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The Coven Tendency
Zoe Hana Mikuta delivers a bloody and unrelenting fantasy about young witches dangling on the edge of love and obsession, of magic and madness, of life and death (and death and death and death). . .Just like her mother and her mother's mother, 18-year-old Vanity Adams is destined to lead a lavish life under the patronship of the Museum, someday taking her place as its premiere necromantic Spectacle and the centerpiece of their weekly soirees thrown for the City's elite.But until that day, Vanity (and the other young witches of the Museum) is isolated from the outside world and purged of her magic—magic being particularly unstable for teenagers and often leading to antisocial conduct, mood swings, bloodlust, delusions, and, most concerning, a habitual, violent obsession with one another.To all of this, Vanity Well, whatever. Better than being confined to the Sanatorium with the less fortunate witches, imprisoned in a chemically induced coma as her blood is harvested to make World, the City's favorite designer drug. At least she'll be dead someday, there's always that. And at least the Museum has Arrogance, Vanity's twin sister, who just might remember how to do magic, and who just might be where our story begins. . . .
417 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 1, 2025
71 people are currently reading
15791 people want to read
About the author
Zoe Hana Mikuta
5 books1,205 followersauthor | 25 | Seattle
THE COVEN TENDENCY
OFF WITH THEIR HEADS
GEARBREAKERS DUOLOGY
THE COVEN TENDENCY
OFF WITH THEIR HEADS
GEARBREAKERS DUOLOGY
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 137 reviews
November 15, 2024
this book is sooooooooo weird (affectionate)
October 4, 2024
Mikuta has a singular voice in deft and engrossing madness with a viscerally wanting vein. Endlessly unique and assured, at once grotesque fantasy and sharply aware dystopia—THE COVEN TENDENCY unravels the alienating cage of modern spectacle and artificiality, and the apocalypse of distorted intimacy. I couldn't get this world out of my head. You've never read anything like this.
(if you liked Nope and want something even wilder, try this. for fans of weird fantasy, smart dystopia, spec fic with very contemporary commentary, and also fans of fucked up but deeply intimate romances(?) involving a little killing, necromancy, and cannibalism <3)
(if you liked Nope and want something even wilder, try this. for fans of weird fantasy, smart dystopia, spec fic with very contemporary commentary, and also fans of fucked up but deeply intimate romances(?) involving a little killing, necromancy, and cannibalism <3)
January 10, 2025
Thanks to NetGalley & Disney Publishing Worldwide for the early copy in exchange for an honest review. Sadly, I DNF'ed at 20% of the way through.
Wow, I was NOT vibing with this at all. The writing style was just not doing it for me--it's like a stream of consciousness and chaos rather than an actual plot with character development. It also felt very...edgy, for lack of a better term. It reminds me of the edgy 2000s scene era with how hardcore people were trying to be but weren't actually hardcore. Lots of mentions of blood, gore, guts, animal murder, etc.
The protagonist...from what I could gather...is a necromantic witch, so many of her thoughts lead to murder, death, and just general weirdness. Her twin sister is the same.
I'd like to explain what the plot was but I have absolutely no idea. The protagonist witch is stuck in a museum prison on display for rich people which sounds horrifying but she doesn't seem to care and just lives in the moment. I really like the concept and it would have been cool but I did not like the train of thought writing style.
Wow, I was NOT vibing with this at all. The writing style was just not doing it for me--it's like a stream of consciousness and chaos rather than an actual plot with character development. It also felt very...edgy, for lack of a better term. It reminds me of the edgy 2000s scene era with how hardcore people were trying to be but weren't actually hardcore. Lots of mentions of blood, gore, guts, animal murder, etc.
The protagonist...from what I could gather...is a necromantic witch, so many of her thoughts lead to murder, death, and just general weirdness. Her twin sister is the same.
I'd like to explain what the plot was but I have absolutely no idea. The protagonist witch is stuck in a museum prison on display for rich people which sounds horrifying but she doesn't seem to care and just lives in the moment. I really like the concept and it would have been cool but I did not like the train of thought writing style.
April 26, 2025
4/25/25 - omg where do i even start with this one... dare i say the most experimental work by zoe hana mikuta yet, THE COVEN TENDENCY is a nail biting, terrifyingly intimate, beating wound of a novel that takes a scalpel to the lovesick teenager and doesn’t stop until there’s a corpse, or a memory, or a corpse again, or a girl.
a tale of resurrection and necromantic witches, the story follows Vanity Adams and her twin Arrogance: both living as witches in a world that treats them as spectacles to be gawked at while harvesting their magic to convert into the drug “World.” as confusing and addictive as any drug, the book is difficult to follow at first, but reminds me of HARROW THE NINTH both in its alluring prose and the IMMENSE payout you’ll get after reading pages of what at first seems like complete nonsense. i promise it’s so worth it. mikuta’s characters, like always, leap off the page with their piercing dialogue and internal singularity. this is definitely one i won’t forget… 5 beautiful stars!!!
