The Book Witch by Meg Shaffer Review: A Magical Love Letter to Reading

🎧 Listened in audio | ⏱ Duration: 10 hours
📢 Narrated by Mia Hutchinson Shaw
Genre: Fantasy | Setting: Oregon (United States)
Published: April 7, 2026
🏷️ Publisher name: Ballantine Books

Book Blurb:

Rainy March is a third-generation Book Witch who jumps in and out of novels to fix malicious alterations and rogue heroes. Book Witches follow a strict code: real people stay in the real world, fictional characters stay in fiction, and nobody falls in love with a character. Rainy has been forbidden from seeing the Duke of Chicago, the British detective from her favorite mystery series, or she risks expulsion from her coven. But when her grandfather disappears and a priceless book is stolen, he is the one person she trusts to help. Their search leads through Alice in Wonderland, King Arthur, and other classics, exposing hidden enemies and buried family secrets.

Let’s talk about the book:

Confession time: after two chapters of The Book Witch, I skipped to the end. The last five minutes had me in tears, and instead of spoiling the book, it made me want to savor it. I was scared to finish.

Rainy March is a third-generation Book Witch who jumps in and out of novels to fix rogue heroes and malicious alterations. When her grandfather disappears and a priceless book is stolen, the one person she trusts is the Duke of Chicago, the detective from her favorite series, even though falling for a fictional character is strictly forbidden.

The audiobook was beautiful. Mia Hutchinson Shaw sighs, smiles, and expresses emotion through sound alone, and I felt like I was falling through the looking glass into the world Meg Shaffer created. The humor landed hard, too. “I don’t let anyone touch my socks without knowing their name” made me laugh out loud.

Underneath the cleverness is a lot of heart. This is a story inside a story inside a story, and a love letter to reading in every sense. The book moves through sections like fiction, non-fiction, fantasy, horror, YA, and romance, so it touches nearly every major genre while staying all about the art of writing. “All stories are love stories when you love stories” could be its thesis. The line “I am sure everyone here has been changed by Maxine’s books” felt like Meg prophesying what her own book would do to every reader. It changed me.

My only complaint is that “existential crisis” appears far too often. But I can ignore that. This story has chapter segments in fiction, non fiction, romance, YA, horror, sci-fi, etc., all rolled in one story. Many of your favorite characters from classics make a guest appearance in this book, from The Great Gatsby, to Alice in Wonderland, to Pride and Prejudice, even Dante and Nancy Drew are not left out. I guessed parts of the ending, though not the way it actually unfolded, and it turned out that didn’t matter. The ending was never the point. The journey was, and it was one incredibly beautiful journey.

Would I recommend it?

Every reader who loves storytelling must read The Book Witch, and so should every writer. It is a lesson, a textbook, and a storybook all rolled into one. When the going gets tough, it really is better to get inside a book, and this is one I’ll be returning to. Highly recommended, especially on audio.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Keep Falling Through the Looking Glass:

1. The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde
   A literary detective who can travel into novels makes this the closest cousin to Rainy’s world, and it is just as clever.
   
2. Inkheart by Cornelia Funke
   If the idea of fictional characters crossing over into the real world is what hooked you, this one flips the door the other way.
   
3. The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman
   Librarian spies hop between alternate worlds to collect dangerous books, which scratches the same bookish-adventure itch with a bit more action.
   
4. The Wishing Game by Meg Shaffer
   Same author, same big-hearted storytelling, so it is the obvious next stop if Meg’s writing got to you the way it got to me.
   
5. The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
   A story about stepping into other versions of life that leaves you hopeful at the end, for when you want another book that makes you feel something.
   

Which Book Would You Climb Into?

Okay, Book Witch rules for a minute: you get one day inside any novel, you can’t eat or sleep there, and you have to find your own way back out. Which book are you picking? And while we’re confessing, have you ever skipped to the last page before you were ready, or is that a crime in your house? Tell me everything in the comments, I read every single one.

Book Links

Want to purchase this or any of your favorite books while supporting a local bookstore? Consider purchasing using the sites below. These sites work with independent local bookstore owners to fulfill your book orders. #SupportLocal

Indiebookstores.ca | Bookshop.org | Goodreads | StoryGraph | Pagebound | Fable | Hardcover | Booktrovert | OpenLibrary | Litsy
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