It's a little bit weird and a little bit icky, but I actually really liked it.

Note: I received a digital galley of this book from the publisher. ( )

Recommended by Catherine D.

When a witch's store goes out of business, she finds a job as a lunch lady, but when a student discovers her secret and attempts to blackmail her, Grunhilda has to decide whether to stay true to her badness or anger her ancestors by helping the girl.

The pages are intentionally dark gray and grimy, seemingly stained with tomato sauce and grease, and in one case burnt away.

Quotes

"What are you doing here? Go home! You're ruining my normal-person disguise!" (28)

[Instantly, the climate of the room shifts.] "Hail!" (83)

"What is happening to me? Is it puberty?" (Madison, as she turns into a frog, 94)

"Was this Mexican yam dug in the dark?"
"It's certified fair trade, but I can't commit to dug in the dark." (at the grocery store, 128) ( )

Loved it so much. All the gross-out humor, the spells, the dead witches, the totally ordinary girl, the tomato stains on the pages. It reminded me of my favorite book from childhood, Malcolm Bird's [b:The Witch's Handbook|2244178|The Witch's Handbook|Malcolm Bird|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1218640679s/2244178.jpg|2250038], and I'm so excited that this is just the first of a series.

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Read Harder: Non-superhero comic that debuted in the last three years. ( )

The Lunch Witch is the story of Grunhilda Blackheart. As the name might suggest, Grunhilda is a witch, descended from a long line of witches. When she finds out witchcraft just doesn't pay what it used to, she is forced to seek employment at a school cafeteria as a lunch lady. When a young girl finds out Grunhilda's secret and is accidentally turned into a frog, Grunhilda, accompanied by her loyal dog familiar, a spider, and three bats, has to make things right while avoiding the wrath of her ancestors.

This was a ridiculously fun and cute concept: a lunch lady witch? A modern-day witch trying to fit into modern society? Great! I love it! Unfortunately, this just never reached its potential. The story seemed unsure of itself and where it was going, and seemed to either plod along or wander off aimlessly at times. The jokes were few and, quite frankly, not very funny, though that may also be due to the odd artistic choices, which made it difficult at times to see what was going on.

The art itself is... unpleasant. I have no other word for it. I understand the deliberate, scrawling artistic style; I understand the joke about the brown cover and pages and the dullness of a cafeteria; I understand the nasty, gross-out humor at points because she is a witch. And yet, sometimes knowing it does not change the fact that it was unpleasant to look at, and not in a compelling way, either. The dull colors and scratchy art style just cast an unpleasant pall over the entire story for me.

As a concept, lovely. As a book, I'd give it a miss. ( )

Liked it! Quirky fun. Sketchy art perfectly fits a sketchy witch. Story is interesting and different. ( )