which is strange and discrimination. They have also banned to make people witches... Well our two heroines have a complex view of magic. One need to be a witch, and the other one need to be normal.
🌿 Eglantine are a representative character, with her one arm and strong heart, she is one lovely heroine. And princess Victoria is wise for her age, responsible and hardworking.
🌿 Witchspark was spellbinding! It contains magical creatures, magical hats, living houses and beautiful friendship - it's a feelgood and adventures slice of life kind of novel. It reminds me of Howl's moving castle, The worst witch and The lovely witch atelier.
Seeing how the small girls fought against illwilling and selfish men, made my blood boil and heart thump. The premise was kinda disgusting but I see the point of it. It's 1833, a patriarchal society and historical setting. A Victorian era with rules, invention and hierarchy. Therefore I encouraged the feminism that thrived through the story and pushed the men to justice.
🌿 I loved the small illustrationerna, the letters, and the font in the novel. It was playful, creative and just enjoyable to read! Though it can be repetitive and kind of shallow.
🌿 This is a novel of braveness and strong heroines that will do anything to save those who they hold dear, and for righteousness! Witchspark is a novel full of spells and magic, a slowpaced yet fast, slice of life and wonderful novel of friendship.
I liked the novel, but I wished it was longer, had more depth and more exploring sceneries.
If you’re looking for a feel good read full of magic, strength, friendship and suspense- look no further.
This book steadily won me over until I physically couldn’t put it down. It was wonderfully fast paced and kept me reading for hours.
I’d defy anyone not to love Lady Eglantine and of course, the young future monarch Victoria who are both navigating their own struggles with magic. One bound without her magic and desperately in need of it to save her family and her house. The other trying to hide who she is to fit the model of a future monarch. Their fates are intertwined and the ending will leave you feeling heartwarm and happy!
It was so entertaining and a super fun read. The ending was perfect and dare I hope for more follow ups? It’s set itself up to be a wonderful series and I can’t wait to see how it continues on from here.
Thank you to the author and publisher for this book on NetGalley in return for my honest thoughts and review.
Marvellous! Ms Valente’s best yet. Great story with excellent characters who have more depth than those in the Willow Moss series. I’m not sure if it’s because the book is aimed at slightly older children or if the author’s writing has matured. Whatever the reason, I loved it! 💚
There are some authors that get me excited when they publish a new book and Dominique Valente is one such author. Her Starfell series was brilliant and it had everything I wanted in a book. So I was delighted that when this book was announced it was going to be the first of a series. Eglantine Bury can't find her Witchspark. But if her magic doesn't appear, her family and their magical house will fall into the terrifying clutches of the evil Whistlewitch. Across the land, Princess Victoria faces her own danger, as her secret magical powers start to spiral out of control and cause chaos in the Royal Palace. Eglantine and Victoria both turn to the disgraced witch Miss Hegotty for help. Her witch lessons are difficult and powerful, but can this secret magic match up to the dangers these two hopeful witches face? Two aspiring witches, one unusual teacher, a magical house, and a talking dragon-butler fight for what's right. As soon as I started reading this I realised that this book was sent about a 20 minute drive from my house, which will be brilliant to show the school children as it always nice for them to recognize places in books, also the author is one of our local authors so her books always have a special place in the library. I was also interested in the fact that one of the characters was actually a real person, Princess Victoria grew up to be Queen Victoria. The two main characters Victoria and Eglantine were great main characters, and I loved how they were completely different and needed different help.I am looking forward to seeing more of Miss Hegotty as the series goes on. This is an amazing story set in wonderful and magical surroundings. L loved all the magical characters throughout and the sidekicks Eoin and Arthur were great supporting characters and hopefully there will be more of them in future books. There was the right amount of adventure and magic. The word building was exciting that had me gripped throughout the book and it was disappointing to have finished the book. This is by far the best book this author has written.
I really enjoyed this tale of royalty, friendship, finding the magic inside you and choosing to do good. I loved the house and dragon-butler. There’s some lovely moments in this! If youre looking for a brilliant story filled with magic, fun and adventure, I recommend!
