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Full Review

I really enjoyed The Last O’Clery Witch, and by “really enjoyed,” I mean I reached the open ending, stared at the final page and immediately began asking questions the book was not yet prepared to answer.

When is Book Two coming?

How quickly is Rebekkah Ford writing? Is she sleeping? Does she require snacks? Can someone politely explain that I have already become emotionally invested in the entire population of Grimbrook and therefore require regular updates?

This was such a magnificent beginning to The Grimbrook Diaries. It gave me the combination I always want from witchy fiction: an exciting magical world that never becomes impossible to follow, characters who are easy to care about, romance that develops beside the story rather than replacing it, and enough supernatural activity to make an ordinary human town seem deeply underqualified.

Ainsley was an especially interesting main character.

I loved how mature she felt and how quickly she accepted that the life she had expected to live was no longer the life waiting for her.

She does not spend the entire book refusing every strange thing placed in front of her while the reader shouts, “Ainsley, there is very clearly magick happening.” She questions, worries and experiences understandable fear and insecurity—but she also adapts.

That made her extremely easy to respect.

She accepts her role in life remarkably quickly, completely changes the direction of her future and embraces both her new beginning and the history connected to her past life.

What I loved most was that this did not erase who she already was. Her past did not swallow her present. Instead, both versions of her identity began existing together—sometimes comfortably and sometimes with all the grace of two supernatural timelines fighting over the same chair.

Ainsley does not become powerful because fear disappears. She becomes powerful because she continues while fear is still sitting beside her offering unhelpful commentary.

The story is wonderfully fast-paced. Something is always developing: a relationship, a danger, a magical discovery, a memory, an alliance or a new creature casually entering the supernatural census.

Yet the book never felt frantic or confused.

It felt cosy and adventurous at the same time.

There is danger, there are hateful villains, and there are emotional wounds beneath the magick—but there is also warmth. The friendships, humour, romance and sense of found community prevent the darker elements from taking over the atmosphere.

It is precisely the kind of story that makes you feel as though you are having a comforting paranormal holiday while also accepting that somebody may attempt to open a gate to somewhere extremely inconvenient before dinner.

I also enjoyed the romance that developed throughout the story.

It brought chemistry and emotional tension without making Ainsley’s entire identity dependent on which supernatural man happened to be standing closest to her.

There are complicated feelings, histories and attractions at work, but Ainsley remains the centre of her own transformation. Her power, healing, fear and self-discovery matter independently of the romantic relationships—and that made the romance more interesting to me, not less.

Three chillies: enough heat to warm the supernatural atmosphere, but not so much that the plot has to sit outside and wait.

Beneath the adventure, the book explores PTSD, insecurity, fear and self-doubt with real sensitivity.

These subjects do not feel inserted merely to make the characters appear emotionally complex. They influence behaviour, relationships and the ways people understand themselves.

Trauma is not treated as a personality decoration. Fear is not dismissed as weakness. Insecurity does not vanish the moment somebody discovers she possesses power.

Magical ability does not automatically heal emotional wounds. A person can be powerful and still doubt herself. She can understand what she is capable of and still need time to believe she deserves to use that power.

That emotional realism gave the magical story much more depth.

I especially loved the visualisation and meditation scenes.

The way Rebekkah introduced herbal witchcraft, crystals, spiritual practices and focused intention felt natural and authentic. These elements were not sprinkled over the story like aesthetic glitter simply to make the book look witchier from a distance.

The magick felt lived in.

You can feel that Rebekkah understands and genuinely studies the craft. There is respect behind the details, and that respect made the magical elements considerably more immersive.

Nothing pulled me out of the story by feeling carelessly borrowed or added because crystals happen to photograph well beside books on Instagram.

And the supernatural population?

Ten out of ten.

Vampires, werewolves, ghosts and all kinds of magical creatures appear throughout the story, giving Grimbrook the energy of a town where the local council has clearly stopped attempting to keep the resident database current.

I loved that the magical world felt populated. The story did not introduce one supernatural species and act as though the rest had missed the bus.

But let us discuss the most important character.

The ghost cat.

Of course the cat was my favourite. Was there ever any realistic alternative?

A ghost cat combines two of life’s finest things: cats and the complete inability to prevent them from entering places where they have not technically been invited.

Where can I get one?

Is there an application form? A waiting list? A mildly suspicious antique shop where one appears after I accidentally purchase a haunted mirror? I am flexible regarding the administrative process.

I also loved the friendships that developed throughout the book. They felt genuine, and I quickly became attached to the entire group.

The relationships were not based only on plot convenience. People challenged one another, supported one another, misunderstood things, learned and gradually created the kind of group that makes a series dangerous because now I care about everybody and Rebekkah can use that information against me in future books.

The book also carries a beautiful message about not judging people based solely on their choices, actions or the experiences they choose to have in life.

People make decisions from places we may not fully understand. Fear, pain, survival, desire, history and hope can all exist behind a choice that looks simple from the outside.

The story allows its characters to be complicated without insisting that every complication must be converted into a moral lesson immediately.

I loved that generosity.

The villains, meanwhile, were hateful in exactly the right way.

I did not want to understand them over tea. I did not wish to admire their efficiency. I wanted them stopped, inconvenienced, defeated and possibly assigned several centuries of supernatural community service.

They created genuine danger without making the book unbearably dark, and the tension continued rising until the open ending arrived and personally ruined my ability to behave patiently.

That ending left me desperate to discover what happens next.

Rebekkah has said that she has started writing the second book, which is excellent news. There is not yet an announced release date, which is significantly less excellent but apparently something I am expected to accept like a reasonable adult.

I only hope she is writing quickly, because I already need the next one.

I would also love a prequel exploring the history of the O’Clery family and the witches who came before Ainsley.

Give me the family line. Give me the old practices. Give me the secrets, the women, the mistakes, the inherited power and every terrible decision that eventually travelled through time to reach Grimbrook.

My expectation level for Book Two is ten out of ten.

My expectation level for an O’Clery prequel is one thousand out of ten, which is mathematically irresponsible but emotionally accurate.

The Last O’Clery Witch is a cosy, magical and adventurous story filled with friendship, romance, witchcraft, emotional depth and characters I genuinely cared about.

It is perfect for readers who want spiritual and magical practices written with care, a capable female protagonist embracing a completely new future, a lively supernatural world, romance with heat, friendships worth protecting, villains worth hating and a ghost cat worth reorganising your entire life around.

Five stars, three chillies and one formal request for Book Two, the prequel and a separate ghost-cat novella immediately.

Best for readers who love

witches, vampires, werewolves, ghosts, paranormal romance, urban fantasy, found friendship, reincarnation, spiritual practices, crystals, herbal witchcraft, meditation, trauma recovery, mature female protagonists, complicated supernatural histories, cosy adventure, three-chilli heat, villains worth hating, magical towns and cats who remain iconic even after death

Reader Damage Report

Series Emergency Report

Rebekkah Ford, respectfully: when is the next book coming out?

Rebekkah has said that she has begun writing Book Two, but no publication date has been announced yet. This is good news wrapped inside a patience exercise I did not request.

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