The Best Witch in Paris by Lauren Crozier
Luna rides a battered old broom that keeps crashing itself into the school pond. She has a witch’s hat and wand and sometimes she’s quite good at magic, but she isn’t completely sure that she’s a real witch. She doesn’t have a familiar for one thing, and she doesn’t know where she came from—only that she was found by three witches who she now calls her aunts. When she swaps her moonstone ring for an Australian boobook owl in the Lost Forest, the mysterious bird seller makes her promise to keep the bird hidden for as long as she can. This is not easy when you live with very inquisitive aunts. And it’s not easy when you find out that the fearsome Madame Valadon, the Best Witch in Paris, is missing her boobook owl and she’s sure that Luna knows something about it.
Could it be that Luna has Madame Valadon’s boobook? Why then did the mysterious bird seller give it to Luna? Why did she say the bird belonged to her? A familiar can only belong to one witch, after all. Luna has lots of questions—the biggest one of all is who she really is.
Fun and funny and full of life, The Best Witch in Paris is a delightful story of courage and self-belief, with colourful characters, fabulous magic and a puzzling mystery at its core.
Published 3 September 2024| Publisher: Text Publishing | RRP: AUD$17.99
Buy it at: Dymocks | Abbey’s | QBD
My Blurb (3.5 / 5 stars)
What a fabulous cover! Along with the description of the book made me think that this was going to be a very fun read. And it was mostly a fun read with its own merit.
However, as an older reader who lived through and took part in the Harry Potter hullabaloo, I couldn’t help but finding similarities in this book to that series. I wouldn’t have minded a few because there were so much creative fun in HP that could be and probably have been adopted into many other books but there were just too many of those. I’ve taken a star off for that.
Nevertheless, I do believe HP series is somewhat dated now and today’s younger readers may not be as familiar with the series as me. Therefore, this book could be so much fun for them. The colourful characters (they all wear black because witches but very lively personalities), engaging mystery, and empowerment of young women make this novel a very charming read.
If there is a young person you know who does not like sad little orphan boy and find those books a little bit scary, I’d highly recommend to get them to try this one. This little orphan girl always manages to pull her big girl pants up and get on with it. There is also humour and the monsters are a lot less scary.
My thanks to Text Publishing gifting me a copy of this book in exchange of my honest thoughts
About the authors
Lauren Crozier won the 2023 Text Prize for her debut novel The Best Witch in Paris. She lives in Sydney with her partner and their two children.
Find author on: goodreads
Rin Chupeco is a nonbinary Chinese Filipino writer born and raised in the Philippines. They are the author of Silver Under Nightfall and several speculative young adult series, including The Bone Witch, The Girl from the Well, The Never-Tilting World, and Wicked as You Wish. Formerly a graphic designer and technical writer, they now write fiction full-time and live with their partner and two children in Manila.
Freya Marske lives in Australia, where she is yet to be killed by any form of wildlife. She writes stories full of magic, blood, and as much kissing as she can get away with, and she co-hosts the Hugo Award nominated podcast Be the Serpent. Her hobbies include figure skating and discovering new art galleries, and she is on a quest to try all the gin in the world.
When Maria V. Snyder was younger, she aspired to be a storm chaser in the American Midwest so she attended Pennsylvania State University and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Meteorology. Much to her chagrin, forecasting the weather wasn’t in her skill set so she spent a number of years as an environmental meteorologist, which is not exciting…at all. Bored at work and needing a creative outlet, she started writing fantasy and science fiction stories. Over twenty novels and numerous short stories later, Maria’s learned a thing or three about writing. She’s been on the New York Times bestseller list, won a dozen awards, and has earned her Masters of Arts degree in Writing from Seton Hill University, where she is now a faculty member. Her favorite color is red. She loves dogs, but is allergic, instead she has a big black tom cat named…Kitty (apparently naming cats isn’t in her skill set either). Maria also has a husband and two children who are an inspiration for her writing when they aren’t being a distraction. Note that she mentions her cat before her family. When she’s not writing she’s either playing volleyball, traveling, or taking pictures. Being a writer, though, is a ton of fun. Where else can you take fencing lessons, learn how to ride a horse, study martial arts, learn how to pick a lock, take glass blowing classes and attend Astronomy Camp and call it research? Maria will be the first one to tell you it’s not working as a meteorologist.Readers are welcome to check out her website for book excerpts, free short stories, maps, blog, and her schedule at MariaVSnyder.com.You can also follow Maria on Facebook and Goodreads.
E.J. Mellow is an award-winning, bestselling author of five novels. She grew up in a household of artists, surrounded by three sisters who were often found traipsing through the small grove of trees near their home. There they morphed into wolves and wild horses, escaping capture from many foe. Today, E.J. has taken her imagination to the page where readers have said her “lyrical, vibrant, and imaginative” writing sweeps them into “stunning worlds”. She is also the co-founder of She Is Booked, a literary themed fundraising organization that supports women’s charities.
M.A. Kuzniar spent six years living in Spain, teaching English and travelling the world which inspired her children’s series The Ship of Shadows. Her adult debut novel Midnight in Everwood was inspired by her love of ballet and love of The Nuctracker. She lives in Nottingham with her husband, where she reads and writes as much as can.
Kylie Lee Baker grew up in Boston and has since lived in Atlanta, Salamanca, and Seoul. Her writing is informed by her heritage (Japanese, Chinese, and Irish), as well as her experiences living abroad as both a student and teacher. She has a B.A. in Creative Writing and Spanish from Emory University and is currently pursuing a Master of Library and Information Science degree at Simmons University. In her free time, she watches horror movies, plays the cello, and bakes too many cookies. The Keeper of Night is her debut novel.
Tien's Blurb 