Seawitch (Hedgewitch #3) by Skye McKenna

Title: Seawitch (Hedgewitch #3)

Author: Skye McKenna

Genre: Fantasy

Publisher: Hachette Australia/Welbeck

Published: 26^th September 2024

Format: Hardcover

Pages: 448

Price: $22.99

Synopsis: Step into the magical world of Hedgewitch, where the land of Faerie lies just beyond our own . . . The third book in the enchanting Hedgewitch series, perfect for children age 9+ and readers of Nevermoor and Michelle Harrison.

Cassie Morgan needs to earn her Sapling pin to get one step closer to passing her Witch’s Licence. To do this, she’s set a challenge of training a beginner witch by the Hedgewitch – but the newest member of her coven is not what she expected. Meanwhile, the wicked Erl King is luring witches up and down the country to his side, with promises of unimaginable power. Those who stand against him are running a deadly risk.

When a letter arrives from Cassie’s cousin Sebastian, desperate for help to solve an intriguing mystery, she travels to his home of Porthmorven with her friends, both new and old, to help work out what’s going on.

But Porthmorven is no ordinary place, it’s a Faerie border town, like Hedgely, and it has its own protector: the elusive Seawitch. But she is nowhere to be found, and Cassie is determined to help the people of Porthmorven however she can.

Can Cassie use all of her training – along with help from her friends – to solve the secrets of the sea and foil the Erl King’s plans once and for all?

Witches aren’t born, they’re made …

~*~

It’s summer in Hedgely, which means Cassie, Tabitha and Rue had several weeks off school and coven. They’ve been invited to visit Cassie’s cousin Sebastian in Porthmorven. Strange things are happening. Goblins are lurking, things are disappearing, and Cassie wants to earn her Sapling badge. So, a new boy-witch, Robin, is off to Porthmorven with them so Cassie can start training him. But what’s his rush? And why does a boy want to become a witch?

Cassie needs to balance this with her continuing quest against the Erl King, who is targeting the border town of Porthmorven and so many witches. The local coven is also in flux as their new friend Mahreen tells them. The Seawitch has been in mourning since her granddaughter died and has gone into hiding. Cassie’s still only a young witch, so she’ll need all her training and friends to get through this. Except Aunt Miranda isn’t here to help if things get too dicey this time…

Seawitch is the third book in the Hedgewitch series. Cassie is fourteen now, and finding her place in the world of Hedgely. There are still so many unanswered questions about her mother and the constant threat of the Erl King who seeks magical items. And now, a boy wants to become a witch, which shocks everyone. Only girls and women are witches in this world. It’s a well-known fact. And yet, Aunt Miranda wants Cassie to help Robin. He’s determined to get everything done as soon as he wants it throughout the novel, making the quest for Cassie and her friends a bit trickier. He wants to help, he thinks he can help, and he might know some things, but there are things that only Cassie, Rue, Tabitha and Mahreen can do because of their training.

The initial comments about witchcraft only being for girls and women and that boys just aren’t interested or, as Rue suggests, too emotional after Robin goes off in a strop because the girls suggest he’s not ready for something that they need to do urgently that they can’t use as a lesson for him. It’s little things like these that feel a bit tongue-in-cheek. Because it inverts the women are too emotional for things and spins it around on men or boys. It’s clever, because it’s used to show that anyone regardless of who they are can be a witch. And that even when the person who wants to become a witch isn’t what we expected, they can always surprise us. It’s a great way to showcase that the things we can’t control – how we are born, who our family is don’t define us. And I feel like it does this well, ensuring that they key message throughout is about unity and inclusivity.

We also get to delve further into Cassie’s past and the story of her mother, Rose, which has been present since the beginning. Now, Cassie is starting to get answers. But they may not be the ones she wants, and may make people see her in a different light. Especially Ivy, who is always waiting for Cassie to do something wrong, and has high expectations and no sense of decency when Cassie and Oak Patrol help her. Seawitch deepens the friendships between the main characters and grows their coven patrol and their skills. It’s a great female-led series that focuses on friendship throughout, where loyalty is at the heart of everything Cassie and her friends do. The layers are constantly evolving in this series, ensuring the ongoing mystery unfolds at a good pace. It’s not too fast, and not too slow, but there’s a sense of not wanting to stop. Wanting to know what is happening and how things are going to wrap up. I’ve been reading this series since it first came out, and have just read book three as I await book four, Stonewitch.

Friendship and loyalty are key themes. Rue and Tabitha are loyal to Cassie. They stand up for her against Ivy, and everything that Ivy throws at them to try and make herself look better. To try and bolster her own reputation. She’s a fun villain though, and I do wonder if there is more to her story than what we know so far, and if some of the things we have been told are red herrings. Only time will tell.

Throughout the series, the tagline has been witches aren’t born, they’re made, and it is very accurate for this book, as we see just how someone like Robin becomes a witch. The border towns are important in these books, as Faerie looms and hovers on the edges of everything that happens. Especially as it looks like things are starting to wrap up, as we get answers to everything and come to understand why things happened as they did. Why Cassie lived her life without anyone for so long. It’s been a wonderful journey, and everything that has been mentioned from book one onwards is starting to come back and make sense. It’s a great story that takes us away from the modern world, and into a place where magic thrives. I am looking forward to seeing what happens next in Stonewitch, and how everything will eventually come together when the series ends.