I was so excited to receive this book, I have loved lindseys books from the start, and love that she's not done a fantasy book!
The Bell Witches* is a perfect mix of southern charm, a touch of spooky fun and tension. Lindsey Kelk crafts an engaging story about a small town cursed for generations, blending supernatural elements l and heartfelt themes of family and self-discovery. The characters are endearing, the plot is full of twists, and the witty dialogue keeps you hooked. It’s a five-star read—fun, eerie, and utterly enchanting. Highly recommended!

I love Kelk's books and was so excited to see this YA fantasy from her. Happy to report that I loved The Bell Witches! Emily is a deep, thoughtful character and she experiences so much in going to live with her (unknown to her) grandmother after her father's death. She has so much change to grapple with and it's compounded when she begins encountering ghosts and other unworldly phenomenon. So good!!

Thank you to Harper Collins UK and NetGalley for the opportunity to review an advance copy of The Bell Witches in exchange for my honest review.

The Bell Witches is an imaginative YA "coming of age" story about a modern day 16 year old girl who has recently lost her father and is forced to move in with her long lost grandmother, whom she previously believed to be dead. As if that isn't shock enough for our FMC, the trauma just keeps coming with mysterious happenings, ghost encounters, near death experiences and the realization that she is, in fact, the latest iteration of witch in a long standing family line of magical "southern royalty." Um.. yes please. This book surprised and impressed me. There were twists that kept me turning pages, lies that had me clutching my pearls, and deceit that left me infuriated. There were beautiful found family moments and and endearing lessons about friendship, perseverance and determination. There was a sweet PG love story that while some would say is very fast paced, to me, fit the narrative of her family's past romantic history perfectly. I also felt like the romance fell in line with what I would expect for a younger YA novel. There's nothing wrong with a little "love at first site" moment for our hopeless romantics. I loved the Savannah, GA setting as Kelk's writing does atmospheric impeccably well. As a frequent Savannah visitor, I thought the incorporation of the history, the descriptions of the city and location easter eggs were spot on without feeling too cumbersome or uninteresting. You really get a good feel of the locale which, I think can be hard to achieve. It also added something special to the story itself giving an ethereal southern spooky vibe that is perfect considering the book's October release date. All in all, I really enjoyed the read and as it's definitely setup for additional books, would not hesitate to continue the series.

Thank you to the author and publisher for sending me a copy of this book.

Lindsey Kelk’s first fantasy novel, The Bell Witches, is the perfect autumnal read. It’s filled with witches, werewolves, magic and betrayal.

The book follows Emily. After the death of her father, she has to move to Savannah to live with her grandmother and auntie. There she discovers she’s a witch.

I fell in love with Savannah based on the beautiful descriptions. The story brought the place to life in my mind and is the perfect cosy setting.

The Bell House and the magic that filled its walls sounded so inviting too, while also having a strange eerie vibe to it. I loved how the magic extended to the home.

There are flashbacks to South Wales and Emily’s past which were wonderful to read. As someone from Wales, I found it to be a nice addition as we don’t see many books set here.

Emily, the main character, had a lot of growth in this first instalment. Becoming headstrong and making decisions for herself, while helping others was nice to read about. As she searches for the truth about her past and her family, she discovers things about herself and her parents that she wasn’t expecting. I liked how she handled every situation, never moaning, always being proactive.

Lydia is the best and most fun character in the book. I loved her bluntness, loyalty and caring nature. She’s also very witty. Having a character like this adds a nice layer to a book that may be a bit intense at times.

It’s a slow paced novel. There is a lot of world building and lots of discoveries about Emily and the Bell Witches that are important to the story. The plot felt faster and more intense in the final quarter, with thrilling scenes of conflict. Some of the twists were easy to guess but it didn’t deter my enjoyment of the plot.

There are some things in this book I didn’t love as much such as the insta-love between Emily and Wyn. They’re great characters but the declaration of love felt way too sudden.

Ashley, Emily’s auntie, also felt massively childish, and while she has character development, I still found her behaviour to be a bit strange even with the context we’re given about her.

This story made me very reminiscent of the paranormal books from the 2010s – in the best way possible. I’m excited for more books to be released in this series.

A big thank you to Harper Collins and NetGalley for providing me with this ARC!

After Emily’s father dies in a car accident, she is forced to move from Wales, across the ocean to Savannah, Georgia and live with the only family she has left, an aunt and grandmother. She quickly discovers that the Bell family are hiding a magical secret - they're descendant of powerful witches.

First of all, my favourite thing about this book was the atmosphere; we got the cosy, witchy vibes from the very start and together with the setting of mysterious Savannah, created the most perfect autumnal read. The real strength of this book lies in the beautiful descriptions of surroundings, architecture, we also get a bit of the Bell family history thrown in, again beautifully described.

