Review: Hagwitch by Marie-Louise Fitzpatrick

Book: Hagwitch
Author: Marie- Louise Fitzpatrick
Pages: 263
Publisher: Orion Children's Books
Release Date: 21st March 2013
Received book for honest review from Orion Children's Books
4/5* review


Hagwitch is set in the 16th Century London and modern day London, written from the perspective of Lally McBride, a thirteen-year-old girl who lives with her dad and friends on a travelling puppet theatre barge in 2010 and Flea Nettleworth, apprentice to a playwright in 1596. The story revolves around a mysterious Hawthorne truck that Lally finds in the Canal in 2010 and the same trunk that is brought into the house were Flea is an apprentice in 1596. Cutting down a Hawthorne tree and bringing it into a house is supposed to be bad luck and is linked to fairies and witches. In both centuries, the Hawthorn trunk starts causing darkness and strangeness in people connected to it.

I really enjoyed Hagwitch. First of the cover is beautiful, I absolutely love the cover! The colours are beautiful and I would pick it up if I saw it on a bookshelf. Secondly, the story captivated me. It has a great setting of a travelling puppet theatre on a barge switching back forth between it and 16th century London, in the world of theatre, where Shakespeare was putting on plays and men took on the roles of men and woman in plays. It had myth and magic, of tales of witches and fairies. It also had interesting characters in both centuries.

Hagwitchis a tale of myth, magic and darkness but underneath it all the female protagonist Lally is a young girl, growing up and discovering who she is, seeing her relationships with people change and staring to like boys like any young girl, it is a tale of growing up and changing mixed with an intriguing and fascinating tale of myth and has a creepy darkness underlying it.

Hagwitch is a great read, I recommend it to anyone who loves a good read of myth and magic, and a story that also gives you chills J 

Note- I found it hard to pinpoint an age group for this book. I would say 10-15 years but I enjoyed the book and am 24 years old :)