It's 1883. Eglantine Bury was born to a sorcerer witch and her husband, she's twelve. She lives with her father, since her mother passed away, in the family house in Felixstowe. But it's not just a house it is one of only three sentient houses in the country: it's magic! Eglantine's mother visits often, or a least her ghost in some form does - sometimes as she remembers and sometimes as a child. Eglantine has a big problem because she has no magic at all, she took her magic test after her mother died and there wasn't even a little bit! This means there is no one for the house to bond with - a big problem for a magic house. However, her mother doesn't believe she has no magic, she says the test doesn't see everything. Eglantine also has an Uncle, her mother's brother Lichen. He is not so nice. He doesn't like Eglantine and makes no secret of the fact that he feels the house should be his not hers, and sees her disability (she has one short arm - ending at the elbow) as another weakness. This time though he's gone too far, he tricked the house into letting him in but he wasn't alone, he was with the Whistlewitch....but why? Eglantine's family and house mean so much to her. She wants to help the house survive but how when such a crucial part of her life has been taken from her. Arthur, her Wyvern friend and house butler, helps her throughout, even when it makes him feel terrible. She calls in help from her mother's friend and her daughter. She learns the spells that should help the house. But is she strong enough? Princess Victoria is the future Queen but she is treated like a three not fourteen year old by her mother and Lord Conroy. Victoria thinks Lord Conroy wants to discredit her so that he can rule instead. She gets very cross with her mother when arguing over this one day, and freezes the whole palace - except for Eoin, a servant boy who had hidden under the table when Victoria and her mother came in the room. Victoria accuses him of using magic, he points out he can see the magic trailing out of her. She remembers strange times when she was little, when clocks seemed to stop and she was able to play without interruption. But royalty isn't allowed magic, she had the test she had none. Victoria's life is so very different to Eglantine's. She has never had a friend and Eoin becomes that first friend. He knows her secret and she trusts him with it. She doesn't want magic, she sees it as making her life difficult: she needs to bind it up again. There is surely only one way to sort this out..... Miss Hegotty's Correspondence Course for Aspiring (and Ungovernable) Witches - But it is a banned course, banned by the Department of Isle-Spark regulation. But the lessons are hard, and Victoria who doesn't want magic at all gives herself an uphill battle. The girls need to meet but how is that going to happen - they don't even know who they are to meet, just that they will meet another witch! Can't wait to see what happens next in Eglantine and Victoria's lives.
Thanks to Fritha at Usborne Children's Books for this early copy and all the lovely goodies that came with it. I haven't read any of Dominique Valente's books (although I know we have Starfell books at school). This is a quite brilliant story, aside from being set in Suffolk and Felixstowe having this fabulous sentient house! I loved the creatures and magic sprinkled throughout. I mean who doesn't need a Tidbit! I'd certainly be very grateful for her! I like the mix of real and magical science running through the book too. Victoria even gets introduced to Mary Anning whilst on a Royal Tour. The chapter heading illustrations are beautiful, each in a frame, and I assume are done by Eleonora Asparuhova, who has done the cover artwork on the finished book (yes, I'd like one of those too!)
I loved Dominique’s Starfell series and I knew I wanted to read Witchspark when I realised that it was that start of a new series! Witchspark follows Eglantine, a girl born with a limb difference, who calls that arm her “little arm”. She needs to find her magic, in order to save her father and her sentient house. Princess Victoria, on the other hand, possesses magic that she is not supposed to have and has no control over it. They both enlist Miss Hegotty the wayward witch, to help to solve their problems.
I loved the interactions between Eglantine, Arthur the wyvern butler and “Hus”, also known as Huswyvern the sentient house! The friendship between Princess Victoria and Eoin was another aspect that I loved.
Not only does Witchspark have disability rep, but it also teaches you that being different does not mean you are weak. It just meant that you are different and needed to find another way to do things, even if was harder. There was also love, determination, empathy, sacrifice and humour! I thoroughly enjoyed this heartfelt book and I would highly recommend it to anyone looking to feel “more” instead of “less”. The beautiful illustrations sprinkled in the book was the icing on the cake!
Young Lady Eglantine appears not to have magic. Eglantine's mother has died and her father has been captured by her evil Uncle Lichen and the wicked Whistlewitch. Huswyvern, Eglantine's family home, is a magic house and has been left to her following her mother's death. Uncle Lichen thinks the house should be his so conspires with Whistlewitch to steal the house from her. Eglantine needs to bond with Huswyvern to prevent this happening, and to rescue her father. So begins Eglantine's quest to find her Witchspark, helped by the banned Miss Heggoty's magic lessons and Princess Victoria. Victoria has magical powers which she struggles to control, resulting in chaos and suspicion at the palace.
This is an entertaining, heartwarming and exciting adventure, sure to capture the minds of middle years children. I loved the inclusion of historical figures such as Princess Victoria and Mary Anning. I am looking forward to seeing where Dominique Valente takes these characters next.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Usborne Publishing for my advanced reader copy in return for my honest and unbiased opinion.