Emily, our FMC, is a sixteen year old girl who within just a couple of months loses her only parent, moves across the ocean to an unknown family, only to discover that she's in fact a witch. Imagine that being your life! I must say I liked Emily, I was trying to see the situation from her perspective and she's handled it all like a pro. There is some growth that we see to her character towards the end of the book and that seemed to be the main theme of this book, the coming of age and becoming the main hero of her own story.

You will also get to meet Lydia, Emily's new best friend, and honestly one of those friends that we'd all want to get! She's like a Sam to Frodo but way more entertaining. I also quite enjoyed characterisation for both Ashley, the aunt, who makes such a positive change towards the end of the book, I'm excited to see her in the next book!, and Catherine, the grandmother, the perfect... ahh that'd be a spoiler!

Where the book didn't deliver for me was the romance. It was SO SO insta that it may have beaten the world record as far as insta romances go. For me, Emily's love interest was lacking personality and I struggled to understand her infatuation with him, given the fact that there was another potential candidate in sight that seemed like a more obvious choice!

Another thing that I struggled with in places were some of the dialogues. Some were totally pointless (a whole page on eating an ice-cream?), some were straight on cringy (also, who uses the word "unalive" in place of "kill"??) and that dinner conversation during which the (way too high and a little ridiculous) high stakes get dropped down on our FMC over some pork chops...

Overall, this was a fun read and I'm more than happy to look over all the little things that bothered me and continue with the series.

A big thank you to Harper Collins and NetGalley for providing me with this ARC!

I absolutely love Lindsey Kelk. I’m a fully paid up member of her fandom, often pre-purchasing her romance novels for extra online content. I was pretty excited to see she was writing a YA fantasy/romance, and that it’s the first in a series. I’m certainly not the target audience but I was excited to get an ARC from NetGalley.
I would have ADORED this as a teenager, as a fully fledged grown-up I think I probably missed some references, but still found lots to love.
Emily is a teenager who finds herself back in the Savannah home of her grandmother after her father dies. Turns out that on her rapidly approaching 17th birthday she will have a Becoming, when she will become a fully-fledged witch. In fact, she will probably become the most powerful witch in Savannah.
She’s got sidekicks - I imagine their stories will unfold in future. She’s also got a very hot new boyfriend, who turns out to have a secret of his own. I’ve seen other people diss this instant love story, but it really gives off a strong Buffy/Angel vibe to me. I’m willing to bet Kelk is a big fan. I also spotted some Taylor Swift nods.
All in all, I very much enjoyed this. I’ll be looking forward to the next book in the series.

DNF at 47% I have been trying for a few weeks to get into this book and its just not gripping me, I have really enjoyed this authors work in the past Im not sure if its me or if its just not the book for me I kept going back for it and my final push I got this far after being stuck at 33 percent! I will try and go back to it but DNF for now,

3.75 stars rounded to 4

For the most part, The Bell Witches was a really captivating read. With a lush, descriptive setting of Savannah, I found myself completely immersed into the story. I could very much imagine the old Southern mansions in front of me, standing in all their past glory. In terms of just the world building alone and the way the magic system was set up, I’d say this was a pretty solid read.

However, in terms of the writing style, I felt it to be slightly clunky at parts. Not that it wasn’t anything bad, it was just jarring to see TikTok slang in the context of the story. It does slightly take away the immersiveness of the story and I only wish it didn’t. Because besides that, the writing is pretty good. Especially at the beginning and in the way the story starts. Because let me tell you, you will be hooked onto the story from the first line.

I liked Emily as a character, and enjoyed seeing her try and find her footing in a new home with family members who have many, many secrets of their own. Throughout the story, she was brave and determined, and if you know me, I love characters like her. Her romance with Wyn was also cute, if a little rushed. I think their relationship could do with a little more development, but all in all, I enjoyed reading about it. They were pretty adorable.

All in all, The Bell Witches was a pretty damn good read, and looks like it will be a series, so I am excited to see what happens next!

4.5 stars.
I really enjoyed this book, it was different to any romantasy book that I have read before. This was such an enchanting story, filled with magic, romance and witches!! This would be a perfect book to read in the Autumn, it is a cosy read, I am glad the weather was cold and rainy when I finished it.

After Emily's father dies in an accident, she moves to Savannah to live with her only remaining family in a mysterious mansion. Her Father moved her away from the Bell family when she was born, and Emily begins to discover why.

I really enjoyed the writing, Lindsey set the scene in Savannah absolutely perfectly, I could imagine every detail of the house, the surroundings, and the gorgeous but mysterious town.

The story was paced really well and it kept me reading! The ending in particular had me flying through the pages, it was full of suspence!

The only thing that I didn't love about this book was the insta-love, Emily and Wyn's love story was cute but they couldn't imagine life without eachother after their third date, so there was no tension or slow burn whatsoever.

