Portrait of a Witch Undone

Art, magic, and mystery collide in K.S. Shay‘s debut novel, Portrait of a Witch Undone, out today. Maeve was powerful witch on track to become the next matriarch until a spell gone wrong left her unable to use her magic. Now, a year later, her friend and casting partner Ash is determined to figure out what happened to Maeve… and gets lost inside a portal through a piece of art at the museum. Determined to save her friend, Maeve reluctantly teams up with a stranger, Gabriel, to reach her. But soon it’s clear that there’s more going on than they’re prepared for, and a rival coven may take over their own. Maeve will need to find her own magic again before it’s too late.

What I Liked:

Art and entrapment. One of the key elements of this novel is the use of art as a portal to a pocket realm. But it’s also a sort of prison for the fabled Lady of the Fens. Why is she trapped in this artsy in-between world? What would freeing her mean? Like Maeve, I’m not an expert on art, but I enjoyed seeing Ash and Gabriel puzzle through the deeper interpretations and meanings behind paintings, and how those connect to the lady’s entrapment.
Creepy marsh! I loved the swampy, otherworldly atmosphere of the pocket realm within the paintings. It’s vividly drawn here. I also appreciated how the marsh starts to become a part of the main characters, in a body horror sort of way. There should be way more books set in marshes.
Importance of friendship. While there is a side romance in Portrait of a Witch Undone, it’s secondary to Maeve’s relationship with her best friend and casting partner, Ash. Their friendship has gotten murky lately: secrets, anger, no longer trusting each other like they used to. And yet Maeve is still devoted to Ash, even if it means putting herself in danger. There’s also a rival character who maybe isn’t so bad after all.
Anxiety. Maeve’s lack of magic may be literal, but it also may be that her panic is preventing her from reaching it. She has very clear anxiety around what’s happening to her, and it’s frustrating how no one in her life seems to have any empathy for her. Not her mom, not Ash, not anyone else in her coven. I felt for Maeve and how isolated she feels navigating this situation.

What Didn’t Work for Me:

Slow pace. There’s a lot of information at the beginning, and the middle was a tad meandering. Some things could have been tightened up to make for a more gripping pace.
Slightly YA feel. Maeve is 23 years old, but her characterization felt younger. This book would likely have strong crossover appeal to a YA audience.

Audiobook:

Lily Ganser lends her voice to Portrait of a Witch Undone. Her narration is even yet absorbing, and I enjoyed this audiobook from start to finish.

Final Thoughts

Portrait of a Witch Undone is a perfect autumn read for anyone who likes witches and covens, art-related mysteries, and a creepy, marshy setting. This was an original and intriguing book, and I look forward to more from K.S. Shay. Her next novel, Divine Incoherence, is due out in 2027.

Special thanks to Kensington, RBmedia, and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book!

Get the Book

You can buy Portrait of a Witch Undone here – it’s available as a hardcover, ebook, and audiobook.

Portrait of a Witch Undone by K.S. Shay
Audiobook Narrator	Lily Ganser
Audience	Adult
Genre	Fantasy; Mystery
Setting	Massachusetts
Number of Pages	368
Format I Read	Audiobook & Ebook (NetGalley ARCs)
Original Publication Date	August 25, 2026
Publisher	Erewhon Books

Official Summary

Thirteen stolen works of art. One haunted marsh.
And a Boston witch willing to risk everything for the friend she’s already failed.

An atmospheric, eerie debut for readers of Starling House and A Discovery of Witches, Isabella Stewart Gardner art heist aficionados, witchy girls, burnt-out former gifted kids, New England history buffs, the coven curious, ride-or-die friends, folklore fanatics, and anyone who’s ever wanted to wander through the looking glass.

Once, Maeve Ryan was the strongest witch of her generation. But Maeve messed up a spell to contact the Lady of the Fens, an eerie Revenant who lures the unwary to their deaths in the brackish marshlands of the North Shore. Maeve destroyed her reputation, hurt her best friend Ash, and tainted herself with unbound, wild magic that transforms witches into insane Revenants.

With unbound power eating away at Maeve’s mind, all she wants is to get rid of her magic. Forever. But Ash’s research into how the spell went awry leads in an unexpected direction: the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, and a link between the Lady and a decades-old art theft worth $500 million. When Ash disappears through a stolen painting’s empty frame, Maeve has to follow.

Inside is the Other Marsh, a haunting, deadly realm where only the Lady’s rules apply. Within this half-world lie secrets about North Shore’s history, Maeve’s failure, and the fate of the masterpieces that disappeared over three decades ago. But as Maeve fights toward the truth, she risks her friendship, her coven, and her life against enemies hiding in plain sight.

About the Author

K.S. Shay is a writer and lover of all things strange, creepy, and magical. She grew up in the part of northeastern Massachusetts where half the streets are named after people who were accused of witchcraft, which is probably why she’s obsessed with the ghost stories in our backyards, how legends change over time, and how the stories we tell shape us in return.

Kate studied English with a concentration in prose the University of Virginia. When she’s not writing, Kate can be found spending way too much money on band merch at her local concert venue, or befriending her barista in order to get all the best coffee shop gossip. She’ll know she’s made it in life when she lives somewhere with a secret room behind one of those hidden bookshelf doors.

Her writing can be found across the internet, with the exception of a now-deleted Wattpad account whose handle you can pry from her cold, dead hands. You can find her online at ksshaywrites.com and across social media @ksshaywrites.