Mean Girls meets manifestation and murder... A contemporary teen thriller with a sapphic romance, perfect for fans of Heathers, Sue Wallman and Holly Jackson.
Sixteen-year-old Morgana Merrick is all about control. She's the most feared, powerful and popular girl at Avalon Academy, while her half-brother, Art, and his chilled-out group of surfer friends reign peacefully in the year above, known for their legendary beach parties.
At one such party, an ugly encounter with one of Art's friends leaves Morgana shaken. She retrieves the box under her bed filled with crystals, charm bags and her Book of Shadows, and asks the universe for justice to be served...
As frenemy after frenemy wrongs or irritates her, Morgana manifests revenge upon them - and, to her surprise, it works. She feels invincible. Until someone ends up dead.
Is the universe bending to Morgana's will? Or is someone else behind the attacks? And can she find out who it is, before anyone else meets a deadly end...?
Rebecca Westcott was born in Chester. She went to Exeter University to train as a teacher and has had a variety of teaching jobs that have taken her to some very interesting places, including a Category C male prison. She started writing a diary when she was eight years old, although she had no idea that one day her entries would be used to help her write a book. Rebecca currently teaches in a primary school and lives in Dorset with her husband and three children. Dandelion Clocks is her first book.
This was an interesting book for me, as I neither really loved it or nor hated it.
What I did really love about this was the exploration of female rage, and How Morganna was just so angry at the way things were and she wanted to change it. I loved seeing Morganna grow in to herself and her confidence, and to see the small ways she began to find peace with herself.
Morganna wasn’t an easy or overall likeable character, she was very mean spirited and could be nasty, but I liked how she was complex. She acted that way and out in a front as a result of the bad treatment she had been subjected to. The world had a heavy hand in moulding her, and she’s only young.
I thought the addition of magic to this story was interesting but I can’t say I liked the twist too much at the end. I liked that it took a lot of the responsibility off of Morgana’s shoulders, but it also took out a bit of bite out of the story.
Overall, this was a good read that had me riveted at times in the tale of revenge, family drama, and friendship group breakdowns. There was a romance too, which was okay, but I found there to be a lack of chemistry that meant I wasn’t as invested as other parts of the story.
Greta book, like really. Beautiful, orchestrated book. The only reason I gave it 4 stars was because it really isn’t my preferred book style to read. The ‘magick’ thing was cool at first, but then we realise she doesn’t have any magic? It does and doesn’t make sense.
Morgana was such a good character, so very cleverly manipulative. It’s a shame she wasn’t on the front cover, though, because that’s how I remembered the other characters’ appearances, by looking at the covers. I like how there are different types of witches, sea, forest, chaos, etc., and how she’s a sea witch. I didn’t, however, think this book would be one so heavily focused on ‘magick.’ I thought it’d be a bit about little incantations, but not so heavily focused.
The blurb led me to believe that Lance did something worse to Morgana, which meant that I had to search up if this book was actually appropriate, so that was kind of a letdown.
Celeste is a cute character, I get major hippie vibes from her, and I knew from the second Morgana saw her and looked into her eyes that it was love. I didn’t even know she had ‘magick,’ but I knew that Morgana was a lesbian. Which I think was a bit forced at the start, but in the end it came together nicely.
I really thought Art was the once carrying out her deeds. Near the revelation, I was set on Vivi, but then I thought ‘ART.’ But unfortunately no. Nice twist, though.
I like the premise of the whole book, and its execution was really well done, especially the occasional spell pages, which was a nice touch.
The murder of Alice, her step-mother and Lance, the overconfident brother’s best friend, was pretty cool, and I like how small parts of the plot were omitted in mystery. How we don’t actually know what happened to Alice except for Gordon—Morgana’s dad—saying she just left and probably died. And how Vivi might still be practising ‘magick,’ possibly out for revenge. But I don’t think so.
Overall, this book was a blend of ‘magick,’ love, revenge, and murder, which is what actually made it awesome to read, and allowed me to be comfortable outside my reading comfort zone, which was nice for a change.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Sixteen-year-old Morgana Merrick is the feared queen bee of Avalon Academy. After discovering manifestation and witchcraft, she begins wishing for revenge against anyone who wrongs her and, disturbingly, her wishes seem to come true. But when someone ends up dead, Morgana must work out whether her magic is really responsible or if something more sinister is happening.
I found Morgana a slightly confusing protagonist. She starts out as your typical bratty mean girl and I kept expecting some character development to explain how she becomes the person we see at the end. Unfortunately, I don't think we ever really get it. We don't see enough of Morgana recognising her mistakes or actively trying to change; she just seems to suddenly become a better person.
