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Contents ( 72)
  1. Contents
  2. 1
  3. The Prodigal Witch
  4. 2
  5. The Shamrock Cauldron Fiasco
  6. 3
  7. The Sexy Tundra Wolf
  8. 4
  9. Fried Cake and Revelations
  10. 5
  11. The Witches’ Vengeance Pact
  12. 6
  13. The Original Grimoire
  14. 7
  15. The Ring Effect
  16. 8
  17. Because You Left
  18. 9
  19. The Color of Impure Thoughts
  20. 10
  21. Upon My Mark!
  22. 11
  23. On Rolling Like a Demigoddess
  24. 12
  25. The Witch Woods
  26. 13
  27. No, No, the Ghosts Live in the Trees
  28. 14
  29. Of Orchards, Jagbags, and Best Friends
  30. 15
  31. The Candle
  32. 16
  33. Big City, Little Orphan Witch
  34. 17
  35. Petals Caught in Amber
  36. 18
  37. Things Told in Confidence
  38. 19
  39. Anomalous Artifacts
  40. 20
  41. Now That’s What You Call an Apple Corps
  42. 21
  43. This Will Always Be the Place
  44. 22
  45. You Beastly Child
  46. 23
  47. Like Starlit Oceans, or Alien Skies
  48. 24
  49. What You Do Best
  50. 25
  51. When Even Magic Fails Us
  52. 26
  53. Sly Cantrips and Tricky Spells
  54. 27
  55. Anathema
  56. 28
  57. Then They Must Forfeit
  58. 29
  59. The Word and the Dream, the Heart and the Eye
  60. 30
  61. And the Victor Is . . .
  62. 31
  63. More Than Enough
  64. Acknowledgments
  65. READERS GUIDE
  66. Questions for Discussion
  67. 1
  68. Deviously Done
  69. 2
  70. Not Enough Heart
  71. CONNECT ONLINE
  72. What’s next on your reading list?

I’ve been fortunate to have the kind of best friends who see you staunchly through the times when life is way weirder than fiction—you know who you are and how much I love you. (But just in case there’s any confusion, you’re Danea, Sharee, Claire, Jilly, Julie, Cara, and Elisar. You have seen some things, and I can’t wait to hug you all again over gimlets.) I’ve also gotten to know some wonderful new friends in Chicago: Tereza, Mike, Sophia, and Olivia; Raquel, Rick, Ricky, Bella, and Micah; Nora, Mike, Bene, Myra, and Ella; and Alit, thank you for keeping my spirits up and being such generous neighborhood friends.

I owe so much to my family for each book I write, but especially this one. Thank you to my brother and parents for their enduring support; especially my mother, whose great sacrifice—though she’d never call it that—in taking care of my son basically night and day while I wrote this gave me the freedom to run wild.

And thanks to Caleb, who gave me and our little lion-bear Leo stability in some very turbulent times, often at great expense to himself.

I live in fear of forgetting someone crucial when writing acknowledgments; if I’ve managed to mess it up this time, please know that I do appreciate you, and the omission is COVID’s fault and not mine.

READERS GUIDE

Payback’s a Witch

LANA HARPER

Questions for Discussion

phases of the moon

  1. At the very beginning of the book, when Emmy returns to Thistle Grove, she dismissively refers to the town’s magical beauty as “so damn extra”—and her own magicless life in Chicago as real, the life she’s chosen for herself. Do you believe Emmy’s value judgments about either place? Do you think she believes them herself?

  2. When she first comes home, Emmy is a little surprised by her mother’s bluntness in their initial conversation. She then compares her family’s arm’s-length style of relating to one another to the very different bonds that exist between the Avramovs, Thorns, and Blackmoores. Which of these relationship styles reminds you the most of your own family?

  3. Do you think Emmy truly comes home only because of the pull of tradition and the impressive parental guilt trip—or is the truth more complicated?

  4. The families have dramatically different magical abilities: the Thorns are green-magic healers, the Blackmoores showy illusionists, the Avramovs diviners and necromancers with one foot on either side of the veil, the Harlows recordkeepers whose tea is always the perfect temperature. Whose magic would you most like to have? And least?

  5. Over the course of the book, Emmy experiences a lot of guilt for the way she interacted with her best friend, Linden, and her parents after she left town. Given the circumstances, do you think Emmy did wrong by those she left behind? Would you have behaved any differently?

  6. What do you think of Emmy’s experience with being the Arbiter, and the magic of the mantle? Do you think you would enjoy being immersed in such intoxicating power, or does the idea make you uneasy?

  7. What do you think of Elias Harlow’s decision not to share with his younger descendants the magical role the Harlows play in Thistle Grove? Would you have done things differently in his shoes?

  8. Would you rather be a Victor of the Gauntlet, or, like Emmy’s family, the voice of Thistle Grove? How do you think Emmy will combine her two roles? How might they complement or conflict with each other?

  9. All things considered, do you think Emmy’s relationship with Gareth was the worst thing to happen in her life—or possibly, the best? How might her life have looked otherwise, had the romance between them never happened?

  10. Why do you think Talia chose to cede her wreath to Emmy? Do you think this was the right decision on her part? How do you think Talia’s mother, Elena Avramov, feels about her daughter’s course of action?

  11. Emmy and her cousin Delilah have a complicated relationship. Do you think one of them is more at fault than the other? Do you have any similarly fraught relationships in your life?

  12. Do you think it’s likely that Emmy will spend much time in Chicago in the future? How do you think she and Talia will navigate splitting their time between Thistle Grove and the city?

  13. If you could visit just one of the Thistle Grove venues described in the book—consider the Honeycake Orchards, The Bitters, Castle Camelot, Lady’s Lake, Tintagel, and Tomes & Omens to get you started—what would it be, and why?