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EVEN NOW, ALL WITCHES SCREAM WHEN THEY BURN.

Katie M. John, internationally bestselling and award winning author of The Knight Trilogy, presents The Meadowsweet Witches, a spellbinding upper YA series for fans of Kate Lauren, Cynthia Hand, Amanda Hocking, and Stephanie Meyer.

THREE SISTERS. TWO ENEMY COVENS. ONE DEAD GIRL.

Seventeen-year-old Fox Meadowsweet is an outsider, just like her sisters, just like all the other women in her family before her. That's what comes of being born a witch.

But being an outsider makes you stronger, smarter, more resilient. It helps you know who to trust... no one .

When a college girl is discovered ritually murdered, ancient superstitions and long buried secrets rise to the surface and many eyes turn to the beautiful, mysterious Meadowsweet sisters. After all, they do come from a long line of infamous witches.

Or maybe the strange, handsome new American arrival, Jeremiah Chase, an Exiled New York bad boy has something to do with it. His family history is more than a little shady; suicides, murders, and whispers of occult activity are all linked to the grand house he now stays in with his aunt.

One thing for certain, history isn't staying in the past. As the village erupts with paranormal activity and ancient feuds reignite, it's time to find out who your friends really are.

455 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 30, 2014

245 people are currently reading
353 people want to read

About the author

Katie M. John

58 books375 followers
Married to a handsome giant and mummy to a two foot mud-fairy, Katie has been writing stories and poetry since childhood and has always been away with the woodland fairies.
She is author of the Amazon UK Best Selling YA Fairy Tale Romance series, 'The Knight Trilogy' www.katiemjohn.com and a dark, Gothic paranormal detective novel called 'Beautiful Freaks'
She has a love of writing weird and wonderful short stories and can be found 'visiting' writer friends' anthology collections.
Katie likes to keep it varied and pinning her down to a particular style or genre is hard; she mainly writes for YA and NA, and in the Dark Fairy Tale Genre. However she also dabbles in more adult works of horror and issue-focused work.
Katie often draws on her ten year experience of teaching in a London Comprehensive school in her work.

Katie

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5 stars
79 (49%)
4 stars
44 (27%)
3 stars
25 (15%)
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10 (6%)
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
Profile Image for Heaven is a bookstore.
115 reviews40 followers
July 2, 2015
This book was so well-written I am actually stymied. Witchcraft had everything I love in a paranormal book: three sisters, strong women I can relate to, a very solid sense of reality (ie: believable), men whom I would fall for, mean and conniving evil people, blood, history that dates back so long ago families can barely remember what started it all, spookie houses and scary things that go bump in the night. Seriously I could go on and on. Scary is a very light word for this book. It had me on the edge of my seat where I actually considered putting it down, it was giving me the hebejebees. I am so glad I never put it down. It was magnificent.


As I mentioned, there are three sisters who have been raised in a home with a single mom who owns an apothecary store. They are known as the slightly weirdos in the town. But the girls are pretty and smart so they have learned to fit in. On the other side, there is a trio of sisters who have spent their lives making the Meadowsweet's lives miserable. Especially that of the middle sister, Fox, who lives everyday with the annoyance of Thalia making her life miserable. Fox has incredible friends who stick up for her, including the ever present Will. In walks Jeremiah, who is a spoiled rich boy who has his way with the flick of his sexy smile. Thankfully this smile does nothing for Fox, or so she things.


Just as Jeremiah comes in to the picture, Fox begins to experience visions of sort, but since she has never had them before, she is not sure that is really what they are. There are visions from the past, the future and present. She cannot make heads nor tails of them. As she has grown up sheltered from witchcraft, she is not sure she can turn to her sisters. Who can she trust?


In the midst of Fox's newest visions, there is a mysterious disappearance of a local girl and her beau. Is Fox's visions part of that chaos or is it completely on its own?
Profile Image for Kat.
974 reviews32 followers
March 23, 2017
#3.5stars overall

*** I voluntarily reviewed this book, I gained no monetary incentives nor was I specifically requested to review the book, these are my honest ramblings and I hope you enjoy reading them - kat***



When I first started this book I was going to DNF, I the writing style switches from UK to US intermittently, and using descriptions that are not used in the English Language, that ended up making the passages sound like a 5 yr old had written the sentence.