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UPDATE 4/3/25 MY PRE-ORDER CAME IN!!! RTC RTC!!
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on my knees for anything zoe hana mikuta writes
a tale of resurrection and necromantic witches, the story follows Vanity Adams and her twin Arrogance: both living as witches in a world that treats them as spectacles to be gawked at while harvesting their magic to convert into the drug “World.” as confusing and addictive as any drug, the book is difficult to follow at first, but reminds me of HARROW THE NINTH both in its alluring prose and the IMMENSE payout you’ll get after reading pages of what at first seems like complete nonsense. i promise it’s so worth it. mikuta’s characters, like always, leap off the page with their piercing dialogue and internal singularity. this is definitely one i won’t forget… 5 beautiful stars!!!
///
UPDATE 4/3/25 MY PRE-ORDER CAME IN!!! RTC RTC!!
///
on my knees for anything zoe hana mikuta writes
May 27, 2025
3⭐
This was certainly a book. Was it good or bad? I can't tell because I understood nothing.
This was certainly a book. Was it good or bad? I can't tell because I understood nothing.
October 14, 2025
More 4.5 out of 5 stars.
Twin sisters Vanity and Arrogance Adams are witches. They live with their mother and two other small witch families on the grounds of a museum, where the owner, Monroe, puts them on display and has them interact with the locals and perform with their powers. Whenever a witch is born, they are put into the Machine, which takes their magic away until they become old enough and are prepared to take their parents' place and are put back into the Machine. But something isn't quite right with Vanity and Arrogance: they both have the necromantic, fleshy powers of their mother. Vanity finds herself drawn two of the other witches, Ellis Kim and Clover Rao, and Arrogance is constantly causing upheaval and waits in the shadows. So when Clover says she wants to find a cure to the awful dread they feel as witches, they decided to form a coven where Vanity performs her magic on them, who in secret hopes that one or both of them will return their love to her. Wren, the son of Monroe watches from a distant, planning something. However, as time passes, as witches are killed and resurrected time and time again, Vanity starts to hunger and Arrogance becomes crueler. And something is definitely not right, for this all happens in the past, and in the present Vanity is dead and apocalypse is on the doorstep.
Okay, so, wow! Prior to this, I read Zoe Hana Mikuta's other novel Off With Their Heads and that book blew me away as it was a unique addition to YA fantasy in terms of its setting, story, character relationships, and narration, the last of which was cerebral and unhinged. Mikuta very much takes that same writing style with The Coven Tendency as all the POVs we see through, especially Vanity's, are unreliable due to their deteriorating mental states. Vanity is undergoing some sort of psychosis--acknowledged in the text--because of the extensive use of her magic and the codependent and toxic relationships she forms with Ellis and Clover. Ellis and Clover are in the same boat because of their magic, but they don't use their magic as much as Vanity. Ellis is just obsessed with feeling the high of being killed and resurrected by Vanity over and over again. Clover is obsessed with trying to figure out a cure and seeing what's up with the Machine and why no one can remember going back into it when they got their magic. Wren is on drugs and thus his perception is greatly warped; he has an interest in making the witches form connections with each other, and to have the museum profit off of that in way (mostly influenced by his father), but out of all the characters, he the most has no idea what's going on.
This unreliable narration is aided by Mikuta's prose which is dreamlike and makes you really think like you're experiencing psychosis yourself. There are some florid descriptions and throughout all the chapters, but the cerebral-like narration and the floridness are most strongest and apparent in Vanity's perspective to truly illustrate her crumbling mind; it's a bit more controlled in the other characters' perspectives, most likely to show how differently they see the world from Vanity. There are points in the book where you will be like, "What the Hell is going on?" I will admit that some of the things went over my head, including the ending which I will get to in a moment, but I still understood most of what was going on. The Coven Tendency definitely does not follow the traditional plot progression of "Let's get from point A to point B," it's more of a reflective look into one girl who stuck with unhealthy ideals of love and a misunderstanding of herself. Again, the prose here aids the emotional and psychological developments of the character because of how Mikuta describes how the characters are feeling in certain scenes or what actions transpire. She rarely uses the same verbs more than once, even rarely closer to each other on the same page or paragraph--honestly, something I need to work on with my own writing--and it gives you the sense of just how fragile these characters all are.
