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3.7 AVERAGE
3.7 AVERAGE
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Only finished this for book club. Pretty bad. The story was so-so and the narration was a little annoying. I’m curious though why there was such a big cast of guest narrators to read very short bits-testimony from the two court cases. I couldn’t figure out why there would be so many different voices for those. Perhaps the audio director wanted to give these parts to friends?
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Moderate: Domestic abuse
-the author did a really great time setting the 17th century scene
-i loved hearing from the perspective of a woman in this time period with more "modern" thoughts
-didn't like the pacing - it was very slow to start and jammed packed in the last 1/3 of the book
-overall really liked the story
-stirred up some great conversations at book club
-i loved hearing from the perspective of a woman in this time period with more "modern" thoughts
-didn't like the pacing - it was very slow to start and jammed packed in the last 1/3 of the book
-overall really liked the story
-stirred up some great conversations at book club
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
I really enjoyed this novel and couldn't put it down. The 17th century america the author recreated was quite atmospheric. The conversations in the court room were amazing, the puritan babbling drove me mad with hatred and rage, the writing definitely fulfilled its purpose. Overall great, a bit long-winded at parts and I wished there was more witchy stuff.
Mary was not an easy character to like, or at times trust, and her voice/sensibilities came across as a little too modern, but I came to understand her by the end. Reading a fictional 17th century witch trial was as maddening as reading The Crucible in 11th grade, so no new ground was really broken here, though perhaps that was not the author's intent. While the plot felt slow at times, and the courtroom proceedings figured more prominently into the book than I expected, I very much liked how each chapter began with a quote from the trials, creating tension and driving me to read forward to see how the quote would come into play.
And WHAT. AN. ENDING.
As I was reading, I found the ending jaw-droppingly unrealistic, a complete suspension of belief, almost hilariously so. Not that it didn't appeal to my penchant for happily-ever-after. But was this too much? And I decided that it was not. Why? Because this is the ending I would have wanted for every innocent woman and man falsely accused and convicted of witchcraft and wrongfully hanged, burned, or crushed. Though pure fiction, this ending shone like a pinprick light of justice for all of those murdered souls. I wish it could have been so for each one of them. I wish that humans in power haven't always been so terrible to those they considered "beneath" them for any strange or fabricated reason.
I hope this gets an adaptation like The Flight Attendant. There's a lot in the literary canon about witch trials, but far less on the the screen.
And WHAT. AN. ENDING.
As I was reading, I found the ending jaw-droppingly unrealistic, a complete suspension of belief, almost hilariously so. Not that it didn't appeal to my penchant for happily-ever-after. But was this too much? And I decided that it was not. Why? Because this is the ending I would have wanted for every innocent woman and man falsely accused and convicted of witchcraft and wrongfully hanged, burned, or crushed. Though pure fiction, this ending shone like a pinprick light of justice for all of those murdered souls. I wish it could have been so for each one of them. I wish that humans in power haven't always been so terrible to those they considered "beneath" them for any strange or fabricated reason.
I hope this gets an adaptation like The Flight Attendant. There's a lot in the literary canon about witch trials, but far less on the the screen.
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Family bonds and the disrespect of intelligent women take center stage in this early-America setting. Deducted half a star because the author chose Old English in the dialogue which did not give enough texture for the effort.
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
It's a time period that I'm extremely interested in and yet I wanted to take the three tined fork and drive it repeatedly into thine own skull.
I almost bailed on this book about 72 times but still kept on. I should have marked it DNF after the first 1/4.
I almost bailed on this book about 72 times but still kept on. I should have marked it DNF after the first 1/4.