The Promise Witch (The Wild Magic Trilogy, Book Three)

A thrilling and tense story from start to finish, the return to Witches Borough and to Mup and Crow is an epic, heart-in-the-mouth finale to the tale of the raggedy witches. The dark power they unleash again battles with the strength and purity of Mup's own magic.

In The Promise Witch, family is fractured as the old, feared Queen (Mup's grandmother) and frenzied witch Magda (Crow's mother) return to threaten the future of a tentatively uniting land. A burning, furiously paced drama is unleashed in this fantastically imaginative world. Mup and Crow themselves continue to grow in strength of character; their determination, steely will and fierce loyalty shines out against the ashes that try to pervade their community.

This finale is a story of courage and hope, threaded through with the belief that differences and fears of each other can be resolved. Ghostly Dr Emberly has some of the wisest, most moving speeches of the book: "You are precious. Your neighbours are precious. Your world is precious. That is the only truth. Let us live up to that". I love how the gentleness and empathy of his character and many others perfectly combats and seeks to be stronger than the shrieking, crazed outpourings of Magda and the insidious plotting of the old queen.

The Promise Witch is a magical, meaningful triumph of a book.

See The Wild Magic Trilogy, Book 1 and The Wild Magic Trilogy, Book 2

224 pages / Ages 8+ / Reviewed by Jenny Caddick, teacher

Suggested Reading Age 9+