The Corner Store Witch

by H.D. Lynn

The Chronicles of Narnia but with more swearing, more katanas, and less allegory. It's nerdy, anime inspired fun for the whole family.

Leone owns Pulp Magic (Comics, Books, Games, & More). Angry customers are her biggest concern-until a man from another world literally drops into her shop. And oni have followed him. Leone defends herself with a magical staff, which marks her with powerful runes. Her supernatural tattoo sleeves make her desperately thirsty, yet practically allergic to water-and oh, they foretell the fate of the realms of demons, gods, and men.

With her four friends and inter-dimensional guide, Leone travels to the realm of the gods, searching for magical cosmetic surgery. She doesn't want to carry the fate of the world literally on her arms. But the truth she finds-of a war raging between worlds-changes her, challenges her.

What's a nerd to do with the fate of all worlds at stake? Ah yes, kick some demon ass.

Genres: Fantasy, Adventure, Young Adult

326 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 20, 2016

Reviews

[Barb (Boxermommyreads) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Corner Store Witch is a really quick, really fun urban fantasy read. Leone owns a nerdy comic book store and has a zany group of friends and one really uptight twin name Lakeisha. While at work one day, a man dressed on cosplay gear crashes through Leone's work ceiling. Considering there was no physical damage to the ceiling meaning he materialized out of nowhere, the reader knows the story is not going to get any simpler. Leone quickly discovers Abinar comes from another land, bearing a stolen staff, which eventually triggers powers Leone didn't know she possessed and creates mystic burning tattoos on both her arms.

As I mentioned, this book was a lot of fun. There is a lot of diversity, including an Asperger character, and the story really plays on Japanese culture. It also mentions a lot of pop culture such as Tamora Pierce, Dr. Who and Harry Dresden, which I feel always makes a book a lot of fun. There is lots of action in the book and no real romantic elements which I know appeals to many. My only real complaint is the book is really short. I don't feel the shortness harmed the story overall, but at times, it felt really rushed. Also, huge cliffhanger at the end. Well, not really a cliffhanger, it just basically stops, leaving the reader immediately wanting the rest of the tale.

If you like urban fantasy and diversity, then definitely consider "The Corner Store Witch." I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review and as part of Xpresso Book Tours.

[Lake Reviews · Rating 5 out of 5]

***I would like to thank Netgalley and Throw This Book at Me for providing me with “The Corner Store Witch” for free, exchange for a honest review***

Ok so we start the journey in Leone’s store finding out about her and her friends. Continue onto a crazy guy dropping in with a magical staff. Now you would think that this is just another RPG(role playing game) story but it is much more than that. You have to read it to find out everything about what Leone goes through with her friends. It is a quick read and you could finish in a day or two easily. If you read or play DD(Dungeon & Dragons) you would enjoy this a lot. Loads of action packed scenes with a kick-ass heroine. It is in third person point of view of main character Leone. Get to reading people while it is cheap and it is free for KU (Kindle Unlimited) users.

[Courtney · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fast and enjoyable read: H.D. Lynn’s writing style is compelling, fun to read and carries the story at just the right pace. At first, I was a bit unsure how the transition from Leone and her friend’s daily life at the shop to their abrupt and unexpected introduction to magic would work out and come across in the prose, but I ended up loving how it was done. The change in circumstances prompted a noticeable shift, but the narration remained consistent and undisrupted.

I enjoyed the interactions between Leone, her friends and her sister so much that they kept me turning the page and I almost finished the whole book in one sitting: they were definitely a highlight for me and I’m looking forward to seeing how their relationships evolve further down the line. Leone’s relationship with her sister Lakeisha felt both realistic and heartening, and the dialogue between her and her friends was my favourite part right from the start and was constantly good throughout. I’d give the characters a solid four out of five stars, but unfortunately I didn’t feel the same attachment and interest in the general plot. However, I certainly didn’t dislike the direction it took and can definitely see plenty of potential for its progression in the following book.

Though the character relationships and interactions shone the most, I am keen to see some more specific character development in the next book in the series too: although I liked Leone’s, it felt like there was a lack of that for the others in comparison. Overall, I enjoyed the book a lot and am very excited for the sequel!

Review originally posted on my blog.

[Tracie Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

Title: The Corner Store Witch
Series: I’ll Meet You at an Inn book 1
Author: H.D. Lynn
Genre: YA/Teens, Fantasy
Publisher:Throw This Book at Me
Publication Date: September 20, 2016



**Thank you to NetGalley and Throw This Book at Me for providing me a copy of Corner Store Witch in exchange for my honest review**

Synopsis:

Our story starts with Leone, who is a nerd and the owner of the gaming/book/movie shop Pulp Magic. Leone and her friends and sister are enjoying a normal day at the shop when seemingly out of nowhere a really unusual man in wizard garb drops through her ceiling with a magical staff. If that isn’t weird enough, following him are the oni, demons come to kill and take the staff.
Leone grabs the staff to protect herself and her friends but it marks her with powerful and mysterious runes. This leads them to all go on an interdimensional journey to the world of the Gods where the goal is for Leone to save the world, and remove her marks.

