The witches at the end of the world

Having fled the village as small children after their mother was burned at the stake for being a witch, sisters Kaija and Minna live in the birchwoods with their grandmother Mormor. The girls grow up learning the spells and runes from Mormor as they, too, have inherited their mother's witching powers. Kaiji has gravitated to small healing spells while Minna yearns to unleash the dark and powerful witch inside her. After Mormor's death, Kaiji, now 23, longs for the normalcy of the Norwegian village. Despite Minna's pleading, Kaiji leaves their settlement in the woods and heads home. Minna, angry and hurt, casts a curse on the village. Upon arrival, Kaiji is happy but wary. When Minna's curse leads to famine, disease, and death, though, the villagers once again look for a witch to burn. Kaiji and Minna must face the choices they have made and heal their rift if they are to survive. Iversen's debut is a perfect fall read, full of dark, foreboding curses and a Norwegian winter. This tale of two sisters and the bond of magic between them is recommended for all fiction collections.

DEBUT Thirteen years ago, Kaija and Minna watched their mother burn to death in their coastal Norwegian village, for practicing witchcraft. They spent the next decade hiding with their grandmother deep in the birchwood forest and learning more about the magic flowing through their veins. The sisters grow up to be young women, and Kaija announces her plan to return to their family's village. Minna, in a fit of rage, curses the village and starts a harmful cascade of unintended consequences. The sisters serve as predictable foils to each other: Minna, impetuous and volatile, would rather die than give up her witching, and Kaija, eager for acceptance, suppresses her magic in order to fit in with the villagers. There is a gratifying symmetry to their relationship throughout the book that supports their otherwise unsatisfying character development as they each deal with the consequences of Minna's curse. VERDICT Iversen's debut may appeal to fans of The Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow and For the Wolf by Hannah Whitten, but unfortunately, this take on the village witch hunt doesn't have the same depth of character or engaging conflicts.--Maria Martin