Blog Tour and ARC Review: The Reimagining of Thornwood House by Jaleigh Johnson
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Publication Date: June 9, 2026
Welcome to the Reimagining of Thornwood House blog tour with Berkley Publishing Group. (This blog tour post is also posted on my Wordpressbook blog Whimsical Dragonette.)
About the Book:
A witch and her young ward discover a magical, walking house and learn the true meaning of home in this cozy, enchanting novel from New York Times bestselling author Jaleigh Johnson. Evelyn Sharpe is accustomed to dealing with natural disasters as a land witch, but she longs for a life with a little less danger for her and her adopted daughter, Ruby. So when the opportunity to take over as Caretaker of Thornwood House—a sentient home that acts as the magical heart of the village of Iskendra—arises, it seems almost fated. When they arrive in sunny Iskendra, Evie and Ruby find the house is nothing like what they thought. First of all, it has walked away from the address. Thornwood House is grumpy, guarded, and extremely hesitant to allow the two witches through its doors. Armed with gentle hearts and wild magic, Evie and Ruby begin to form tentative bonds with the house and the citizens of the small town. But there’s something deeply damaged about the building seeping into the forests surrounding Iskendra, and Evie will have to use all her power to protect the roots she’s started to grow.
My Review:
5 stars
If you like the House in the Cerulean Sea or Sangu Mandanna's books (like I do) this is for you. I found Evie to be really relatable, Ruby to be very sweet, Gil to be charming and dependable, and the townsfolk to be eclectic and friendly. And of course the Thornwood House is simply magical. I thought I had the plot figured out really early on and that it was going to drag and be disappointing, but then it went and surprised me with a twist I hadn't anticipated. The story is sweet, cozy, and deceptively simple. Yes, it could be rewritten to be a middle-grade book, but it would have to be entirely rewritten with a shift in focus. Evie is the focus of the story and she is in her 20s. And the problems she faces are very much adult problems. I would love to visit Iskendra, the Thornwood House, and the Thornwood. They are simply magical. *Thanks to NetGalley and Berkley for providing an early copy for review.

