What I Liked about this Story:

There were several things I loved about this book. It was quick paced and action packed. I flew through this story because it was addicting and because I was so excited to see what would happen next in the journey. I liked that the world building incorporated Japanese and Buddhist elements, such as the oni and the ruyi. It made it that much the easier to see the world in my head, and it made the world that much more unique and interesting. I think this story would make a great anime series. I was picturing the characters and world in an anime/manga style the entire time I was reading.
I also appreciated the diversity of the characters. Most of the characters were people of color, and Shandi, Leone’s one friend, had an Autism type of disability. It’s very rare in YA fantasy that you see characters of color, even more so a character with a disability. I also appreciated that the characters were not stereotyped. Leone was a nerd and successful shopkeeper, and her sister and her family were accomplished and intelligent. I also enjoyed the lack of romance in this book. I liked that Leone and the main male Abinar could be friends without having to fall in love. I also appreciated that besides Abinar, the cast of the journey was all female. In this way the story reminded me of the Rat Queens graphic novel.

What I Disliked about this Story:

There were a couple things I disliked about the story. I felt that this story could have been significantly longer and more drawn out. Because it was not, however, I felt that the characters fell flat for me. I could see glimpses of their unique and individual personalities, but as a whole they seemed a little one dimensional. I feel like with more pages, we could have seen more backstory into all of the characters and their relationship to Leone, and their personalities and feelings on the journey. I also felt the same with the world building. What we got so far was amazing to me, and maybe we will get more in depth in the next book in the series, but I would have loved to see more detail and explanation of the world, the war and the interdimensional travel. But I am so intrigued and can’t wait to read the next book!

[Jane · Rating 1 out of 5]

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me a free copy for an honest review.

Disclaimer: I am a minority in a western country (Asian), female, and a huge nerd (that means I roleplay, am an avid gamer, and love reading books). So if someone wants to say that I am being unfair because I just don't understand Leone and the author, then don't even try.

Honestly I chose this book to read because the blurb was so interesting, unfortunately it fell short. Very short. I was 15 pages in when I thought I should just give this up, but when I realised the book was only 131 pages long, I decided to go through with it to see if it got any better.

It did not.

This book is so underdeveloped it's almost funny. There are so many typos in this (is her name Shani or Shandi? She also misspelled it as 'roll play' and for someone whose character raves about roleplay and even played D&D in the book, this infuriated me so much that I almost threw my phone at the wall) and the plot is wholly underwhelming.

The book's blurb said that it was an 'inter-dimensional travel', yet they only traveled once, and even then it was to a very unfinished world. All I know about it is that there's a lake, a shrine at the top, then a village with a forest nearby. And everybody in it is Japanese (every anime/manga fans' dream, right? Right????). Sure it's meant to be reminiscent of Japan but from what I know, Japan is nothing like that. It feels like a cheap rip-off of Japanese culture, and just because you know the legend of Amaterasu and have a half-Japanese character in the book, does not excuse that.

The pace is so excruciatingly slow that I honestly thought that I accidentally downloaded only half the book. Imagine how robbed I felt when I got to page 131 and it said "End of book 1", when there wasn't even any plot and character development except for the fact that they're now in another world. The majority of the book is spent leading up to inter-dimensional travel, but nothing even really happens there. Now that I think about it, There was no climax in the book, at all. Nothing grabbed my attention at all, I finished the book in two hours by just skimming through to see if there was anything noteworthy, but there isn't. There is no action except for two scenes (even the action falls very short), the rest of the book is spent on the characters bitching.

That'd be great if the characters are interesting, but they're not. They're so unrealistic it makes me gag. Honestly, you see a weird dude falling out of nowhere and your first action is to play D&D with him? Really? I hated most of the characters so much because of how bitchy they were in such an unrealistic circumstance, that I don't think I've ever hated so many characters in a single book before. I liked Maya because she's actually useful since she knows the legend of Amaterasu and seemed rational, until I got to this part:

"Hey, how come Barbie gets the only other weapon?" Courtney snapped.

Maya frowned, giving a cute pout without effort. She said, "What's that supposed to mean-- that I'm white? My father is Japanese, you racist. I lived in Japan for six years. Do you think I speak Japanese by accident?"

?????????????????????????????????????????????????????

I don't even get why the author included this in, it's a terrible way to put in background information, and also a terrible way to include ~diversity~ in her book. There is also no sort of character development anywhere in the book, they all just stay bitchy at each other.

