Review: The Book Witch by Meg Shaffer

Huge thanks to Ballantine for the advanced copy of The Book Witch by Meg Shaffer to review,

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What's the Vibe?

This is not a book. This is a love letter to books, readers, and Oregon.

I loved The Wishing Game. It was my first read of 2024 and an instant favorite. While The Lost Story didn’t hit quite as hard for me, I still really enjoyed it. So I went into The Book Witch hoping Meg Shaffer would make me fall in love again…and she absolutely did.

At the beginning, it feels like you are in fact reading a romance between a book witch and a book character. Even when you hit the mystery section. It almost lulls you into thinking you know exactly what kind of story you’re about to get. But what you end up with is so much more layered and emotional…with just a soft thread of romance woven through it. Honestly, it's so much fun!

Rainy and Duke had me giggling, laughing out loud, and fully kicking my feet at parts. Their dynamic is so charming right from the start. And while their relationship could feel a little insta-lovey on the surface, it also isn’t at all. Rainy has known Duke almost her entire life through the books he exists in, so there’s already this deep, built-in connection that makes it feel earned in a really unique way. The emotional moments hit later in the book, and when they did…they really did. I won’t say why, because it would absolutely spoil it, but just know Meg Shaffer got me.

The structure of The Book Witch was.....

I loved how the book is broken up into genres, with each section reflecting not just the tone of the story at that point, but the emotional journey as well. It felt intentional in a way that made the entire reading experience more immersive, like you weren’t just reading a story, you were moving through different kinds of stories all at once.

And the TWISTS, oh the twists. I’ll be honest, I did figure a couple of them out pretty early on, but that didn’t take away from the experience. No matter how big or how small they were, every one was magical.

The Book Witch made me reflect on my own reading life. I ached to go back and revisit the classics I left behind in school, the ones that didn’t stay with me because maybe I wasn’t ready for them yet. This story feels like a reminder that books come into our lives at the right time, and sometimes that time isn’t the first time we pick them up.

And then there’s Oregon. IYKYK.

Meg Shaffer, is an incredible writer. As a Kentucky native, the way she writes Oregon feels like a love letter in itself. She captures these places so clearly that if you’re from there, you don’t just recognize them, you feel at home in them…even from a thousand miles away.

The setting didn’t just feel like a backdrop, it felt like a living, breathing part of the story. The little easter eggs woven throughout made it feel deeply personal, especially as someone who has lived there. There were times I questioned "do I love this book, or love how it takes me back home?" When Rainy described the photo of her and her grandfather, I immediately knew where it was taken. For years, I lived directly across the freeway from Enchanted Forest, that beautiful storybook village built by Roger Tofte and still run by his family. During COVID, it struggled, it almost didn't survive and seeing something so clearly inspired by places like that hit me in a way I wasn’t expecting.

Pilcrow House and the town Rainy comes from instantly brought Astoria to mind with its quiet charm and coastal magic. And the nod to the Ursula K. Le Guin house, which I remember Literary Arts announcing would be turned into a space for writers, felt like such a meaningful and intentional inclusion.

All of these details come together to make something that feels incredibly specific, but also universal at the same time. Any Pacific Northwest book lover will recognize The Book Witch for what it truly is: an homage to book lovers and to Oregon.

Honestly, there should be a Rainy March fan tour, right up there with The Goonies tours.

This one doesn’t just tell a story. It feels like coming home.

Readers will love The Book Witch if they love books about books, have ever imagined falling into their stories, or have had a book boyfriend.