Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher Source Books UK for the digital ARC, it has not affected my honest review.

TW: grief, death, violence, fire, witch hunts

“The Witches at the End of the World” tells the story of two sisters, who have grown up in seclusion alongside their grandmother after the burning of their mother as a witch, as they live in 1670s Norway. One of the sisters, Minna, is furious and refuses to return to the village that took her mother and left her family destroyed, and so she turns entirely to the magic that burns in her blood. By comparison, Kaija, the youngest of the two, wants nothing more than to have an ordinary life without magic and move on from the events she barely remembers. After their grandmother dies, Kaija abandons her home to return to the Norweigan village that killed her mother years before. She takes a new identity and decides to no longer practice her inherited magic. Abandoned and devastated by her sister’s choice, Minna casts a curse that goes on to have long-lasting and terrible consequences for everyone but no one more so than Kaija. As Kaija’s new life begins to fall apart, the village reveals its true colours once again and it becomes clear that witches will always be burned here.

This book is dual perspective, alternating between Kaija and Minna, and very character driven with everything being seen alongside their internal monologues. It’s a slow burn, with lots of gorgeous descriptions of the lonely forest that Minna stayed behind in, but also the characters were strong enough to keep my attention. I enjoyed them both for different reasons; Kaija for her optimism, which is naive at the beginning, and for how she becomes so protective of the life she’s built, and Minna for the depth of her anger and rage at the people who destroyed her life. I particularly enjoyed the aspects where Kaija had to face the children of those who had her mother executed, hoping that they’d recognise her but terrified of what would happen if they did. I also liked Kaija’s gradual realisation about the limitations put on women by the men around them and the church while Minna’s experience of freedom, and the difficulties of being alone, was powerful and effective. The relationship between the sisters is the true highlight, every moment between them is heart warming and tragic as their lives move apart. This was a great debut novel, even with the slow pace, and it shows a part of history I’ve not seen often depicted.

A very slow read. Undeniably, the author does write very beautifully and knows how to set a scene but there wasn’t much of a plot. I did enjoy this though but it took me a lot longer to get through than it should have

I'm great full that you allowed me to read your book, I loved the dual pov made me personally feel more for the characters. The plot was good but felt it laking in a few areas but would will recommend this to my friends

This had no right to be as good as it was.
Did not expect to find myself crying at three in the morning.

Witchy with Norwegian folklore running through it, this has the kind of magic lore that I like - wild, unpredictable and has cost attached to it.

The relationship between Minna and Kaija was beautiful and heartbreaking.

Some will think the pacing a little slow, but I found it atmospheric, uneasy and you knew it was building to something.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks
5/5 ⭐️

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

This book is all about the bond of sisters and the not so straight forward relationship they can have, it is a dual POV first-person novel about retribution, forgiveness, and self acceptance.

There’s a lot of world building in this book with descriptive writing of the surroundings the characters are in, some of this did slow the pace down and started to become bored and skim over parts. I think it would be a nice cosy read for the winter months and I look forward to seeing what will be coming next from this author.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The Witches at the end of the world is a truly enjoyable read. The author skilfully weaves the tale together, leaving you hooked until the end.

"Does strength always have to be ruthless?"
The Witches at the End of the World is a lovely story about two sisters who are witches and who only had each other and their grandmother growing up. Minna and Kaija are a couple of years apart and that makes all the difference in their upbringing, their mentality, their goals... it truly shapes their lives so differently that it reminded me of how much siblings can grow up to be very different people, despite a similar upbringing.

"My sister is flowers and herbs. I'm fire and blood."

This book reminded me so much of another book called "The Witch and the Tsar" in the way it was written, the narration, the folklore & the lessons behind it. In this debut book, Iversen delves into the lives of Minna and Kaija and it is a dual POV so you get to see how different they are, what magic means to each of them and the prices they are willing to pay to achieve their own needs.

To me, it was such a lovely journey, to see the sisterhood build up between Minna and Kaija, through pain and life experiences. It reminded me of the fact that relationships and unconditional love always comes at a price and it is truly unconditional once you learn to forgive the person for breaking your heart.

This was a 4 star read for me and I'd recommend it to people who like fiction stories with a lesson & morality standing in it. I truly loved this book and read it quickly, always wanting to know where the journey would take us with the two sisters, the villages and their love for each other.

Thanks to NetGalley for the Arc in exchange for my honest review.

Overall I enjoyed this book and it kept me reading to the end. Maybe it was just me but it did seem to be lacking something I look for in books. I had perhaps expected more. A decent enough read but not making my list of favourite books of the year. Sorry.

I really wanted to love this, the potential of a fantastic story is right there but in reality I found it sluggish and a little boring. It felt like almost every page was filled with monotonous detail of the sisters every move and thought. By half way through nothing had happened and it felt like a plodding limo to the end.
Descriptive passages are wonderful, but not every other page.

A real shame, I was looking forward to reading this,

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read this book.

The Witches At The End Of The World is a story centred around sisterhood. The two witch sisters differ greatly but have both been through the trauma of watching their mother be burned for being a witch and then fleeing the village that did this.
After living life out in the remote Birchwood Kaija decides that she wants to return to the village and live a ‘normal’ non-witchy life which infuriates her sister Minna. After Kaija leaves, Minna curses the village with devastating impact.
We follow the story from a dual perspective of both sisters, learning about how they are adapting to their new ways of life. I would have liked a bit more depth and description to their backstory. The writing is very atmospheric and helps with the world building but lacks with the character building. There are a lot of internal thoughts throughout the story and I would have liked a bit more interaction and dialogue from the characters.
The book was a little slow for me before the action started towards the end of the book. That being said there were a few twists I didn’t expect which kept me gripped to the end.
I will certainly keep my eye on this author as I think this is a great debut novel!

Thank you to NetGalley, Sourcebooks UK & Chelsea Iversen for an Advanced Review Copy in return for an honest review

Please, please write a book 2. Jonna or Olan's stores as I didn't want this book to end.

The Wirches at the End of the world is exactly what you want in a story about witches. Magic and power, history and destiny, love and accusations. I loved reading Minna and Kaija's story and highly recommend it for fantasy readers or those who like a good old witchy book.

First of all thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this arc.
I was excited to receive this as I absolutely love anything witchy
The writing in this book was very atmospheric and descriptive which is always something I really love. The plot didn’t draw me in as much as I would have liked and therefore I found this book average. Overall a good read but nothing I haven’t read before