Serena’s Review: “The Hedge Witch of Fox Hall”

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Book: “The Hedge Witch of Foxhall” by Anna Bright

Publishing Info: HarperTeen, March 2024

Where Did I Get this Book: from the publisher!

Where Can You Get this Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | IndieBound

Book Description: In this gorgeous stand-alone fantasy romance perfect for fans of Margaret Rogerson and Allison Saft, a rebellious witch undertakes a last-ditch quest to restore magic to medieval Wales—as two princes vie for her heart.

Ffion is the last hedgewitch in Foxhall. To work her magic, she takes only what nature can spare, unlike the witches of the powerful Foxhall coven, who sacrifice whole forests to fuel their spells. But across the warring kingdoms of Wales, all magic is fading. Even the dragons have vanished.

Prince Taliesin would love nothing more than to watch magic die. But when his father charges Tal and his brother, Dafydd, with destroying King Offa’s dyke—the massive earthen wall raised by their Mercian enemies to the east, which may be the cause of magic’s disappearance—he begrudgingly seeks aid from a witch.

Because whichever prince succeeds in destroying the dyke will win the throne, and Tal is willing to do whatever it takes to become king. Even if the Foxhall coven refuses to help him. Even if he’s forced to team up with a spitfire hedgewitch who hates him almost as much as he hates her magic. And even if Dafydd proves to be a worthier rival than he anticipated…for the crown, and for Ffion’s heart.

Review: This book has flown very under the radar as far as YA fantasy releases this spring season. And it’s really too bad, because this is definitely one of those cases where the “read-alike” authors, Allison Saft and Margaret Rogerson, both very popular for good reason, are perfectly paired with this title! There were perhaps a few stumbles here and there, but the basic bones of this book (its lovable characters, its whimsical fantasy elements, and the sweet romance at its heart) are just the sort to appeal to many readers looking for their next cozy fantasy read!

I really loved pretty much everything about this book! This was especially surprising because when I started it I had some concerns about the formatting, with the narrative split between three different characters: Ffion, and then the half-brothers, Tal and Dafydd. It also seemed to be split evenly, with the story formulaically alternating from one character, to the next, to the next, and repeat. But, after I started reading, I was pleased to see that even though they had equal numbers of chapters, Dafydd’s were much shorter than the other two, letting me focus in on Tal and Ffion for much of the story.

And really, it’s with these two characters that the story really lives and dies. Through both characters, we explore a wide spectrum of challenging relationships with parental figures, with both Tal and Ffion largely shaping their lives around decisions made in direct correlation with their struggles with their parents. Further, they each have an intriguing arc of self-discovery and self-acceptance. Tal, especially, starts the story with a very specific understanding of himself, but over the course of the book, he comes to a new view on his role in the world, while still staying true to his core character. And, for her part, Ffion was simply great in every way! She’s the kind of spunky but sympathetic character that I love rooting for. Aggressively independent, much of her story is coming to learn how to rely on and trust others.

I also loved the romance between Tal and Ffion. Their prickly relationship was laugh-out-loud funny at times, and the author perfectly nailed the type of “showing” moments that demonstrated their growing love for one another. For a book where we had both characters’ perspectives, it was refreshing how little time each of them devoted to mentally reflecting on their relationship with one another. Instead, the reader was often given small moments, often viewed from the opposite character’s perspective, to see their love blossom.

Now, as you may have noticed, we haven’t talked much about Dafydd. You might think this is because I absolutely hated this character or something, but surprisingly, I actually ended up very much enjoying him on his own merits. That said, his story largely felt tacked on to Tal and Ffion’s throughout much of the book. He has an arc of his own that was satisfying (especially given the small page count he was given to cover it), but many of his chapters, especially in the first half, felt largely unnecessary to the primary conflict and story on hand. Worst of all, the author used him to set up a love triangle, one that didn’t even really come into play until after the 50% marker, which is way too late for it to have any real weight. Luckily, it seems the author was aware of this, and the characters themselves reflect on the pre-existing camaraderie (if not love, yet) between Tal and Ffion. But even in this best case scenario, it once again put Dafydd in a superfluous position. In almost every way that matters, he would have been just as successful as a side character who never had POV chapters of his own. That said, he would also be a great main character in his own right, so it was a weird mixture of things where the character was good, but he wasn’t used well in the story we found him in.

So that’s most of my review, and it’s all character focused! But I will say that the book is solid in every other regard as well. The pacing is steady, the writing style is engaging, and the mystery at the story’s heart was compelling (if perhaps a bit predictable.) There were also some incredibly heart-wrenching scenes, especially in the beginning, that I wasn’t expecting. But, without getting into too many spoilers, everything does work out in a satisfying manner in the end. There were tears, however.

Overall, this was a thoroughly fun read! I had some quibbles about the love triangle and the third main character, but the strength of the first two and their romance was more than enough to carry me through! I’ll definitely be checking out more from this author in the future, and, as the blurb says, if you’re a fan of Saft or Rogerson, this is definitely one to add to your TBR pile!

Rating 8: Full of magic, romance and adventure, this was the perfect stand-alone fantasy story I was looking for!

Reader’s Advisory:

“The Hedge Witch of Foxhall” can be found on these Goodreads lists: Epic High Fantasy/Romance/Mythology in 2024 and The Most Beautiful Covers of 2024.