Don't even get me started on the political activist messages this book is trying to send. The author tries to include a lot of diverse characters in the book, now don't get me wrong, that's great. But the execution is so poor that I'm actually rooting against the characters instead of being in awe of how amazing they are even if they're a minority.

Yes, author, I know Leone is an strong, independent, black woman and she is fully capable of running her own store, but you don't have to force-feed us every single page. It's mentioned that Shandi is on a spectrum (I assume a gender spectrum), but it's never explained or brought up again throughout the book (not even by Shandi herself), as if the author was just trying to get a cheap toss from the LGBT community for five seconds. There's also a kid (Jay I think his name was) who was a regular at Leone's store, and was mentioned that it's possible he came from a bad family background, yet nothing was explained as to why Leone thought so, leaving me very confused.

If you really want to see how to handle empowerment of minority classes, then I suggest reading the Eon duology. The author actually gets it down well, subtly slipping the differences between the female and male characters, as well as Eona herself being able to stand on her own when everyone thinks she's weak because she's female. The Corner Store Witch did nothing of the sort, Leone didn't even do anything special because it was all the staff's power, so I don't really get why we're supposed to see her as a strong heroine except for the fact that she runs her own store.

I would love to love this book if I could. I do, I really do, especially because I came into this story with such high expectations. It sounded so interesting, it still does. It has potential, but the characters, plot and setting need to be reworked from the ground-up, I'm sorry to say.

I'm also very wary of the book because of the Pokemon Go reference chucked in there, which meant that this entire story was written and published in 3-4 months (June to September). If this is a first draft instead of a published book, then you have work to do, but it's not impossible. If this is the finished product, then I would have to question if you actually got an editor (if you edited at all) if you're able to publish this in such a short span of time. Please, for the sake of your story and yourself, take as much time as you need to edit this as much as you can, you owe at least that much to your characters and your readers.

[Celeste · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book has a cute cover and a cool name, so I was expecting badassery and witchiness. I’m not sure this had any of that.
I love reading about witches and this book hasn’t got any, strike one.
What it does have is a proud black woman/girl? of indeterminate age who thinks everything is about her color. I didn’t realize demons and villagers from another plane of existence would care about the color of skin, especially seeing as how their red and orange and hairy af. They don’t. And I found Leone’s reiterating of the fact that she’s black and female annoying. Strike two.
So the whole premise of the story is based on the fact that Leone grabs a magic staff to defend herself against oni and somehow ends up with tattoos of a deva. To remove the tattoos or maybe to follow her destiny she has to travel to the plane of the devas. Here she manages to get into a shrine that is supposed to be impossible to enter but she can because of her magic tattoos and she manages to take all her friends with her. She meets villagers, fights the same oni again and finds out she has to go visit a student of the original owner of the staff in order to remove the tattoos. And that’s pretty much the whole story. Strike three.
Then of course there isn’t any character development. Strike four.
The actions and reactions of the characters don’t always make sense. Strike five.
The ending is abrupt and really you glean very little in 131 pages. Strike six. Actually forget the strikes, I’ve never watched baseball and I don’t plan too. Much like the next two books in this trilogy.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley.

[Subiksha · Rating 3 out of 5]

original review@http://www.covertocover.info/

3 Stars

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me a free copy for an honest review.

Love the cover of the book. This book is a quick read. We are introduced to Leone who owns Pulp Magic( books, comics, games and more) and her baseball bat. We get to see her interactions with her friends/employees. Then suddenly a man drops into her store. Leone and her friends have different reactions to the man from another dimension. The man has apparently stolen a staff from a dead monk which has brought him to earth and whoever touches the staff gets burned. Leone later realizes that demons have also entered the world along with the man. Later the staff marks her hand with a tattoo which gives her the staff’s powers. She then later travels along with her 4 friends to another dimension in search of a solution to get the tattoo off her hand. The book shows us her journey to the inter-dimension

Now for the characters, Leone(shop owner),has anger issues and she wants to prove to others that she can own a shop at a very young age. Leone’s three friends/employees-Courtney(lazy one), Shandi(the innocent one) and Maya(brainy one). Leone’s twin sister Lakeisha is the successful sister and polar opposite of Leone. There are some parts in the book where the sisters have a good dynamic between them. The intentions of the mystery guy are still unknown. The book doesn’t give a detailed character background. Would love to learn more about Leone’s friends.

The book started out at an interesting pace but it became a little boring later in some parts of the book. Hope to see more character development in the sequels.

[Melissa Souza]

**Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for sending me an eARC in return for an honest review.

DNFed @40%

I just couldn't finish the book. From the blurb, the concept sounded great. There is a mix of Japanese magical elements and RPG. Maybe those you love to play such games might like it. However, it just wasn't the right fit for me. I also found the plot to be very slow moving and the characters were not very memorable. There were also plenty of grammatical errors.

