“#MeToo with a magical twist.” – Kirkus Reviews
How To Succeed in Witchcraft is a young adult with fantasy elements that are used to soften the blow of the heavy subjects in the book. Magic is given an explanation for how terrible things could happen in a society supposedly above sexually and racially motivated crimes without denying the horrible things people do. This book is beautifully written and faces the hard truths of the world accurately without shying away from them. Shay and Ana are fleshed out, believable characters. Sometimes when authors put characters in hard situations, they fall apart because the character isn’t strong enough do what the author intends. This isn’t the case in this book. Even the side characters make decisions that feel like something a real person would do.
Shay Johnson is junior at T.K. Anderson Magical Magnet School, she’s one of the top contenders to winning the full-ride Brockton Scholarship. This scholarship is the only way for Shay to get into a magical licensing school, which is the only way for her to make enough money to support her family. Her main competition is Ana Alvarez who has won every aspect of their academic competitions. The only was to victory is impressing Mr. B (short for Brockton), the shady drama teacher who is head of the scholarship committee. Mr. B persuades Shay to star in this year’s aggressively inclusive, racially diverse musical. Shay agrees even though she’ll have to put up with Ana playing the other lead. But with rehearsals underway, Shay realizes Ana is not the despicable one and Shay could use someone in her corner once she finds herself on the receiving end of Mr. B’s unpleasant and unwanted attention.
This book has a predictable storyline. It’s obvious from the beginning what is going to happen, but the characters are compelling enough that they make How To Succeed in Witchcraft a fun ride regardless of whether you figure out the plot. It’s also just a good dissuasion of the society we live in. Things like sexual assault and racism are hard to talk about and How To Succeed in Witchcraft does a good job of telling a beautiful story that demonstrates healthy relationships and contrasts them to the unhealthy ones. This book is about standing up for what is right no matter how hard that will be, because that is what our world needs in order to bring about any real change. Broph mentions that as a society we like to sweep our problems under the rug. How To Succeed in Witchcraft is about why that will never work in the long run. How To Succeed in Witchcraft similar to Aiden Thomas and Sabrina the Teen Witch.