Member Reviews

My Book thoughts:)

A 5 star read!

- Surprisingly this is my first CJ Cooke novel. After reading this, I know this she is gonna be my new auto-buy author!
- A super fast paced storyline that gripped me from the get go.
- Big twists and a duel timeline that kept me turning the pages.
- The transitions between the two timelines was really great. I liked how they bridged together nicely towards the end of the book.
- This is gonna be the perfect spooky read for witches this October! I was too impulsive (and way too excited) to wait to read this one.
- The characters are super compelling and I was routing for both the two female leads.
- There is a cult!! Say. No. More!

Thank you sooooo much to Netgalley and Harper Collins for an ARC copy of this book.

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Well, I've just finished this book, it didn't take me too long because I couldn't put it down and wow! What an excellent story, the well written characters flowed from the page telling of a time of ancient and modern witchcraft from the 1500's till the present day, leaving, with I hope, a chance of continuing. This was certainly book of the year for me, bravo!

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3.5 The Witching proves that the Cooke who captured our attention with The Lighthouse Witches and The Ghost Woods is back and just in time for spooky season with this one slated to hit the shelves in October! 🎃

Story and Cadence:
● The premise was strong: while witch persecution in fiction is a popular theme, the addition of the Book of Witching and the mystery made this a compelling read! You will need to suspend disbelief and not look too closely at police procedure and some world-building inconsistencies, but it’s not enough to be significantly distracting.
● While dual-timeline isn’t my favourite structure, these two stories were artfully intertwined and expertly done. Instead of being a device, the use of dual-timeline felt intentional and purposeful.
● The pacing was slightly off in the beginning but it picks up!

Characters, Setting, and Atmosphere:
● I preferred Alison and her family as our MC. Because Erin was incapacitated for most of the book, we didn’t get to know her quite as well as Alison but what we did learn about Erin made her difficult to root for (where Alison was strong and took charge of what limited choices she had, Erin was naïve and mostly a passenger for all the things that happened to her). I found the trio of Erin, Arlo, and Senna infuriating.
● Couldn’t stand Clem and Quinn with their bickering, interfering with a murder inquiry, destroying evidence, and plethora of interpersonal melodrama
● I loved Nurse Bee’s upbeat, collected, and cheerful characterization!
● The setting of Orkney/Glasgow were both well done. Again, I prefer the Orkney setting of Alison’s story simply because that’s not a place I’ve spent very much time in fiction!
● This is an excellent vibe or mood read for Spooktober!

Language, Writing, and Presentation:
● The opening Alison sections take some getting used to: they’re written in the present tense and trying so hard to be old timey (read: no contractions, dated language, excessively verbose sentences); the result feels clunky and overwrought. As a reader I struggle with the attempts to replicate archaic writing because, to me, it sucks all the emotion and feeling out of words (for example, “it is maddening to think upon” is too passive to convey anger, to me.) I’m not sure if this becomes less pronounced as the book carries on, or I just got used to it, but I only really noticed it in the first few Alison sections.
● UK cover looks very similar to 2019’s aggressively marketed “The Binding”, and plenty of subsequent lookalikes. I prefer the North American cover by Berkley - it’s much witchier and it has its own unique look and feel!

If you enjoyed The Lighthouse Witches, I bet you’ll like this too! My only caution comes as a human who has suffered third degree burns, some of the imagery and narrative around Erin’s injury was difficult to read.

I was privileged to have my request to read this book accepted through NetGalley. Thank you so much, HarperCollins UK! 💫

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Devoured this book! I loved the duel pov across different timelines and a awesome look into witchcraft
The characters were believable and the story just flowed I loved it

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A completely fresh perspective on witchcraft - which is a very difficult thing to find nowadays - based on facts. A truly astonishing read.

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Just when you think you have read all the books on witchcraft someone comes along with a whole fresh look on the subject. A story inspired by true fact too. A really good read with plenty of history and shocking facts. I can never believe half of what I read on this subject actually happened but it did. This is a great novel to learn more and to soak up the atmosphere of fear at the time.

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Wow this was amazing! Full 5 stars from me.
I’ve loved everything from this author so far and this was just as good as her previous books
Great story, realistic characters, mystery, tension and so atmospheric. Dual timelines can be hit or miss for me but this one worked very well and weaved the stories together nicely
Loved the ending too

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc

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