Review: The Gingerbread Witch

Title: The Gingerbread Witch
Author: Alexandra Overy
Genre: Middle Grade, Fantasy
Publisher: Inkyard Press
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Format: Ebook
Release Date: September 13, 2022
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

Maud has grown up in a house made of gingerbread, wanting nothing more than to be a witch like Mother Agatha. But just like all of Agatha’s creations—from the magical house made of sweets to the chocolate mousse squirrel, right down to the little sugar mice—Maud will turn back into gingerbread if anything ever happens to Agatha. After a terrible fight, Maud storms off only to return home to learn that Hansel and Gretel, a pair of witch hunters, have pushed Agatha into the cottage’s oven.

To save herself and the other gingerbread creations, Maud will have to go into the dangerous forest of the Shadelands to find the First Witch’s spellbook. But with witch hunters on her trail and other people interested in the book for their own means, it’ll be far from easy. Can Maud claim the book and bring back the only mother she’s ever known…or will witch hunters capture her before she can save her gingerbread family?

Review:

Maud is a girl who was made out of gingerbread by her witch mother Agatha. If anything ever happens to Agatha, her creations will turn back into gingerbread, including the chocolate mousse squirrel and the sugar mice. After Agatha and Maud have a fight, Maud storms off into the forest. When she returns, she finds witch hunters in their home, standing over Agatha’s ashes. Maud runs away before they can catch her too, and she learns that the First Witch’s spell book has a spell that can bring Agatha back to life. To find the spell book, Maud has avoid the witch hunters and other dangers lurking nearby. 

I loved the fairytale elements of this story. Maud, her animal friends, and her home were all made of gingerbread or sweets. She encountered witch hunters named Hansel and Gretel. There were also some twists along the way that really surprised me. 

One of the major themes of this story was good versus evil. Maud believed that all witches were good, because her mom was a witch. She believed that all witch hunters were evil because they killed her mom. Meanwhile, the witch hunters thought they were on the side of good because they hunted witches who killed children. These lines between good and evil became blurred when Maud got to know the witch hunters. Not all witches were good, and not all witch hunters were bad. 

The Gingerbread Witch is a great middle grade story!

Thank you Inkyard Press for providing a copy of this book.

What to read next:

Have you read The Gingerbread Witch? What did you think of it?