Mamo Review

 

Mamo by Sas Milledge follows Joanna, or Jo for short, whose mother has fallen ill. Other mishaps are happening in her small community, too. Jo wonders if it's all because of the fae (fairies) and humans making them angry. She enlists the help of the village witch named Orla. Though somewhat stubborn and reclusive, Orla helps out Jo when they find the root cause of the problem. It turns out Orla's deceased grandmother, the previous village witch named Mamo, is causing the problem with her bones and soul scattered about. Jo helps Orla by learning some magic to stop Mamo, and she finds out some things about Orla and Mamo that changes everything she knew about them. 

This book was so cool because it talked about witchcraft and fairies in a way that closely mirrors real-world beliefs. Magic isn't the glittery stuff you see on TV, and the fairies here are actually really scary. 

Unfortunately, I wasn't really of fan of Jo and Orla's relationship. They spend most of the book butting heads with each other, and I felt them becoming a couple towards the end felt kind of rushed. 

Luckily, the main character and her family are Filipino! I don't find a lot of Filipino representation in fiction. I need to find more. 

So I gave this 4 stars. It can be hard to find a good witchy queer romance book.