Witchcraft Tree House 33 The Witchcraft Tree House 33 is a magical and enchanting sight that captivates the imagination of those who stumble upon it. Tucked away in a dense forest, this tree house stands tall and proud, emanating an aura of mystique and wonder. It is said to possess ancient and powerful witchcraft, making it a haven for those seeking wisdom and supernatural abilities. The tree house itself is a masterpiece of craftsmanship, with intricate carvings adorning its wooden walls and branches wrapping around it like protective arms. The architecture is a blend of organic and supernatural elements, with roots intertwining with the structure and branches curling into mystical symbols. Within the Witchcraft Tree House 33, one can find a treasure trove of ancient texts, spell books, and artifacts.
Much more interesting is this idea of one’s own creation being the very thing that causes you this kind of pain. She is Frankenstein to her monster, Allemas. She brilliantly merges a Greek tragedy with that of original sin. Here we have Maere overstepping her mandate to create worlds by wanting to be God through mimicking God’s ability to create a soul. This takes on the biblical idea of being image bearers of God where we’re called to glorify him through our reflected capabilities but twists that by desiring to be God himself. It is so well done here when she tried to push beyond that boundary as she creates this warped creature. I love the grace that’s given to her, there are consequences to the action but that ultimately, she is allowed to, at least temporarily, take on a mortal mantle and procreate in a more mundane manner with a hint of then moving back into the celestial row.
This is a whole new series unrelated to The Paper Magician series whose protagonist is a full woman it turns out that shes centuries old , not a teen. Maire then becomes obsessed with trying to figure out who she is, but soon after this encounter, we have another plot twist marauders attack Maire s village and she is sold into slavery.
Within the Witchcraft Tree House 33, one can find a treasure trove of ancient texts, spell books, and artifacts. These pieces hold the key to unlocking the secrets of witchcraft and tapping into unimaginable powers. The shelves are lined with jars containing rare herbs, enchanted crystals, and curious potions, creating an atmosphere of curiosity and excitement.
Book Review – Magic Bitter, Magic Sweet
FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. All opinions are my own.
Goodreads Synopsis:
Maire is a baker with an extraordinary gift: she can infuse her treats with emotions and abilities, which are then passed on to those who eat them. She doesn’t know why she can do this and remembers nothing of who she is or where she came from.
When marauders raid her town, Maire is captured and sold to the eccentric Allemas, who enslaves her and demands that she produce sinister confections, including a witch’s gingerbread cottage, a living cookie boy, and size-altering cakes.
During her captivity, Maire is visited by Fyel, a ghostly being who is reluctant to reveal his connection to her. The more often they meet, the more her memories return, and she begins to piece together who and what she really is—as well as past mistakes that yield cosmic consequences.
From the author of The Paper Magician series comes a haunting and otherworldly tale of folly and consequence, forgiveness and redemption.
My Review:
Charlie N. Holmberg’s Magic Bitter, Magic Sweet was a much darker story than I was expecting. I think maybe that pretty cover fooled me into thinking I was heading into a light, fluffy, and whimsical read. While I did find the read to be whimsical, instead of the light and fluffy, however, I found myself immersed in a tale full of weighty themes and relevant life lessons, the dominant one being that you have to take responsibility for choices that you make because actions have consequences.
Maire is a young woman who learns this lesson the hard way. When the story opens, Holmberg grabs the reader’s attention immediately as she begins to describe Maire. Maire is working as a baker and, curiously enough, has the ability to infuse her baked goods with qualities such as hope, strength, generosity, love – basically whatever qualities she chooses. Those qualities are then passed on to those who eat the baked goods. What makes Maire even more interesting is that she has lost her memory – she has no idea who she is, where she came from, and no memories at all prior to the moment that a woman named Arrice found her in the forest a few years earlier and brought her to her own home to live. Although Maire is somewhat curious about who she is and where she came from, overall she is content with the life she is living and so doesn’t dwell on her true identity too much. Right away I found Maire to be an endearing protagonist, both because of her magic, which she seems to use only to help people, and because the memory loss gives her a human and vulnerable quality. I found myself immediately in her corner, cheering her on, as the real action of the story began.
