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NetGalley Review of The Book Witch

Posted on March 24, 2026October 8, 2025 by caritagardiner
Screenshot 2025-10-05 at 9.55.17 AM

title: The Book Witch

author: Meg Shaffer

publisher: Ballantine Books

publication date: April 7, 2026

pages: 320

peppers: 2 (on this scale)

warnings: dead parents and scary moments/potential kidnapping

summary: Rainy March's job as a book witch is to enter fictional books and fix problems when the characters go off-script. Though she tries to follow the rules of book-witchery, she has a hard time not falling in love with Duke, a detective in her favorite novel series. Unfortunately, since her grandfather is missing, she needs Duke's help to solve the case. Told in every genre, this book would be super fun for all readers and writers.

tropes:

  • stories within stories
  • it's not what you think
  • love-at-first-sight
  • lost family/orphans
  • found family

what I liked:

  • humor!!
  • everything about writing
  • everything about reading -- so many books mentioned!

what I didn’t like:

  •  n/a

overall rating: 5 (of 5 stars)

As always, you can click on the photo above if you want to buy the book.

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WHAT I DO

I serve as a class dean and teach English to high schoolers at a boarding school in Connecticut. I’ve earned a Bachelor of Arts (Amherst College), an Education Master in Learning and Teaching (Harvard University Graduate School of Education), a Master of Arts in English (Bread Loaf School of English), and most recently a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing with a certificate in the online teaching of writing (Southern New Hampshire University).

As a writer, I hope to capture the complexity and joy of life in the New England boarding school world. On this site, I share what I know about trying to write fiction while deaning, teaching English, coaching, and doing the other tasks associated with helping to raise over six hundred other people’s children.

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Read my recent “Why” Wednesday Blog Posts

  • NetGalley Review of While You Were Seething
  • 380. Why Jumbled (GUEST POST)
  • NetGalley Review of Don’t Tell Me How This Ends
  • NetGalley Review of Stranger Things Have Happened
  • 379. Why Prank
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