Happy Halloween Readers,
I have read a couple of witchy books this year and I wish I kept till the spooky season and thought I would share them with you. For each book I am recommending I am including the synopsis, my thoughts, the number of pages, and a link to goodreads in case you want to the add the book to your TBR. These are books that I loved but can’t seem to gather the right words to review them. I have no rights to the cover images below (Fair use under the copyright act sections 29 and 30 under use for a review).
Lady Macbeth by Ava Reid
I have read a couple of witchy books this year and I wish I kept till the spooky season and thought I would share them with you. For each book I am recommending I am including the synopsis, my thoughts, the number of pages, and a link to goodreads in case you want to the add the book to your TBR. These are books that I loved but can’t seem to gather the right words to review them. I have no rights to the cover images below (Fair use under the copyright act sections 29 and 30 under use for a review).
Synopsis: The Lady knows the stories: how her eyes induce madness in men.
The Lady knows she will be wed to the Scottish brute, who does not leave his warrior ways behind when he comes to the marriage bed. The Lady knows his hostile, suspicious court will be a game of strategy, requiring all of her wiles and hidden witchcraft to survive.
But the Lady does not know her husband has occult secrets of his own. She does not know that prophecy girds him like armour. She does not know that her magic is greater and more dangerous, and that it will threaten the order of the world. She does not know this yet. But she will.
Thoughts: I listened to the audiobook of this on Spotify using the free audiobook hours you get allocated a month as Spotify Premium member. This book is 9 hours and 12 minutes long. I think Macbeth is one of my favourite works from Shakespear and I loved what Ave have done with this story. I really enjoyed Ava’s take on the witches and Lady Macbeth.
Pages: 320 - Goodreads
Synopsis: I am a Weyward, and wild inside.
2019: Under cover of darkness, Kate flees London for ramshackle Weyward Cottage, inherited from a great aunt she barely remembers. With its tumbling ivy and overgrown garden, the cottage is worlds away from the abusive partner who tormented Kate. But she begins to suspect that her great aunt had a secret. One that lurks in the bones of the cottage, hidden ever since the witch-hunts of the 17th century.
1619: Altha is awaiting trial for the murder of a local farmer who was stampeded
to death by his herd. As a girl, Altha’s mother taught her their magic, a kind
not rooted in spell casting but in a deep knowledge of the natural world. But
unusual women have always been deemed dangerous, and as the evidence for
witchcraft is set out against Altha, she knows it will take all of her powers
to maintain her freedom.
1942: As World War II rages, Violet is trapped in her family's grand, crumbling estate. Straitjacketed by societal convention, she longs for the robust education her brother receives––and for her mother, long deceased, who was rumoured to have gone mad before her death. The only traces Violet has of her are a locket bearing the initial W and the word Weyward scratched into the baseboard of her bedroom.
Weaving together the stories of three extraordinary women across five
centuries, Emilia Hart's Weyward is an enthralling novel of female resilience
and the transformative power of the natural world.
Thoughts: Trigger Warnings: sexual assault, domestic violence, pregnancy loss, suicidal ideation. As much as one of the time periods in this book infuriates me and makes me want to cry its stories we need to hear. I can’t deny this book is a heavy read, but I enjoyed it. There is no denying the feminist tone of the novel as it showcasing the fierce determination each of the three women must hold through their hardships caused by the fear and the limitations placed upon them by men.
Pages: 387 - Goodreads
Synopsis: Her Majesty's Royal Coven #0.5
BOW DOWN WITCHES
It’s 1536 and the Queen has been beheaded.
Lady Grace Fairfax, witch, knows that something foul is at play – that someone had betrayed Anne Boleyn and her coven. Wild with the loss of their leader – and her lover, a secret that if spilled could spell Grace’s own end – she will do anything in her power to track down the traitor.
But there’s more at stake than revenge: it was one of their own, a witch, that
betrayed them, and Grace isn’t the only one looking for her. King Henry VIII
has sent witchfinders after them, and they’re organized like they’ve never been
before under his new advisor, the impassioned Sir Ambrose Fulke, a cold man
blinded by his faith. His cruel reign could mean the end of witchkind itself.
If Grace wants to find her revenge and live, she will have to do more than disappear.
She will have to be reborn.
Thoughts: I love the Her Majesty's Royal Coven series by Juno I just can’t seem to find the words to review them. Queen B came out in July, and I read it straight after it arrived however, I wish I had waited for the spooky season. This book is the ultimate autumnal read.
Pages: 171 - Goodreads
The Mercies by Kiran Millwood Hargrave
Synopsis: The storm comes in like a finger snap . . .
1617. The sea around the remote Norwegian island of Vardø is thrown into a vicious storm. A young woman, Maren, watches as the men of the island, out fishing, perish in an instant. Vardø is now a place of women.
1617. The sea around the remote Norwegian island of Vardø is thrown into a vicious storm. A young woman, Maren, watches as the men of the island, out fishing, perish in an instant. Vardø is now a place of women.
Eighteen months later, a sinister figure arrives. Absalom Cornet has been summoned to bring the women of the island to heel. With him travels his young wife, Ursa. In her new home, and in Maren, Ursa encounters something she has never seen before: independent women. But where Ursa finds happiness, even love, Absalom sees only a place flooded with a terrible evil, one he must root out at all costs...
Thoughts: I read this at the beginning of October as I knew I wanted to read to read it for Halloween. This book is partly inspired by true events, and I enjoyed it, but I think I would have enjoyed this book a more if I hadn’t just read The Witches of Vardø by Anya Bergman. Despite knowing that they were similar it was a little much emotionally but it’s totally user error.
Pages: 341 - Goodreads
Synopsis: As one of the few witches in Britain, Mika Moon knows she has to hide her magic, keep her head down, and stay away from other witches so their powers don't mingle and draw attention. And as an orphan who lost her parents at a young age and was raised by strangers, she's used to being alone and she follows the rules...with one exception: an online account, where she posts videos pretending to be a witch. She thinks no one will take it seriously.
But someone does. An unexpected message arrives, begging her to travel to the remote and mysterious Nowhere House to teach three young witches how to control their magic. It breaks all of the rules, but Mika goes anyway and is immediately tangled up in the lives and secrets of not only her three charges, but also an absent archaeologist, a retired actor, two long-suffering caretakers, and... Jamie. The handsome and prickly librarian of Nowhere House would do anything to protect the children, and as far as he's concerned, a stranger like Mika is a threat. An irritatingly appealing threat.
As Mika begins to find her place at Nowhere House, the thought of belonging somewhere begins to feel like a real possibility. But magic isn't the only danger in the world, and when a threat comes knocking at their door, Mika will need to decide whether to risk everything to protect a found family she didn't know she was looking for...
Thoughts: This was such a wholesome read. I loved its humour, quirky characters, and the delightfully ridiculous situations the characters found themselves in. The writing and dialogue flow well which made for a great read with a wonderfully executed story with extraordinary characters and I loved every second.
Pages: 318 - Goodreads
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