Book Review: Cauldrons & Campfires
Book Review 🪄 Cauldrons & Campfires by Ali K. Mulford & K. Elle Morrison
A New Adult Camp Romance for Late Bloomer Witches.
đź“š Delightful Book Cover by Holly Dunn
⏱️ Short and Easy 1-2 day casual read
🧙 Camp Chippewa Gets a Magical CW Teen Makeover
I'm going to start with a potential unpopular opinion.
While most can tell a "Cosy" based on vibe, many could not break down the Why and How of the genre code if asked. Could you?
It wouldn't be your fault if you can't. Not when the internet attributes the Cosy/Cozy to the Fantasy genre when in fact the subgenre is borrowed from Mysteries in much the same way SciFi borrows Noir from Melodrama.
And—Semantics? Sure.
But you need the ingredients to make the cake!
And unfortunately for City Vlogger New-Witch Gwen and Big-Apple Dreaming Camp Counselor Sabine, this ain't Kiki.
Cauldrons & Campfire is a New Adult romance...that is marketed for adults... but reads as a YA...
Until the open door spice hits.
Imma be upfront and say this kind of writing and storytelling is not my cup of tea. I was never a CW Network fan (Vampire Diaries, Gossip Girl, Riverdale etc) and this kind of frivolous teen drama always has and always will make me cringe.
Plus—Being nearly a decade older than the protagonists, I found the code switching between YA prose to adult smut terms extra jaaring.
So, ladies aged 18 to 22, this one is for you. Especially if you dig that CW 20yr Olds playing teens drama.
BUT.
Even with all that said.
I AM GLAD THIS BOOK EXISTS.
Its like when I walked out of an early screening of Love, Simon that Penguin put on years ago: Was it great? Eh. Did that matter? Not at all. Because queer rep should be abundant enough that it gets cringe and silly HEA stories too. That's GOOD. It's inclusive. It's rep. It's important.
So long short: Not for me. Maybe for you. Or your daughter. Or sister.
I am going to try instead their standalone addition "Curses & Cold Brew", because I got major gender flipped Murder Husband but "Hanni is an actual demon drama Queen vibes"... Which. Done.
Originally published 2026
Paperback purchased at Falling in Fiction
Book Review Originally Published on Instagram 25th September 2026
Comments