Author Danny Weston is a popular YA genre author and his latest novel “The Witching Stone”, is a wonderfully fun and highly entertaining read. Although aimed at a younger audience, as an adult I really enjoyed the escapism of this book. I’ve always had an interest and fascination in ‘witches’ especially the Pendle Witch trials and that particular era, so the premise of a witch who died in 1705, instantly caught my attention.
Set in the small real life village of Woodplumpton, Lancashire, sixteen year old Alfie is spending his summer holidays with his dad, after his dad starts a new job there. While visiting a local graveyard, he meets Mia who tells him about the local superstition surrounding a supposed witch, buried beneath an unusual boulder. “If you walk three times around the stone and say, “I don’t believe in witches,” Meg will come after you.” Alfie, showing off his reckless bravery, accepts the challenge, dismissing it as nonsense. But as he chants the spell, he soon realises it may not be as silly as he first thought and may just have made the biggest mistake of his life.....
Alfie is later visited by Meg who insists, that as he was the one who summoned her, he must help find her son’s grave or he will pay with the possible death of his loved ones. With the aid of a sceptical Mia and her aunt Hannah, Alfie races against time to do as he is tasked but will he discover in time what Meg wants and will the villagers suffer at her hands in the meantime?
There was a real spooky atmosphere at times, so I maybe wouldn’t recommend to readers younger than twelve. The characters are very likeable and realistic and the storyline engrossing and entertaining. The only very small criticism I have is that Alfie, although only sixteen, has a much older voice and an incident that is revealed from back home with a girlfriend, was slightly unbelievable and I’m not sure needed to be included. Though that is just my opinion as an adult. A YA audience might find it appropriate teenage content.
Meg Shelton better know locally as the ‘Flyde Hag’ was a true person and was accused of witchcraft in the early 1700’s. She was also rumoured to be buried head down under a stone boulder to evade escaping her grave. I vaguely remember knowing something about this and I was interested enough after finishing the story to do further research on her.
I personally think the author did Meg proud in his vision of her in modern times and the fact it is based on a true story (as far as it is to be believed) made the novel authentic and credible within its own right.

4 stars

Alfie and his dad go to stay at the village of woodplumpton where his dad will be working. While there Alfie stumbles upon the witching stone and envokes the witch meg Shelton. A spine chilling tale that had me completely enthralled.

The Witching Stone didn’t pull me in as much as I’d hoped. I loved the plot element with Meg and the witching stone, and her yearning for vengeance. But the pace was too slow for me to stay invested, and I found myself skim reading the chapters just to get to the ending. The characters were well developed, especially Meg, and it was nice to have that anchoring where I cared about something whilst I was reading. 

Overall, there were parts I liked and others I didn’t. However, it was a great book to read over the Halloween weekend, and hopefully others will enjoy this book more than I did.

I really enjoyed the book and the way that the story was told. The characters were realistic and relatable. The events in the story were thought provoking and reminded me of the stories I heard as a child growing up in Lancashire. You easily become invested in the story and want to find out what happens next. A great spooky novel for young adult readers to aid the transition into scarier books.

I loved the premise of the book but when I started reading felt the tone of it was for a much younger audience.

Alfie felt much younger than 16 and am I the only one who was shocked his dad had tried to make him stay in Bristol. All summer, alone at 16? That seems slightly negligent.

I also think their relationship needed to be much more established. We are told they get on well but then see absolutely no evidence to prove that. What has Alfie done to break his trust? Why does he always jump to the worst conclusion about him? Why if he doesn't trust him, would he be so keen to leave him alone?
His Dad seemed to have no personality outside scolding and asking inappropriate questions about his ex (if someone says they don't want to keep talking about something then please stop!).

I think that father/son dynamic needed to be really fleshed out as it was so central to the plot.

Why did they keep going back for breakfast too? That was so strange. I don't understand what they felt they owed Selena...except politeness of course...but why would they keep going down every morning for breakfast. So strange and not a very adult way to handle that situation either.

I also struggled with Mia. She was all over the place character wise. Why didn't she believe him either after telling him about it? I found the dialogue between them...especially that second meeting in Luigis really clunky and uncomfortable. As were the text messages. They just didn't flow. Their kisses were awkward...and by the end I felt their relationship hadn't progressed at all.

Meg was very interesting but I felt her motives and the way she behaved should have once again been developed more...she wasn't consistent at all and she had an awfully long time to plot her revenge ..to come out with not that much.

I loved the idea of the story and even how the story progressed but think characters being much more established and an older tone would have worked much better with the subject matter.

Thanks to the author, publisher and Netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The witching stone started off amazing, and I really felt like it would give the perfect spooky vibes! After the first 20%, it just became any old plain book, with the same struggles and same plotline. I still liked it, but the magical spooky vibes, which I had hoped for, were gone.

This book was very different to the usual books I read and I loved every word of this.