[S.L. Stacy · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Corner Store Witch is a fun, quick read for anyone who enjoys YA fantasy.

Leone, self-proclaimed nerd and owner of the game store Pulp Magic, enjoys a pretty typical life until a stranger, dressed in wizard's attire and toting a magical staff, falls into her shop, seemingly out of nowhere. This is just the beginning of a new, exciting, and at times scary adventure for Leone, where she encounters the myths and magic she once only found in books and games.

The book is fast-paced, with just enough description to pull you into the world of The Corner Store Witch without dragging down the pacing. I enjoyed most of the characters, especially Leone and Abinar. They both popped off the page for me, and Abinar has some really funny fish-out-of-water scenes toward the beginning of the book. (It's okay, Abinar. I like McDonald's, too.) I also liked Leone's sister, Lakeisha, and their friend Shandi. I thought Courtney and Maya's characters could have been developed a little bit more, but otherwise I enjoyed the interactions between the main cast. The book follows this group of friends from Leone's Pulp Magic store to another, war-torn world, and the transition into this fantasy realm felt seamless. The Japanese-inspired mythology in the book was also neat and different (at least for me, maybe because I don't watch a lot of anime?).

The book is left open-ended, making way for future installments (but not with a cliffhanger that would make you throw your Kindle against the wall). Overall, an enjoyable read, and I'm looking forward to the sequel!

[Ryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent beginning to a new urban fantasy series. It is a light read that feels like a role-playing game campaign in story form and I imagine many folks will draw inspiration from it to add to their tabletop campaigns.

What I most enjoyed was the fact that decent female characters were front and center. It is a book I could see my daughter enjoying (when she is a little older) for that reason alone. The fact that the characters also had some racially diversity made me even happier.

[Sophie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Netgalley Copy in exchange for an honest review.

Great novel with a lot of action, a fast-paced plot carried away by amazing characters. It was fun and funny, and I found it refreshing in the usual landscape of novels these days. Great style, great characters, I enjoyed this book.

[Shekeilah · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's really a short read. I had fun at the beginning because I thought "Cool! The main character doesn't take shit from anyone." So when the man appeared out of nowhere, I thought it will be the start of a great adventure. I didn't notice that I was actually near the end of the book without getting the taste of the adventure I thought it would have. And I was disappointed that there was no real climax that made me cling to every word.

I love that the author promotes all kinds of people and sexes but that's just it. There were a lot of grammatical errors (I'm not really a grammar police but it's noticeable here) and there were times I feel like I missed something that happened. I also didn't see/read how the world/s were built. Poof! It's just there and this is what the characters see. Sorry, but I don't live in the US. I don't know how it's like there. I also didn't grow up in another world. I just have an inkling about Japan because of all the things I watch and read and what people tell me about it.


I really wanted to love the book if I could. It's just that I think the author could still improve from these feedbacks. I think this is better than the book I last read though.

[Fangs for the Fantasy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Despite considerable parental disapproval, Leone runs her own comic shop. She’s a geek and she’s gleefully happy as such along with her friends Courtney and Shadi

But even in their geekiest dreams, they never expected and actual dimensional traveller to fall from the ceiling, carrying a magical staff

Soon they find adventures and dungeon crawls are so much more fun with 20 sided dice than they are in the real world, with oni, dimension hopping and ominous prophecies promising troublesome side quests



I feel that this book is a prequel to the greater story. Clearly the meat of the story is going to happen when Leone, her sister and her friends reach Abinar’s home. This means this whole book kind of feels terribly rushed to get to that point.

We have Abinar drop in from the alternate world and everyone… kind of just runs with that. People seem to accept it extremely quickly. Yes someone just appearing from nowhere is a little odd – but “he’s a wizard from another dimension because of how he’s dressed” is a bit of a stretch. Especially since absolutely no-one really asks him questions – not where he’s from, not why he’s there, not what he wants – they just kind of take him in.

This whole part of the book is frustrating, they take him home and play D&D – we’re establishing the geek credentials of the cast, but someone just appeared from nowhere and you decide to play tabletop RPGs rather than ask him any questions at all? It just makes no sense

The whole story for a large chunk of this book feels forced as we’re desperately railroaded to the other world. Abinar Just appears, they don’t question him. Leone feels the need to take him home and keep him with her (why? She knows nothing about this guy!), which means she happens to be nearby when the bad guys show up, drop the markings of the Chosen One on her which leads happily to the prophetic dream with a nice guide on what to do next.

