Book: The Mudpuddle Manual of Natural Magic by Ciara Blume
Reviewed by Romi is Reading
Rating: 5/5
The Mudpuddle Manual of Natural Magic by Ciara Blume caught me completely off guard and proved that my rule of giving a book at least 20% before deciding whether it’s for me is absolutely valid. Let me explain.
If I had gone with my old way of deciding based on the first three chapters, I would have said this book wasn’t for me. I was kind of lost and didn’t understand why we were following this elderly witch, Minerva, for multiple chapters when the main character in the description was Maida.
But then the book started revealing little pieces of the puzzle. Things began to make sense, and suddenly it transformed into the coziest mystery that completely caught me by surprise. From that point on, I could not put this book down.
I went in expecting a cozy romantic read, and I got so much more.
Ciara’s writing is absolutely lovely. It brought me back to my childhood, to that feeling of picking up Harry Potter for the first time and discovering a magical world I wanted to disappear into. Ciara’s writing completely won my heart, and I will happily read anything she writes.
Her style is descriptive without dumping information on you. Instead, she gives you little pieces at a time, so you feel like you’re discovering clues and putting the mystery together throughout the entire book rather than simply having the story explain everything to you. I absolutely loved that.
I also loved the way she wrote her characters, from the main characters to the side characters. They all felt like they belonged in this world and had something to add to the story. And Will is my favorite. I will not be taking questions. 😂
All in all, The Mudpuddle Manual of Natural Magic is one of my favorite reads of 2026. I would recommend it to anyone who loves a good mystery, a love story that doesn’t overpower everything else, cozy magic, and characters with real depth who actually make you feel something.