What We Sacrifice For Magic

 This review will be about What We Sacrifice For Magic by Andrea Jo DeWerd. It was published on September 24, 2024. It’s listed as an Adult Historical Fantasy. 

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

About the book: 

The Watry-Ridder family’s charms and spells have been passed down through the generation of witches, serving the small town of Friedrich, Minnesota in 1968. They are feared but also respected,  farmers need water charms, teenagers need love spells, or a quick harmless curse.

Just graduating high school, eldest daughter Elisabeth has high expectations set on her shoulders as she is expected to master her magical abilities and take over the family business for her grandmother, the infamous Magda. Along with the expectations of mastering her magic, she’s also supposed to marry her high school boyfriend and then live the rest of her life in the small town of Friedrich. All Elisabeth can think about though is, why her? Why is the path ahead of her set in stone and what else could possibly be out there for her to discover?

Elisabeth discovers though, that magic isn’t the only thing that her family has inherited. The magic they have comes with a great price and a huge family secret. The more she digs for answers, the more questions she has, but she can’t trust her grandmother anymore who is keeping these secrets. Elisabeth must figure out who she is without her family, and decide what she’s willing to sacrifice for her family, for the secrets, and their magic. Or will she risk it all and pave her own path.

Review:

I received this ARC through Goodreads Giveaway, all ARC’s that I receive I give my full honest review. 

I was a little nervous about reading this book, the synopsis sounded super good but I’m always fearful of reading books that are based in an older era because the writing for those just doesn’t catch my attention. 

Saying all that, I am pleasantly surprised that I fell in love with this book. In all honesty, it does not read like a 1960’s era, it feels more modern besides there being elements in it to make it seem older. The writing style is fantastic, I was able to follow along flawlessly and delve deeper into this fantasy world. The writing style definitely made it feel more modern which is why I didn’t mind the era.

In this book there are subjects that are sometimes hard to talk about; Family obligations, bad and good family members, choices that have consequences, and abuse. But with the hard things, good is sprinkled in there too; magic, finding oneself, reconnecting with family, and finding true love.

Main Characters:

The MC in this book is Elisabeth, at first I had a hard time connecting with her but once the story progressed and I learned more about her and her family, I started to really like her and sympathize with the character. She’s easily likable with her sarcastic and witty inner monologue, that is until she finally gains the courage to say it outloud. She’s strong, resilient, quirky, and  quick to come up with solutions which is why I liked her so much. There are some things I didn’t like about her, example: She complained about not having a choice and retaliates against her family, being unreasonably rude to her sister, who also doesn’t have a choice in things as well. 

There is a chapter or two where the POV’s are in Magda’s perspective and I really enjoyed those because you got to see her perspective on what’s going on and how she feels about what she’s done. 

Overall, I really enjoyed this coming of age book about magic, witches, and family obligations. I highly recommend this book, especially since it has some fall vibes so it’s a perfect read right now.