A Resistance of Witches

A Novel

By: Morgan Ryan

Narrated by: Grace Gray

AN INSTANT NATIONAL BESTSELLER

RESISTANCE IS MAGIC

“War II meets A Discovery of Witches…I raced through this one.” —Kate Quinn, New York Times bestselling author of The Briar Club

“Historical fantasy at its absolute best.” —Alexis Henderson author of The Year of the Witching and An Academy for Liars

As World War II rages around her, a witch abandoned by her coven must journey to find a book of unspeakable power before it lands in Nazi hands

Stubborn, plain-spoken and from an unimpressive family, Lydia Polk never expected to be accepted into the Royal Academy of Witches. Now, with Hitler’s army rampaging across Europe, the witches of Britain have joined the war effort, and Lydia is key to the cause: she must use her magic to track down magical relics before Hitler and his sycophants can. When a Nazi witch infiltrates the Academy with heart-breaking consequences, the coven is left shaken, exposed and divided. The elder British witches have no interest in further loss of coven life in service of a government that has forced them into hiding for decades, no matter the consequences to the world. But with the discovery of the Grimorium Bellum, an ancient book that leaves a trail of death and destruction wherever it goes, Lydia knows her mission has never been more urgent.

Alone and woefully outnumbered, Lydia makes her way to the heart of occupied France, where she finds allies in Rebecca Gagne—a fierce French resistance fighter chockful of secrets—and Henry Boudreaux—a handsome Haitian-American art historian with a little magic of his own. Together, they traverse the country, stalked by the natural and supernatural alike, in search of the grimoire. But, as Lydia soon discovers, finding the book is only half the battle—the Grimorium Bellum has a dark agenda all its own. Lydia must subdue it before the Witches of the Third Reich can use it—but she’ll have to survive the book herself, first.

Incredible narrator!

Great book read with delicious nuance by Grace Gray. Dialects, range of emotion, all top notch. Thank you!!

An Unexpected Surprise

A Resistance of Witches is a DEBUT novel, so I was expecting flawed writing but a good story. What I got was flawed characters, well written prose, and fantastical elements woven into World War II history that had the feeling of reality. Witches in this book are divided just like the world during the 1930s/early 1940s, the Axis powers and the Allied powers. Lydia’s English coven was helping the war effort with Churchill.

The book opened in London of 1943 when Lydia, a 19 year-old witch, was the mentee to Isodora, the grand mistress of the Royal Academy of Witches when they meet with Winston Churchill to help the British government with the war effort. Eventually, Isodora and Lydia’s best friend were murdered by a Nazi witch. Despite pushback from members of her coven, Lydia picked up the search of an ancient grimoire full of powerful dark magic that the Nazis want to win the war. Rebecca is a member of the French resistance, who was a badass non-magical character! She helped Lydia find Henry, a black art curator from New Orleans. He is a cinnamon roll hero who can see ghosts and has magic in him.

There was a sense of urgency to find the grimoire before the Nazi witch does. Once they found the grimoire, Lydia, Rebecca and Henry had new challenges and twists that raised the stakes. The story was well written with flawed characters. Lydia was young, at times too trusting, and made mistakes. Rebecca and Henry’s origins and their parts in the overall plot were just as important as Lydia and just as humanly flawed as her. The backstory of the witches and why the Nazi witches backed Hitler was wrapped in the actual history of witch lore throughout history. The fiction aspects were woven seamlessly with the history of World War II. Ryan’s prose was impactful. Each word/phrase had a purpose, including showing who the characters were and not telling the reader. I empathized with Lydia, Rebecca, and Henry. I was not bored at all and could not put A Resistance of Witches down.

Story was well paced and very enjoyable

Loved it all. Very interesting and gripping read. Wish she had more books I could binge.

Witches and Magic in WW2

A little predictable at points but a well written enjoyable adventure with a variety of diverse lovable characters. even when the book diverges from Lydia, the main character, the plot is moving and the characters keep you invested.

The narrator Grace Gray was phenomenal performing different inflections and showing her range of talent with accents. I would recommend anything she reads.

Really really good!

This was such an interesting and different story. I loved every minute of it . I am sure I’ll listen to it again and again