Real kudos have to be given when there's a focus on Vanity and her body. The Coven Tendency touches upon a lot of themes and commentary, though it is all done subtly and never in your face, from objectification (not necessarily in a sexual way), parental neglect, codependency, eating disorders, etc. However, throughout the book there is a feeling that Vanity feels disconnected from her body, especially when she performs her magic. The rushing high she feels during the magic makes feel far away from her body, as it does everyone else, but what grounds her is when her sister Arrogance leaves her the corpses of dead animals she's found and killed. Arrogance is general an anchor for Vanity in her presence and actions, not just an anchor to her body (that has kind of double meaning there) but also to the world. This feeling of alienation from her body increases when Vanity begins to eat less and less after so many magic performances...yet, Vanity claims she has already eaten a lot and feels full. Is that just how her eating disorder works or...hmmmm...
But anyway, Vanity's eating disorder leads her to feel weak sometimes and her body feels like it's some marionette that she's playing with. It takes a strange turn when she believes there's a hand gradually crawling up the back of her throat. She wonders what is in her body and asks Ellis and Clover to check if it's there when she opens her mouth. This gives Vanity and surreal feeling of uneasiness and we the readers are wondering, still, what the heck is going on. All in all, we get the big picture that Vanity's body, despite or, perhaps, in spite of her name, is an unsteady locus for her mind, that her and her sister's magic, for all its relations to the body as well, is less of something that aids her and more something which slowly destroys her overtime. Despite the the connection to substance abuse in the book, I don't think Mikuta doing this with Vanity and her body and her magic is meant to be a mere "drugs are bad" metaphor, though that metaphor is clearly present throughout. I think Vanity's personal struggle and perspective tie into the other themes and commentary in the book, that she is exoticized (she is technically half-Korean, half-white as well and its touched upon that some museum patrons find that fascinating), dolled-up, used, and loved in toxic ways causes for her to feel separate from her body. Her body is "squeezed dry" and becomes a husk of what she was. Her mind wanders and falls into its psychosis, thinking, childishly, that love will save her. Any love. But that "love" only makes it worse.
I really did feel bad for Vanity, especially after what she goes through in the later half of the book. She just wants to be love, but after a certain breaking point where both Ellis and Clover are basically like, "We can't really love you anymore even though our love together wasn't that great to begin with" and they throw into something horrible. This comes after a certain plot reveal, so I can't say too much, but man did I want to hold that girl and tell her everything's going to be okay. Arrogance really is the only person who cares for Vanity despite how odd she acts and how everyone feels around her. And it's here that I will make note of another plot reveal but put it under spoilers because it was WILD! But yes, Vanity was the strongest character for me. The torment she goes through really makes me feel for her. And given the true connection Vanity has with her, Arrogance was just as interesting even if we never get her POV. Well, we kind of do.
Ellis and Clover were interesting characters as well, especially when they got tied up into their horrid love triangle (polycule?) with Vanity. They were also lost kids just looking for a thrill and a cure and they ruined themselves. I will say that I found Ellis' reasons for participating in the coven and Vanity's magic to be not as clear as Clover's. He thinks he loves her is all I could get, but with Clover it was because she was testing the magic and trying to figure out a cure and the Machine. With Clover, you really felt like she was just using Vanity, even if she never says it outright.
I really liked Wren after Vanity and Arrogance even if he wasn't a witch. He merely pushes them to form meaningful relationships so his father can use it to boost profits at the museum, but you do get a kind of tortured soul thing from Wren. He doesn't regret many of his actions and owns up to them; he gets punished by Ellis, in a way. Wren is a short of antithesis to Vanity, though not wholly antagonistic to her. He feels very firmly rooted in his body, to the point, even when he gets high to escape, that he never questions feeling alienated. He also does not seek love; he "flirts" a little with Clover, but never truly desires her. Vanity is trying to figure out what is going on with herself and the world and Wren just kind of accepts its craziness even if he truly doesn't understand what's going on with the coven meetings.
The book started off slow, but the pacing picked up as it went on. Perhaps I was just already use to Mikuta's prose and pacing because of Off With Their Heads, though. I really overall just enjoy the prose of this book and as a struggling writer I only hope I can hold a candle to Mikuta someday. Mikuta has partially filled the void Maggie Stiefvater left after The Raven Cycle and The Dreamer Trilogy, both of which I loved, but Siefvater has moved onto Adult projects. Mikuta's books give me hope that some new and unique can breath fresh life into YA and give it some sort creative credibility. Judging by the reviews on these two books by Mikuta, I am in the minority of liking them. That's fine, but even it you don't like either Off With Their Heads or The Coven Tendency, you have to admit that they're uniquely written and wild ideas.
Which brings me to that ending. I will admit it is one part where I didn't totally understand what was going on and that it maybe felt a touch rushed. A touch. I'm not even sure how to interpret the ending. Happy? Sad? Open-ended? Bittersweet? Shrugs? Either way, there's something cyclical going on here.
The Coven Tendency was the perfect, atmospheric, psychological, and phantasmagorical read for Halloween 2025. And it had just enough gore and body horror for me.
Till next time!
