“Lucky St. James, the orphaned daughter of a bad-ass Métis good-times girl, is barely hanging on to her nowhere life when she finds out that she and her grandmother, Stella, are about to be evicted from their apartment. Bad to worse in a heartbeat. Then one night, doing laundry in the building's dank basement, Lucky feels an irresistible something calling to her. Crawling through a hidden hole in the wall, she finds a tarnished silver spoon depicting a storybook hag over letters that spell out S-A-L-E-M.
Meena has been called to bring together seven special witches and seven special spoons—infused with magic and scattered to the four directions more than a century ago—to form a magic circle that will restore women to their rightful power. Lucky and her spoon are number six. With only one more spoon to find, a very powerful adversary has Meena's coven in his sights—Jay Christos, a roguish and deadly witch-hunter as old as witchcraft itself. As the clock ticks toward a now-or-never deadline, Meena sends Lucky and her grandmother on a dangerous, sometimes hilarious, road trip through the United States in search of the seventh spoon. Will the coven be completed, ushering in a new beginning, or will witches be forced to remain forever underground?”

Every woman in this story depicts the challenges and prejudices women face daily. Focusing on the power of women when coming together and fighting for each other. We can make a real difference if we take the lead. This book is a shoutout to feminism, and I loved - almost - every moment of it. All the women are so strong by themselves without realizing it, and together, they are a force to be reckoned with. I was rooting for them throughout the book, holding my breath at the end, hoping they would succeed. Because deep down, I know that in the world we live in today, something has completely gone wrong, and it is time for women to stand up and fight for what remains good in this world. This book gives me hope that someday, we will succeed in turning everything around and survive. ( )

I couldn’t put this one down! Witches and their history and all kinds of diversity and traditions and funky seers and Bookers (what I would like to be) and Tenders. From Toronto to New Orleans a twenty-something girl named Lucky and her wild grandmother Stella find out there is much more to their story than they ever imagined. I LOVED this book full of badass women! At times it felt like a David Lynch movie and at others straight up sentimental like something mainstream. So enjoyable and empowering. ( )

I don't like stories about witches. I don't like alternate reality stories. Or sci-fi. Even magical realism bugs me. But I do like Cherie Dimaline because her stories are about people. Some of them happen to be, in this case, witches, but they are well developed characters that I can relate to. For example, in this book the witches worked hard to find and interpret clues to aid in their quest. Things didn't fall magically (or otherwise) into place without some work. I loved the aspects of Aboriginal folklore that played into the story. And the time-limited quest kept the plot moving and me turning the pages.

But I am a little tired of all the bad guys being men. Here we have a male witch-hunter, an abusive husband, an absent father. And the acknowledgements say it is always a good time to hex the patriarchy. Sure it is. But not all men are part of the patriarchy. Many enable, support, mentor and cheer for women. I think we are ready for a little more nuance beyond the black and white of male and female conflict.

Overall a good book, well written with a gripping story. ( )

Lucky St. James is a young lady who is taking care of her grandmother Stella, who is in the first stages of dementia and can wander away. She has a job she hates and is being evicted from her apartment she shares with Stella. One day while in the laundry room of her building she follows a story her grandfather told and finds a witch's spoon. Meanwhile VenCo, a business that puts women in places of influence, helps a Salem coven-to-be of witches complete their circle of 7 witches to become a functioning coven. Lucky is contacted and offered a job with them. She and Stella travel to Salem where they find out that Lucky is the 6th witch. She has 9 days to find the 7th witch. The rest of the story follows Lucky and Stella in this quest, traveling to Pennsylvania, Missouri, and finally to New Orleans all the while avoiding or dealing with the Benandanti who is trying to stop them from becoming a coven. ( )

I will start of this review admitting I am a BIG fan of Dimaline's stories, having previously read [The Marrow Thieves], its sequel [Hunting by Stars] and [Empire of Wild]. I approached [Venco] with a little bit of trepidation. While I enjoy stories that dip into magical realism and mythology, witchcraft has always fallen a bit flat with me. I should have realized I could trust Dimaline to give readers a delightfully modern, feminism-empowering story filled with fabulous kick-ass characters, great dialogue and wonderful soul-searching. At its heart, this is a story about finding family, self-appreciation and making meaningful connections, all wrapped up in a suspense-filled race to find seven enchanted spoons and bring the coven together before the spell is nullified and do battle with the coven's nemesis. I have my fingers crossed Dimaline has a sequel in mind!

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with an advanced reader copy. ( )