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Book Summary and Reviews of The Book Witch by Meg Shaffer

The Book Witch by Meg Shaffer

The Book Witch

A Novel

by Meg Shaffer

  • Critics' Consensus (6):
  • Readers' Rating (2):
  • Published:
  • Apr 2026, 320 pages
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About this book

Book Summary

She can hop into any novel, she just can't stay there. Come along with the book witch in this magical and inspiring love letter to reading from the USA Today bestselling author of The Wishing Game.

Rainy March is a proud third-generation book witch, sworn to defend works of fiction from all foes real and imaginary. With her magical umbrella and feline familiar, she jumps into and out of novels to fix malicious alterations and rogue heroes like a modern-day magical Nancy Drew.

Book witches live by a strict code: Real people belong in the real world; fictional characters belong in works of fiction…. Do not eat, drink, or sleep inside a fictional world, lest you become part of the story. Falling in love with a fictional character? Don't even think about it.

Which is why Rainy has been forbidden from seeing the Duke of Chicago, the dashing British detective who stars in her favorite mystery series. If she's ever caught with him again, she'll be expelled from her book coven—and forced to give up the magical gifts that are as much a part of her as her own name.

But when her beloved grandfather disappears and a priceless book is stolen, there's only one person she trusts to help her solve the case: the Duke. Their quest takes them through the worlds of Alice in Wonderland, The Great Gatsby, and other classics that will reveal hidden enemies and long-buried family secrets.

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Reviews

Media Reviews

"Catnip for anyone who ever wished they could walk around in their favorite book." —Kirkus Reviews

"Shaffer delightfully reminds readers of the power of stories and books." —Library Journal

"Meg Shaffer continues to surprise and delight me with each book she writes." —Laurie Gilmore, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Pumpkin Spice Café

"Meg Shaffer brought my childhood dreams to life in a gem of a book that is inventive, cozy, and important all at the same time."—Samantha Sotto Yambao, author of Water Moon

This information about The Book Witch was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

Reader Reviews

Write your own reviewwrite your own review

Janine_S

Delightful read
This is a delightful novel filled with magical realism dealing with the importance of literature and the beautiful connection between readers, authors, and characters. As the beginning of the book reads:
“All stories are love stories when you love stories.”

Rainy March is a third generation Book Witch, sworn “to defend all fiction” from real or imaginary foes. With her familiar, Koshka (Russian for cat), she can journey into books to resolve plot or characters issues. One of the eight Book Witch rules is never to fall in love with a character (which Rainy does, complicating things for her).

The book is divided into seven sections, all genres: Mystery, Romance, YA, Fantasy, Nonfiction, Horror, and Thriller. The story line is then fit into these story lines - done fairly well and very clever indeed.

I liked Rainy. She’s sassy, sharp, resilient and funny. Her love, Duke, is a Chicagoland PI. Both are nicely developed. While the book kind of slows at a point, this is still a fun and sweet read. I loved the addition of Elizabeth Bennet and Nancy Drew.

I’d like to thank NetGalley and Ballantine Books for allowing me to read this ARC.

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Author Information

Meg Shaffer

Meg Shaffer is the USA Today bestselling author of The Lost Story and The Wishing Game, which was a Book of the Month finalist for Book of the Year, a Reader's Digest and Washington Post Best Book of the Year, and has been translated into twenty-one languages. Meg holds an MFA in TV and Screenwriting from Stephens College. She lives in Kentucky with her husband and two cats. The cats are not writers.

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