Why Witches In Fiction Aren’t Really About Magic—They’re About Connection
When SistaWitch and I came up with the grand plan to move in together, we both thought it would be a great idea. I’d written Whiskey Witches where I’d romanticized what it would be like to live with other strong-willed women, how connected and bonded we’d be. I needed that. So did she.
She and I wanted what we read in books. We wanted to connect. We wanted to be close.
I think that’s one reason why witch fiction is so popular. Because so many of us want to connect with others. We want sisterhood, found families, covens that will fight for us as much as we fight for them. We want to believe that even when the world calls us monsters, there’s someone who will take our hand anyway.
That’s why books like Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman still resonate—sisters bound by curses and love. Or why V.E. Schwab’s The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue cuts so deeply, because it’s really about what it means to be seen and remembered. Even Wicked by Gregory Maguire is a story about friendship and connection in a world determined to tear it apart. And in Helen Harper’s Waifs and Strays, it’s about belonging when the world says you don’t.
And maybe we don’t get that in real life—not in the way we hoped. But in stories? We can. We can live inside those bonds for a little while. We can remember that connection is possible, even if it’s messy.
That’s why I keep writing witches who bleed for their families. Why I keep writing sisterhoods that survive the impossible. Because maybe, just maybe, if we can imagine it here, we can make more space for it out there.
🌙 Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman
Few witch urban fantasy books capture sisterhood like Practical Magic. Sally and Gillian Owens are bound not only by blood, but by curses and choices that ripple through generations. It’s messy, complicated, and achingly real—the kind of family bond we crave even when it hurts.
👉 In Whiskey Witches, Paige Whiskey’s relationship with Leslie was supposed to emulate this. I think I came up a little short, though Leslie and Paige definitely do have a sisterly bond, there were just nuances I didn’t quite understand until… well, I was this years old. But, you know, I tried.
🧹 Wicked by Gregory Maguire
At its core, Wicked is about connection in a divided world. Elphaba and Glinda’s unlikely friendship is imperfect, strained, and transformative. It shows us how even fragile bonds can change the way we see ourselves—and the systems stacked against us.
👉 Whiskey Witches also tackles what it means to be branded “wicked,” which was something I was desperately struggling with as I wrote the entire freakin’ series. Paige doesn’t choose her power—it chooses her—and it forces her to stand in the space between fear and belonging.
🕸️ Waifs and Strays by Helen Harper
Harper’s witches thrive in the space between survival and belonging. Waifs and Strays is about outsiders banding together, creating loyalty and family where none existed before. It’s the purest form of found family—messy, chosen, and fiercely protective.
👉 Paige’s journey in Whiskey Witches mirrors this. She builds alliances with demon hunters, kitchen witches, shifters, and paras of all varieties—outsiders who become family, even when the world tells them they shouldn’t stand together. I needed this as I always felt like the black sheep, the outsider. So, finding people who were also outsiders banding together? Love that. I inhale books that give me that.
⏳ The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab
Addie’s curse is to be forgotten by everyone she meets, but what makes her story unforgettable is the rare, fleeting connections she does form. It’s a reminder of how deeply we all want to be seen, remembered, and valued—especially when the world tries to erase us.
👉 Paige Whiskey lives in that same tension—fighting to matter in a world that would rather call her a monster than admit how much they need her. This is something I relate to on a very deep-soul level, and when I find books that hit me there, I’ll read for hours and ignore alarms.
🔮 Whiskey Witches by F.J. Blooding
Where other witch urban fantasy books flirt with romance or lean cozy, Whiskey Witches digs into the dark. Detective Paige Whiskey is a demon summoner who doesn’t run from her power, even when it costs her everything. Her story is about survival, found family, and carving out connection in a world determined to break her.
Whiskey Witches is gritty urban fantasy with witches, demons, and shapeshifters—but at its heart, it’s about belonging. The reason for that is because “belonging” has always been the one thing I’ve tried to find, but it’s actually something you have to build and then maintain. And that’s the hardest thing for us to remember as we read fiction and gain our experiences through stories. You don’t have to be just lucky. Sometimes, you have to build what you can’t find.