I am not sure how much research was done for the book but if the proper word had been used the sentences would have made more grammatical sense and not interrupted my reading flow.

Note: There are a few gruesome passages, due to the ritual killing.

Fox, comes into her gift at the same time as American newcomer Jeremiah Chase; is banished to live Aunt in the Chase ancestral home of Coldstone Hall. Spooky goings on in this house too, maybe they will be delved into more in the other books to come.

As the horrors of the disappearances are revealed the Meadowsweet Sisters, have to stop ignoring their heritage and get involved, but when the Chase family intervene too lives are altered and Fox and her sister's lives will never be the same.

So what did I think
Overall Plot line - good, it reminded me more of Sleepy Hollow than a UK witch story, but then I am from the North East, and the stories of witches are few and far between in my home area, they were witch trials in East Anglia, Yorkshire, Warwickshire.

Characters - Fox was annoying, shes 17 in the UK you leave school at 16, start college get your driving licence, most UK kids are not childish they are nearly adults, when she comes into a power, then decided to keep parts of what she finds out to herself, she caused more issues doing this and it made her look very childish and selfish too, people died because she refused to tell her family - and considering she knew she was a witch and knew what power she got, I could not understand this hesitance.

Chase - what a stereotypical male character, I am sure Ms. John did this deliberately - he had his good and bad points, but when he finds out his real family history is, he does the right thing - not what his family expects him to do, so he did well in my eyes.

The wicked witches ( spoiler free so not naming) - ooh the eldest was a mix of Cruella de'Vil and Evil Queen Regina from once upon a time.

I would say the first 1/3 was my least enjoyable part, but when the mystery starts to unfold the storyline kept me reading and ignoring the weird words picked for describing inner thoughts or what Fox ends up being, I enjoyed the story, one innocent girl dies and a boy's life is in ruins because Fox does not man up but I guess you need tragedy in the story so someone has to die.
want to know what words did my head in? See below:

Profile Image for Fiona.
297 reviews6 followers
January 6, 2016
THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS.



This was a definite can't put down book.

The Ravenheart witches were very strong willed and I loved the way in which Katie wrote their dark side. I would love to read a book with them as the main characters. They each have their own individual characteristics.

The Meadowsweet witches were softer and more likable characters and the sibling rivalry was written really well. I know this having two younger sisters lol. I can't wait to read more on how the relationship between Jeremiah and Fox progresses with the new love hate status. It feels like they are meant to be together. I so hope they are but time will tell.
Swan is such a gentle being, who would have thought that would happen OMG I really hope she has not been affected.
Bunny is your usual younger sister having her version of temper tantrums but she hid her gifts well. Go Bunny.

I love that the history of the families are connected way back in time and have been enemy covens for so long. And add to that the witch hunters. Now he was a nasty piece of work. Will Jeremiah follow suit or will he fight what is in his bloodlines.

The book draws you in from the first page to the last. It leaves you with a feeling of despondency just because it ended so if you are thinking about reading this book I would advise downloading the next one. I am just off to do that. Happy reading.
Profile Image for Maxine.
29 reviews2 followers
January 6, 2017
It has all the potential to be a YA novel in the vein of L J Smith's The Secret Circle. I was confused about the genre: it was too knowing for a YA, but too centred around teenage characters to be adult. This is the first in the series and I'm looking forward to reading the other books.

This is a great story with memorable characters. The drama starting from the very beginning. There is enough drama to cover 2 or 3 books!

I liked the female characters, but the main male character seemed too sullied and unlikeable for a YA. In my opinion, it needed to tone down on the sex and swearing, and reveal information in a more timely manner: for example, a character would suddenly jump into the narrative but you'd only find out who it was in the next chapter; and a mini reveal of the amazing powers of the sisters would have built up excitement for the fantastic showdown at the end.