Twin sisters Vanity and Arrogance Adams are witches. They live with their mother and two other small witch families on the grounds of a museum, where the owner, Monroe, puts them on display and has them interact with the locals and perform with their powers. Whenever a witch is born, they are put into the Machine, which takes their magic away until they become old enough and are prepared to take their parents' place and are put back into the Machine. But something isn't quite right with Vanity and Arrogance: they both have the necromantic, fleshy powers of their mother. Vanity finds herself drawn two of the other witches, Ellis Kim and Clover Rao, and Arrogance is constantly causing upheaval and waits in the shadows. So when Clover says she wants to find a cure to the awful dread they feel as witches, they decided to form a coven where Vanity performs her magic on them, who in secret hopes that one or both of them will return their love to her. Wren, the son of Monroe watches from a distant, planning something. However, as time passes, as witches are killed and resurrected time and time again, Vanity starts to hunger and Arrogance becomes crueler. And something is definitely not right, for this all happens in the past, and in the present Vanity is dead and apocalypse is on the doorstep.
Okay, so, wow! Prior to this, I read Zoe Hana Mikuta's other novel Off With Their Heads and that book blew me away as it was a unique addition to YA fantasy in terms of its setting, story, character relationships, and narration, the last of which was cerebral and unhinged. Mikuta very much takes that same writing style with The Coven Tendency as all the POVs we see through, especially Vanity's, are unreliable due to their deteriorating mental states. Vanity is undergoing some sort of psychosis--acknowledged in the text--because of the extensive use of her magic and the codependent and toxic relationships she forms with Ellis and Clover. Ellis and Clover are in the same boat because of their magic, but they don't use their magic as much as Vanity. Ellis is just obsessed with feeling the high of being killed and resurrected by Vanity over and over again. Clover is obsessed with trying to figure out a cure and seeing what's up with the Machine and why no one can remember going back into it when they got their magic. Wren is on drugs and thus his perception is greatly warped; he has an interest in making the witches form connections with each other, and to have the museum profit off of that in way (mostly influenced by his father), but out of all the characters, he the most has no idea what's going on.
This unreliable narration is aided by Mikuta's prose which is dreamlike and makes you really think like you're experiencing psychosis yourself. There are some florid descriptions and throughout all the chapters, but the cerebral-like narration and the floridness are most strongest and apparent in Vanity's perspective to truly illustrate her crumbling mind; it's a bit more controlled in the other characters' perspectives, most likely to show how differently they see the world from Vanity. There are points in the book where you will be like, "What the Hell is going on?" I will admit that some of the things went over my head, including the ending which I will get to in a moment, but I still understood most of what was going on. The Coven Tendency definitely does not follow the traditional plot progression of "Let's get from point A to point B," it's more of a reflective look into one girl who stuck with unhealthy ideals of love and a misunderstanding of herself. Again, the prose here aids the emotional and psychological developments of the character because of how Mikuta describes how the characters are feeling in certain scenes or what actions transpire. She rarely uses the same verbs more than once, even rarely closer to each other on the same page or paragraph--honestly, something I need to work on with my own writing--and it gives you the sense of just how fragile these characters all are.
Real kudos have to be given when there's a focus on Vanity and her body. The Coven Tendency touches upon a lot of themes and commentary, though it is all done subtly and never in your face, from objectification (not necessarily in a sexual way), parental neglect, codependency, eating disorders, etc. However, throughout the book there is a feeling that Vanity feels disconnected from her body, especially when she performs her magic. The rushing high she feels during the magic makes feel far away from her body, as it does everyone else, but what grounds her is when her sister Arrogance leaves her the corpses of dead animals she's found and killed. Arrogance is general an anchor for Vanity in her presence and actions, not just an anchor to her body (that has kind of double meaning there) but also to the world. This feeling of alienation from her body increases when Vanity begins to eat less and less after so many magic performances...yet, Vanity claims she has already eaten a lot and feels full. Is that just how her eating disorder works or...hmmmm...
But anyway, Vanity's eating disorder leads her to feel weak sometimes and her body feels like it's some marionette that she's playing with. It takes a strange turn when she believes there's a hand gradually crawling up the back of her throat. She wonders what is in her body and asks Ellis and Clover to check if it's there when she opens her mouth. This gives Vanity and surreal feeling of uneasiness and we the readers are wondering, still, what the heck is going on. All in all, we get the big picture that Vanity's body, despite or, perhaps, in spite of her name, is an unsteady locus for her mind, that her and her sister's magic, for all its relations to the body as well, is less of something that aids her and more something which slowly destroys her overtime. Despite the the connection to substance abuse in the book, I don't think Mikuta doing this with Vanity and her body and her magic is meant to be a mere "drugs are bad" metaphor, though that metaphor is clearly present throughout. I think Vanity's personal struggle and perspective tie into the other themes and commentary in the book, that she is exoticized (she is technically half-Korean, half-white as well and its touched upon that some museum patrons find that fascinating), dolled-up, used, and loved in toxic ways causes for her to feel separate from her body. Her body is "squeezed dry" and becomes a husk of what she was. Her mind wanders and falls into its psychosis, thinking, childishly, that love will save her. Any love. But that "love" only makes it worse.
