Book Review: The League of Gentlewoman Witches By India Holton

book cover for The League of Gentlewoman Witches By India Holton

Warning: spoilers ahead!

This sequel to The Wisteria Society for Lady Scoundrels is very similar to its predecessor. It’s light and funny, with a slight tendency to overdo it on the amount of innuendo used. It’s Austen-esque, and definitely means to invoke Jane Austen’s style as the main character Charlotte makes a ton of references to Austen’s characters. Charlotte views many of them, particularly Elizabeth Bennet from Pride and Prejudice, as role models. As a big fan of Jane Austen, I liked this aspect of it, but I can also see where it gets to be a bit too much at times.

My favorite part of this book is the banter between the two main characters Charlotte and Alex. It’s witty, quick and very funny. It’s obvious from their very first meeting that they will end up together, but I enjoyed the journey of them getting to that point. I love how the author writes both of their characters and their dialogue.

Like the first novel in this series, the women are in charge here. The League is very similar to the Wisteria Society, in that the women lead both groups and there’s magic present in all of them. It’s a very feminist take on the time period and just like in the first book, I really like that about it.

I appreciated that we were given a list of characters at the beginning of the book, because we meet quite a few people throughout the book (maybe a few more than are completely necessary). While I enjoyed them all for the most part, we also met many of the eccentric ladies who make up the different societies in the last book, so this felt a little repetitive.

The one part of this book I really disliked was the ending for Charlotte’s aunt. For her to weirdly banter with and then immediately run off with a witch hunter, seemed extremely inconsistent with everything we previously learned. I wish Charlotte had been able to stand up to her in the end.

Overall, I did like this sequel, but not as much as I enjoyed the first one. They are very similar in many ways, which can get a little annoying, but to me it worked since I really liked the first book. I’d recommend this series to anyone who likes Jane Austen or needs a light read.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Rating: 4 stars

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