Episode 018: These Witches Don’t Burn
“Hannah's a witch, but not the kind you're thinking of.
She's the real deal, an Elemental with the power to control fire, earth, water, and air. But even though she lives in Salem, Massachusetts, her magic is a secret she has to keep to herself. If she's ever caught using it in front of a Reg (read: non-witch), she could lose it. For good. So, Hannah spends most of her time avoiding her ex-girlfriend (and fellow Elemental Witch) Veronica, hanging out with her best friend, and working at the Fly by Night Cauldron selling candles and crystals to tourists, goths, and local Wiccans.
But dealing with her ex is the least of Hannah's concerns when evidence of dark magic begins to appear all over Salem. Hannah's sure it's the work of a deadly Blood Witch, but her coven is less than convinced. So Hannah is forced to team up with the last person she wants to see: Veronica. And while the pair attempt to smoke out the Blood Witch, Hannah meets Morgan, a cute new ballerina in town. Trying to date amid a supernatural crisis is easier said than done, though, especially when the attacks on Salem's witches become deadlier by the day.
Now with everything she loves on the line, Hannah must confront this murderous villain before her coven - and any chance she has with the new girl - is destroyed.”
This week we are reviewing “These witches don’t burn'' by Isabel Sterling, a book where a teenage witch teams up with her ex-girlfriend while trying to prove there is a dangerous blood witch in town. October is all about spooky things such as ghouls, ghosts, and witches! So how could we not pick some bisexual and lesbian witches as our focus for some of this month.
You can either listen to the podcast above, or you can read below for a majority of the transcript of the podcast! Now as always, our discussion will begin with a brief summary of the book followed by spoiler free thoughts and feelings. This will be followed by an in-depth discussion of some of the key plot points that occurred and we will then finish off with my overall rating of the book and a heads up about what we are looking at next time. If you have not had a chance to read These Witches Don’t Burn and don’t want to hear any spoilers, then please feel free to skip the detailed section and listen to it afterwards if you so wish.
The book is quite typical in some ways for a story told in the YA supernatural genre, with the teenager being unable to rely on the adults, there is a mystery that needs to be solved, and that there will be some interpersonal drama between several people. However, just because it hits the mark for the genre it is in doesn’t mean the author hasn’t also worked in several subversions of expected beats in the story to keep us on our toes.
The world building in this novel is a strong point as you can tell the author has taken time to think about how magic works in this world they are letting us into. As well as giving us an idea about the different branches of witchcraft, we also get glimpses into the rules that they follow to allow them to remain safe in the world both in terms of not alerting people who don't use magic and from witch hunters.
In terms of representation, this is well handled with several lesbian, bisexual, gay, and trans characters presented to us throughout the book as we deal with the teenage drama of two people now broken up who are both trying to move on in their own ways. There is even a fun moment when a character just assumes somebodies sexuality and gets called out on it, but this time it was assuming the person was a lesbian instead of being bisexual. It was a very nice nod to the fact that people do sometimes assume these things, but Sterling uses the book to subvert this troupe while also reminding us that bi-erasure happens and we need to challenge this as well.
As well as representing LGBTQ+ people, the book also contains a section where a character is called out for their prejudice due to how they perceive witches from a certain clan. It’s quite an interesting way the author has chosen to highlight the issue of gatekeeping or pre-judging people of a certain kind who are already part of an oppressed section of society. It's quite a useful allegory that could be applied to many situations and not just within the queer community when we judge each other.
Final Feelings and Recommendation
If you are into young adult novels with a supernatural theme to them, I would recommend picking up a copy of this book since it totally reminded me of the ones I would read when I was younger. But also I would say for anyone who is interested in YA novels with great worldbuilding and interesting mysteries, it is also worth your time
In terms of rating, I am going to give this novel an eight out of ten runes in blood. I really like the writing and characters, the world building is skillfully done, and I do have a nostalgic love for these types of stories that I would binge in my teenage years about supernatural teen dramas.
SPOILERS AHEAD
Now, just a reminder that at this point, I will be going into a more detailed analysis of the book which means there will be spoilers! If you haven’t managed to read These Witches Don’t Burn yet and you don’t want anything spoiled, then this is your last chance to avoid the discussion. Or you can go ahead and close the page, go read the book and then come back afterwards to finish reading. I promise I won’t mind. Still here? Well then, don’t say I didn’t warn you.
The novel starts off with us being introduced to Hannah and quickly meeting their ex Veronica, and we can see that there is still a lot of unresolved tension between the two of them that will become clearer throughout the novel. But before all that, we have a big beach bonfire as part of the summer party celebrations to celebrate the end of school for our key characters. Its at this party we witness a really horrible incident where somebody has encouraged Benton to ask Hannah out by saying she isn’t a lesbian but is just bisexual. Not only is it cruel in the sense that it adds an uncomfortableness to their friendship, but lying about someone's sexuality to make people do certain acts is a low blow in general. Sexuality shouldn’t be weaponized to get a dig in at people. Yet as Hannah is about to confront Veronica who she assumes played this cruel trick, somebody screams and everybody rushes to go help.
We stumble into another bonfire with a murdered racoon and a weird pentacle, with one person almost falling into it but for a sly bit of magic from Veronica saving them. Police come to deal with it, and people then have to go home all freaked out, with Hannah’s best friend Gemma staying at hers since Gemma’s parents have been weird ever since they found out Hannah was a lesbian. At breakfast Gemma spills the beans on last night in front of the adults, and so Hannah is marched over to tell her grandmother, aka the High Priestess of the coven, which ends up in a magical investigation of the scene.
