Despite my grievances with the born-to-rule storyline, I really enjoyed An Intrigue of Witches. Addison crafted a first-rate treasure hunt with plenty of mystery, adventure, and danger to keep it interesting. The pull between groups wanting to uncover the past and keep it hidden was exhilarating. And the extra surprises at the end made it that much better.

Full review at link: https://thecosmiccircus.com/book-review-an-intrigue-of-witches-esme-addison/

I really enjoyed the mystery and secret society here. The characters are multidimensional and the foreshadowing is on point. If you enjoy female sleuths or secret societies this is definitely a book for you.

# An Intrigue of Witches
# 7/4/2024 ~ 7/5/2024
# 4.0 / 5.0

Though not to my taste, this skilful melding of actual European and American colonial history, and conspiracy theories and magic makes for an interesting story.

History researcher Sidney Taylor is is let go from the Smithsonian, to her shock, and she returns to her grandmother’s home in the small town of Robbinsville in North Carolina. Sidney feels loved and at peace with her grandmother, and is immediately recruited by local museum owner Abner Robbins to find a rumoured artifact. Sidney begins following clues in an old letter preserved at the museum, solving puzzles and piecing together disparate clues which lead to stories about an ancient Egyptian queen fleeing across Europe, with her Scottish descendants escaping to America, and the persecution of women rumoured to be witches. All this is tied to a present day initiative to spread virtual reality (VR) across first the US then the world. It seems a stretch, but author Esme Addison constructs a history melding actual facts with the conflicts between two in-story, powerful dynasties, and to a global technological initiative.

The story moves along well, with an interesting, intelligent main character navigating through revelations about North Carolina’s and the US’ past, with the shock of how her own family’s past is tied to all that she learns about the technological and political developments in the US and the world.

As I already mentioned, this story wasn’t for me, but it is compelling, with interesting family dynamics, fascinating historical facts, and a terrific group of women who have been working for years to protect the world.

Thank you to Netgalley and to Severn House for this ARC in exchange for my review.

I couldn't really get into this one. The main character on paper sounds intriguing but she wasn't dynamic enough. There was also way too much this book was trying to do and way too many moving parts before we really get to know anyone

An outstanding amalgamation of multiple genres! I went in expecting the action, adventure, puzzles, mystery & history of National Treasure plus the magic and fantasy of Discovery of Witches. I got all that plus an evil conspiracy theory sci-fi twist & a touch of love interest. This book kept me guessing every step of the way! Entertaining and intriguing from start to finish! I certainly hope to see more from this series.

I couldn't quite work out what this book was - smart young woman loses her job but moves to stay with her grandmother in a small town romance style, historical mystery, conspiracy theory, magic... It's all of them. All the threads are woven together pretty neatly and it's a decent plot, but the main character doesn't really stand out as much as she should do, she lacks a little spark. It's a reasonably enjoyable read and the bad guy plot was a good one, but overall it wasn't really for me.

Introducing the Secret Society mystery series, and kick-ass red-headed heroine Sidney, a Black historian poised on the brink of discovering her true past . . . and her hidden witchy powers!

This was fun, but nothing groundbreaking. I enjoyed it and look forward to more books in the series.

I received an advanced readers copy of this book from Netgalley (Thank you Severn House)
This is an action adventure story that focuses on colonial American history, secret societies, and ancient artifacts saving the world.

This novel is nonstop action, mixed with history and family connections. The novel focuses on. Sidney, who works for the Smithsonian but becomes furloughed. Needing to pay the bills, she gets an offer from an old colleague, Abner, who will give her $1 million if she can locate a missing artifact. She’ll need to return to her hometown to do it. But it turns out, she’s not the only one looking for it. The race is on, but can Sidney find it first, and keep it out of the wrong hands?

This novel has a combination of genres, ranging from action/adventure to mystery, and fantasy to time-travel fiction. While this is on-trend, it did make the novel feel like a whirlwind, in some places. The pacing of the novel is really quick, and covers a lot of different topics, with the majority of them relating to colonial American history. The author noted, at the end of the novel, that a couple of the characters were inspired by true people, which I thought was fascinating.

