Being a Witch and Other Things I Didn't Ask For

By: Sara Pascoe

Narrated by: Fiona Hardingham

After a life of hurt and disappointment, Raya, the spiky-haired, Doc Marten-wearing 14-year-old decides it’s time to strike out on her own. She leaves the boring English village and what she's determined will be her last foster placement for the excitement of London. But it turns out she’s a witch, with the annoying habit of time-traveling - by accident. And a sarcastic witch’s cat Oscar tags along for the ride. Why would she fling herself into the midst of the Essex Witch Trials in 1645 England?

After being arrested by one of history’s most notorious witch hunters, her social worker and witch mentor Bryony goes back to try to save them from the gallows. But returning to present day London remains out of reach when they find themselves in Istanbul in the year 1645. There, life is more amazing than she ever dreamed. Can she stay? And at what cost?

©2015, 2017 Sara Pascoe (P)2019 Sara Pascoe

Great Listen

good story, well written and well read. its full of memorable characters, but accents are a little off.

Being a Witch and Other Things I Didn't Ask For

What would it take to prove something was real when you absolutely did not believe in it for one minute? Like vampires? Werewolves? Another world? What about magic and witches? If you add that on top of the fact that they can time travel…then you are definitely on the right track. What would make them believable for you though? Say—if you accidentally traveled to an entirely different country and time—and you had to figure out where you were before anything bad happens or anyone notices that you don’t belong? Yep, that would certainly do it! Pascoe engages the reader with a bridge into the young adult and paranormal time travel genres. This story has a lot of interesting concepts of what being a witch might entail.

Raya is a young girl in modern day London. After seemingly failed attempts within the foster care system, she decides that she would be better off on her own. Except—there is this little problem—she is a witch. Not believing a word of it seems to be the easiest way to handle her dilemma; however, her accidental time-travel tendencies seem to think sending her back to the Essex Witch Trials would be a blatant way to prove her wrong. Not only does she accidentally travel back to the time period where witches are tried and persecuted out of fear, all sorts of women and children—who are not witches—are being accused based on circumstantial accidents of their own. Raya and a tag-along cat named Oscar must figure out how to get back home before things go really wrong—like losing her head. As if that wasn’t enough, they are transported to Istanbul with the help of social worker and witch mentor, Bryonny only to find that they’ve left one war zone for another. Picking up a few friends along the way, Raya must race against time to find a way for her and her friends to travel back home—back to safety.

Pascoe has one interesting tale of time travel and fascinating characters; however, there are a couple of flaws with the story-telling. First and foremost, the character development is fascinating and Pascoe spins an original twist on the meaning of time travel. Since the main character is a teenager, the reader would assume that this would be either a middle grade or young adult novel—yet, there is foul language and derogatory language throughout the read—which may not be suitable for this audience. The character differentiation was entertaining and distinct; however, Hardingham was very fast-paced within the first half of the novel which blurred scenes together and fails to deliver any emotion other than urgency. Her pace does even out a little throughout the remainder of the story if the reader sticks it out until then, but the beginning could cause readers to lose interest quickly. This book is recommended for new adult and those who enjoy the time travel or historical fantasy genre.

An audiobook was provided to Turning Another Page by Audiobookworm Promotions and in no way affects the honesty of this review. We provide a three-star rating to Being a Witch and Other Things I Didn’t Ask For by Sara Pascoe.

A coming-of-age with a difference, and a cat

Being a Witch and Other Things I Didn't Ask For by Sara Pascoe is the story of Raya, a fourteen-year-old girl who feels somewhat adrift in the foster system following her mother's psychosis and the loss of her grandparents. When Raya's perception of reality begins to falter and she starts hearing impossible things like cats talking, Raya believes that her worst fears are coming true and she is losing her mind as her mother did. Attempting to outrun the monster inside her head, Raya begins a journey that will test her resilience, her loyalty, and her strength, travelling through some of the most dangerous periods of history and learning to control her developing powers...

This book first piqued my interest because I assumed (due to the shared spelling and a categorisation-error), that this book was written by British comedian, Sara Pascoe, whose book Animal I had previously enjoyed. Despite discovering that it was actually written by a completely different - and much more American - Sara Pascoe, I was not disappointed.

Being A Witch is a fun, colourful, story which remains lively and engaging throughout. The protagonist, Raya, is angry at a world she feels has rejected her, and she is determined that her attitude will remain as spiky as her hairdo! Like most teenage girls, Raya is a bit of a brat, and thinks that she knows everything. Little does she realise how much she still has to learn, especially in a world full of 'Integrators'; people who practice magic, read minds, see futures, and can travel through time and space. I very much enjoyed watching Raya's powers develop, but I would have liked there to be more explanation about how and why witches became known as Integrators, and when magic became known to the human world. It would have helped add to the world-building a little, and given a little context to Raya's initial incredulity.

I loved Raya's companion, witches' Familiar, Oscar the cat. A sarcastic New Yorker with a tongue as sharp as his claws, Oscar reminded me a little of Salem - my favourite character from the 90s TV series Sabrina the Teenage Witch. This helped endear me to Oscar early on, and I welcomed his unwilling presence during their travels through the Essex Witch Trials and out into the Ottoman Empire. I was less fond of the Social Worker, Bryony, who was painted as being well-meaning but rather hapless, which (as the daughter of a former Children and Families Social Worker), is a stereotype I have seen a lot in the media but doesn't represent the passionate - if often a little bit bonkers - people I grew up watching as they tried to make a difference. I appreciate that she had to be a bit incompetent for Raya to step up and discover her own potential, but I would have liked Bryony to have a bit more chutzpah! The rules governing time travel suitably tied her hands in Istanbul, and it would have been nice if we'd seen Bryony's character develop as Raya grew up a little and stopped seeing her as yet another adult who would let her down.

Raya's emotional journey as she finally found a makeshift family and learnt to accept love and support was an important lesson, and one which would - I think - make this book an exceptional candidate for a future AudiobookSYNC summer program. It's a book with a great message and a strong young woman at the helm. It doesn't shy away from difficult subjects such as mental health, death, and racism, though I must say that some of the racist language used to demonstrate the discrimination felt by a local Indian shopkeeper was quite shocking. It's fortunately not a word one hears as frequently these days, but it helps Raya to realise how far she has come and how far others still have to go.

On the subject of language, Raya discovers that she can speak Turkish when she arrives in Istanbul with Oscar and Bryony. I adored the description when she begins to use the native language, and she muses that "the words danced along her tongue and made her lips do new tricks". This sentiment was also embodied by the narrator, Fiona Hardingham, who performed the book wonderfully. She had a lovely tone to her voice and brought each character alive with distinct personalities and an array of convincing accents. I very much enjoyed listening to her, and would look out for other books she has read.

I'd recommend this book to anyone who likes YA urban fantasy, strong heroines, and lively storytelling. Though it was a stand-alone story in most respects, it felt as though it could be the first book in a series and I certainly hope that the author plans more.

*I received this audiobook free of charge from Audiobookworm Productions in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

where to start . . .

Where to start? The time travel was fun and landed this young lady in some interesting historical places and times. Some were filled with trouble. Others just a little adventure. Raya was a character that my younger children were able to enjoy with each installment of this audio we listened to before bed.

The narrator Fiona held up her end of the narration. It was clear. The voice was appealing to children and held their attention.