However, the characters were all very well written and Ashley and Catherine were such intriguing characters. I also absolutely loved Lydia, she was by far my favourite character in the book.

I also noticed several Taylor Swift references, I know this won't be for everyone, but I am a big fan.

Overall I really enjoyed this book! It is PERFECT for the spooky season so it's release at the end of September could not have been timed better. I am super glad that I ordered the special edition copy from Waterstones, I can't wait to receive this😍🧙‍♀️

I absolutely loved the author’s writing, it was magical, atmospheric and mysterious! The whole concept of the story is quite enchanting, after the death of her father, our heroine Emily finds out the truth about her family and consequently about herself: she comes from an ancient family of witches. The idea of the Bells’ family history is super interesting, they initially seem like a standard old money american family, with Emily’s grandmother, Catherine, very stuck on traditions, rules and with a strict, old vision of the “order of things”, but that is actually because she’s trying to preserve her family’s power.
Emily’s reactions were also fit for a proper gothic novel, with her discoveries, her faintings and visions!
The only aspects that didn’t win me over were the romance which was too insta-lovey (with the main character being a bit too perfect😅, especially for a 17 yo boy) and some dialogues that Emily had with characters her age like with Lydia and Jackson (they seemed a bit forced imo!).
However, i found this to be a nice witchy read, perfect for the upcoming season🍂✨


Thank you to netgalley and HarperCollins for a free earc, all opinions are my own!

I was lucky enough to hear a sample of this as a Waterstones event with Lindsey herself and I just knew this was the book for me! Lindsey never misses and knowing she has stepped into the world of fantasy was the crossover event I have been dreaming out. The storytelling, the character development and the twists. Dammit she is good!

[RATE: 2.5/5] This book was pretty far from what I expected, it was more atmospheric, way more heavier on the romance than on the magic. So it sadly didn't do it for me.

It's very slow: we're only starting to talk about magic/witch (you know, the title's book mention) at around 38%/150 pages. It was a long way to go.

There aren't any depth in all of the characters and even in Emily's one, and the romance is very insta-love with "i love you"s said way too early, so it bothered me a lot. On the magical side, it was very interesting but it was sadly a "tell don't show" writing and while we got told Emily got better with her powers we didn't saw how it evolved, just a sudden "after a week of training now she can do that that and also that". We aren't shown enough magic Emily can do.

This book 1 was also very predictable: no surprises! As soon as something is mentionned, you know what will be the plot twist in 200 pages from there.

The magic is put as a subplot for almos 80% of the book... The last 20% are however way more interesting and intense! There were finally the magic, rituals, risky situations and confronting the bad ones that I was waiting for all along.
It was unsurprisingly the only thing I really liked. Yes, only 20%. Which means I won't be reading the next book when there will be one.

This is a very atmospheric YA novel with a great setting and witchy vibes! I must admit that I was hesitant to start this book because I was unfamiliar with the author, and the vast majority of YA novels I’ve read lately have missed the mark for me. However, I’m happy to report that this one turned out to be a pleasant surprise, and I had a really good time with it!

The main character, Emily, moves from the UK to Savannah, Georgia, to live with her grandmother and aunt, her only remaining relatives after her father’s death. Soon, she discovers that her family hides a secret: magic runs through their generations. Things become even more complicated when Emily meets a charming boy named Wyn, whose situation turns out to be as complex as hers.

There are several aspects of this novel that I really liked, the first being the lush, gothic atmosphere of the American South. I think the setting is what really makes this book work. The plot isn’t particularly complicated or original, and the twists are fairly easy to predict, but that didn’t bother me because the vibes here are impeccable. The book is also very fast-paced; there isn’t a single scene that doesn’t push the story forward, which I really appreciated.

As for the romantic plot, Emily and Wyn fall in love very quickly. I imagine some readers might prefer a slower burn with more character development. While I do enjoy a slow burn, this is a book about teenagers, and it’s quite normal, I believe, for 17-year-olds to fall fast and hard. So for me, the way their relationship developed wasn’t really a flaw. I do wish we had learned more about Wyn and his family, but I’m certain we’ll get that in the sequel. Other secondary characters, like Emily’s aunt and her twin friends, also have great potential for further development.

All in all, I was pleasantly surprised by this book. It’s a solid source of entertainment if you don’t overthink it and just let yourself get swept up in the atmosphere and fast-paced plot. I’m certain it will be a great pick for its target age group, as well as for some older readers like me.