It kind of makes Leone not a very compelling character. She is certainly rare in the genre, a Black female protagonist and a Black female geek as well – geek culture is universally presented as white, straight and male – to have these very very very geeky Black female friends be central to the story is excellent. I like a lot about her – but so far her abilities and drive come from the woo-woo. I think it will be a lot lot lot better with future books because then we would be following the story for where the author wants to take and then get to see a whole lot more of her personality (and, don’t get me wrong, I like what I’ve seen so far but I would love to see more of her when she’s not scrambling and being driven by the plot itself). We do have some moments where Leone directly addresses race… but they feel a little… PSA-y at times.


Once Leone and her friends reach the other world, things pick up a little more. We have some world building, and a world setting with strong Shinto and Buddhist elements which I haven’t seen a great deal. So far it’s not especially deep (it’s a little Wikipedia-ness at times) but it has only just being introduced


Read More

[Sue Wallace · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Corner Store Witch by HD Lynn is a sci-fi and fantasy and teens ya read.
Leone owns Pulp Magic (Comics, Books, Games, & More). Angry customers are her biggest concern--until a man from another world literally drops into her shop. And oni have followed him. Leone defends herself with a magical staff, which marks her with powerful runes. Her supernatural tattoo sleeves make her desperately thirsty, yet practically allergic to water--and oh, they foretell the fate of the realms of demons, gods, and men. 

With her four friends and inter-dimensional guide, Leone travels to the realm of the gods, searching for magical cosmetic surgery. She doesn't want to carry the fate of the world literally on her arms. But the truth she finds--of a war raging between worlds--changes her, challenges her. 
Fantastic read with great characters. I loved how all the girls stuck together. Can't wait to read more from this series. Highly recommended. 5*. Thanks to netgalley for the arc.

[Lulu [at] Reckless Reading · Rating 2 out of 5]

facebook // twitter // bloglovin // youtube

I have no idea what to make of The Corner Store Witch by HD Lynn. If this should be taken seriously or as a parody or both. I do know that the title and cover, both of which make this sound fantastic, were completely misleading. There is no witch, only a girl who gets tangled up in some mystical mess, and she certainly doesn’t seem as well-versed or confident in her abilities as the girl on the cover. I cringed as ‘nerd’ pop culture mentions littered the first few pages and then again at the reactions of the girls at a random man landing in the shop.

The entire book seemed to be a parody of urban fantasy tropes and geek culture, and if it was, then I could understand it a bit better. Having girls at the center, especially non-white girls that were smart and educated, thrust in a medieval-esque adventure seems to be a twist on everything. Especially when the demon oni seem to be surprised and disgusted? at seeing a dark skinned girl. Considering they’re demons and from a different realm, it doesn’t make sense UNLESS it is a parody of the fact that racists like to say people of color can’t play certain fantasy characters because they are “obviously white” or whatever other nonsense they spout.

But then, it takes itself seriously at other times and I wonder, is this for real? Am I supposed to take this seriously, as an actual urban fantasy novel? It’s just too much, too over the top. Though it was under 200 pages, I honestly struggled to finish it. The only reason it got two stars was because I was a) able to finish it and b) it might work as parody.

Sorry to say but I think The Corner Store Witch by HD Lynn is going to have to be a pass from me.

// I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this title. //

[Angel Hatfield · Rating 3 out of 5]

Leone owned a used game, movie, comics, and nerd paraphenalia shop called Pulp Images. Leone’s best friend was Courtney they had been friends since elementary school. Leone had hired Courtney and Shandice. Shandice understood the rules and technicalities of a gamebetter than anyone else Leone knew. Leone had opened her shop thirteen months ago. Leone has a twin sister Lakeisha and Leone was the opposite of her. Leone was an anti- social nerd with a tempper and loved anime. Lakisha stops in the shop to do some painting on a window display for her sister than all of a sudden a man falls through the roof. The man looks like a wizard and even has a staff which Leone takes away from her and zaps her as she touches it. Leone checks to make sure he is alive. Then she notices there is nothing wrong with her ceiling, where did this man come from? The man’s name is Abinar and he had taken the staff from a dead monk in another demension but then Leone and the others find out demons have come through also just like Abinar did.I didn’t love this story but I didn’t hate it. Not really into jumping realms and wizards and magical staffs. I did enjoy the characters and the way they interacted with each other. This was a fairly quick read. At times this story made me laugh. Tje ins and outs of this story were pretty good. This just in not one of my favorite stories but I am sure someone else will love it.
I received an ARC of this story for an honest review.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Leone is the owner of Pulp Magic. It's a store that has books, comics, games no much more. Her family doesn't approve of her owning the store. She is "wasting" herself. Her twin is successful. Leone deals with the angry customers. Finished dealing with an angry customer, a stranger falls through the store's ceiling. He carries with him a magical staff that brought him to Leone's store. H stol the magic staff from a dead monk. Leone grabs the staff to protect her store from the two one that have followed him. The staff gives her tattoos in a language that she can't read. Leone uses the staff gains the two oni. She temporarily takes them "out." She, the stranger and her friends decide to go to his world to find out how to get rid of the tattoos on her arms. Leone and her friends travel a difficult journey to find the monks who might know how to remove the tattoos. Will Leone find out how to remove her tattoos?