But for all my thoughts about it, please read it; at times KM John's writing was so atmospheric and spooky, I had to keep reading until the narrative had passed a particular description or I couldn't go to bed!

As a last comment, there were some stereotypes and details that were 'off'. For example, this annoyed me all the way through: since when did British people use hob kettles, except as a novelty for a couple of weeks before they went back to their electric kettle - is the author American or Canadian?
16 reviews1 follower
April 19, 2018
Contender for Best In Class!

I read a lot of books in a great many different genres. I believe this to be one of the best in it's class. I will be starting the next book not long after I submit this review. The storyline is well developed with narration coming from many different character perspectives as the story unfolds. I will venture to say that this is a book that will appeal to young and older adults that enjoy this genre of storytelling. Thanks to the author n Amazon for the gift, it worked extremely well! I am hooked!
Profile Image for Eve Jones.
491 reviews6 followers
March 24, 2018
Good read

I enjoyed reading this book although the characters are mostly teenagers, so sometimes found it quite annoying when they were having a tantrum. There were also parts of the book that just felt like they didn't need to be there. Saying that I enjoyed the way the author has written the rivalries between the covens, and the story is well written and I will be reading the second instalment to see what happens as I am intrigued.
Profile Image for ~Misty~.
249 reviews
June 10, 2017
Wutchcraft

Thus was great! I loved the storyline and how many characters were involved in several stories and then came together! Interesting ending! Wow! I would never have thought! There were some random wording I had to look up but that's OK. It made it fun to read and learn new phrases and wording. I'm definitely looking forward to reading more!
Profile Image for Alana.
152 reviews
February 22, 2019
I have only just discovered the writing of Katie John and I was intrigued by this book from the very first chapter. The book is a clever mix of mundane and other worldly and is a great read for fans of modern day witches. Thoroughly enjoyed the book from start to finish and excited for the next instalment.
Profile Image for Crystal Anderson.
96 reviews6 followers
October 10, 2022
Not bad

It had a slow setup but the last 6 chapters were almost too fast. I want to know more about Jeremiah Chase and wren Meadowsweet. I want to know how the 7 Meadowsweets move on from everything and what Paulina Chase really has to do with anything. What are the Ravenheart sisters going to do and what is going to happen to Nigella now?
377 reviews4 followers
February 5, 2017
Meadowsweet sisters

I enjoyed this book very much. A little hard to keep up with the changing of language types. But the story was very good. Very mysterious and interesting. Looking for the next one.
Profile Image for patty pimental.
32 reviews
March 11, 2018
One of the best

This is one of the best books I have ever read. It kept me spellbound (no pun intended hehe) I hated when I was interrupted and couldn't get to it. I am so excited to read the next one!!!!
Profile Image for Gina Leaver.
38 reviews1 follower
March 30, 2018
An amazing start to a brilliant series.
Join the meadowsweet sisters in their journey to guard the world against the ancient ones. They encounter difficulties in their witch lives as well as in their "normal" teenage lives.
Profile Image for Tasha Williams .
538 reviews49 followers
April 3, 2017
::..Reviewed for Red's Midnight Readers..::

I was given an ARC of this in exchange for an honest review. I have given it 4 stars!!

Going into Witchcraft I wasn't sure what to expect but what I did get was spellbinding.

I loved the plot concept and the whole back history and how the author worked it into the plot so seamlessly. Katie M. John has managed to create a somewhat atmospheric story that will keep you on the edge of your seat. The drama and there is lots of drama, that will keep you turn the pages again and again!

I loved the female characters, I even admired the wicked witches. They were all strong, independent characters, something we don't always see enough.

However, I do feel that the ending was a little bit rushed and let the general feel of the book down. I do hope that everything is explained in a little bit more depth in the next books.

Overall I really enjoyed the book and I will definitely be reading the rest of this series.
1 review
July 10, 2017
Enjoyable

I found it enjoyable. Anything to do with my lifestyle is interesting and a favorite choice of reading. Thank you
19 reviews
February 7, 2018
Works for me.