I really did feel bad for Vanity, especially after what she goes through in the later half of the book. She just wants to be love, but after a certain breaking point where both Ellis and Clover are basically like, "We can't really love you anymore even though our love together wasn't that great to begin with" and they throw into something horrible. This comes after a certain plot reveal, so I can't say too much, but man did I want to hold that girl and tell her everything's going to be okay. Arrogance really is the only person who cares for Vanity despite how odd she acts and how everyone feels around her. And it's here that I will make note of another plot reveal but put it under spoilers because it was WILD! But yes, Vanity was the strongest character for me. The torment she goes through really makes me feel for her. And given the true connection Vanity has with her, Arrogance was just as interesting even if we never get her POV. Well, we kind of do.
Ellis and Clover were interesting characters as well, especially when they got tied up into their horrid love triangle (polycule?) with Vanity. They were also lost kids just looking for a thrill and a cure and they ruined themselves. I will say that I found Ellis' reasons for participating in the coven and Vanity's magic to be not as clear as Clover's. He thinks he loves her is all I could get, but with Clover it was because she was testing the magic and trying to figure out a cure and the Machine. With Clover, you really felt like she was just using Vanity, even if she never says it outright.
I really liked Wren after Vanity and Arrogance even if he wasn't a witch. He merely pushes them to form meaningful relationships so his father can use it to boost profits at the museum, but you do get a kind of tortured soul thing from Wren. He doesn't regret many of his actions and owns up to them; he gets punished by Ellis, in a way. Wren is a short of antithesis to Vanity, though not wholly antagonistic to her. He feels very firmly rooted in his body, to the point, even when he gets high to escape, that he never questions feeling alienated. He also does not seek love; he "flirts" a little with Clover, but never truly desires her. Vanity is trying to figure out what is going on with herself and the world and Wren just kind of accepts its craziness even if he truly doesn't understand what's going on with the coven meetings.
The book started off slow, but the pacing picked up as it went on. Perhaps I was just already use to Mikuta's prose and pacing because of Off With Their Heads, though. I really overall just enjoy the prose of this book and as a struggling writer I only hope I can hold a candle to Mikuta someday. Mikuta has partially filled the void Maggie Stiefvater left after The Raven Cycle and The Dreamer Trilogy, both of which I loved, but Siefvater has moved onto Adult projects. Mikuta's books give me hope that some new and unique can breath fresh life into YA and give it some sort creative credibility. Judging by the reviews on these two books by Mikuta, I am in the minority of liking them. That's fine, but even it you don't like either Off With Their Heads or The Coven Tendency, you have to admit that they're uniquely written and wild ideas.
Which brings me to that ending. I will admit it is one part where I didn't totally understand what was going on and that it maybe felt a touch rushed. A touch. I'm not even sure how to interpret the ending. Happy? Sad? Open-ended? Bittersweet? Shrugs? Either way, there's something cyclical going on here.
The Coven Tendency was the perfect, atmospheric, psychological, and phantasmagorical read for Halloween 2025. And it had just enough gore and body horror for me.
Till next time!
Want to read
April 23, 2025It seems like 90% of horror books these days are just about rich people which honestly is fair because what could be scarier than rich people
Read
March 21, 2025Special thanks to Zoe Hana Mikuta and Hyperion for the advanced readers copy.
It pains me to say this but I’ve dnf this book.
This is such a killer concept—a world where witches can bring about the apocalypse. They are either used to make a drug known as The World, or put on a display for the rich to see their powers. Vanity and Arrogance (aka Ro) are twins and daughters to a witch currently on display. Their family line specializes in necromancy. Kids these powerful bloodlines are stripped of their magic when young, and only given them back when it’s time to go on display.
But Ro knows how to wield her magic…
This all sounds so cool, right? I wish I could say it sucked me in. While the writing itself is great, I found the way the story is told to be quite confusing. There’s time jumps and it reads like someone’s stream of consciousness. I found myself rereading pages/paragraphs because I got lost.
And it may just be that this book is just not for me, but may be for you. Always remember that a book isn’t bad. It just may be not for you.
So if a bunny Esq writing style mixes with dark fantasy and witches sounds up your alley, please be sure to check this one out!
It pains me to say this but I’ve dnf this book.
This is such a killer concept—a world where witches can bring about the apocalypse. They are either used to make a drug known as The World, or put on a display for the rich to see their powers. Vanity and Arrogance (aka Ro) are twins and daughters to a witch currently on display. Their family line specializes in necromancy. Kids these powerful bloodlines are stripped of their magic when young, and only given them back when it’s time to go on display.
