The Witches of World War II follows a coven of witches as they attempt to capture Adolf Hitler's second in command. Because MAGIC KILLS FASCISTS!! I love this premise so much. My favorite part is that it is inspired by actual events. I need to look into the New Forest Coven and Operation Cone of Power. I did like that the main character teamed up with some familiar names. The art was very well done. It fit the story well.

3 stars.

I really liked the idea of this graphic novel, but the execution didn't personally work for me.  It was just a bit too weird and confusing.  I had a hard time understanding what exactly was happening, and I felt that it was trying to do a bit too much.  Part of this may stem from my own stubborness when it comes to reading graphic novels but this just didn't work for me.  However, I really liked the art style and how the characters were drawn (except for the main character's hair.)

Thank you Netgalley for granting me access to an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This book definitely wasn't for me. I couldn't get into it as much as I wanted to.

I really enjoyed the graphic drawing style in this book, and I found the story interesting if a little confusing at times. My biggest issue was that it was not always clear whose inner monologue was whose, and some implied backstories didn't make themselves fully clear. Overall, this was a decent read and I enjoyed it!

I was really excited to read this book. I’ve just got into a few graphic novels and this one sounded really cool. I liked the fact that it was based on real people and real events but with a fiction twist to it.
I was disappointed that there wasn’t more magic though. I was hoping it would be a bit more gruesome and dark than what it was.

Overall the story was ok, the illustrations were great and I liked the descriptions at the end which explained what was real and what was made up for the sake of a good story.

I received a digital copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I thought it was an interesting idea for a graphic novel and I think it maintained my interest throughout. My gripe would be that It felt choppy between chapters and the ending rushed. I think if things had felt smoother while reading it would have gone down a little better for me. I'm still interested to see where it goes and I'd still read any future works. But it definitely left me wanting more and not necessarily in a good way.

I DNF'd this at page 30. I couldn't get into it as I just don't think it was my cup of tea. Thank you for the opportunity to read for an honest review.

I really enjoyed the art and the premise of this graphic novel. Occasionally I got slightly confused as to which characters were which but I generally figured it out.

The Witches of World War II combines two things I’m quite interested in: witchcraft and World War history. The premise of the graphic novel, especially the whole “magic killing fascists”, is an amazing concept that made me want to read it. The narrative, however, isn’t as gripping as it could be.

The main character Doreen Valiente is very interesting though her motives aren’t always as clear, especially knowing how she turns to witchcraft after constantly being met with superstitious objects rather than actual witchcraft. Still, I would love to read more about her. She felt written like the real person she was, which makes the historical genre so much more believable. This believability of the characters also made less likeable ones not bother me as much as they usually would.

Story-wise, I definitely liked that some chapters ended on a thrilling plot twist or cliffhanger. The overall story, however, wasn’t entirely my cup of tea as it sometimes felt a bit messy. Especially with the interesting mix of politics and witchcraft, I wish it was more engaging and felt as real as the characters did. Maybe it would have worked better as a series of graphic novels, but overall, it just needed some more depth. Nevertheless, the art and character design felt quite nice, looking a lot like the comics I used to read when I was younger, and it was easy to distinguish the characters from one another through their design and personalities.

If Wiccan history and World War II stories are up your alley, and graphic novels aren’t new to you, definitely give this one a try because the mix of the two makes for an interesting enough read!

I liked the premise of the story, but in the end it fell flat for me. The novel tells fictional events about real people, and I do think they showed the characters off very well. The dialogue is easy to read and I love the humor that is woven into the story. No it is not a funny story, but there are some good jokes in it. The art style is just fine. Nothing mind blowing but it does the job.

But the plot itself just didn’t quite live up to my expectations. Transitions between events felt bumpy, the plan was never explained well and I felt a bit lost, the pacing was off at times… It all just didn´t make it the smooth and immersive reading experience I had hoped it would be.

I'm afraid I struggled with this one. The 20th-century occult isn't exactly under-explored in British comics and there's nothing of the weirdness or elevated invention we've seen from Alan Moore, Robert Anton Wilson or all the others who've been this way before. True, Cornell's aim is to be more grounded than any of them, possibly producing something a bit Graham Greene-ish, but it all comes across as bit too uncertain, a bit... meek, for want of a better word; straying far enough away from fact that it's not directly informative, while not being bold enough in its fiction to reveal any deeper meaning.

I found the start of this to be quiet confusing, I enjoyed the art style and thought it did pick up for me towards the end. But overall I just felt something was missing.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

3 stars.

