We Three Witches – at a glance
The School Reading Lists’ five word review: Dark, twisted, wickedly entertaining magic.
YA book title: We Three Witches.
YA author: Rosie Talbot.
Genre: Thriller, Fantasy, Horror.
Published by: Scholastic.
ISBN: 9780702333415.
Recommended for children aged: 14+ year-olds.
First published: October 2025.
This YA book is ideal for: readers who enjoy dark fantasy, strong female protagonists, LGBTQ+ issues, supernatural/magical fiction and Gothic or atmospheric tales.
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Our review:
Viola Samphire once belonged to a coven of four powerful witches based in York, a haunted city of secrets, during the interwar period. Now only three witches remain. A suspicious fire in an artist’s studio claims Edie’s life, and Viola refuses to accept it was an accident. As she investigates with the help of her fellow witches, Bea and Merle, and guided by the bones she casts to divine the future, Viola pursues the truth behind Edie’s murder. But when her treasured bones are stolen and the ghosts of dead children begin appearing to her, Viola realises something much darker than she feared lies beneath.
A theft, a killer, and a hidden network of spirits all point to corruption that runs deeper than she imagined. The stolen bones were no random crime, and someone knows what Viola can do with them. The children’s deaths form a pattern too terrible to be coincidence, and beneath York’s cobbled streets the spirit world writhes with unrest, full of souls who died before their time. Every ghost carries a piece of the puzzle.
Everything appears to be connected – the fire that killed Edie, the missing bones, the murdered children, and the dead who are desperate to tell her why. But someone among the living will do anything to keep their secrets buried.
Our verdict:
We Three Witches is a spellbinding supernatural mystery that interlaces grief, ghosts, and forbidden magic into a remarkable tale. This haunting story of witches and murdered spirits is full of gothic apprehension and authentic heartbreak. Viola’s quest for justice, aided by her coven sisters and the ghost of the woman she loved, exposes the corruption in both the living and spirit worlds. Dark, romantic, and utterly compelling.
We Three Witches is ideal for readers who have enjoyed the Belladonna series by Adalyn Grace, The Crimson Moth by Kristen Ciccarelli, and V. E. Schwab’s novels.
Many thanks to Scholastic for the review copy.
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