But Ro knows how to wield her magic…
This all sounds so cool, right? I wish I could say it sucked me in. While the writing itself is great, I found the way the story is told to be quite confusing. There’s time jumps and it reads like someone’s stream of consciousness. I found myself rereading pages/paragraphs because I got lost.
And it may just be that this book is just not for me, but may be for you. Always remember that a book isn’t bad. It just may be not for you.
So if a bunny Esq writing style mixes with dark fantasy and witches sounds up your alley, please be sure to check this one out!
April 26, 2025
what a creepy, grotesque, unnerving little book -- i loved it
(the only way to read this book, by the way, is with ethel cain playing in the background, preferrable etienne/thatorchia/punish/houseofpsychoticwomn/august underground)
(the only way to read this book, by the way, is with ethel cain playing in the background, preferrable etienne/thatorchia/punish/houseofpsychoticwomn/august underground)
May 23, 2025
“I hope you got it, the apocalypse you wanted from me. I hope it was everything you sowed”
TW: death, cannibalism, self harm, mutilation and more
again zoe pls can we have sapphics that don’t have to experience severe emotional distress? as always zoe wrote a book with characters so revealing of our inner demons that you’ll find yourself staring at the page wondering if it’s comforting to know you’re not alone or disturbing to see yourself so easily recognisable.
this was weird, wonderful and disturbing. It was gorey, it was filled with love so obsessive it kills… time and time again. lonely kids forced into a world that never knew how to appreciate them doing all they can to survive in the best ways they knew
TW: death, cannibalism, self harm, mutilation and more
again zoe pls can we have sapphics that don’t have to experience severe emotional distress? as always zoe wrote a book with characters so revealing of our inner demons that you’ll find yourself staring at the page wondering if it’s comforting to know you’re not alone or disturbing to see yourself so easily recognisable.
this was weird, wonderful and disturbing. It was gorey, it was filled with love so obsessive it kills… time and time again. lonely kids forced into a world that never knew how to appreciate them doing all they can to survive in the best ways they knew
December 16, 2024
I understand that I am not the target audience for this book but I also read a lot of YA to recommend to my students. I can say with confidence I don’t know who the audience for this is. It was gory just to be gory with a timeline that hopped around without any need to. I have a few students I am going to give this to just to see if it is just me.
November 12, 2024
Oh no nightmare fuel
Read
July 5, 2025dnf at 43%
Another classic case of it's not the book, it's me. I was actually really into it, the concept was unique, the prose was... interesting and the characters were absurdly mesmerising but somewhere around the 2/3 mark I lost interest and after that I kept pressing on but I've not picked this book back up in almost a month and I think it's about time I accept it that it's not gonna work. So yeah...
Another classic case of it's not the book, it's me. I was actually really into it, the concept was unique, the prose was... interesting and the characters were absurdly mesmerising but somewhere around the 2/3 mark I lost interest and after that I kept pressing on but I've not picked this book back up in almost a month and I think it's about time I accept it that it's not gonna work. So yeah...
May 2, 2025
4.5
this book was quite a journey and definitely a unique experience. i really liked the overall idea and it was interesting to read a book with a unique narrative style although it felt a bit too confusing at times. i think it was definitely a great idea to align the prose with the plot and the character’s mind, each complementing one another. in a way, although it was confusing to read i think it was done on purpose to reflect the mess that vanity is.
i could relate to vanity quite a bit, the trio also felt very romantic/asexual which i loved.
although the witches weren’t all women, i could still feel some feminist ideologies throughout the book – particularly in vanity’s desire to keep her body to herself and not let it be used by others, but also from the very first pages "a girl in a cage" and the stress on the need for the witches to be pretty.
"Well, then, dear sister, how about instead I tell you everything that’s true? He’s obsessed with you. He can't leave you alone. When he smiles at you he means it. You're the best high he's ever had. And no, it's not the death. It’s you. All you, Vanity. It’s not what you do to him. It's what he does to you. It's what you let him do to you."
it was brave of the author to write in a style that will put off many people but will also be appreciated by many (i hope so) like me.
this book was quite a journey and definitely a unique experience. i really liked the overall idea and it was interesting to read a book with a unique narrative style although it felt a bit too confusing at times. i think it was definitely a great idea to align the prose with the plot and the character’s mind, each complementing one another. in a way, although it was confusing to read i think it was done on purpose to reflect the mess that vanity is.
i could relate to vanity quite a bit, the trio also felt very romantic/asexual which i loved.
although the witches weren’t all women, i could still feel some feminist ideologies throughout the book – particularly in vanity’s desire to keep her body to herself and not let it be used by others, but also from the very first pages "a girl in a cage" and the stress on the need for the witches to be pretty.
