Blurb:

An unforgettable, high-stakes, laugh-out-loud funny novel, The Witchstone blends the merciless humor of The Good Place with the spellbinding fantasy of Neil Gaiman’s American Gods.

Meet Laszlo, eight-hundred-year-old demon and Hell’s least productive Curse Keeper. From his office beneath Midtown, he oversees the Drakeford Curse, which involves a pathetic family upstate and a mysterious black stone. It’s a sexy enough assignment—colonial origins, mutating victims, et cetera—but Laszlo has no interest in maximizing the curse’s potential; he’d rather sunbathe in Ibiza, quaff martinis, and hustle the hustlers on Manhattan’s subway. Unfortunately, his division has new management, and Laszlo’s ratings are so abysmal that he’s given six days to shape up or he’ll be melted down and returned to the Primordial Ooze.

Meet Maggie Drakeford, nineteen-year-old Curse Bearer. All she’s ever known is the dreary corner of the Catskills where the Drakeford Curse has devoured her father’s humanity and is rapidly laying claim to her own. The future looks hopeless, until Laszlo appears at the Drakeford farmhouse one October night and informs them that they have six days—and six days only—to break the spell before it becomes permanent. Can Maggie trust the glib and handsome Laszlo? Of course not. But she also can’t pass up an opportunity to save her family, even if it means having a demon as a guide …

Thus begins a breakneck international adventure that takes our unlikely duo from a hot dog stand in Central Park to the mountains of Liechtenstein. As the clock ticks down, tough-as-nails Maggie and conniving Laszlo will uncover a secret so profound that what began as a farcical quest to break a curse will eventually threaten the very Lords of Hell.

Review:

I'm not entirely sure where to start with this one. I didn't hate it but I didn't love it. I read it and generally feel....ambivalent to it?

Once again I was taken in by a good looking cover. So I feel like I should say if you're going in expecting a goat head demon with a margarita, you're going to be left with a goat head demon-sized hole in your wants. I think Lazlo is just blue skinned or something like that. I don't entirely remember despite finishing the book this morning.

Since I've opened with Lazlo not being the goat man on the cover, let's stick with Lazlo. Now, Lazlo is your run of the mill, youngest son being a bit of a disappointment with a high-up father, who learned to be quippy. And some of his quips were quite funny. I did also find his character reminded me of a middle school bully, for example, "Is Nerd Power going to save the day?", "When did I become a nerd magnet?" And "You speak English and Nerd. That's plenty." My eyes could have strained themselves with the amount of rolling they were doing. Combined with a scene where Lazlo says "I've lived all over the world and can tell you where to avoid." You're telling me, an 800-year old demon that has lived all over the world doesn't see the value in having wider knowledge and only sees the value in speaking English? There is a scene where he remembers the Black Death which was largely in Europe but also in Asia and parts of Africa, places that notoriously wouldn't speak modern day English.

So you want me to believe this demon doesn't have any other linguistic skills outside of English (ignoring the ordering in Italian), doesn't see the value in having those around with more in depth knowledge (despite using them for clues on this curse quest) and is preoccupied by the idea of 'nerds' despite having experienced major historical events and living all over the world? I'm not convinced. Actually talking of history, I don't entirely see why they named dropped Lucrezia Borgia either, that was weird but more of a blip. Also goes back to his whole issue with 'nerds' cause there was no way some blue-skinned foolish entity of any kind was getting a Borgia. But what do I know?

Lazlo's relationship with Maggie is largely fine. They move from begrudging allies to some semblance of friends as the story goes. But Maggie was just...flat? She's 19, lived her life in the Catskills next to the graves of her ancestors who succumbed to this curse and has nothing to really show for her time on earth. This is reminded to us in one form or another quite a few times. And we know she's a 'country bumpkin', I don't think we needed it reiterated as much as it was. I don't know, there was something about her being a tough cookie with the odds stacked against her and motivated by love for her family and wanting more for herself. And I don't say that is an especially endearing way. She's one of those characters I don't feel like was fully conceptualised and could've done more with.

Lump and Clarence on the other hand were fun characters and played their supporting roles well. They were actually the most fun of the cast. And the scene where they're interacting together was especially fun. I also have to nod to Signora Bellascura. I would happily read about her 5000 years. She was by far the most interesting.

The plot itself was kind of fine if not a bit all over the place. I think we all knew what was going to happen as the story went on. Especially as it's marketed as having similarities to The Good Place. That said, the introduction of The Society as a bureaucratic hellscape, and the overseerer dressing Lazlo down reminded me of Bob Parr in The Incredibles. I think that also introduced the background and details of the curse in a good way. It worked a lot better than if the author had decided to just put the details in as a description. It also allowed for Clarence to be the fun and neurotic character he was. And I fully believe some key names in social media sites would be meeting with the management of a hellscape bureaucracy, so I appreciated that little scene.

Overall, it was fun in places, had some amusing remarks and dialogue, there were characters and scenes that were genuinely interesting and well written. I do think there were a few places where things could have been improved and, honestly, there are some serious trigger/content warnings needed for parts of this book.