My favorite character in the novel was Sidney’s grandmother, Fiona. I absolutely loved her style, her strength throughout the novel, and love for her family.

Overall, the vibes of the novel are National Treasure and Indiana Jones, but with a dash of magic.

3.5 upped to 4
I fell in love with the cover and liked the story.
There's a lot of potential in this story and I enjoyed it as there's a likeable and fleshed out FMC, a lovely setting, and intriguing fictional historical background.
It's fast paced and it kept me reading.
It's not a 5* because there's too much going on and sometimes I felt a bit overwhelmed.
That said I cannot wait to read the next instalment.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

There was just too many different themes going in this book. It felt a bit convoluted. I just couldn’t get into it. DNF’d at 70 pages in.

I took a while to get into this one. But I think that’s probably down to my expectations, rather than the fact that there was anything wrong with the book. Sidney is an engaging protagonist. Despite coming from a wealthy, highly connected family, she is personally struggling to make ends meet and her expected career path is unexpectedly cut short, when she is let go for no apparent good reason.

She returns to Robbinsville, North Carolina – the small, historic town where her grandmother lives and where she has fond memories of staying with her. There is a cosy charm around her grandmother’s home and the town itself, which works as a nice foil to the increasingly sinister events that begin to stack up. Especially as Sidney is forced to the conclusion that people she’s known for a long time must be trying to put a stop to her investigation. There is a lot of puzzling out of clues and looking at historical documents and artefacts. I found the snippets regarding the history fascinating – especially as a fair bit of it is intertwined with real people and even the myth of Queen Scota of Egypt ending up in Scotland turns out to be a thing. Apparently that’s where the name Scotland comes from!

While the steady accretion of clues initially takes the forefront of the storytelling, the aggression against Sidney begins to ramp up. And once it all kicks off, the pace doesn’t ease off until the end. There is some far-fetched stuff in the mix – but Addison’s confident writing enabled me to suspend my disbelief until the end of the book. While I get a tad weary of the Chosen One trope, Addison manages to put a fresh spin on it and I found this an entertaining read. Recommended for fantasy fans who enjoy a thriller vibe that doesn’t become too grittily gory. While I obtained an arc of An Intrigue of Witches from the publishers via Netgalley, the opinions I have expressed are unbiased and my own.
8/10

An Intrigue of Witches follows Sidney, recently furloughed from the Smithsonian and presented with an opportunity of a lifetime - to find a treasure in exchange for a million dollars. However, all is not what it seems, and Sidney sets down a path of discovery of her own history (indeed with plenty of intrigue, and yes, witches!) gaining knowledge that has the power to change the world.

This book gave me da vinci code vibes, but on a smaller scale - less traveling, more local town mystery. What is fascinating is Esme builds her novel on elements of historical fact which I found absolutely fascinating. It's one of those books where you finish and immediately want to research the characters mentioned.

A super enjoyable read!

Sidney Taylor is tempted away from the fast paced Washington DC with the chance to find a missing archaeological treasure. But is this all that it is made up to be?
The book was an enjoyable action mystery complete with good character development and a quick pace making it an enjoyable read.

I received this arc from Net Galley to read and review. Pros: witches, mysteries, strong female lead who is smart/educated, and diversity. Cons: pacing, too much explaining, the plot was over-complicated in parts, and there was some bad decisions. Overall it was a decent, quick read that has history and magic. Rated a 3.5 but rounded to a 4

DNF at 22%

Only 10 chapters in and the story is going in too many different directions to follow. Way too much of an info. dump and not focused enough on the main character. Also some major editing flaws like when she turns off her phone because of low battery but then a few pages later she turns it off, again?

I was really excited for a book marketed as National Treasure meets A Discovery of Witches, but this is not it. The politics and threat of AI in this book is weird and also so many modern references to YouTube, TikTok, and even Black Mirror which took me out of the fantasy element.

Thank you to NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for my honest review.