While investigating, Hannah’s grandmother senses Veronica used magick there and punishes them both for this by trapping them in the ground. They eventually figure out how to get out, but before getting back to the car Veronica forces them to have a conversation about why they aren’t together anymore. From this we get the sense that Veronica can be quite controlling and doesn’t always think of Hannah when making choices that could affect them both. They end up kissing, as Veronica doesn’t seem to take no for an answer, which just further proves why this couple shouldn’t be together anymore.
Next day we join Hannah at work with a new colleague who has recently been dumped by his boyfriend due to coming out to them as trans and them saying it's no longer the same relationship. Like what a dick move from that ex since the relationship is all about the connection those in it have with each other and also coming out to someone as trans and then having them reject you off the bat, such a horrible way to deal with things. It's here we start to kick further into the mystery of the novel, with Hannah spotting runes in blood on the side of the museum in town which leads to Hannah leaning on Veronica for help in trying to hunt down the blood witch in town as the suspected cause of this and the bonfire incident. And all while this investigation by our teenage exes continues, we also meet Morgan who is clearly interested in Hannah.
The two girls hit it off at first, although we do have to put up with some neanderthal behaviour from Nolan wanting to tape them kissing cause some men are just creeps and don’t respect women, and the girls then set up a first date. It’s very endearing how Hannah gets all giddy and nervous, even though they have been chatting online with each other, and it just goes to show that talking digitally doesn’t ease some of the apprehension of meeting in person. Yet just as they are getting to know each other Veronica calls like mad as she is being attacked by the blood witch and so Hannah rushes away to help her, although the person escapes and then Hannah has to deal with Veronica trying to kiss her again!
After the first date disaster, while having a pool day with Benton and Gemma, Hannah comes up with an apology plan which involves cookies and bi-flag coloured flowers! Yet when leaving the dance recital with Gemma after the apology plan has worked, their car is rammed and they end up going over a bridge, with Hannah using her powers to save her and Gemma’s lives. Unfortunately Gemma’s leg was damaged and she had to have surgery overnight, with a prospect that she will never be able to dance again. Obviously, she has questions like “does my best friend have magic powers” but is sworn to secrecy, since if the witch council ever found out then her and Hannah could be taken out. It’s quite a fun play on things, with Hannah having to come out to her best friend not with her sexuality, but with her innate abilities as a witch. When going home she asks to swing by Veronica’s to talk about the blood witch, but instead stumbles in on her in bed with Savannah who has always had a crush on Veronica. So rightly fired up, she goes home and finally burns all the things she kept, finally drawing a line under that relationship that no longer works for her.
Members of the witches council show up to teach the coven how to defend themselves, and it's revealed that they believe this is the work of witch hunters not blood witches. While this is going on, Gemma finally stands up to her parents at a hospital visit on how they have been treating Hannah since they found out her sexuality, as she has also noticed this as much as Hannah and had hoped her parents would be better than this. It is a sad fact that a simple thing like someone's sexuality can make people start acting in micro-aggressive ways but well done on Gemma for calling this out and standing by her friend against her parents, not always an easy thing for people to do.
Morgan and Hannah then go on a date, with it being a place very magical to Hannah, and as the girls are returning from the date, they spot a fire in the distance with a slow building of dread, we realise it’s Hannah’s house that is on fire! Naturally Hannah tries to run into the fire to save her family, but Morgan holds her back, not aware of Hannah’s powers while Hannah lets slip that she could stop the fire and save him.
With some heart tugging scenes at the hospital with Hannah and her mother unsure of what is going to happen with her dad, we then have Hannah and Morgan admit the truth to each other, with Morgan having to challenge Hannah’s perceptions about her being a blood witch. As I previously mentioned, this was a great way of somebody already part of an oppressed group then being further oppressed from people within that very group, and actually standing up to this to which Hannah owns up to her own prejudice. Hannah then has the difficult task of having to ask Morgan if she is able to help heal her dad, which considering her fear of blood witches that we have seen throughout the book, is a big step in her trying to amend her opinions of them. He wakes up from his coma briefly, but then sadly passes away.
The climax of the novel comes when Veronica messages Hannah saying she is being attacked and needs her help to which she rushes over there to help, but only finds Savannah still remaining. After an intense bit of questioning, Hannah finally pieces it together that Benton has been the witch hunter attacking them all along. She rushes over there, ready for a final showdown and starts trashing the place as she searches for him, which shows us the high emotions running as we go into this confrontation.
However the author again subverts expectations of how this will play out, as instead of a showdown we have Hannah being knocked out and having a serum that takes her powers away given to her. It allows us the chance to have Benton tell his side of things, with us finding out his family are all witch hunters and he has been forced into this himself, otherwise they would kill him. It's a very complex villain that is presented by Sterling, since he either has to join his family in their path or face cutting himself off from them and potentially being harmed by them, which plays as another allegory for queer people growing up at times, and we even see there is a humane side to him since he even admits to having wanted to spare Hannah from this when he had the chance.
Hannah and Veronica are then taken out into a secluded field and put onto a pyre and after some verbal sparring with Benton, it is lit and we get the feeling that these two characters are going to die, if not from the fire due to their elemental powers, then by Benton himself. It's quite the suspenseful scene since rather than this bombastic fight, we have a really cold and calculated villain about to succeed in his goal. Hannah had run off without really alerting people properly, so I wasn’t expecting don’t her grandmother and the council to come in at the last second to save them both which was a huge relief.
And the novel finishes not in your typical way where everything has worked out for our main character since Hannah is still trying to properly get their powers back. It's actually a really interesting difference since usually in these types of novels at the end of the book the protagonist would have typically become stronger and more in control of their powers, and so Sterling has actually subverted expectations which helps this book stand out. And just because Hannah is still feeling strange in relation to her powers, she is still determined not to allow the hunters to subject her or loved ones to that again and so vows to bring the fight to them. Which is a handy cliffhanger to leave us waiting for the sequel!