Synopsis:
Big Witch Energy is book two in the Starfall Point series by Molly Harper. The audiobooks are available through Audible Plus.
Caroline Wilton is dying to get off Starfall Point, but if she leaves, there’s a good chance she’ll literally die. For centuries, any Wilton who ventured off the island immediately perished in some freak accident. While Caroline has begrudgingly obeyed her family’s curse, she’s never forgiven all that it has cost her. After all, her high school sweetheart left for college and never came back. Until now.
Although Dr. Ben Hoult returned to take over the med clinic, in his heart, he came back for Caroline. Practical, sensible Ben was too stubborn to believe in her curse. But when his own two teenagers meddle their way into coven business, Ben’s eyes are opened to the world of magic. He quickly learns that Caroline and her friends have the power to see ghosts—like the angry woman in eighteen-century garb occupying her family’s tavern with a menacing glare—and boy, do they need managing.
As the witches dig through old spell books for insight, they discover the angry tavern ghost as one of the island’s most sinister legends—information that could be the key to breaking the Wilton curse and giving Caroline the life she’s always wanted with the man she’s always loved.
Review:
I read book one in this series back in 2022 and let’s just say I didn’t enjoy it very much. One of my biggest issues with it was the lack of ‘witchiness’ and the confusing pacing/timeline. So you’re probably wondering why I decided to read Big Witch Energy. Firstly, I was excited to see a book cover with a larger woman on the front (I won’t say plus-sized as I hate that term and also she’s just a normal looking woman) and secondly, I wanted to give this author a second chance.
I don’t actually remember Caroline being referred to as a slightly larger woman, so I feel like the cover is a little misleading, but it did take me a few weeks to get through the book so I could be misremembering.
Thankfully, the witchiness is finally present in this story. This time you follow Caroline, a member of Riley’s (main character from book one) coven. The witches actually perform magic this time and the ghostly activity has ramped up significantly.
The romance was far easier to follow this time even if it did happen very quickly. I don’t mind a second chance romance but I do still need some build up to find it realistic. It seems like Caroline and Ben went from being surprised to seeing each other to suddenly being in love again. I did like that they had such a deep past, but they didn’t really talk about it much until it blew up in both of their faces.
The portrayal of teenagers in Big Witch Energy was very off. Why were they the most mature of the whole cast? They were basically therapists to the adults and they seemed to have their act together more than everyone else. I did really like Mina and Josh (sorry if these are spelt wrong, I listened to the audiobook), they were funny and great characters but they acted way too mature for their ages.
Speaking of listening to the audiobook, the narration was ok. I usually quite like Amanda Ronconi’s narration but I did find her tone to be very grating in Big Witch Energy. All of the female characters had basically the same voice so it was a little difficult to distinguish who was talking at times. The same can be said for Teddy Hamilton. He’s a solid narrator but I didn’t find his performance convincing this time round. The way he said ‘Ben’ at the start of his chapters actually made me laugh out loud every time.
The plot was definitely more interesting than book one, but I do think these books should focus on the magical elements more than romance. I love a bit of romance in my witchy books, but it feels like the magic subplot went nowhere. The last few chapters were fast-paced and exciting but it feels like you’re in the exact same place as the end of book one.
I’ll consider checking out book three as I need to know if anything significant actually happens. But I’m struggling to think of how this story can come to an ‘epic conclusion’ in just one more book. It doesn’t even feel like the story has really started.
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