The Somewhat Wicked Witch of Brigandale by C.M. Waggoner

Synopsis (via Goodreads): A practical witch must sabotage her beloved son's ascension to the throne in order to keep the kingdom from ruin, in this delightful cozy fantasy from the author of The Ruthless Lady’s Guide to Wizardry.

Once upon a time, a somewhat wicked witch named Gretsella lived in a cozy little cottage in the Dark Forest of Brigandale. She dispensed herbs and tinctures at reasonable prices, met with her slightly oddball coven on a regular basis, and had absolutely no need of any further company whatsoever, thank you very much. But then one afternoon, Gretsella came home to find a screaming infant on her doorstep.

Against all her better judgement, she took the baby in. She named him Bradley.

Eighteen years later, Bradley has grown into a bafflingly likable young man under Gretsella’s extremely tolerant—one might even say doting—eye. But the witch’s hopes for an unremarkable yet fulfilling life for her son are shattered when small woodland animals start prophesying that he is the lost prince and should ascend to the throne. Bradley ignores Gretsella’s advice that prophecies and talking chipmunks are to be avoided at all costs, and sets off for the capital. But soon confusion and chaos are reigning, and scheming courtiers are using Bradley for their own ends. Sometimes a witch has to roll up her sleeves and take matters into her own cauldron. So Gretsella sets off to bring about the downfall of her darling son…

The Somewhat Wicked Witch of Brigandale was utterly absurd. I really struggled with this one and couldn’t connect with the characters at all. The author has them jumping from one ludicrous situation to the next, and I never felt like there was a good reason for anything they were doing. Gretsella also doesn’t sabotage her son’s kingdom or his ascension to the throne—she actually goes there and fixes what he’s broken.

Bradley is a few slices short of a full loaf and can barely function on his own. I have no idea why a character would be written to be so dull and dimwitted, especially when he was raised by a crafty witch who’s supposed to think several steps ahead. The book also doesn’t mention its LGBTQ+ themes anywhere, but as Gretsella herself puts it, Bradley is easily distracted by anything in trousers. It’s a semi-prevalent part of the story, and I wish it had been advertised—or at least mentioned—somewhere in the book's marketing.

The story would have been far more interesting if Gretsella had actually tried to undermine her son’s authority and sabotage his kingdom to bring him back. Instead, she’s soft-hearted and would never do anything that might truly harm him. I also would have liked to see more of her coven. Other than Gretsella, none of the characters are particularly fleshed out.

The curses were ridiculous—a stain on someone’s shirt? Really?—and the characters left a lot to be desired. There’s very little worldbuilding, and hardly anything makes much sense. I think this was meant to be humorous and a little cheeky, but I went into it expecting a cozy fantasy with witches. 

Overall, it was a very quick read, but the whole thing was incredibly frustrating. I wish I’d stopped reading when I first had an inkling it wasn’t going to work for me, but I kept going to see if it got better. It didn’t. (★★⭑☆☆)

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. My thoughts and opinions are my own. Any quotes I use are from an unpublished copy and may not reflect the finished product.