Spoilers ahead. I will not reveal anything big - most of the review vaguely alludes to plot, structure, and characters.

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Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

3 stars.

Spoilers ahead. I will not reveal anything big - most of the review vaguely alludes to plot, structure, and characters.

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I wanted to really love this graphic novel. The art has that classic comic book feel - moderately lined and beautifully colored. The panelization was dynamic and interesting. The subject matter was fascinating - and, in fact, was the main reason I picked it up. I mean, come on. Magic! War! But this fell flat for me. It ultimately felt underdeveloped plot-wise. We're introduced to characters that we expect to be prominent and then they...mostly disappear. We have to connect dots. That, combined with inconsistent characterization made it difficult for me to finish. Mostly, I wanted more context to the characters and why they were doing the things they were doing. This is a very interesting historical topic with a wealth of information behind it. I think that this graphic novel could have been a lot more than what it turned out to be - which is not to say that it's bad; it's fine - it's a fairly solid graphic novel with excellent art, but falls short when it comes to the story for me.

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Again, thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The premise was promising but the book didn't ultimately deliver it. The Art style was ok, but the plot wasn't cohesive and all over the place. It was interesting and I would suggest trying if you like reading about world war II and war history.

2.5/5
Thank you Netgalley/TKO Studios for this book in lieu of an honest review.

I really enjoyed reading this because of the artwork, the occult mystery, and how the plot kept you wondering. The story moves along at a nice pace and was overall a lovely read. I was a bit confused at parts but otherwise I loved it.

If you enjoy historical World War 2 fiction with a slightly witchy twist then this one's for you! Although it could do with a little bit more magic in my opinion!

Overall this was an interesting story with some lovely illustrations. I gave this book 3 stars because although i enjoyed it, i did find some parts hard to follow and some parts of the story i had to reread several times in order to understand exactly what was happening. I feel this book could use some context when going into the scenes - perhaps a small amount of text to tell you what is happening. The characters were fairly interesting and the dialogue was sometimes hard to follow.

After reading this book I did follow up with some research into the New Forest Coven and into the story itself. The book does provide an Afterward detailing extra information about the characters and the storyline.

Love the concept, but it just didn’t work for me.

I found it difficult to keep up, I swear some characters appeared different at the start (Crowley?) and there were sections I just didn’t understand. It didn’t feel massively witchy and I don’t think it completely matched the description.

The Witches of World War 2 Review:

I was intrigued by the description of this one: based on a true story, witches & a historical setting. Great. Lovely stuff. But I don't know if the book lived up to my expectations.

Let's start with the true story element. I LOVED this idea. A true story in the form of a graphic novel is a cool set-up. However, I feel like there should have been some context for this at the start of the book, rather than the end. If you go into it blindly (like I did), it's easy for this element to get lost, whereas I would have appreciated it more if it was given at the outset.

Ok, witches. Love witches, love the occult, love anything spooky. The witches in this book are varied and when the plot played up this element rather than the espionage element, it was a vivid and fun read. The espionage story was especially hard to understand in some parts because the character's motives and intended results were not always clear. Maybe the dialogue needed to be more fleshed out for the plot to shine. But still, it is weird and wonderful work.

Historical setting. Well, WW2 is fascinating. It's a lively backdrop with dozens of possibilities. But again, I think maybe a bit more context was needed for the story to make a bit more sense. I would have liked to know more about what was happening during the war at that particular moment. I will admit, though, that I am not a graphic novel reader, so anything that was lost on me may have been partly down to that! But I do think something more was needed contextualisation-wise to round the whole thing out.

The artwork was magnificent - I LOVED it. And the characters are intriguing and sometimes complex. Overall, I'd say that it's a fun read, it just needs a bit more context and explanation.

This book was equally exactly what I thought it was and the opposite. During the story, I was a little confused. The afterward made everything make more sense, but I wish more info was in the actual storytelling. It was still fascinating and I will for sure be looking into these people.

I thought that the premise to this graphic novel was super interesting, being that the story is based on actual events (an acknowledgement is at the end of what is real, and what were creative liberties). The art style is excellent and the characters all different enough that they weren't confusing. The story was interesting enough to keep me reading.

However, I felt that the story became disjointed between chapters and the dialogue at times was choppy or too much. The characters' motives did get confusing at times and I wondered why certain people were taking certain actions.

Perhaps if I knew more of the history to it, then it would have been clearer to understand the plot and motives.

Overall, it was still interesting and a solid three star read.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with this advanced reader copy, and all thoughts and opinions are my own.