Holmberg then begins to deftly weave in a few plot twists, the first of which being Fyel. Maire is outside one day when she encounters Fyel, a translucent man all dressed in white, who also has wings of some sort. He tells Maire that he is not from this world, but that he knows who she is and that she must try to remember as well. Many of his remarks are cryptic and he refuses to tell her much more because he says she won’t believe his far-fetched tale and that if she denies the truth, she will be lost to his world forever. He says she must piece the story together herself so that she will believe it.
Maire then becomes obsessed with trying to figure out who she is, but soon after this encounter, we have another plot twist – marauders attack Maire’s village and she is sold into slavery. Strangely enough, her new master Allemas seems to already know who she is and even acts as though he has been searching for her, even though Maire is pretty sure they’ve never met.
The story takes a dark turn at this point because Allemas is a cruel and unpredictable master and Maire does not fare well working for him, especially once he realizes that Fyel has also found Maire. By this point, Maire is desperately trying to figure out who she is, what her connection to Allemas is, and especially what her connection to Fyel is. The second half of the book primarily follows Maire on her journey as she discovers her true identity, how she ended up where she is, and most importantly, as she realized that what happened to her was a direct consequence of choices she made in her other life. Maire’s journey is particularly fascinating in the sense that with each new memory she has about her past, her body undergoes a change as she slowly starts to transform back into what she was before she lost her memory and ended up here.
I did notice a few plot holes here and there as I was reading — things that happen that seem a little too coincidental or even the fact that Maire doesn’t seem to think it’s at all strange that she has this unusual magical baking ability, but I still thought overall this was a great read. While, like the magical baking itself, I’m not sure they really added much to the plot of Magic Bitter, Magic Sweet, I thought Holmberg’s whimsical touches, such as weaving various fairy tales such as Alice in Wonderland, Hansel and Gretel, and The Gingerbread Man into her story, made the story an immensely fun read. What I really liked though were the darker threads that ran through it. Offsetting those whimsical fairy tales as Maire discovers her true identity, is a dark tale that is reminiscent of both Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and the Book of Genesis in the Bible. I loved the added weight those elements gave to the overall story.
For me, the main weakness of the story was the ending. I felt like there was this huge build up to the reveal of Maire’s identity and then a rush to wrap things up, with years tacked on in an epilogue. I would have liked a little more explanation as to what specifically happened from Maire’s return home to what we see in the epilogue. That part just felt too abrupt for me. Other than that though, I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Magic Bitter, Magic Sweet is a book I would recommend to anyone who enjoys fantasy. I probably wouldn’t recommend it to children, because even though it has those fun shout outs to familiar fairy tales, I think the darker parts of the story, particularly some things that happen to Maire along the way, would make it too violent and frightening for younger readers.
Thanks so much to Netgalley, 47North, and to Charlie N. Holmberg for allowing me the opportunity to preview this book.
Rating: 3.5 stars
About Charlie N. Holmberg
Charlie Nicholes Holmberg was born in Salt Lake City, Utah to two parents who sacrificed a great deal to give their very lazy daughter a good education. As a result, Charlie learned to hate uniforms, memorized all English prepositions in alphabetical order, and mastered the art of Reed-Kellogg diagramming a sentence at age seven. She entered several writing contests in her elementary years and never placed.
Being a nerd, Charlie started writing fan-fiction as a teenager in between episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation. She became a full-fledged band geek with mediocre talent in high school, where she met her husband. While she strove to win his attention by baking him cookies and throwing ramen noodles at his house, he didn’t actually ask her out until six years later.
Charlie began taking writing seriously during her undergrad at Brigham Young University, where she majored in English and minored in editing. She finally won a few writing contests. She graduated with her BA in 2010 and got hitched three months later. Shortly afterwards, her darling husband dragged her to Moscow, Idaho, where he subsequently impregnated her.
In summer 2013, after collecting many rejection letters and making a quilt out of them, Charlie sold her ninth novel, The Paper Magician, and its sequel to 47North with the help of her wonderful agent, Marlene Stringer. She currently lives with her family in Utah. Someday she will own a dog.
(Did she mention her third book, The Master Magician, totally made the WSJ bestseller list? Because it totally made the WSJ bestseller list.)
