Review: The Burial Witch (Language of Magic #2.5)

The Burial Witch, Book 2.5 in the Language of Magic Series by Cari Thomas

Published By: Harper Voyager
Publication Date: September 2, 2025
Date Read: September 19, 2026
Genre: YA / NA – Urban Fantasy
Source: Bought
Format: Hardback
Pages: 150

Add to Goodreads | Add to Storygraph

An enchanting new novella set in the magical world of Sunday Times bestseller Threadneedle and The Times bestseller Shadowstitch

“The unopenable box. A mythical object that appears in fairy tales and folklore across all cultures around the world. Sometimes the box can only be opened by the right person at the right time, such a rightful heir, and in other tales it is considered a warning. A test given to the protagonist who are typically forbidden from opening the box. When they eventually succumb, what they unleash cannot be put back in.”

We follow Miranda Richardson, a highly strung, highly driven member of the covens who discovers a mysterious, unopenable box in her parent’s loft.

Taking place between events in Threadneedle and Shadowstitch, this is a perfect magical read for fans of the series, collectors and all dreamers.

The Language of Magic series is one that I started reading and fell head over heels in love with back in 2022. I fell in love with this luscious urban fantasy where magic is rife and hidden in our world. I love that it’s set in a magical underbelly of London and I adore the entire cast of characters. So when I saw that we were getting a novella about Miranda, I couldn’t wait to dive straight in. However, it did sit there for a little while on my shelf. Purely because I knew the third book wouldn’t be out for a little while, and I wanted to ease the wait a little bit by waiting to read Miranda’s story.

I did really enjoy experiencing Miranda’s back story. In the main series we see the uptight and neurotic Miranda fierce and determined to protect all of her friends. We knew that she came from a very strict background, but it was still so nice to be able to experience it all along with her. I felt so much for Miranda as she went through her journey of discovering her magic. Especially as she has always been told witches, or anything magical is evil. My heart just totally broke for her when she was thinking she was in with the devil because she started having this magical episodes.

While I did really enjoy seeing Miranda’s backstory, I really missed the magic of the series. As this is Miranda’s past before she discovers that she is a witch, we go through a good 80% of this novella with no magic at all. I really missed the witchy elements and that made it a bit of a slow going novella for me. I’m so glad I read it, and it’s definitely made me super excited to get my hands on Rootbound, but this one was a bit of a mixed bag for me. If you’re a fan of the series and love Miranda then I would definitely recommend that you pick this one up, however if you’re not too fussed about her, you could probably skip this novella and you won’t really be missing too much.