The sea is a vast and wondrous thing, marvellous yet utterly petrifying, but is it the place the Erl King can be stopped once and for all?
 
Seawitch is the third novel in the Hedgewitch series by Skye McKenna, released on 26th September by Welbeck Children’s Books.
 
Cassie Morgan is preparing for the ever-approaching Summer Holidays. As she spends her time to eager to achieve her Sapling pin, facing off against Ivy, and basking in the magic of her coven and life in Hedgely, she receives a letter from her cousin Sebastian. In Porthmorven, strange and peculiar things are beginning to happen and Sebastian needs Cassie, Rue and Tabitha’s help.
 
At first the request seems simple enough, until Cassie learns Porthmorven is a Faerie border town like Hedgely. Suddenly, Sebastian’s issues may not be as straightforward as they initially thought. To make things even more difficult, to earn her Sapling pin, Cassie must train a fellow witch and, for the first time ever, that witch is a boy! With the rest of her patrol, and newbie Robin in tow, they set off to Porthmorven.
 
Armed with their magic, the warnings of the Hedgewitch, and minimal knowledge of the Seawitch’s territory, they aim to uncover Sebastian’s mystery and stop whatever disturbs life in the Cornish town. However, with the Seawitch nowhere to be found, Cassie eager to discover the entrance to Faerie and the potential new route to her parents, and the distance thrum of bells only she can hear, can the patrol solve the eerie town’s riddles and work out the Erl King’s involvement before the sea destroys not only Porthmorven but them too?!
 
First off, I want to discuss the lore of it all. There are plenty Middle Grade series that, by book three, have lost their steam or have stretched their lore to thin, shaky, dull grounds. Skye McKenna’s world and magic building is as fruitful in book three as it was in book one, which to me is the mark of both an exceptional idea and an equally exceptional idea. Not a single new strand to this world was forced, or woven out of necessity, it all felt natural and comfortable to engage in as a reader.
 
Cassie’s story is growing as she is. Her confidence in herself, her abilities, and her relationships with everyone around her continues to build in this novel and I, for one, am eternally grateful when author’s do this. There’s an awfully eerie feeling when time progresses in a character’s story but the character, especially a protagonist, doesn’t seem to be going anywhere and, thankfully, Skye McKenna has made sure that isn’t the case with Cassie. In fact, there were some great threads laid in this novel, I’m excited to see where they’re taken in future novels.
 
Porthmorven is such a deliciously described place in Seawitch that I, honestly, was so shocked to discover it wasn’t a real place when I googled about halfway through the book. The town, its geography, the people and residents all felt so real. Of course, you can tell McKenna has gathered influence from real Cornish towns, but the inhabitants and environment of this one made it jump off the page and be somewhere I wish I could visit.

The series is ramping up in seriousness. The threat of the Erl King, the obstacles faced by the patrol, the internal battles all four of Cassie, Rue, Tabitha and Robin face, they’re all heading towards somewhere that’s both suitably darker and enticing in future novels. I, for one, enjoyed every page of Seawitch and cannot wait to delve back into this world in the future.
 
In the meantime, I’m off to go and dream of a summer in Porthmorven…

Seawitch, the third book in the BRILLIANT Hedgewitch series, has to be my favourite so far. Cassie and her friends are spending the summer in Cornwall but far from having a restful time they are swept up in a dangerous adventure full of fantastical creatures, mystery and magic. At the heart of this series is also the theme of friendship. Once again, Cassie and her friends must work together to overcome adversity while setting aside their prejudices on the subject of who can be a witch.

Seawitch is a cracking read and I would happily give it 6/5 stars. If you haven’t ventured into the Hedge yet then what are you waiting for!

is the third book in Sky McKenna’s Hedgewitch series, and is an excellent sequel to Hedgewitch and Woodwitch. This time the setting is in and around the seaside town of Porthmorven, where Oak Patrol end up visiting on their summer holidays. This new setting is a character in its own right, and it really lends some extra magic to the story — sea creatures and merpeople abound!

Seawitch is just as exciting as its predecessors, and I can’t wait to see what happens next for Cassie and co. Each book delves deeper into the mystery of Cassie’s missing mum, and it’s fascinating how everything is coming together. I really enjoyed the switch to the seaside, as it allowed for a fresh location and a few new characters to make their mark. It also lets us see how Cassie gets on without the Hedgewitch, utilising her magic skills and taking on a bit more responsibility.

This series has become a firm 8+ favourite of mine over the last year, thanks to Skye McKenna’s fantastic storytelling of witches and faeries. It’s absolutely perfect for anyone who likes Michelle Harrison’s 13 series, and I can’t recommend it enough. It’s a magical, addictive addition to middle grade fiction, and it should be a lot more popular than it currently is. I really love it!

Another fantastic episode in the life of Cassie Morgan, as she tries to entangle the mystery surrounding the disappearance of her mother.. On a visit to the coast with her friends, she finds that there are strange things happening and the local sea witch is no longer fulfilling her duties. The question is whether Cassie and the rest of her group can solve the mystery and help the community get back to some form of equilibrium. Another brilliant adventure where the characters face many challenges and have to question what it is to be a witch (and whether a boy can be a witch).