Imagine taking a Greek tragedy (and the related pantheon of gods), merge into it the story of the Fall and Original Sin and twirl in a mixture of fairy tales; never mind being able to “bake in inspiration”. That’s Magic Bitter, Magic Sweet. It’s one thing to have a brilliant premise, it’s another to execute that well. Ms. Holmberg delivers in spades. She takes us along Maire’s painful journey of discovery of her own story. It’s a challenging world into which she has fallen, much like medieval Europe, full of might-makes-right and enslavement, as well as love, hope, and friendship. Maire’s “owner” is clearly not quite right. Not only is he devoid of a moral compass, he’s even devoid of common sense. So, he looks to the world around him to give him some clue of how to be in it. Given that sends him mixed messages, he’s not quite sure what that to do. As abusive and disgusting as he can be, he’s also an intriguing character of conflicting and foreign makeup. He is not only not normal, but he is “other”. He is not of this world. So even while you despise him, there is some empathy towards his plight. It’s a little like despising a snake that bites you. He cannot be other than he is. He cannot reflect and grow into something more even as he does learn to “fake it” better. He is limited by his very nature in an even more profound way than humans are.
The main room serves as a gathering place for witches and wizards from all walks of life. Here, they can share their knowledge, exchange spells, and seek guidance from one another. The walls are adorned with tapestries depicting magical ceremonies and the history of witchcraft, reminding visitors of the rich and diverse heritage of this ancient practice. As one ascends to the higher levels of the tree house, more specialized rooms are revealed. These include a potions lab, where aspiring alchemists can experiment and brew their own concoctions, and a divination chamber, where witches can seek guidance from the universe through tarot cards and crystal balls. Each room is carefully curated to provide a unique experience and cater to specific interests within the realm of witchcraft. The Witchcraft Tree House 33 not only serves as a sanctuary for practitioners of witchcraft but also as a symbol of the enduring power and beauty of the supernatural world. It offers a haven for individuals seeking to deepen their understanding of magic and connect with like-minded individuals. In conclusion, the Witchcraft Tree House 33 is a captivating and enchanting place that embodies the essence of witchcraft. With its unique architecture, ancient artifacts, and gathering of witches, this tree house serves as a hub for supernatural wisdom and exploration. It stands as a testament to the enduring legacy and allure of witchcraft, inspiring and captivating all who have the privilege to step foot inside..
Reviews for "Secrets of witchcraft revealed in Witchcraft tree house 33"
1. John Doe - 1/5 rating - I was extremely disappointed with "Witchcraft Tree House 33". The story was poorly developed, and the characters lacked depth. The plot seemed disconnected, and I found it difficult to stay engaged. Additionally, the writing style was choppy and hard to follow. Overall, I cannot recommend this book to anyone looking for a well-crafted and engaging story.
2. Jane Smith - 2/5 rating - I had high hopes for "Witchcraft Tree House 33", but unfortunately, it fell short of my expectations. The concept had potential, but the execution was lacking. The pacing was inconsistent, and there were long stretches of boredom between any exciting moments. The characters felt underdeveloped; I couldn't connect with them or their motivations. The plot twists were predictable and lacked originality. While the book had decent moments, it ultimately failed to deliver a satisfying reading experience.
3. Sarah Adams - 1/5 rating - "Witchcraft Tree House 33" was a complete waste of time. The story was convoluted and confusing, making it hard to follow what was happening. The writing style was amateurish, with numerous grammatical errors and a lack of proper editing. The dialogue was stilted and unrealistic, and the characters felt one-dimensional. The book's attempt at suspense and mystery fell flat, as the plot twists were easily predictable and uninteresting. I regret spending my time on this poorly written and poorly executed book.
4. Michael Johnson - 2/5 rating - I had hoped for an intriguing and captivating reading experience with "Witchcraft Tree House 33", but unfortunately, it did not live up to my expectations. While the concept was interesting, the execution lacked finesse. The pacing was sluggish, and I found myself struggling to maintain interest. The writing style felt monotonous, lacking any spark or creativity. The characters lacked depth and development, making it hard to invest in their journey. Overall, the book had potential but failed to deliver an engaging story.