"Well, then, dear sister, how about instead I tell you everything that’s true? He’s obsessed with you. He can't leave you alone. When he smiles at you he means it. You're the best high he's ever had. And no, it's not the death. It’s you. All you, Vanity. It’s not what you do to him. It's what he does to you. It's what you let him do to you."
it was brave of the author to write in a style that will put off many people but will also be appreciated by many (i hope so) like me.
June 27, 2025
2.5 rounded up only bc I did gasp yesterday
I never once knew what was going on at any given point.
I never once knew what was going on at any given point.
Read
August 11, 2025DNF @ 45%
This would've gone hard on tumblr in the early 2010s, but it doesn't quite hit for me today
This would've gone hard on tumblr in the early 2010s, but it doesn't quite hit for me today
May 29, 2025
DNF @ 60%
Genuinely I don't know what I was reading. It was a fever dream that I didn't feel like continuing.
Rating system:
1 star: the absolute worst and potentially DNF
2 stars: did not like and forgettable
3 stars: casually liked, not unique, and probably forgettable
4 stars: really liked, might reread
5 stars: phenomenal, will reread, will continue to think about
Genuinely I don't know what I was reading. It was a fever dream that I didn't feel like continuing.
Rating system:
1 star: the absolute worst and potentially DNF
2 stars: did not like and forgettable
3 stars: casually liked, not unique, and probably forgettable
4 stars: really liked, might reread
5 stars: phenomenal, will reread, will continue to think about
April 26, 2025
One of the most incredible books i’ve ever read.
I think it would be amazing as a movie/tv adaptation.
Top tier craziness.
Gorgeous prose.
Fascinating characters.
Delicious setting.
I think it would be amazing as a movie/tv adaptation.
Top tier craziness.
Gorgeous prose.
Fascinating characters.
Delicious setting.
January 27, 2026
Isto pásame por facer a miña busqueda dun libro 'weird' en Tiktok. Raro é, pero non da forma que eu quería.
Ademais, non pode ser que o gran plowtwist final do libro sexa algo que se pode averiguar perfectamente ao 30% do libro. A idea estaba ben, pero...
O que si conseguiu foi aumentar os meus problemas de confianza nos demais, moitas gracias.
Ademais, non pode ser que o gran plowtwist final do libro sexa algo que se pode averiguar perfectamente ao 30% do libro. A idea estaba ben, pero...
O que si conseguiu foi aumentar os meus problemas de confianza nos demais, moitas gracias.
June 29, 2025
I genuinely felt so confused the entire time😭
August 23, 2025
Fucked up and weird. Not sure I understood it all but these characters all need help. Well done.
December 4, 2025
Content warnings: body horror, repeated deaths, neglectful parents, eating disorder (depicted), emetophobia, animal harm, drug use
This was so wonderfully weird. Not a single character was hinged, and I love it when the solution is "burn it all down."
This was so wonderfully weird. Not a single character was hinged, and I love it when the solution is "burn it all down."
June 27, 2025
Ich hab es fertig....es war ein ... Drogentrip...ich weiß immer noch nicht ganz was das Buch will. Für mich war es leider nichts.
June 30, 2025
This book was BIZARRE! It was an agonizing read….I kept rereading passages to follow the plot. My ADHD was triggered in this book… hard! I was determined to finish it! If I had to read it again… please just feed me to the “Machine “.
May 4, 2025
THANK YOU!!! *smooch smooch* for the Advance reader copy. "The Coven Tendency" isn't just a book; it's a visceral experience. It's a bizarre, unsettling, and utterly captivating plunge into a world of necromantic Spectacles, magic-purged teenagers, and designer drugs harvested from comatose witches. From the moment I cracked open its pages, I was hooked, a willing captive in Mikuta's twisted and imaginative world. For six straight hours, the book was glued to my hand, dictating my every move, even accompanying me on errands, practically choosing my produce! The premise alone is enough to pique interest. Vanity Adams, destined to lead a life of gilded captivity within the Museum, faces a bleak future where magic is suppressed and her own potential stifled. The alternative, the nightmarish Sanatorium and the fate of those drained to create the addictive "World," is equally horrifying. Mikuta masterfully paints a world steeped in dark humor and morbid irony, creating a compelling narrative that balances the grotesque with the darkly comedic. What truly elevates "The Coven Tendency" is its sheer originality. The story refuses to conform to genre expectations, offering a unique blend of dystopian fantasy, dark comedy, and social commentary. The author’s voice is sharp, witty, and unafraid to delve into the unsettling aspects of Vanity's world. I found myself constantly on the verge of laughter, a nervous grimace, or a gasp of surprise, testament to Mikuta's skill in crafting such a compelling and unsettling atmosphere. While the plot is intricate and engaging, the characters are what truly bring the story to life. Vanity, with her jaded outlook and sardonic wit, is a compelling protagonist, and the mystery surrounding her twin sister, Arrogance, adds another layer of intrigue. The dynamic between the witches of the Museum, the terrifying reality of the Sanatorium, and the allure of the forbidden magic, all contribute to a richly textured and unforgettable read. In conclusion, "The Coven Tendency" is not a book for the faint of heart, but for those seeking a truly unique and captivating reading experience, it's an absolute must-read. Be prepared to be drawn into a world of necromancy, designer drugs, and twisted humor, a world that will stay with you long after you turn the final page. I can't recommend it enough. Just be warned: it might end up doing your grocery shopping for you.
