We may have just gotten a second (season) helping of the wonderful Chilling Adventures of Sabrina on Netflix, but if you can’t get enough, then I have some good news for you. The entire Greendale clan gets explored a bit more in the new prequel novel from Sarah Rees Brennan and Scholastic: Season of the Witch.

People at school say it must be weird, living with a mortuary downstairs. They have no idea that it’s the least weird thing about our family.

The book is a prequel in that it takes place before the first season of the show, but it’s only set a few weeks before, so don’t expect this to be about a toddler Sabrina or young Aunts Hilda and Zelda (though that would be AMAZING).

Told from alternating perspectives, the Sabrina chapters comprise a first-person, in-her-head account that covers a lot of the same emotional ground as explored in the first few episodes of the show. Sabrina is mentally preparing herself for her Dark Baptism and figuring out how she’ll be able to conveniently keep the two halves of her life (mortal and witch) both IN her life.

The primary plot point also deals with Sabrina’s relationship with Harvey. I’ll avoid spoilers, but it involves magic (duh) and is pretty much the most accurate depiction of something a teenager with magic – and hormones – would choose to do.

The other perspective in the book is a third-person, omnipotent, ominous narrator (The Dark Lord? The Greendale woods?) that analyzes secondary characters. Chapters alternate between Sabrina’s story and these brief character vignettes.

(These chapters, by the way, are printed with white text on black pages. Which I get conceptually but is a big no-no for me. Websites that still use this combination are immediately closed since they literally induce headaches. I get what the publisher was going for here, but white type on a black background is never a good idea.)

With a couple exceptions, Sarah Rees Brennan manages to capture the tone and voice of the show remarkably well. Most of the characters are spot on from their show versions, and you really feel immersed in Greendale while reading. Fans will love it.

My biggest gripe, though, is with the depiction of Ambrose. For much of the book, he acts completely out of character from what we see in the first season. I get that we’re seeing a character arc here, and he mostly ends up where the show begins, but since this is only set a week or two before the show, it just feels too extreme.

Harvey, Roz, Susie, and I became besties on our very first day of school, in the way kids do: strangers at first bell and soul mates by lunchtime.

Everyone else – Hilda, Zelda, Sabrina, Harvey, Tommy, Roz, and Susie (more on them in a bit) – feel perfectly ripped from the show. Ms. Wardwell also plays a role, though this is the REAL, non-possessed, introverted Ms. Wardwell – and I have to admit, it was good to see her again.

The book makes some offhand references to the show and foreshadows a few events, but it’s certainly not required viewing. Season of the Witch is a self-contained story that diehard and casual fans alike should enjoy.

It does chart some new territory and introduces a couple fun new demons, but it doesn’t stray too far from the familiarity of the Netflix show. And I kind of wish it did.

I spent so long thinking the future was forever away. I’m not ready for it to be now.

Though I admit this is personal preference, but the Sabrina-Harvey relationship is one of the least interesting aspects of the show for me. So having that be the focus the entire book was less than thrilling – though it makes sense for a YA novel.

And even though almost all of the show’s characters make an appearance in those alternating (white-type-on-black page) chapters, I feel like it does some of them a disservice. Three male characters (Harvey, Tommy, and Nick) get the most in-depth and lengthy chapters, yet the more interesting on-screen characters who scream for more background (e.g., Roz and Susie) get barely a mention. Susie, especially, gets the shortest chapter at not even three pages.

Fans of the show will no doubt gobble Season of the Witch up, and it makes sense as the first of what will undoubtedly be more books set in this world. But it simply covers too much familiar ground and doesn’t really bring anything new to the table. It’s not required reading by any means, but it’s still one hell of a fun read (whether you follow the Dark Lord or not).

Laughter threw a challenge at pain, and sometimes defeated it.

(Disclosure: Scholastic provided the Roarbots with a review copy of this book. All opinions remain our own.)