HOBBIES OVER COFFEE

A witching society living among us around the world. People living with magic in them, unknowingly, who can snap at any moment. Los Angeles being the ground where a war, between witches who are born into this world and those who aren’t, occurs. Enemies to lovers. Friends who are always there for you.

Witch Season takes you on a magic ride of witch politics and betrayal.

Title : Witch Season
Author : Julia Bianco
Genre: Fiction| Fantasy| contemporary |
Pages: 320
Own/Borrowed/ARC:  eARC
Publication Date: June 30, 2026

That is the price of magic–not just the blood, but the pain to bring it out.

Katherine Barnes is an enforcer, charged with upholding the rules of the notorious Los Angeles-based Aestas coven. It’s her job to maintain order and bring unsettled witches–people who aren’t aware they have magic until it explodes out of them in a catastrophic burst–into the coven’s fold. As a former unsettled witch, Katherine owes her life to Sylvia Page, coven leader and silver-haired rebel who founded Aestas years ago.

When Silas Khatri, heir to Noctis, the most powerful coven in the world, arrives to take Aestas to task for some of their more unconventional practices, Katherine’s dislike for him reaches blistering levels. She hates his money, his good looks, his coven’s dangerous attitude towards unsettled witches. She can absolutely overlook that he sets her off in more ways than one.

But a powerful threat is about to rise. Stronger than any one coven. More insidious than the decades-long power struggle that exists in the hidden witch world. One that will pull Katherine and Silas together despite their differences. And one that will lead to an all-out war.

Trigger warning (this is in no way a full list of triggers just the ones I can remember) : self harm (cutting), death, sexual scenes, blood, panic attacks, drug abuse 

We follow the story of Katherine, a witch who is an enforcer ( known as an Executrix ) for a coven of witches in Los Angeles named Aestas. As an enforcer for her coven, she maintains order and helps bring in unsettled witches – those from unmagical families who aren’t aware about their magic until it explodes from them in a disastrous manner – to their safe camp to learn how to manage their magic. A job that Katherine takes to heart as a former unsettled witch herself. The lead of Aestas is Sylvia, the very witch who found and helped Katherine out when her magic exploded out of  her and left her with nowhere to go. 

Slyvia is a former unsettled witch as well, who after facing hate and opposition from Noctis, the coven that rules all other covens, she worked her way up and uses her coven as a safe haven for all unsettled witches. Something Noctis despises as they think unsettled witches to be less then and a liability. Though her once best friend (and current head of Noctis) son, Silas Kharti, makes rounds on covens to make sure everything is up to par, secrets come to light and Aesta’s existence is threatened. 

Silas is the son of the very rich, and head of Noctis, Khatri family. The bad blood between Slyvia and his parents run deep and she’s on her own personal path of trying to prove them wrong, and perhaps dethrone them as the heads of the witching world. Silas is caught in a power battle between his parents, what they want for him and what he wants. He has become complacent in just doing what they tell him to. This trip to Aestas plotted on his parents behalf to find anything to take Aestas from Sylvia and continue to push out unsettled witches.  

Their worlds all come together explosively as they have to deal with the aftermath of a young unsettled witch, Lily, powers going off in a mall and causing mass casualties. Katherine and Silas have to work together to untangle the web of politics and power struggle in their world while also acknowledging the attraction and pull they have to one another. When we begin the story Katherine was on the trail of a witch in her coven who was creating and selling an illegal drug, Altrum – powered magic – which is being sold to ordinaries to get them high but could lead to deadly consequences when taken by witches. The leading theory being that someone gave Altrum to Lily, who already had unsettled magic, which led to deadly consequences. 

The story is told in multiple POV’s which helps you unravel everything and can get frustrating when the main character doesn’t see what we see. The difference in perspective also works well in seeing this event from every angle but it makes it hard when the main “villian” is working against the “villians”. This is a story where there is no person who is “right”, everything is morally complex and I liked that. Slyvia had started on a path that was filled with good intentions ( but we all know what they say about that ) and she sees every single decision that she makes – even taking life from ordinaries ( non magical people ) in exchange for small spells – as  a just decision for the good of her coven. This, by the way, is not a spoiler, it happens in the first couple of chapters just so you know. 

What I didn’t enjoy was the magic system that was in place. “That is the price of magic – not just the blood, but the pain to bring it out.” In order to perform magic, a blood magic system was created. In order for witches to use their powers they need to cut themselves, which just didn’t sit right for me. I can’t explain why truly it just didn’t feel right to me, especially when we’re told that unsettled witches, Sylvia included, was able to control her powerful magic before becoming “settled” and having to learn the system of having to cut themselves to use it, what was the point of it? Maybe it’s the unsanitary part of it that irks me as someone who works in the medical field. Are there no blood borne transmitted diseases in the witching community?? 

The romance also fell flat to me. I could see the whole opposites attract but their moments (the sex scenes, there’s two of them) felt out of place. They don’t communicate at all except to tell each other their weaknesses and that feels weird when we’re told for chapters just how guarded Katherine is, even avoiding asking her best friend for help. And what a playboy Silas is, having slept his way through all the covens he was checking in with along the way to Aestas. It just felt off to me. 

I know that a lot of other readers disliked Katherine’s character, which I understand. There are plenty of times I wanted to shake her myself and tell her to stop the self loathing but lets be honest. She’s haunted by her past, tasked with keeping things in line, dealing with the deal of an unsettled witch that she had felt responsible for and was seeing the world and home that she was accepted to and loves being threatened. I’d probably be just as a mess as she is. She’s human and a survivor trying to make a decision that is “right” not some hero and I liked that. 

The world building was good. The magic system makes me scrunch my nose up each time it’s used. I enjoyed the journey I was taken on and would like to see what’s next for the characters given the way this book left us. Given the cutting oneself to use said magic, I don’t know if I will be picking it up right away.

Thank you again to Netgalley, Julia Bianco and St. Martins Press for a copy in exchange for an honest review.

Let’s keep the conversation going below! Do you think you’ll be picking this book up? Have another novel that sounds like this and you recommend I pick up?