But I liked that the book didn't shy away from female rage. Morgana is angry, hurt, and desperate to regain some sense of control over her life. Magic becomes the one thing she believes she can control, so she wields it recklessly and lashes out at the people around her. Her actions aren't always likeable, but I could understand the wounded thought process behind them.
I think more should have been made of her brother - their troubled relationship could have been explored more. Also, the romance between Morgana and Celeste was kinda boring. I never really felt the connection between any of the characters. And I guessed the identity of the "bad guy" as soon as they appeared on the page.
I'm not really the target audience though. I probably would have enjoyed it more as a teenager. There's lots of friendship drama, angst, and that very teenage feeling of trying to work out where you belong.
Modernised Arthurian legend meets Mean Girls, Clueless, Pretty Little Liars and Heathers, with manifestation and magic - with a sapphic romance.
I loooved this book. It's like some of my favourite things rolled into one. I thought the plot was fun and engaging. The characters were great and interesting. Tying in the Arthurian legend to the modern school life was so interesting, it reminded me of the old disney channel movie Avalon High at times (which was great btw)
I read this so fast, I just had to know what happens. The build up was amazing, right up to the very end and the reveal was great, it was only something I suspected like the second Morgana started figuring it out!
Witchy books are hit or miss for me but this had everything. I loved the Book of Shadows and crystals and all the little manifestation spells, so interesting.
Loved the summer vibes and the beach setting, with the forest and the story about the old witches that died. The romance was sweet, I do wish there had been a bit more, but I think because of the way the storyline was, it worked.
But the epilogue made me sad.
Highly recommend this. Hoping to read this in the summer again cos I loved it so much.
[Thank you Scholastic and Netgalley for the ARC - all opinions are honest and my own]
I am incredibly grateful to both NetGalley and Scholastic UK for the opportunity to read and review Wish You Dead. Being selected to explore this captivating story before its official release has been such a treat, and I can’t wait to share my thoughts on it with all of you. A huge thank you to the teams at NetGalley and Scholastic UK for their generosity and for making this advanced reading experience possible.
Wish You Dead offers a dark, intriguing premise that explores the consequences of impulsive emotions and the power of social media in a teen’s life. The story centres around a seemingly harmless wish that spirals into something much more sinister, creating a tense atmosphere that kept me turning the pages.
I loved the mix of the Wiccan kind of magic and the crime/thriller aspects! Though I do wish the balance of the two had been better.
I just felt that the book was a little longer than it needed to be. Don't get me wrong, it was a good book. I enjoyed it. But it's not particularly memorable sadly.
It might not be ground-breaking, but it’s a decent read.
Wish you dead feels like such a UNIQUE story. Sapphic thrillers and my love at the moment, and this one caught my eye IMMEDIATELY.
I absolutely adore Rebecca Westcott’s writing in this. Manifesting a murder? I was hooked from the title but the book is even better than I’d hoped for.
Morgana is such an interesting character, and I so enjoyed learning about her - seeing her grow and develop and investigate and plot her revenge? She’s maybe one of my new favourite characters.
brief spoiler.
The moment she realises she can either be a victim or a villain, and choses to be a villain? ADORE.
Art and Morgana are half siblings, but they could not be more different - one an alpha female and a popular, powerful girl and the other a laidback surfer.
But things go south for Morgana after an encounter at a party ends badly. A key theme of this story is female rage and Morgana's need to regain control and wreak revenge on those she perceives to have wronged her, and the results are interesting.
With a hat tip to the Arthurian legends, Morgana is a complex character, and probably the most interesting thing about the book. But it is an entertaining story on the whole, scoring 3.5 stars.
I received a free copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review
Wish you dead is a wonderful coming of age, sapphic, contemporary teen thriller. The main focus is our main character and her development as she finds herself. It has Heathers/Mean Girls/The Craft vibes.
Our main character Morgana practises witchcraft and uses it to become the most popular and feared girl in school. She also uses it to bring people down a peg or two. But when people start getting really hurt, she questions whether it’s herself or if something bigger is happening.
I LOVED the romance in this book - Morgana is immediately entranced by Celeste. They work together in a great way and Morgana needed Celeste’s energy in her life. Majority of the book is Morgana’s coming of age, finding herself story and the last quater of the book introduces the thriller portion.
I did think the whodunnit was obvious and I clocked it before it happened. Overall I thought this book was really fun and I really rooted for Morgana throughout the book.
