Witches of Dubious Origin is the first book in a bookish fantasy library series by Jenn McKinlay. Released 28th Oct 2025 by Penguin Random House on their Berkley Ace imprint, it's 368 pages and is available in paperback, library binding, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links throughout.
MC Zoe, staunchly logical and firmly planted in the "real world" encounters a family grimoire under mysterious circumstances, which leads directly to an encounter with a shadowy organization of occult librarians running a library of books of similarly dubious origins.
There's an adventure vibe and nice "living amongst us" supernatural creatures and real magic inclusion. Zoe's staunch refusal to accept the plain evidence of her experience gets a bit wearisome (and counterproductive) after a while, and she is a bit of a wet blanket, but not completely onerously so.
Currently 2 books in, plus a shorter work, it would make a nice weekend binge/buddy read. There's a creepy/ominous vibe threaded through the book which doesn't really mesh well with the very cozy romantasy aspects, but it's not a deal-breaker.
The unabridged audiobook has a run time of 9 hours 42 minutes and is read by Saskia Maarleveld. She has a warm, well modulated voice for the read, and does a good job of delineating the different characters. Sound and production quality are high throughout the read.
Three and a half stars. It would be a good choice for public or home library acquisition. Definitely for fantasy/UF fans, and fans of bookish fantasy.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
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