The author has written a book that is a quick and enjoyable read. I found this story entertaining and fun to read -- I didn't want it to end. I will be keeping my eye out for the next volume!

Disclaimer: I received an arc of this book free from the author/publisher from Netgalley. I was not obliged to write a favorable review, or even any review at all. The opinions expressed are strictly my own.

[T. · Rating 3 out of 5]

While the story seemed well-paced, there wasn't really a lot resolved by the time we got to the end (a cliffhanger, of course, with none of our questions answered). I'm pretty sure I'm not the target audience, which seems to be young black women. Much is made of Leona's skin color, rather than her accomplishments and I feel this detracts from the story, rather than enhancing her status as a strong female protagonist. Corner Store Witch (a title that makes no sense to me), had an interesting plot but I didn't care for the secondary characters who felt cliched. And if you aren't up on fantasy literature, some of the Dresdin and Harry Potter references will go right over your head. As a non-gamer, I'm sure I missed a lot of the D&D and other gaming references/acronyms.

[Aly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this book left me hangin' but I enjoyed it. I still have a lot of questions but I am sure more will be revealed in the next books to come. It was an exciting new story and set of characters. I do want to see what happens in the next book. Magic, inter-dimensional travel, demons and soo much more in the book, I am excited to see where this series can take me. * I received this book from NetGalley---This is my honest review*

[Montzalee Wittmann · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Corner Store Witch by H.D. Lynn is a young adult, urban fantasy book that is lots of fun for the nerdy, D&D fan. Magic, inter-dimensional travel, demons, sword play, magic tats, and more. A guy drops out of the sky into Leone's shop and life gets even crazier from there. Demons follow her, she travels to other worlds/dimensions, fights with magic, and called a goddess. The only drawback for me is it stops...just stops. No warning, no lead up, a definite cliff hanger! Cool book up to then. Guess you need to read the next book to see what happens. I received this book for an honest review.

[Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think that teens and young adults will enjoy this fantasy. Featuring a black female main character, she and her friends find a man from another world falls through her ceiling into her shop. Leone saves him from the oni who follow him and he takes them back to his world to save the kingdom. Book one of a series this will be enjoyed by fans of Dungeons and Dragons and other gamers. I like the concept and look forward to the next installment.

[Brooke Banks · Rating 2 out of 5]

I received a free copy through Xpresso Reads by agreeing to review after reading.

Basically: Being sucked in by the blurb + cover leads to disappointment based on inaccuracies and an amateur white woman writing out of her lane.

--Title = Misleading Fail. She’s not a witch, she’s a chosen one. Her nerd shop is great, but not some corner store people go to for witchy assistance.

==Blurb = Hooked me, but it so affirmative while the whole book it’s just denial and trying to be normal again.

++Cover = Absolutely gorgeous. Look at her with her hair out, her stance powerful, her body covered, and just radiating black girl magic while her shop is in ruins around her.

++I LOVED their response to the interdimensional interloper dropping from the ceiling. I could totally see nerds, myself included, doing this. Since the questions got nowhere, why not see what he knows about magic with contemporary references?

+Author clearly knows her geeky stuff.

--Stereotypes abound.

--SLOW AND NOTHING HAPPENS.

--The plot was convenient, obvious, and generic. The unique elements of this chosen tale dragged it down instead of pulling weight leaving the plot’s ass exposed.

--Cliffhanger. It’s so short I was torn between being grateful and frustrated.

--Leone’s group is a dynamically impaired mess. There’s hardly time to get to know them before they rush off and begin bickering through Anime-Land. Shandi, the geek encyclopedia and organizing extraordinaire on the Autism spectrum, is the only one besides Leone and her sister that comes through for me. I really liked her, but while I’m aware enough to recognize the stereotype and feel uncomfortable with it, I cannot ascertain whether the portrayal is good or problematic rep. I was glad she was there, especially given everything else, but I don’t think I’m supposed to be.



Here She Comes Around the Mountain of Salt

The Corner Store Witch is written by a white woman and I’m a white woman. I didn’t know the former fact before I signed up to review. I didn’t do my due diligence. The blurb and cover was enough to win me over, I leaped without looking.

I should not have done that.
I should not have done that.

I thought things were fine, if a little repetitive and shallow, until they traveled to Anime Wannabe World. No, I’m not calling it Japanese inspired. That’s insulting like saying Chuck e Cheese is Italian inspired because it has pizza on the menu.

There is racism in Japan like everywhere else though it has it’s own special history and dynamics. Leone and her crew being discriminated against was to be expected. Except it was only the demons and not the Japanese people that acted this way.

