Rating: 6 out of 10

Charming. This is a bit of an instance of reading the book at a perfect time, but I know so many kids who will enjoy The Apprentice Witch.

Listened to this one on libro.fm - it was a super cute story about young witches

2.5 stars. Nothing here felt very original, plot points were either a) predictable or b) had a lot of holes/loose ends, and the writing was just okay. Many characters felt underdeveloped, and that in turn led many supposedly heartfelt relationships to feel underdeveloped.

What did the moonhare actually add to the story? They still retested Arianwyn six months later, as was always the plan. Other than a throwaway about Ms. Delafield thinking Arianwyn might be ready for retesting because of the moonhare, nothing more was said. What do moonhares signify in this world?

Who is the war against? Is it against the creatures from the void or against other kingdoms? I thought other kingdoms? How come none of this ties in with the war effort that Arianwyn is so eager to help?

Why does Mrs. Newsome hate Arianwyn so much at the beginning? Do she and grandmother have bad blood? If so, why? And if so, why didn't grandmother fight harder for a retest when the equipment broke due to a power surge, knowing the test was being administered with a bias? What exactly WAS grandmothers position on the council of elders, and exactly DID that mean for Arianwyn? Also, if Arianwyn were trained by her grandmother, wouldn't her powers have been apparent to her grandmother? It's not like this book was about her apprenticeship--that had supposedly already happened with her grandmother. This was about her first job. And beside the chapter openings with quotes from The Apprentice Witch's Handbook, what did finding that book actually add to the story? There was no info in it that pushed Arianwyn's plot forward. Presumably she already knew the super basic sounding info at the start of each chapter, as that felt more like world building for us than knowledge for her.

How did Gimma get top of her class --even with help-- if they had practical tests? How can you cheat at having magic? And why would those other girls help her? What did they gain? Especially when they were so quick to tell Arianwyn they'd been helping her for years once school was over? Made no sense.

Exactly how old were these girls supposed to be anyway? And how did Lull go for 40 years without a witch when it seems they had snotlings and demons all the time? Why didn't Ms. Delafield push to get some help long before this? And what DID happen to her sister? It was vaguely said she couldn't handle the mysterious glyph, but why weren't her things cleaned out of the Spellorium? Wasn't that well developed of a plot point. Also, felt zero connection with Estar and really thought he might be evil up to the end. Would've been more interesting if he were.

What a fun book this was. James Nicol creates a vibrant town full of interesting characters. The main plot wraps up nicely, but it will be interesting to see if it becomes a series. I recommend it for fans of Bruce Coville, Brandon Mull, and Jasper Fforde.

Pretty fun read/listen- the audiobook has a great narrator. Very nice British flavor set in an imaginary world. Good story- definitely will need to keep going in the series.

it was a nice listen at work…
YA witch