Hide the Witches
by Miranda LynCategory
About this book
Some bonds are forged in blood. Others burn everything to ash. In Grimora, secrets burn faster than witches, and Syneca Black is both. Forbidden fire magic courses through her veins, hidden behind a lifetime of lies because Hunters don't spare phoenix blood. When her best friend vanishes and resurfaces on execution scrolls, accused of crimes that she couldn’t have possibly committed, Syn risks everything and volunteers for a hunt that could see both of them killed. It's the only way to protect the woman who is like a sister to her. But taking that oath means binding herself to Wickett, the legendary Hunter whose sharp eyes and lethal grace have ended countless witches’ lives. Every moment beside him threatens to shatter her carefully built lies. Every stolen glance fans flames she can't afford to kindle. He's sworn to his cause. She's everything he's trained to destroy. But in a city where Sprites carry desperate messages and ancient Furies keep secrets, the most dangerous discovery isn't the growing fire between them. It's realizing that both hunter and hunted are dancing to someone else's deadly design. When the blood debts come due, Syneca must choose: save the woman who stood with her in shadows or trust the man whose touch feels like salvation. Will the world burn or will she? This gripping romantasy weaves Crescent City’s unbreakable found-family and layered mystery with Fourth Wing’s beastly bonds, heightened by the witch-and-hunter tension that defines Heartless Hunter.
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What readers are saying
Leslie HirgeltNostalgic Magical World with Witch vs. Witch Hunter and Huge Plot Twists
"Without exaggeration, I enjoyed this story, its characters, and its plot so much that I had the strong urge to immediately restart it. I haven’t immediately reread a book in over two years. I literally shrieked at the final plot twist, because I truly didn’t see it coming. If all of that doesn’t convince you, then maybe this will: Hide the Witches gave me all of the nostalgic vibes of the magical world in a certain 7-book series from millennial adolescence. So, let’s start there, because I’ve seen some other ARC reviews for Hide the Witches, but I haven’t seen anyone else mention this. If you spent your adolescence reading about a Boy Who Lived, waited patiently for your magical letter of acceptance, and loved that world and all of the magical beings and creatures in it...but you no longer support and platform that author for obvious reasons, then may I present this book to you? I have not read anything else that gave me those specific vibes...maybe ever. The magical government, magic casually being cast and used all around, magical shops and communities, diverse magical beings coexisting...it’s all here. Miranda Lyn writes diversity with intention, care, and love. If you’re seeking that specific nostalgia, from an author you can feel comfortable supporting, then please, preorder this book and have it queued up in your April TBR. But, I will agree with the more common comparison I’ve seen: if you loved Heartless Hunter, then you will likely enjoy this, too. The witch versus witch hunter storyline is heavily present, even with a bit of that cat-and-mouse element that was so fun to read. The next thing I want to highlight is the final plot twist and the cliffhanger, because Miranda! I am not kidding when I say that I shrieked as soon as I read it, and it was not cute, and I am so glad I was home alone! I was completely blindsided by it, and Hide the Witches is going on my list of books with shocking plot twists. But, I suspect there were hints for it that can be spotted on a reread, once you know how it ends! I have so many questions, though. So many. It’s too bad this book hasn’t actually released yet because I would like to read Book 2 right now! The cast of characters was fantastic, as well. Now, this is an adult dark fantasy (in comparison to the Boy Who Lived series), so the world is grim, and almost everyone has secrets. It’s very much a “Who can the MC trust?” situation. But, even with that, the side characters felt fleshed out enough to connect to them in some way and to feel like you understood them. Pip was my favorite, and she made me laugh out loud multiple times (and I agree with Demi Winters’ blurb that Pip must be protected at all costs!). It’s a balanced mix of both character-driven and plot-driven. The slow burn girlies are going to love this one, because it is a solid slow burn. There’s tension, there’s reluctance, there are stolen moments. It’s lower on the spice scale for this first book of the series, but it’s got all of the fun romance elements we love. If you enjoy theorizing and predicting while you read, then this is a great book for that. I frequently made predictions as I read, and while I was right some of the time, other times I wasn’t, but it was all fun! (And, like I said, so many questions for the next book!) I do think this could be a vibes read if that’s more your style and you don’t prefer to make a bunch of predictions or look for clues while reading. I consider this a medium brain power book. For me, this book was well-balanced between the plot and the characters, it has rich world-building, and it stands up really well in both of those regards, but I also loved the vibes and nostalgic feels it gave me. For all of that, this was an easy 5 stars from me. ["
April 20, 2026 Verified Purchase
PaulinePlot twists and turns galore
"3.5 stars rounded up because what did you do to me with that last 10-15%, Miranda Lyn??? This book reminds me of some of the MCU miniseries, in which there are so many plot threads and elements happening and you know they're all going to tie together somehow, but you don't quite know how and you start getting a little impatient about it because you're running out of time. Of course, when everything does come together, it's well done, but it ends up being a lot all at once and you almost wish things had started weaving together sooner. There's a lot going on in this book. You're given the guides to magical races and beings and magical terms and concepts at the beginning and it's a lot of information--almost too much for that early in the book. Similarly, the prologue gives you the foundation and backstory, but you don't really have the context for it yet. (Some of it also gets repeated later in the book and for me, I think I would have liked the information interspersed throughout the book, rather than big info dumps that required me to go back and forth to remember things.) I do think it would be easier with a hard copy of the book, versus an ebook, so there's that. This was my first Miranda Lyn book and I think she does a wonderful job with world-building and her characters, especially the relationships between the characters. For me, the non-romantic relationships were the best. Found family is one of my favorite tropes and this book does it so well. The Venatori shouldn't be friends, they should just be hunters on a mission, and yet they form these strong bonds and grow so close that I loved them and wanted to protect them all. Lyn's other strength in this book comes when the characters are actually involved in their mission and the hunt. When she lets the action and high stakes speak for themselves, I was super engaged and invested. I wanted more of the investigation. I wanted more of the action. I wanted less of the politics and more of the actual doing of things. This definitely started happening more towards the end of the book. At that point, I could barely put the book down because of all the twists and turns the plot took. AND OF COURSE, THAT ENDING. So those were the things I enjoyed, but there were things that kept me from rating this higher. First, the competition in the first part of the book to become Venatori. It didn't really make sense to me and it wasn't well-developed, so I found it confusing and unnecessary. Second, anything that had to do with the Magistrate and his machinations made the story drag for me. It was a lot of telling, not showing, because the characters are hearing about it secondhand/speculating. This was definitely one of the areas where I would have liked the little hints and threads to have been tied in sooner. Third, the romance was on the weaker side for me. I didn't find they had that much chemistry, except they found each other attractive and it was forbidden. Otherwise, I didn't really connect with them. None of these critiques will prevent me from picking up the second book, of course, but they were things I didn't love. One other thing I should mention is that while this book is marketed as 1920s dystopian magical London, I didn't really get any of those vibes. The language wasn't particularly reminiscent of that time period and there wasn't really anything that gave off true dystopian vibes, versus more fantasy vibes. I received an advance copy of this book and I'm leaving this review voluntarily. ["
April 20, 2026 Verified Purchase