The Hawkweed Prophecy

I'm really loving being in this groove of actually reading books on a regular basis. I don't know how long it's going to be before I post this, because I know I have some more timely blog posts that I'll want to put up, but for context, about a week went by between reading The Hundred Lies of Lizzie Lovett and reading The Hawkweed Prophecy, Irena Brignull's debut novel.

I should note that I read the ARC, not the official book, which came out in September.

So it's this magical switched-at-birth story, where one of the mothers, Charlock, is witch, and one, Melanie, is not. Due to a prophecy that foretold that either Charlock or her sister Raven would bear a daughter who would one day be queen, Raven switched the children at the moment of their birth, ensuring that her daughter would be queen.

The two daughters, Poppy (born a witch, raised by "chaffs," which is the coven's word for muggles) and Ember (born a "chaff," raised by witches) both grow up feeling out of place in their respective worlds. Weird things always seem to happen around Poppy, and Ember can't even muster the smallest bit of magic. This causes strain in both their families.

When Poppy and her father move north, Poppy and Ember form an unlikely friendship. But, of course, there has to be some more drama, so both girls fall for the same guy. Leo.

I quite enjoyed this book. While I felt that the romantic subplot was unnecessary and the dramatic reveal at the end predictable, I understand that this is a teen novel and that is what you get when you keep reading YA; lots of predictable plot twists (because you already know how this genre works) and unnecessary romantic subplots (because apparently that's something teens care about).

My favorite part of the book was the friendship between Poppy and Ember. I am always here for awesome girls loving and supporting each other. I feel like female friendships and sisterhood is an element missing from a lot of mainstream media. Which is probably why I like webseries so much.

It read like a movie. Very visual, and a fast read. Which shouldn't be surprising, as Brignull is an acclaimed screenwriter, according to her bio on the back of my copy. Overall, would recommend if you want a little bit of YA fantastical escapism with lots of awesome female characters.

Although, just once, I'd like to see a switched-at-birth story that supports the nurture argument of nature vs. nurture, at least partially. Gimme a "chaff" raised witch who can't do spells for shit, but can follow a potion recipe perfectly. Gimme a witch raised "chaff" who can't figure out how to control her powers, or who has trouble casting spells without lessons, because she didn't grow up watching those around her doing it.