Playing the Witch Card

August 1, 2023
Three generations of witches summon their powers from tarot cards or, in some cases, cookies. With just five days to go before Halloween, Flair Hardwicke couldn't feel less enthusiastic about the holiday spirit oozing out of every inhabitant of Rattleboro, Kansas. If anything, Flair is counting the days until Nov. 1, the "least-witchy day of the year" and the day when her magical heritage would remain blissfully hidden. Like her mother and grandmother before her, Flair has the ability to perform magic by reading a particular deck of tarot cards. Hand-painted by a Hardwicke ancestor and "fused with all the magic of generations of witches," these cards answer only to Flair. She hasn't seen the deck in almost 30 years, not since she stole them and hid them from her tarot-obsessed mother and gave up magic for good. But since her grandmother Marie's recent passing, Flair and her 13-year-old daughter, Lucie, have returned to Rattleboro in hopes of a new beginning, one without her cheating ex, David. Lucie would rather be anywhere than her mother's hometown, but to Flair, Rattleboro looks just the way she left it, although she can't help but notice a strange undercurrent running through town. One night, she unconsciously bakes a batch of Hardwicke tarot card cookies, and Rattleboro's Halloween festival director Renee Oakes can't seem to stop giving her threatening stares. Renee's mother, Loretta, might even know the Hardwicke family secret, though her son (and Flair's high school fling), Jude, appears none the wiser. Just when these spooky happenings begin to feel more sinister, Flair's mother, Cynthia, turns up with a bewitched David in tow...and the stash of hidden cards. Dell'Antonia's third novel is full of mysterious and eerie plot twists, and most chapters end with a low-stakes cliffhanger. However, Flair's unwillingness to listen to anyone creates too many frustrating moments of miscommunication and situations that could have been avoided, and Renee's constant irritation with her might echo the reader's own sentiments. A complex tale about motherhood and witchcraft with an exasperating protagonist.

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September 8, 2023
Instead of embracing her magic, teenager Flair Hardwicke left the small town of Rattleboro. Returning as an adult after her grandmother's death and a failed marriage, Flair just wants to raise her daughter, make a success of her newly opened bakery, and forget all about being a witch. Unfortunately, Rattleboro is not the place to do so. Local leader Loretta Oakes drags her into the annual Rattlebones Trail, a spooky "haunted" trail that serves as a fundraiser for the town. As Halloween gets closer, Flair finds it harder to resist the magic in the town and in herself. She also finds it hard to resist Jude, her high-school sweetheart. When her mother (with whom she has a strained relationship) reappears with Flair's bewitched ex, David, in the trunk of the car, Flair must undo the spell she accidentally cast on David, all the while hiding him from their daughter. What could have been a charming book of magic and mother-daughter relationships is hampered by issues of agency and choice that the author never fully addresses. Dell'Antonia's previous two books (including her debut, The Chicken Sisters, 2020) have been popular though, and this one, with many elements of her previous novels, will be asked for by readers.

COPYRIGHT(2023) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.