Set in the enchanting backdrop of 1880s Britain, “Witchspark” by Dominique Valente is a delightful middle-grade book that follows the journeys of two main characters: Eglantine, who yearns for magic, and Princess Victoria, who wishes to rid herself of it. Both girls seek the guidance of Miss Hegotty, hoping she can help them with their magical dilemmas.
Valente’s writing is impeccable, and the book is beautifully edited. It’s sure to captivate young readers who have a love for magic and quirky characters. However, I found the plot to be a bit weak. There wasn’t much happening, and at times, the book felt a bit long. Perhaps it could have benefited from being a few pages shorter.
Despite this, “Witchspark” is a charming story about two girls, magic, and friendship. It’s a shame it didn’t quite resonate with me, but it will undoubtedly appeal to its target audience.
Thank you to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for providing me with an advance copy of this book to review.
Eglantine Bury can't find her Witchspark. But if her magic doesn't appear, her family and their magical house will fall into the terrifying clutches of the evil Whistlewitch. She teams up with Princess Victoria whose secret magical powers are getting out of control. The two witches must learn to use magic together in order to defeat the Whistlewitch and make an unbreakable bond with the magical house.
My nine year old absolutely loved this story and was particularly impressed with the world-building. He was very disappointed to discover he would have to wait a while for the sequel!
A recommended read for fans of Harry Potter, The Worst Witch, and Dominique Valente's other series.
Thank you to Netgalley and Usbourne Books for providing me with a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
This is a beautiful little tale of friendship and bravery. Eglatine needs magic in order to fight for her father and magical home, whereas Princess Victoria (yes, THAT Victoria, is horrified to learn that she harbours a volatile and highly illegal form of magic. The two girls to Miss Heggoty's magical correspondence course and search for the magic within. This tale was delightful and whimsical, brimming with magic and heartfelt messages. I loved the sentient house and the wonderful worldbuilding. In particular this book has wonderful messages about equality across society and how even children can make a stand for what they believe to be right. This book was an absolute pleasure to read. The characters were wonderful and I loved the little world they found themselves living in. I hope this becomes a series as there is so much potential within this novel. Thank you so much to Netgalley and the publishers for providing an arc in return for an honest review.
What a story! I read this in one day and loved it. Eglantine doesn't have magic. Or does she? She needs magic to protect her house from her wicked uncle, but when her dad gets taken away, she has no-one to help her except her butler frined Arthur. Together they set about trying to find magic. At the same time, Princess Victoria is discovering things about herself that she didn't want to know. She makes friends with an unlikely member of her household and together they investigate her new found knowledge. Both girls need help from each other, will they give the other what they need? A lovely story about friendship, teamwork and daring to believe
I absolutely adored this book and devoured it in an afternoon. It’s whimsical, cosy and charming with just the right amount of peril. We follow Eglantine as she tries to find her ‘witchspark’ and overcome the evil whistlewitch. We’re also treated to the dual pov with chapters from princess Victoria who faces her own issues with magic. There’s magical hats, dragon butlers, secret witch courses and sassy, sentinel houses, what more could you want from a middle grade fantasy? I love the overall message of the book that no matter your gender, ability or disability and social status you control your future. Can’t wait to read more in this world.
This book was really cute for a middle grade and a great start in this world. Loved how parts of British history was involved in this and played a magical part in it. Kids and adults will find this great to read. I gave this a cracking full on four stars
“We are all born with magic threads that connect us to the world.”
This felt promising but it seems as though everything in the story is just convenient, everything is handed down to the characters AND to the reader. Although I’m still going to probably read the next ones.
WOW!!! Well I completely fell in love with this. I love the mix of meeting the two girls and how their stories intertwined. Lots of twists and turns. I can’t wait to see what happens next!
Really fun book to read, great characters, a story that keeps you reading. When you think you have got the power and you learn to tap into it them things will change
Thank you to the publisher for sending me a proof copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
This was such a delight to read, a perfect choice for the upcoming spooky season that's fast approaching!
Witchspark is a fun and feisty read filled with fantastic friends and family bonds. Theres magic, mayhem and some adorable animals within these pages you will not want to put this down!
A brilliant read filled with love, heart and shows you how to find the magic within yourself! If you're in the mood for something sweet and cosy then grab this now
I loved everything about these characters and the magic system was very fun. And interesting to learn about together with the characters. I adored! the magical sentient house with a Wyvern butler! Can't wait to read more stories from this magical world. And I need more magical house books! ✨️