I was attracted to this book because of it's interesting premise however I think the book really suffered from trying to do way too much. Not only were their witches there was time travel, royal blood lines, American president conspiracies, ancient artifacts, virtual reality, quantum physics and so much more. This book read like a first draft, I found the writing very simplistic and the characters one dimensional. The author obviously put a lot of thought into the myths and puzzles in this story but it lacked layers and nuance to be a truly strong book. I think there is potential here but I wish it had gone through many more rounds of edits. Thank you to netgalley and severn house for a free digital advance reader copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This is the first book in the Secret Society Mystery series. Of course I had to grab it up as I enjoy stories about witches and certainly need to get in on the first of a new series.

Description:
Thirty-year-old Black woman Sidney Taylor is a talented early American history professor, working in fast-paced Washington DC, with her eyes on promotion. She’s also currently persona non grata. Who knew that making an inconvenient historical discovery would see her stuck at her desk, shuffling paper?


So when she receives an anonymous and very cryptic invitation to visit historic small-town Robbinsville, North Carolina and hunt for a missing archaeological treasure – with a million-dollar pay out at stake – it’s one she can’t refuse. Besides, her beloved grandmother lives in Robbinsville, and it’s been too long since she’s paid her a visit.


Soon, Sidney's on an exciting treasure hunt, following two-hundred-year-old clues that lead her ever closer to the artefact she’s searching for. But what is the artefact? And why is Sidney starting to feel like she’s at the heart of a terrifying conspiracy she doesn’t understand?


The answer blows Sidney’s world apart, plunging her into a dark, glittering world of secret societies, ancient bloodlines, witches and magic, linked to an ages-old conspiracy that could destroy the very principles upon which America was founded.

My Thoughts:
There's a lot going on in this story which involved politics, black history, secret societies, conspiracy theories, and even a little romance. I found it hard to keep up sometimes. I enjoyed the story and the magic and time travel elements. I liked the historical aspects of the book and how it brought the story together. Sidney is a good character - very likable. I also liked the treasure hunt and the revealing of the clues. This made it fun. Overall, a good story. I will likely read the next in the series and see where it leads.

Thanks to Severn House through Netgalley for an advance copy.

Thanks to NetGalley and Severn House!

The first book in the Secret Society Mystery Series was a big win for me. Imagine National Treasure mixed with A Discovery of Witches, and you get a glimpse of the adventure the reader is in for. I loved learning about Sidney and her family, and can’t wait to get my hands on book 2!

“An Intrigue of Witches” is a mystery historical book by Esme Addison.

Rating: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
Plot: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
Characters: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
Suspense: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

What you’ll find in this book:
⭐️ History (lots of it)
⭐️ Witch hunters
⭐️ Virtual Reality (this scared me a lot)
⭐️ Urban Fantasy/ Mystery
⭐️ Treasure Hunt

I picked up this book because of the title and the description as I love witches and a good mystery, but unfortunately, it wasn’t what I thought. The pace is quick and the writing is exceptional but I am just not so keen on history and this book has lots of it (true or not), witches on the other hand not so much that was disappointing.

The book follows the story of Sidney, a black 30yo red hair woman who out of the blue gets involved in a historical loop and treasure hunt of an Egyptian artefact. Moving to her grandmother’s small town she will have to unfold the secrets of her family's past while staying alive. This book is the first in the “A Secret Society Mystery” series.

In the mix of witch hunts, you will find a virtual reality trope that I hope remains fiction because the thought of it becoming our future reality totally scared me.

I would definitely recommend it to all lovers of history and urban fantasy.

Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for my early copy. All opinions are mine and sincere.

This is an absolute romp and I loved it! Forget about Dan Brown and white guys finding magic or otherwise powerful artifacts: give us a series of this amazing fantasy about--literally--Black girl magic. Sidney is asked to help search of an important artifact in her small North Carolina hometown, and in doing so uncovers secret societies, secret passageways, secret objects, secret networks, and much much more, including genetic secrets. The novel is fast-paced and smart and deals with race and passing and heritage and legacy in thoughtful ways. The characters feel real and nuanced, and while there's a very light dusting of het romance, the story is far less about getting a man than it is about coming into your own power. Esme Addison, please write some more!