After listening to "The Secret Society of Very Irregular Witches" I was really surprised that this book uses a completely different magical setting, both in organisation of witches and in the workings of magic itself. Props for creativity. What surprisingly was the same was the male lead - the white guy with Scottish accent working in a library and lovingly taking care of a child who isn't his own. The other similarity between the books was even more irksome - I don't like it when people just drop dead for no apparent reason. I get that it's not relevant for the story, but I still find it irritating. Unlike others whose reviews I read, I wasn't upset about the result of the final showdown. The thing itself was weird - try to get a high stakes witches duel going in a cozy story, it's not easy - but the loss of magic in the end made sense to me. Yes, it was terribly sad, but there was so much talk about balance before, what sense would it have made for Sera to be by far the most powerful witch alone? Since I mentioned it in my review of the Secret Society: the sex scene was better this time, they even used condoms. Not being able to focus on an important mission because they're both dressed nicely? That one was a little disappointing. Grown-ups should have more self control.