Thank you to Netgalley for this advanced EARC in exchange for an honest review.
I loved the setting of this novel, and it's made me want to visit Savannah. It was beautifully drawn, and made me feel like I was there. The concept is fun and I'm interested to see where the author takes Emily's journey as she fully discovers her powers and navigates her love life dramas.
I occasionally found this a little slow and meandering, and finished the book feeling it was a bit of a set up for another, more detailed story. The characters are written very young, and I felt some of the references to Tiktok and Taylot Swift are likely to date the book very quickly.
Overall a fun idea in a beautiful, mysterious setting.

Having read all of Lindsey's work, I was thrilled to see her venture into YA/Paranormal/romantasy. While there were aspects of the book I enjoyed, the instalove and the ending were somewhat disappointing, resulting in mixed feelings about the read. I found myself wishing for more romance, though I recognize that at 16 or 17, I might have also declared love after just a few dates.
The setting captivated me, and the descriptions within the book were so vivid that at times, I felt transported into the characters' world.
The story's premise was intriguing, especially with its theme of self-discovery.

In summary, I found the story engaging and am keenly anticipating the next installment to see where the journey leads.

In the sweltering summer heat of Savannah, Georgia. Stood before the intimidating Bell House, a southern gothic fairytale brought to life.
Emily is about to unearth family secrets that will change her world forever, in fact it might just end it.

The story follows Emily, who after her father's death, finds herself living half way across the globe with family she never knew existed. While adjusting to her strange new home, the mysterious actions of her Grandmother and Aunt, she discovers secrets steeped it prophecy and magic. These revelations come with a weight of expectation that Emily is unsure she can live up to.

Genuinely Kelk's descriptive writing is transportive, from capturing the southern charm of Savannah to bringing to life the hauntingly beautiful Bell House. The attention to detail makes The Bell Witches an atmospheric and visually rich reading experience.

I adored the vivid writing style, those southern vibes and the way the house is depicted was delicious. I thought the magic system had a unique spin, I liked the ancestral links.
This book made me suspect everyones intentions, whether that says more about me as person or was just great on the books part for the slow unraveling of the mystery, following Emily's journey and learning her family history was very enjoyable.

I wasn't a big fan of the insta-love choice but that's just a personal preference and there were moments when certain characters made massive one-eighties with their behaviours and intentions that just felt unrealistic and left me a little unfulfilled.

That being said I am looking forward seeing what happens in the second book. I am hoping to get to know Lydia and Jackson more, anyone else wanting Lydia to come into her own witchy powers? It can't just be me.
Overall The Bell Witches makes a perfect autumn read full of mystery and magic.

I have pretty much read everything that Lindsey has put out, so I was super excited to see she was delving into YA/Paranormal/romantasy. There were things I really enjoyed about this book and things that I didn't so it was a bit of a mixed read for me.

I loved the setting and the way the setting was described within the book ... Genuinely at times I felt as though I was right there experiencing the environment like the characters. The supporting characters are good and most of the characters had quite a lot of depth.

The actual premise of the story was very interesting and has that getting to know yourself theme running through it but i really enjoyed it.

The things I didn't enjoy were the instalove and the ending felt slightly flat to me. I know there will be a sequel! The instant love thing was a bit far fetched tbh. I think I would have wanted a bit more romance!

Overall I enjoyed the story very much and I will be eagerly awaiting the next book to find out what happens next!

I adore Lindsey Kelk and have read all of her previous work, I was a little sceptical about this one as its most definitely not a genre I particularly enjoy BUT it’s Lindsey, so of course I gave it a shot. I was blown away by just how much I enjoyed it, the story had me gripped right from the beginning, the level of detail and character building and scene setting is incredible and despite this one not even being fully out in the world yet I am itching for the next instalment.
Bravo Kelk, Bravo!

This is exactly what I wanted it to be and I couldn't put it down. The YA witchy vibes with a mystery, southern gothic charm and lots of magic kept me turning pages so fast.

I was expecting this to be a standalone but it seems like it's a series and I'm not mad about it - although I'm not entirely sure where book two is going to go now the big mystery has been solved.

The story unfolds slowly but with enough action and intrigue to keep you reading. There's is a constant feeling that something isn't right but it's so hard to put your finger on exactly what it is and you feel increasingly unsettled alongside Emily.

While I did figure out the majority of the ending just before it happened, it was done so well that I really didn't mind. I did feel that we came to it super quickly though. There is a lot of scene setting and then all of a sudden it's time for the big reveal. Sometimes multiple chapters cover one day and the next we've jumped by several weeks.

All in all, I really loved this book. The descriptions made me feel like I was dying in the Savannah heat, I loved how magic was portrayed and explained and the mystery was multilayered and really interesting. I'll definitely be picking up the next book to see where things go.

A different type of story from Lindsey Kelk, but does not take away from her amazing style if writing.

I was hooked from the first page and I could not put the book down til I knew every word.

The characters are so detailed and draw you into the story instantly and the overall story was brilliantly written and thought out.

I cannot wait to read more.