The DEMONS said their skin was an abomination but the townsfolk, the guards, the priests are all cool as shit with them off the bat? When they’ve never seen people like Leone and her friends? When they don’t have black people running around there except from vague south area that haven’t traveled out in decades?

Nope, not buying it. It’s artificial and fishy to absolve humans of their ways and foist it upon corrupted demons from another dimension.

In the end it reminds me of A Mortal Song in the same sense, it’s obvious this was written by an outsider without the experience and loving touch of #ownvoices.

Even if you’re desperate for non-white and non-western fantasy, I can’t recommend The Corner Store Witch.It’s not badly written, I don’t think, and it’s easy to fall into but that’s part of the problem. Diversity, overthrowing and overcoming the white supremacy in publishing is not easy. Reading white authors use marginalized characters is a cop out. It will continue to support the current structure with the shallow understanding of marginalized people and different cultures.

Say no to this.


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Previous Updates:: I actually finished this a bit ago, I'm so bad at staying up to date. Review will come shortly, on the 20th at the latest.

[Jennifer · Rating 1 out of 5]

Book details:
The Corner Store Witch by H.D. Lynn; Pikko's House

Source:
ARC received for free through Netgalley for an honest review.

Summary:
Leone owns Pulp Magic (Comics, Books, Games, & More). Angry customers are her biggest concern--until a man from another world literally drops into her shop. And oni have followed him. Leone defends herself with a magical staff, which marks her with powerful runes. Her supernatural tattoo sleeves make her desperately thirsty, yet practically allergic to water--and oh, they foretell the fate of the realms of demons, gods, and men. 
With her four friends and inter-dimensional guide, Leone travels to the realm of the gods, searching for magical cosmetic surgery. She doesn't want to carry the fate of the world literally on her arms. But the truth she finds--of a war raging between worlds--changes her, challenges her. 
What's a nerd to do with the fate of all worlds at stake? Ah yes, kick some demon ass. 
The Chronicles of Narnia but with more swearing, more katanas, and less allegory. It's nerdy, anime inspired fun for the whole family.

My opinions:
Story:
The main story is about this guy who falls into Leones store magically with a weird looking staff. When Leone has to use said staff, the marking somehow transfer onto her. Her and her so called friends (only one of them is truly her friend) then go on journey to try and remove said marks (even though she's told from the beginning that they can't be removed.)

Characters:
Leone is a African American nerd who own her own store, who seems to always be in a bad mood because life isn't fair and everyone likes her twin sister more. She's basically chosen to have these amazing powers that any geeky person would probably die for, and yet all she wants is to be normal and go back to her regular life where all she does is complain.

Everyone else; They're all more of side characters that are brought forward when they need to serve a plot point. The guy that falls into our world has very little to do in the story, except keeps secrets and them reluctantly reveals them when it's pretty much already revealed by someone or something else.

World/Culture:
I did not like the world building because there was very little built. The interdimensional travel was more of mishmash of some Japanese backdrops that weren't greatly detailed.

Ending:
The ending was so unsatisfying. It was very abrupt and, not surprisingly, did not leave me wanting more. I don't think there was much of anything resolved and little if any character development.

Overall:
I absolutely did not like this book or short story, whatever it was. I know I'm being harsh; I always try to find something good about what I'm reading, even if I'm not liking it, but I just couldn't do it for this story. About the only thing I like was the original premise that I got from the synopsis, which was not what I got from the book. It took me about 2 full days to force myself to finish…it's only 131pgs…AND I skimmed through so much. I'm not sure how so many people can give it 5 stars. Some of the characters were annoying (including the main character) and I did not think her race had to be shoved in our face. I mean the oni from a completely different world talk about her being a black girl, why? The story was so slow at times when it didn't need to be and the fact that the title has witch in it and there isn't one at all involved in the book, really through me off. I'm giving this a 1/5. There were so many grammatical errors, it really tells me that there was very little time and thought put into this book. Oh and the gratuitous profanity, doesn't help this story one bit.

[Bonnie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and Throw This Book at Me for offering this book for free in exchange for an honest review!

This book reads like a short story or a manga volume. It's a quick read. In a way it feels like a fresh voice on the scene of fantasy and sci-fi as it offers a diverse cast although it felt a bit forced and undeveloped at times. It does include lots of references for fantasy/sci-fi lovers. The main character is frank and real yet was brought down since she was a combination of forceful and whiny. Definitely be aware that this book is crude.

The pacing for the most part was great, more on the speedy side. I would have liked to see something dramatic with build-up before the end though. I was shocked when I reached the end and felt like nothing climactic had happened. I didn't connect with all parts of this book but it reminded me of a video game and I definitely enjoyed many of the references.

I'd say it's a gallant attempt at an original premise but I think it could be improved in many ways.

