Something Wicked This Way Comes: 10 Spellbinding Witchy Novels

H.B. Akumiah’s debut novel is just plain fun. It’s a young, irreverent, lively story about three Black witches who just might be the key to solving the magical crisis in the Witch Sphere. Maya, Gabbie, and Delali didn’t realize they were witches until they happened to run into each other in a bathroom. Luckily for them, an older witch offers to mentor them. As their friendship develops alongside their powers, their journey (set against the backdrop of the Sphere’s politics) is a super fun one for readers who love witches.

This book is one of those that sticks with you long after you’ve read it. If I had to sum it up in 2 words, I’d say: witches and feminism. The tales of three women living in different time periods intertwine to form one larger story, and it’s absolutely captivating. In the present (2019), Kate has fled her abusive husband and taken up residence in the cottage she recently inherited. As she struggles to find her strength and regain a sense of identity, Althea’s and Violet’s stories unfold. Althea’s story is set in the 1600s and grapples with histories of persecuting women, while Violet’s is set in the mid-1900s and underscores the limited options available to women even in the modern era. All three tales deal with some pretty serious trauma, but the way these storylines come together is beautiful and powerful. Weyward is a wonderfully witchy novel that reminds us of the resilience of “wayward” women across the past few centuries.

Marta is struggling — at work, at home, in love. So when her elderly great-aunt Nena comes to live with Marta and her family after a kitchen accident, it’s not the end of the world. In fact, it may be the beginning of a whole new life for Marta since Nena is no ordinary woman. She has magic of her own and has traveled across physical, colonial, and temporal borders…and she has a secret: she had a child who she left in the past. As Marta tries to help Nena recover her long-lost child, her own powers surface and the fun really begins.

A coven of witches, a road trip, and a race against the clock? Yes, please! Cherie Dimaline’s foray into the wilds of witchery is a powerhouse. From the moment you meet Lucky, you’ll adore her (and her hilarious grandma, too). Despite her name, she’s down on her luck when the novel opens, but that all changes when she finds a silver spoon that leads her and her grandmother on a road trip where she discovers the rest of her coven. Unfortunately for her, the coven is running out of time to locate the last witch of their ranks, and failure carries some seriously high stakes — like, setting women’s rights back at least a century if the witch hunter on their tail has his way. With her trademark flair, Dimaline weaves a tale that’s as terrifying for its fantasy elements as it is for its social commentary.

Witch of Wild Things is an enchanting romance novel. Sage Flores is no ordinary teacher (or, shall I say, former teacher). Recently fired from her job, she returns home to live with her sisters. All of them have different kinds of magic, and Sage’s magic is linked to plants. When Sage finds herself without any options but to work with a man who once broke her heart, her already complicated life gets even more so. But as she deals with tensions between her and her living sisters (and her other sister’s ghost haunting her), Tennessee Reyes may be exactly what she needs.