The House Witch book review

A cozy fantasy with a loose plot wrapped around a series of shorter adventures and a slow burn romance.
The House Witch has a very specific style it’s going for, cozy, but it doesn’t quite hit the mark, and I can’t quite pinpoint why. There are many scenes and moments where it does, and the feeling of the warmth and safety of Finaly’s kitchen comes across wonderfully. There are amusing scenes and stories and the character work is decent if a little simplistic outside of Finaly. It may simply be that the core engine of the narratives coziness/safety vibes (Finlay) is also one of the characters most in need of them with a rather grim backstory. Or it may be the canvas is too large, with too many characters with too many stories (this specifically is not a flaw in the book but more of a theory as to why it doesn’t fully land the coziness vibes I was looking for upon pick up) resulting in a narrative that’s somewhat sprawling.
Aside from that, I have few complaints with the book: the prose is decent, the comedy is consistent and fairly amusing, the characters are distinctive and colorful, the plot moves quickly and integrates several serious/grimmer story elements in the narrative effectively (some, like the miscarriage narrative, with strong emotional rewards for me as the reader.) I found almost all of the narratives preaching modern morality rather tedious and bit shoehorned. Finaly as the primary protagonist is a good mix of prickly and caring, allowing for easy investment.