Would love to read more books by this author

Thank you to NetGalley for giving me a free copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I am glad I got the chance to read this book, the description really interested me and I ended up really enjoying the book. The writing was so well done that I was able to get through the book so quickly without even realising it. The book is based on a topic that I have always found fascinating and want to learn more about. I found this storyline interesting and I loved the characters, I would love to see more books like this one.

Following a messy break up with his girlfriend, Alfie decides to spend the summer in the small village of Woodplumpton. He and his dad are in town for his dads’ job, so Alfie has to find ways to occupy his time. Day one Alfie finds himself in the towns graveyard where he meets Mia who tell him the legend of Meg Shelton alleged witch who is buried in the graveyard. Superstition says if you circle Meg’s grave three times whilst saying the phrase “I don’t believe in witches” it will cause Meg to come after you. Keen to Impress and not believing the story Alfie decides to try for himself. An action he soon he regrets as strange happening begin to occur.

This was a really enjoyable read. I thought it would be perfect for the spooky season and it was just that. We very quickly got into the action of the book as Alfie meets Mia and learns the story of The Witching Stone. Following his decision to circle The Witching Stone, Alfie begins to experience things that indicate he may have awoken Meg from her grave. This part as expected was very spooky and very atmospheric. The author did a really good job at building the earie haunting feeling, but I do feel this feeling ended quite quickly though. I was listening to an author interview recently that said the fear for readers comes from the unknown. The minute you reveal your monster its no longer scary and I think that’s what happened here. Obviously, I don’t want to give spoilers, but we do lose that haunting atmosphere quite early because of what happens. Following this there were defiantly still earie and creepy moments, but they weren’t to the level it was before.

I always appreciate a story within a story and this book had that. I really enjoyed learning the tale of Meg vs the legend. This book does make the move from spooky paranormal to mystery that Alfie has to uncover. I really enjoyed this element and as I mentioned I liked learning about Megs real story. I also really the odd and sometimes the plain disgusting things that happen when Alfie is around. I just found this was a rather fun part that made the story lighter. Again, I cannot say too much but there were some funny moments when a character was discovering things about the modern world. It reminded me of Hocus Pocus when the sisters return and see ‘the burning rain of death.’ I hope someone gets that reference!

There were some parts of this book I didn’t like as much as others. I did feel the romance with Alfie and Mia had a touch of insta love. I just felt they were bought together but the circumstances Alfie found himself in and I didn’t feel there was much chemistry that would imply a romantic connection. There was also something that occurred to do with Alfie’s past later on in the book and I just didn’t think it was necessary or added anything.

Overall, I would say this was an enjoyable creepy read. It definitely started off quite spooky but lost that a little part way through. Every now and again you would see glimmers of that dark haunting vibe appear, but it would be gone quite quickly. I would say this book would be perfect for people who have quite a low fear threshold or who may be quite new to the genre. I mentioned the film Hocus Pocus and that’s how this book felt to me, a much lighter hearted spooky book with a mystery element thrown in. It was however a really intriguing story and I loved the funny results of Alfie having to deal with when odd things had occurred. There was also a nice balance of some funny moments too. I really solid book, perfect for the spooky season.

This book sounded like it was going to be a great read but the formatting of this was terrible and I just couldn’t carry on. I think I will purchase it however and see how I get on with the right formatting.

Wasn’t really for me, didn’t make much sense and just felt bland, just not my cup of tea

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

Thank you Netgalley and publisher for the arc.

This is such a great ya fantasy for the spooky season! Really quick read about a witch wanting vengeance.

I didn’t really like this that much to be honest. It was ok...

It’s a standard story...nothing different or exciting for me to be honest. A bit ridiculous in places as well...a ghost who can take a shower, but has no actual presence? Doesn’t make any sense..

As ever, my thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance copy

Creepy, quick, easy read. Perfect book for Halloween or October. The author packed a lot of story in to a short book, can easily be read in one or two sittings. The book is creepy and has genuinely some spine-tingling moments but overall not too scary. The fast-paced mystery story was interesting and you didn’t want to put the book down until you had a resolution. Overall a great book.

Thanks to NetGalley and UCLan publishing for the advanced review copy.

Review text from goodreads above.

There were a couple of typos in the arc e.g Vincent occasionally referred to as Hugo and once Blackwoods referred to as littlewoods. Mostly when Hannah speaking, it wasn’t clear whether this was an intentional absent-mindedness from her character. But also same Hugo mentioned by a couple of other characters.