I was SO excited to get my hands on this book! I loved the first 2 in the series and am just a little obsessed with them and recommend them to everyone I can. This 3rd instalment did not disappoint! I love Cassie and it’s such a joy to read about her adventures to becoming a better witch and growing in confidence as she does. I liked the new setting for this book as it opened up possibilities for new creatures and characters. I think I just want to live in Cassie’s world and be working towards my badges too! I loved it and can’t wait for another one! I would also love if this series was made into a tv show.
Perfect for fans of James Nicol’s Apprentice Witch series.

You can still enjoy this book as a stand alone story without having read the first two instalments.
This book picks up from the story in Woodwitch. Cassie is now looking for a book and she is getting ready to take a test. Cassie is a trainee witch and had a familiar cat. Cassie comes across several challenges, conflicts and adventures and needs to solve problems arising near their home.
The intrigue and attention are sustained throughout.
5/5 for the plot, 4.5 for the characterisation and the prose, 4.75 for the setting and the mood.
Overall, a 5-star adventure for older (KS2 and up) children.

With many readers looking either for something similar to read after they picked up the ever-popular Harry Potter series, or a more up-to-date and more inclusive/less problematic alternative to enjoy, Skye McKenna’s Hedgewitch series is one that I cannot recommend highly enough.

Now onto its third title, these are wonderful fantasies crammed full of friendship, magic and mystery – stories that are meant for reading under the covers and that leave you begging for more as we again join heroine trainee witch Cassie as she finds herself on another incredible adventure and edges closer and closer to finding out the secret of her mother’s disappearance beyond the Hedge into the land of Faerie.

After her exploits in Woodwitch, we meet Cassie scanning the shelves of Widdershin’s Bookshop in the hopes of tracking down the book she is hunting, watched by her familiar, cat Montague, who is proving to be no help whatsoever. Finally spotting it, as she moves to catch it in her net, the pile of books on which she is standing gives way and she finds herself in a heap on the floor in front of a customer – a stranger who asks her about the book. Telling them that she is trying to use it to find out about the contents of a book called The Wanderers, they discuss the poem within which appears to describe a group of seven ancient faery treasures before the visitor leaves.

Back at home, Cassie talks to her aunt Miranda, the Hedgewitch, and tells her that she feels ready for the Sapling test that will allow her to move to the next stage of her witch training and is told that rather than it being an exam, she will need to train a new witch – something that Cassie is unsure she will be able to do as there are no girls about to join her coven. All thoughts of this are put to one side though when they are visited by the Beldame of the Witches’ Assembly, who brings grave news of the wicked Erl King’s latest activities and Cassie suggests that he is trying to acquire the faery treasures for his own nefarious schemes.

At the final Coven meeting before the summer break, Cassie and the other girls are introduced to their newest member – someone to whom many of the trainee witches take an instant dislike – but spotting the opportunity to pass their Sapling tests, Cassie and Tabitha agree to let them join their Patrol. When a letter comes from Cassie’s cousin Sebastian asking her to join him for the summer at his home in coastal Porthmorven to help solve a mystery, she and the other members of Oak Patrol head to the seaside town in the hopes of a few weeks of fun and sunshine. But very quickly, Cassie and the others learn that something is going on in their new surroundings. With the Seawitch, the Hedgewitch’s counterpart, locked away in her home and refusing to carry out her responsibilities, Cassie and the others soon find that things are not as they should be. Discovering that Porthmorven is the only other place that borders on Faerie, can Cassie work out just what is going on and put it right or will those on the other side of the boundary take full advantage of the Seawitch’s absence to wreak havoc in the human world…

This is a series that just gets better and better with each instalment. Here, Cassie is gaining in confidence as she learns the skills and knowledge necessary to follow in her mother’s footsteps and is starting to show an increased maturity as she not only takes on the responsibility of training up Oak Patrol’s newest member but also faces the very real possibility that the truths she is uncovering about her mother’s disappearance are going to be painful ones.

Where our first two titles were set close to the Hedge, here we move away from the area monitored and cared for by its Hedgewitch guardian to the only other place where Faerie can be accessed, which brings with it a wealth of magical creatures, folklore and history for us to be hooked by. As the author uses this shift to introduce us to new characters, some of whom I suspect will have increasingly important roles to play later on in the series, we are swept away by a narrative that is rich and exciting and one that ends with lots of unanswered questions for both Cassie and the reader.

There is so much more that I want to say about this title but won’t because of spoilers but what I will say is that it includes an idea so brilliantly obvious that when you read it you will, quite possibly, wonder why it has not been used before. Let me just dangle a metaphorical carrot in front of you and tell you that it is a big part of what is a wonderful story and one that many children will really relate to.

Perfect for confident readers n Year 4 upwards, while this does include enough of the backstory from Cassie’s first two adventures to work as a standalone read, I would recommend that you read the series in order to get the most from it – it is utterly brilliant and you will be so very glad that you did.

My enormous thanks go to publisher Hachette and to Net Galley for my advance virtual read. Seawitch publishes in hardback on 26th September and paperback on February 27th 2025 and is most definitely one to preorder.