How to Succeed in Witchcraft by Aislinn Brophy

This was a cute low fantasy reading with a great sapphic rivals-to-lovers romance, amazing friendship and wonderful parents, but also an unexpectedly dark and disturbing story with difficult topics, such as grooming by a teacher, manipulation, racism and homophobia.

The story follows the overachieving teen witch Shay, who in order to have a better chance at winning a desperately needed scholarship at her elite high school, joins the school musical upon her drama teacher, and scholarship donor, Mr B’s request. Just as her arch enemy and scholarship competitor, Ana, does. But as Lex, Shay’s best friend, keeps pointing out, isn’t Shay just a little too obsessed with Ana, beyond competing for the same scholarship?

I really loved the relatable characters, and the diversity and representation in this book, with a brown lesbian MC, a bisexual love interest, and several black, cuban and filipino characters. Shay is out to her closest friends and family, but not to her other schoolmates (or teachers, like Mr. B). Since her parents are struggling financially, Shay knows she has to get a scholarship to be able to fulfil her dreams and puts a lot of pressure on herself. I could really relate to the academic pressure that Shay feels, but I had some problems with the way she pushed that pressure onto her best friend Lex as well. Overall, I really loved their friendship though.

I also liked how involved and supportive Shay’s parents were, and the part with the academic rivals to lovers was so cute. I loved the banter between Shay and Ana!

I would have wished for the magic to play a bigger role though. The magic system wasn’t fully explained and the story felt much more like contemporary one and not like a fantasy, as the magic didn’t really impact it. But my main issue with this book was the grooming part. I went into this book expecting a fun, witchy, YA fantasy with a great sapphic rivals-to-lovers story. And while that was part of the story (and very well executed!), too much of the story was about the drama teacher being predatory and trying to manipulate Shay into an inappropriate relationship. The creepy grooming plot took over the story for most parts, which made me feel very uneasy as to the disgusting behavior by Mr. B and also by the way Shay couldn’t stand up for herself, but was so desperate to get the scholarship that she traded her integrity for it.

So, I feel a bit conflicted about how to rate this book. Leaving out the grooming part, it would have been a five star read for me – I absolutely loved the friendship, the rivalry banter and the sapphic romance parts! But since the predatory teacher plot was major part of it, I have to settle for 3.5 stars rounding up to 4.

I really enjoyed the book as a whole though, and truly recommend it. Just be aware of the trigger warning for grooming by a teacher, and homophobia, before reading it.

Rating:
3.5 stars rounding up to 4

Get your own copy:
Amazon
Add on Goodreads

Author info:
Aislinn Brophy