Rating: 2 stars

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Look at that cover. Look at that blurb. I read the blurb and my ears instantly perked up. This book sounded so awesome! I unfortunately have to admit that I was a little bit disappointed. It wasn't horrible, but it wasn't great either.

Here's why I can't give it a glowing review.

No one acts like normal people. What do I mean by this? Well, if a dude in a robe carrying a staff poofs out of nowhere and literally falls at my feet...I'm not going to go, "Huh..must be a wizard. Cool." I'm going to freak the eff out and call whatever authorities that I can dial up, pronto! I know this is fiction, but Leone and her friends reactions just seemed...off. I get that they are all basically geeks, but still. Even the nerdiest of nerds would panic just a little bit!

Then there's Leone herself. It's absolutely wonderful that her character is not the typical heroine. She's young. She's a business owner. She's smart. She's got the potential to be a badass, but she's unfortunately written in a way that makes her just come across as whiny and has a chip on her shoulder. Everything bad that happens to her is due to her skin color or the fact that she's a woman. It's wonderful that most of the characters are POC. That is awesome! It makes me happy to have characters and stories with all kinds of people, from all walks of life. It's wonderful that the writer chose a black fantasy nerd to be her main character! That completely rocks my socks! It's a great bit of progress, but Leone seems more hung up on her being black than any other character in the book. The writer makes it a point that we never forget it. Leone describes herself constantly. Other characters remark on it, I lost count of how many times she described her natural hair..What I'm saying is I LOVE a book with diversity written in a way that seems natural. What I don't enjoy is when it just feels forced. It just comes across as awkward writing and poor character development.

Now we go onto the plot. The plot was super interesting. It just didn't work well for me. It's a mix of Japanese lore and good old fashioned geeky plot twists. Leone is the chosen one. She doesn't want to be. She's forced into a destiny that she's not sure she can fulfill nor does she want to. It's up to her to save...You get the point. This is the basic plot line of a lot of great books. The idea isn't new, but how a writer presents it is what makes it work. The Corner Store Witch just didn't pull it off for me. I really wished I could have loved it, but unfortunately I just couldn't.

To be fair, this is a short book. It's also the first in a series, so maybe it will get better? I am not sure I'm going to read the next one to find out though.

[John Purvis · Rating 4 out of 5]

“The Corner Store Witch” eBook was published in 2016 and was written by H. D. Lynn (https://hdlynn.wordpress.com). This is her second publication and the first in her “Corner Store Witch” series.

I received an ARC of this novel through https://www.netgalley.com in return for a fair and honest review. I categorize this novel as ‘R’ because it contains scenes of Violence and Mature Language. The story is set in the contemporary US, but most of the story takes place in another realm of existence. The primary character is young Leone, an avid Fantasy fan and owner of Pulp Magic, a store of comics, games, and books.

A man from another world literally drops out of her ceiling and into her shop. He is soon followed by two oni (invaders to his world) who are after him. When Leone grabs the staff the first man was carrying in order to fend off the oni, she magically gets golden tattoos on her arms. In an effort to rid herself of the tattoos, she, her sister and three close friends journey into another world.


I liked the 2.5 hours I spent reading this 128 page Fantasy Novella. This is the standard quest story, but with irregular quest members. It is unusual too that nearly all of the questers are young women. It does have a bit of Young Adult appeal. The characters were interesting but I did not relate well to them. Making one or more of the followers stronger would have made a better story. Certainly the way the story concluded sets up sequels. The cover art was well chosen and helped draw me to picking the book. I give this novel a 3.5 (rounded up to a 4) out of 5.

Further book reviews I have written can be accessed at https://johnpurvis.wordpress.com/blog/.

[Ron · Rating 4 out of 5]

When a young man fell out of the ceiling of Leone's comic shop, Pulp Fiction, with a staff, she knew something was off. But when oni showed up the next day and she acquired magical tats from the staff while defeating the oni, she knew she was in trouble. But her troubles and her friends troubles were just beginning when she used the staff to transfer her group to another world. Now they are stuck and having to deal with a hostile world while hunting for help with the tats and getting home. Just the first in a series.

[Mariah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Awesome!

I really enjoyed this story. It was quite interesting, filled with heart and mystery! The world building was excellent, I'm giving it four instead of five stars because the story was riddled with typos and word misuse but it was easily discerned what the author meant but still jarred me out of the otherwise excellent story. I'm very curious to see where this is headed and what the group quest itself will be like. Love all the references and the overall nerdiness of itvall. Awesome!!!

[Christine Hayes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really love this story. Lots of adventure and adventure

[Dawn Cavenee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a fan of this book or the author’s writing style. Story seemed choppy and rough, scenes didn’t flow and characters were uninteresting. I pushed myself to finish the book and it wasn’t enjoyable.