After a messy break up with his girlfriend Alfie needs to get away for a while so decides to spend his summer with his Dad in a small village in the North of England. In the local graveyard he finds a boulder with a strange inscription, and meets Mia who tells him the local legend of Meg Shilton. If you walk three times around the boulder and say “I don’t believe in witches” Meg will come after you. And Alfie decides to test the superstition. But he may have just made the biggest mistake of his life...
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This book was an enjoyable YA read. I loved the idea of the local legend and the book had the right amount of spookiness and humour as the story developed. I thought it was an quick book to read, the characters were easy to like and the story was a lot of fun.
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Alfie is a great character, and shows a maturity not always depicted in teenage boys. He is sweet and funny, and I really enjoyed the development of his relationship with Mia. I thought this book depicted teenagers acting like teenagers which isn’t always true, and it helped make them really personable and likeable. The adult characters are more sidelined, but there are some great scenes with them, especially Selena, who runs the hotel, and Hannah, expert on all things Meg. Speaking of Meg she is a wonderfully wicked character (though I did feel for her at times) and I loved her glee at playing games with the locals. She is not someone you want to mess with!
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The story was pretty straight forward, and there wasn’t a lot of surprises, but I liked how it progressed, even if they did find out a lot of answers very quickly once they started looking! And I did think the small side story of Alfie’s ex-girlfriend wasn’t needed as it didn’t really add anything to the main story, but it brought up some important conversations and helped cement my good feelings towards Alfie.
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This is a YA novel and the story isn’t overly complicated so I think younger readers will really enjoy this witchy tale, which is perfectly timed for Halloween
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Thank you to NetGalley, Danny Weston and UCLan Publishing for this ARC to read and review. Published 1st October.

An enjoyable witchy caper, with lots of humorous touches and some great characters. The ex-girlfriend side story felt a little at odds with the rest of the book but overall this was great fun. I'm still haunted by the memory of those bewitched breakfasts at the hotel...!

Normally I enjoy a good witch/magic/supernatural book. Being a teacher the fantasy world really does entice young readers.

I enjoyed this but not as much as I’d hope. I found it really difficult to maintain focus and found myself getting agitated with the writing. It just didn’t flow for me.

The Witching Stone is a YA novel based around the alleged 17th century witch Meg Shellton, who is supposedly buried under a boulder in Woodplumpton church yard in Lancashire. Its always fun to have novels like this because you can visit or research the actual sites mentioned in the book.

The main character in the book is Alfie, he comes across as a typical teenager who is only at Woodplumpton because his freelance dad is working at a local estate agents building their website, bored, he pops into the local graveyard and meets a young girl called Mia next to the witches grave and being 16 and despite Mias warnings he decides to recite the ritual of walking around Megs grave saying three times he doesn't believe in witches, this awakens Meg and she wants Alfies help to get revenge on the people who have wronged her.

The story had promise, but the writing did seem simplified and I feel it would suit 10+, perfectly but I think Danny Weston could of ramped up the fear factor for a older audience.

Needing a break from Bristol, Alfie follows his Dad up North. It's not as relaxing as he'd hoped, as he soon catches the attention of a very vengeful and very dead witch.

I received a copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book follows Alfie, who's about 16 years old. Having nothing better to do, he reluctantly follows his dad to a job in a little village up North.
He soon meets Mia - a girl/potential love interest; and Meg - a witch murdered 300 years ago, who wants revenge on those that killed her.

The story was a little slow to start with, but had some very nice spooky moments, as Meg starts to stalk Alfie at night.
Alfie is sure that he isn't imagining the threats and dangers that wake him each night, so he enlists Mia and her Aunt Hannah (who is an expert in local occult & mythology), to help him get rid of the witch as soon as possible.
Some of the myths, and the history woven around Meg and Lord Blackwood was really interesting and creative. I liked how there was an echo between the pregnancies of 1700's and modern times, and how women still don't seem to have the monopoly on what happens to their own body. I thought this was handled in a very mature manner by the characters.

The not-so-good.
Despite glimpses of maturity from the characters, I felt that the book had a much younger vibe. I was surprised that Alfie was sixteen-ish, as he did come across younger for quite a bit of the book.

I didn't feel like this book committed to anything.
Alfie kinda doesn't want to be in Woodplumton, but goes along for the ride. He kinda likes his dad enough to make the trip, but the relationship between them was just flat.
Alfie kinda likes Mia, but can't work out whether he likes her, or likes-her-likes-her. Then suddenly there's kisses with all the heat of a cold dead fish.

And it's not just Alfie - Meg is suitably creepy to start with, then she's just kinda scary. She wants blood and revenge, but kinda settles for turning any milk in her vicinity sour.

I thought some of the characters flip-flopped on their stance about the witch, which was frustrating.
After being the person to warn Alfie and tell him about the superstition, Mia then doesn't believe he's actually being haunted by a witch. Then she does, then she doesn't.
Aunt Hannah - despite profusely explaining that she didn't think Alfie was crazy, and that logically Meg must exist; later says that it's probably all a figment of his imagination.

The story ends solidly enough, but not everything is tied up. I'm guessing this may get turned into a series.

Overall, there were some promising moments, and I was intrigued enough to find out how it ended; but many of the elements were too flat.

Thank you for the advanced copy of this in exchange for an honest review. Great story , very creepy and much enjoyed by my 15 year old as well.