July 11, 2025
Maybe it's unexpected to describe this book as beautiful in all it's bloody, unhinged glory, but it truly is all that. With the prose that flowed seamlessly, the intricate inner workings of the characters and the original world-building, I just couldn't put this book down. But really, the main reason for that is the unique writing style of Zoe Hana Mikuta I've adored since Off With Their Heads.
I loved how the story telling got fragmented along with the main characters' mind slowly falling apart, but it got too confusing towards the end. Just like with Iccadora in Off With Their Heads, I felt like Clover's and Ellis's intentions were too murky and didn't get much clearer by the end. I still don't understand why some characters did certain things in the book. I think Mikuta is great at writing characters hell-bent on getting what they want, so I would've appreachiated that here too.
Suprisingly, this book is quite funny beside all the gore! And I found Vanity very relatable - which might give me reason to worry...
,,She couldn't remember how it felt to not be entangled with him, with Clover. [...] They had become her wallpaper. The skin of her hand. Wrong to peel away."
I loved how the story telling got fragmented along with the main characters' mind slowly falling apart, but it got too confusing towards the end. Just like with Iccadora in Off With Their Heads, I felt like Clover's and Ellis's intentions were too murky and didn't get much clearer by the end. I still don't understand why some characters did certain things in the book. I think Mikuta is great at writing characters hell-bent on getting what they want, so I would've appreachiated that here too.
Suprisingly, this book is quite funny beside all the gore! And I found Vanity very relatable - which might give me reason to worry...
,,She couldn't remember how it felt to not be entangled with him, with Clover. [...] They had become her wallpaper. The skin of her hand. Wrong to peel away."
September 13, 2025
dnf at chapter 25
I've read the author's debut book/series and quite liked it so when I read the blurb for The Coven Tendency I was excited. And at first, I enjoyed the read. However, the very things (aside from the plot) that made me like this story turned into what made me dnf it. First of all, the writing style isn't the most common. It's a stream of consciousness and while in the beginning I liked being that much into the character's head, I began to resent it as it took me much longer to read. Then, I'm usually a fan of alternative timelines but here I was confused the whole way through and ultimately, it took away from my reading experience. And lastly, the main characters were the type of characters you love to hate/hate to love in my opinion. As the story went on, that dynamic started to feel shallow. I'm sad this book wasn't for me as the plot seemed good. Please note that some heavy topics were hinted at, mentioned and/or talked about so this should be taken into account before reading.
I've read the author's debut book/series and quite liked it so when I read the blurb for The Coven Tendency I was excited. And at first, I enjoyed the read. However, the very things (aside from the plot) that made me like this story turned into what made me dnf it. First of all, the writing style isn't the most common. It's a stream of consciousness and while in the beginning I liked being that much into the character's head, I began to resent it as it took me much longer to read. Then, I'm usually a fan of alternative timelines but here I was confused the whole way through and ultimately, it took away from my reading experience. And lastly, the main characters were the type of characters you love to hate/hate to love in my opinion. As the story went on, that dynamic started to feel shallow. I'm sad this book wasn't for me as the plot seemed good. Please note that some heavy topics were hinted at, mentioned and/or talked about so this should be taken into account before reading.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 9, 2025
This book was not for me. I liked the premise, witches being put on display at a museum. It was definitely dark and Gothic, leaning into horror elements. But man, the writing lost me. There are time shifts and character shifts. The voice of the characters leans into a stream of consciousness type telling. I couldn't connect with any of the characters, which is surprising after reading the acknowledgments and how breaking free of people pleasing is the basis of this novel. I felt like there was no end goal, just a cycle of the same things over and over again. I finished reading it only to see if there was a point to the story.
May 13, 2025
if this book were a living beating heart, i would place it in my mouth and consume it whole. wow wow wow wow wow zoe hana mikuta the brain you possess. i would so love to pick it apart. the writing is so very visceral so very hungry so very much
restless longing | hunger contained in kitchen (5)
restless longing | hunger contained in kitchen (5)
Want to read
January 1, 2025Interesting that I’ve never read anything by this author yet I somehow come across all her books and adore the original premises. Should really give her a chance soon!!!!!
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