The Coven by Harper L Woods

Book Review

Matthew Johns

The back cover pitches this as “…your next fantasy romance obsession”. That’s a strong promise, but does the book live up to it? Well, in short – it’s a pretty good read. But let’s dig into it in a bit more detail.

Willow Madizza is a witch. Raised by her father to be a weapon against the Coven, the undead rulers of the secret witch school ‘Hollow’s Grove University’, she is on a mission to find the bones of a long-dead ancestor, destroy the Coven and regain her birthright. Seems simple enough for any young woman to accomplish, right? How about if the headmaster of the university is a demon trapped in an immortal form, who survives on the blood of the witches schooled there, is exceptionally attractive and is drawn to her? That might make things a bit trickier for her, and it does indeed.

The university has been closed for fifty years since a massacre occurred there, which no-one will talk about, but it has now re-opened its gates to welcome thirteen witches to begin their studies there. Willow finds herself having to cope with bitchy witches, jealousies, her own attraction to the demon headmaster Alaric Thorne, the undead Coven, and betrayals aplenty as she tries to fulfil the destiny her father has hoisted upon her.

It’s a good storyline – the author has created her own magical families, builds up the sexual tension between Thorne and Willow, and clearly enjoys writing their ‘interactions’. Willow’s internal conflict between her father’s mission and what she actually wants is well depicted, and I liked how the magic systems are a bit grittier than many in popular culture – one great example is how Willow’s magic gives her mastery over plants, and she feeds them her blood to maintain them in an almost symbiotic relationship. One of the magical families uses sex magic, so it was a shame to not have this one explored further, as I was quite intrigued as to how it would work (other than through the obvious!).

However, it does feel as though a particularly vicious editor with a word count target has sliced and diced it somewhat. It seems to jump at times, and it feels as though there are missing pieces. I recognise that I’m not the target audience for this type of book, but I still did find myself enjoying it. The cliffhanger ending does a nice job of keeping the reader engaged and wanting the next instalment, which I’m sure will perform just as well as this one has.