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Witch
240 pages
A pulpy, tangled descent into 90s teen angst where psychic visions collide with messy, high-stakes revenge.
What it feels like
Reading this book feels like unearthing a time capsule of 90s teen horror, complete with all the pulpy melodrama and edgy angst that defined the era. The atmosphere is soaked in a nostalgic, eerie dread, driven by a protagonist burdened with visions she can barely control. It is a chaotic, tangled experience where supernatural destiny collides abruptly with grounded, gritty violence like gas station holdups and revenge plots. The prose is choppy and dialogue-heavy, leaning hard into the campy, coincidence-riddled twists that fans of vintage thrillers devour. While the pacing wanders through its convoluted mysteries, the sheer earnestness of its high-stakes teen drama keeps you hooked. It is a perfect fit for readers who love their supernatural suspense served with a heavy dose of retro, slightly messy charm.
- Mood
- eerie
- angsty
- nostalgic
- suspenseful
- Tone
- melodramatic
- edgy
- campy
- earnest
- Pace
- meandering
- Themes
- burden of foresight · supernatural inheritance · teen revenge · fatalism
- The writing
- Choppy and dialogue-heavy, leaning into pulpy melodrama and abrupt, edgy transitions.
- The arc
- Moves from a heavy sense of impending doom to a chaotic, desperate scramble for control over fate.
- Who it's for
- Fans of vintage 90s YA horror who enjoy convoluted supernatural mysteries and high-stakes teen angst.
Content notes
- gun violence
- murder
- sexism
- death of a parent
About the book
From Publishers Weekly In this hokey, meandering novel, Julia is a girl gifted with a healing touch and the power to glimpse the future. When she sees a vision of her best friend's boyfriend, Jim, shot and bleeding to death, she does her best to keep him out of danger. But then another friend is shot while witnessing a gas station holdup, and Julia and Jim set out to wreak revenge on the gunman. Meanwhile, Julia's best friend discovers that the gunman just happens to be the deranged former boyfriend of Kary, the recently deceased half-sister Julia never knew. Julia's mother--also a healer--had died in an attempt to save Kary's life. In another part of town, a carload of good witches is hot on Julia's trail, determined to keep her from abusing her powers. Typically, Pike's writing is peppy enough to animate his most tangled plots; here, however, his style becomes choppy and unconvincing--unable to sustain the coincidence-riddled story. In addition, the text is littered with sexist one-liners which, along with a humorless running "joke," are as irritating as they are offensive. Ages 13-up. Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Description from Open Library.
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