Well this did not end as expected. Definitely need to get book two. Good story.
Looks like there is going to be a major fight coming.
101 reviews1 follower
April 7, 2018
Loved

I havent read many books with witches but out of what I have read this book makes the top of the list
Profile Image for Teresa.
97 reviews
April 24, 2020
Bittersweet

Fox"s story was told with magical history and romance. Good verses evil. I am looking for to see how the story continues in the next installment.
18 reviews1 follower
April 18, 2021
So good...

I loved it and was difficult to set aside. Read it enjoying every part, and felt like I needed more of oh. Luckily, there is Book 2, can't wait to download it!
Profile Image for Jenni Crawford.
152 reviews1 follower
March 8, 2017
***I voluntarily reviewed this book for Katsindiebookblog, and I gained no monetary incentives nor was I specifically requested to review the book.*** This was a really good book to read, yes a few editing issues here and there but nothing that made it too difficult to read. There is also mild changing is writing style but yet again, it was still relatively an easy read.
You start off with Jeremiah, an American Playboy, who gets sent to live with his Aunt to hopefully calm down his rich way of life. We get a brief explanation of who his family is, something we need to remember for the story itself. Then we meet Fox and her sisters. They play it off that they are not witches, but in reality they are. There are many old stories in the town that they live in, and their family is included in those stories. Due to an evening dinner Fox and Jeremiah briefly meet, both seem drawn to each other but with no explanation. Then another chance meeting on the bus to the school they go to. Could this be fate or just coincidence? Not only is Fox running into Jeremiah on the bus, but her powers also seem to start advancing, she has a vision, but is it from the past, present, or future? This particular gift she does not want, but is it something she can embrace? Especially when disappearances start happening around their town?
From the beginning you are thrown into the action. It is a quick based read but action packed none the less. Some parts may be slight difficulty keeping up with, especially when all of a sudden a character cuts in, when they weren’t there in the beginning. All in all though, it is worth the read and I look forward to more in the series as well as the author!
Profile Image for Rose English.
Author 22 books183 followers
March 8, 2017
A tale of modern day witchcraft which had me turning the pages. Loved the character names with some loveable ones and some definitely not so nice at all.
Profile Image for Jodie Downes.
144 reviews
November 15, 2015
Fox knows she has witches blood running through her veins - it's obvious her whole family have. Then the visions start, blindsiding her and throwing her whole life into panic mode. The throes of teenage life entangled alongside this means a lot of pain and heartache in ways she would never imagine. Then there's the new American, Jeremiah Chase who's just entered the village, who's pretty sure he's going mad after hearing ghostly going ons at his aunts Manor House after being banished from America for enjoying his rich playboy life a bit too much. Girls start to mysteriously disappear, all too reminiscent of a witches plot from a long time ago, and the culprits are ready for the fight... Spooky, family focuses, YA book. Hits all the right notes for me. Bring on book two!
Profile Image for Izzles25.
170 reviews
July 4, 2016
Absolutely brilliant! I won this book in a competition a while back but I knew I'd have gotten it anyway because I'd loved the Knight Trilogy series and I knew these books would be just as awesome and I was right.
I fell in love with the Meadowsweet sisters as soon as I started reading the book. Fox is my favourite because of her feisty nature in regards to Jeremiah. I really love the fact that I'm reading a book by an English writer who captures studying as an English student so well. I think Katie M John is a wonderful author and I can't wait to read the second book in this series.
Profile Image for R.M. Gardner.
Author 5 books9 followers
April 11, 2020
Absolutely stunning!

I am a fast reader but this one took me a week because I was so desperate to savour every word. I adored everything about this story. The stunning setting, the incredible characters, the mention of my hometown! I absolutely cannot wait to read the rest of this series. I can't reccomend this book enough!
44 reviews
April 25, 2017
Great book

This is a great story that has you gripped. You do not want to put it down. I would recommend it
I can't wait to read book 2.
Profile Image for Jackie.
420 reviews19 followers
April 20, 2017
Again, Katie gives us another phenomenal piece of writing. Her books grip me with both hands and I cannot put them down. So looking forward to reading the rest of this series.
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews

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