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Disenchanted rewitch
Author: Lucy Jane WoodPage Count: UnknownPublication Date: Expected publication 2026-09-08 APL The garden hose hisses like a disgruntled old woman at a bad haircut, and the kids are already tangled in the sprinkler’s web, their laughter the kind that makes you want to both join in and demand they turn it off immediately. Meanwhile, Disenchanted—the third book in Lucy Jane Wood’s Rewitched series—promises to be the kind of cozy fantasy that either soothes or infuriates, depending on whether you’ve already surrendered to its charm or are still holding out for something with a little more bite. Because let’s be honest, the synopsis reads like a fairy tale itself, the kind that starts with “once upon a time” and ends with “and they lived happily ever after”—except in this case, the happily ever after is a curse, and the witch in question has spent her whole life trying to outrun it. Sage Hemlock is the kind of protagonist who makes you root for her precisely because she’s so stubbornly unromantic. She’s not a reluctant witch because she’s afraid of her powers—she’s afraid of them. The way the synopsis frames her rejection of magic as a refusal to be “betrayed” again is telling. It’s the same logic that makes people avoid love after a bad breakup, or avoid commitment after a string of disappointments. But here’s the thing: magic, like love, doesn’t care about your boundaries. And that’s the crux of the tension. The curse isn’t just a plot device; it’s a metaphor for the inescapable nature of fate, or destiny, or whatever you want to call it. Wood, who already nailed this dynamic in Uncharmed, seems to understand that the most compelling conflicts aren’t the ones we choose—they’re the ones that choose us. Yet—and here’s where the synopsis starts to feel a little too neat—there’s no real ambiguity about Sage’s arc. She’s either going to embrace her magic or she’s not. There’s no middle ground, no gray area, no moment where she might almost accept it and then pull back. That’s not to say it’s a bad thing—The Cruel Prince made its money on clear-cut moral lines, and The Priory of the Orange Tree thrived on its own brand of black-and-white heroism—but it does make me wonder if Wood is leaning too hard into the “cozy” label. Cozy fantasy is supposed to be escapist, yes, but it also needs a little edge, a little something that makes it feel like more than just a warm blanket wrapped around a predictable story. Speaking of predictable—why does every fantasy series these days have to involve a cursed book? It’s like the publishing industry has a collective unconscious that says, “If we include a book, we can guarantee a plot.” The Name of the Wind had it. The Lies of Locke Lamora had it. Now Disenchanted is going to have it. That is certainly a choice. Maybe it’s a safe one, but safe doesn’t always mean bad. Still, I can’t help but think that if Wood wanted to subvert the trope, she could’ve done something more interesting than just… well, a cursed book. But then again, maybe that’s the point. Maybe the whole thing is about the inevitability of fairy tales, the way they seep into our lives whether we want them to or not. And then there’s the matter of Casimir. Oh, Casimir. The synopsis drops him into the mix like a plot device with a side of “cute,” and I can already see the problem. He’s either going to be a love interest who exists solely to make Sage question her denial of magic, or he’s going to be a distraction, a fairy-tale prince who doesn’t actually add anything to the story beyond “look at how handsome he is.” Either way, it feels like a missed opportunity. What if he were more than just a walking cliché? What if he were a character with his own agency, his own flaws, his own reasons for being there? But no—it’s easier to lean into the trope than to actually develop a person. And that’s where Disenchanted risks falling flat. But let’s talk about the real issue here: the synopsis is too vague. It doesn’t tell us enough about the curse, or how it works, or what Sage’s relationship with the coven is beyond “they’re on her tail.” It doesn’t even give us a clear sense of the stakes beyond “save everyone from being lost to a fairy tale forever.” That’s not a bad thing—it’s just lazy. Readers deserve more than a tease. They deserve a hint of the world-building, a sense of the magic system, something to make them care. Because right now, it all feels like it could be any other cozy fantasy, and that’s not enough to set it apart. I mean, come on—how many times have we seen this exact setup? A reluctant heroine, a magical mishap, a love interest who’s either a prince or a grumpy witch, and a race against time to fix whatever she’s broken. It’s the fantasy equivalent of a rom-com where the only thing that changes is the setting. And yet, Wood has a knack for making these stories feel fresh, so I’m holding out hope that Disenchanted will do something unexpected. Maybe the curse isn’t what it seems. Maybe Sage’s denial isn’t the only thing standing in her way. Maybe—just maybe—she’ll find a way to embrace her magic without losing herself in the process. But then again, maybe not. Maybe it’s all just going to be a neat little package, wrapped up in a bow, with a happy ending that feels a little too easy. And that’s fine. Cozy fantasy isn’t supposed to be hard. It’s supposed to be comforting. But if Wood wants to make this more than just another entry in the “reluctant witch saves the day” genre, she’s going to have to do more than just drop a cursed book into the mix. I need to explain to the teenager why the Wi-Fi is down again. Apparently, the router is “being stubborn,” which is just another way of saying it’s broken, and we’re all going to have to deal with it. Just like Sage is going to have to deal with her magic, whether she likes it or not. #FantasyBooks #CozyMagic #WitchyVibes #BookTok #CursedBooks