Reviews - The Last Witch in Edinburgh

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301 reviews for:

The Last Witch in Edinburgh

Marielle Thompson

3.68 AVERAGE

zoe_gork's review

3.75

hopeful inspiring reflective

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

totcocoa's review

2.5

informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Oh boy, this one was such a disappointment. I picked this one up for the promise of sapphic witches in the height of the witch trails in Edinburgh. The first half of the book was okay, a bit slow of the read but the plot was interesting and the characters were compelling.

Then, the second half of the book struck. It went from slow to a glacial pace and suddenly, I was being lectured on Feminism 101 every other paragraph. Rather than *showing* me how much the patriarchy sucks, I was Told how much it sucks, often. A lot of it was shoehorned in awkwardly, along with the intersectional elements the author thought to address. There were characters who existed Solely for the purpose of bad things happening to them to demonstrate how bad the patriarchy is. And the ending was just very -- meh? Characterizations for core characters were all over the place and I just found myself annoyed more than I was enjoying reading it. In fact I wished I had been reading something else constantly.

Tldr: it could have been a great book that handles important themes but the execution fell so, so flat. I originally rated this 3 stars but the more I think about this book, the more annoyed I get. It put me in a reading slump afterwards.

lattesqueeze's review

3.0

I loved the first half of this book, but the modern-era jump just didn’t fit right for me. Nellie has no apparent character development during the two hundred years where she’s just…chilling? The second half of the book was just a bit too soapbox agenda for me. Loved the premise, I just feel like it lost its way a bit.

Also, the editor seemed to have given up, because the amount of typos and incorrect phrases…yikes. The author uses the phrase “stepped foot” SO often and it grates every time. Maybe that’s a me issue though lol

caileea's review

5.0

Super unique story combining real historical events with a magical fantasy twist. The core theme here is the trials and tribulations of living in a patriarchal society and how that has been persistent over centuries specifically taking place in Edinburgh for the majority of the book. I love historical fiction and fantasy so this was up my alley!

Thanks to NetGalley and Kensington Publishing for the advanced copy.