Mostly enjoyed this. Got a bit fed up with the teenage drama (I get enough of that as a teacher) and found one part a bit far-fetched even given the supernatural/magic side of things
Mean girls? Absolutely. When Morgana finds out she has a gift, a magical gift, she’s excited to fix herself up, become popular and destroy her enemies. After becoming part of the “sisters”, schools most popular and richest girls, revenge takes a backseat for a while, until Ro kicks the hornet beat that is Morganas ego and then she must be taken down. One by one Morgana uses her magic to seek vengeance on the girls she pretends to like and anyone else who gets in her way, from the displeased step mother to a boy who kisses her without consent, no one is safe if they cross her. But Morgana isn’t the only witch in town, by exploring her powers and connections she will discover there’s no quick fix with magic, and sometimes bad things just happen to all the right people. After all, all magic comes at a price.
TL;DR: It wasn't a mystery, the reveal was bad, the romance was awful.
I gave this book a 3 star rating because it lacked in so many areas for me.
Firstly, this book was marketed as a murder mystery. It was not. The murder happened over halfway through the book and to me it was so obvious who it was. It was the classic "bullied character turns murderer and is secretly evil" I mean, come on, can't it be something more original for once??? And Vicky wasn't even "evil", as such, just... I don't know.
Secondly, there was so much more witchcraft and magic than I was expecting. That's not at all a bad thing, I'd just prefer the book if it was marketed as that. But then it turned out that all of Morgana's results that she saw were not because of her magic, but instead Vicky had been making all that happen? Does that mean Morgana didn't have magic powers? That all of it was fake? I'm very confused.
Lastly, the romance was just shit. Like I would have preferred it so much more if Celeste and Morgana had just been best friends. So basically there is no buildup to them getting together, we don't see them connect or build a relationship and the ending was just awful. What do you mean Celeste just disappears because she's not really human (sort of)??? This is one of the worst books I've ever read in terms of romance.
Oh, and, there was a character at the very beginning, I can't remember her name, who was exiled from their popular group, and then we just don't see any more of her basically for the rest of the book? I really thought that part was just really badly written and tied up.
Overall, I did enjoy the book, I just found the plot to be very confusing and the round off to be very bad. If you plan to read this, keep in mind it is NOT a mystery.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Thank you so much to Scholastic UK for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.
Heathers meets The Craft meets Mean Girls
3.75 stars
Morgana Merrick is the most popular and powerful girl at Avalon Academy, oh and she just so happens to be a witch. But being popular and a witch have more in common that you might think, it's all about balance, give and take. But with a whirlwind of chaotic feelings inside, Morgana might just learn what happens if you tip that scale. Let's just hope she's ready to get exactly what she's asking for. But maybe new girl Celeste might be her key to learning about more than just balance.
This was full of twists and turns and kept me guessing til the final act! I loved the setting and the locations, I could really picture everything as it was described so visually. I also found each character easy enough to keep track of as often with books with a bigger core cast I can get a little confused, but this wasn't the case here
. If were to put the ingredients of this book into a cauldron it would include: - 3 steaming cups of revenge - a hearty scoop of sapphic cuteness - 2 tablespoons of you get what you give - a generous sprinkle of reflection - a handful of raven feathers
Also side note I watched Heathers at the cinema last night and the vibes were vibing with this being my current read
Wow! I absolutely loved this book. I'm gonna be honest it took me a while to get that this book was a modern day retelling of King Arthur. I really felt like this was really well done and I loved how each character was reimagered.
I really loved how the book focused on Morgana. Morgana was such a bitch but she was also a victim. This just made we love her character so much as I loved the depth of not just her character but all of the characters. All of the characters were so well written. Another character I adored has Celeste, I loved the mystery behind her. On top of that I just loved the Sappic relationship between Celeste and Morgana.
The blurb spoiled some of the events of the book, which I felt ruined the book a bit. Through out the book I kept waiting for the thing to happen, this also lessened the suspence for me. The blurb also primary spoils the twist at the end, which made it feel less shocking, However it was still very much well done.
overall, I just loved this book and I think it is probably one of the best books I read in 2025 so for.
This book is a Knights of the Round Table High School AU with sapphic witches and social media. Which is a strange collection of words. And yet, not an unpleasant one. This book was quite fun, I really liked the main character- though she was really the only one with any personality. I really enjoyed the witchy parts and there was a plot twist that I really loved! And any version of the Pendragon Legends that portrayed Lancelot as a terrible person is a narrative I’ll always co-sign
Thank you NetGallery for the copy, all thoughts are my own.
This is a hard book to review mainly because I found the characters to be horrible, they were the sort of characters that keeps you reading to the end with the hope that something truly awful will happen to them. I found it interesting that the author explored female rage and how it affects people- this isn’t something that is usually covered in a YA book and It was also interesting to witness the growth of the main character. I was not a fan of the twist at the end but then we are all different. Overall this was a good read.
A sapphic witchy thriller ? Sign me up. I appreciated the closure that not many endings would give, and absolutely loved the little spells at the end of some of the chapters. Overall fire, and just a perfect book for me.