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3.7 AVERAGE
3.7 AVERAGE
A more accurate rating for me would be 2.5 stars. I have some Thoughts about this book.
I thought the setting was well done and the protagonist was interesting; I also burned through the entire second half of the book in one sitting, so there's that! On the other hand, certain themes/phrases started to feel really repetitive ("brain like white meat" and "sins added to one's ledger" come to mind). Finally, the ending definitely went off the rails a little. The buildup and the suffering and the tense atmosphere of the whole book ended with about five pages of payoff, not much of which felt realistic or true to the tone of the story. I'll try to summarize here:
So, Mary deduces out of nowhere that Peregrine is the real witch, because Thomas probably beat her when she was a child. (Where did she learn witch stuff? Who knows.) Peregrine and Rebeckah break Mary out of jail with the help of an uncle who was only introduced two pages previous; we have no idea why he's willing to risk his life or his soul to free a convicted witch, but okay. Peregrine then reveals that her father not only murdered her mother, but sexually assaulted her as a child - okay!! That's kind of a lot to dump on us in the last five pages of the book, but okay! Then they're cornered by Thomas on the way to the harbor, and Mary mcfreaking murders him in cold blood (quite the turnaround from a hundred pages ago, when she stopped trying to poison him at the last second because she was definitely Not willing to be a murderer, but okay), followed by Peregrine doing the same to the rando he was riding with. Mary then escapes Boston with her love interest, a man willing to give up literally everything for her for no reason, and we get a one-page epilogue where they're happily married and have a child and Mary still has a relationship with her parents and everything! Everything is fine, somehow!
I'm torn here, because I didn't want things to end with Mary dying for the crime of trying to escape her abusive husband. The problem is, the plot was written such that avoiding that ending required some serious deus ex machina. I was happy to suspend disbelief for the jailbreak; cool, we have an offscreen feminist uncle here, whatever. But then suddenly everything is murder and there are no consequences, and like, I'm not mad Thomas died! He had it coming! But the tone of the book took a hard left from "gritty historical drama" to "feminist power fantasy" really quickly. I enjoy both of those things; they just don't gel together very well, especially when the shift from one to the other is so abrupt. It makes the ending feel hollow - like, all right, I guess you could've saved yourself some trouble by actually murdering him the first time.
So as usual, I have mixed feelings. 2.5 stars are being rounded up for the well-drawn setting and a female protagonist who felt nuanced (if occasionally an idiot). But the longer I think about Henry Simmons as a character the more confused I get, so I'll stop here before I start wanting to round down!
I thought the setting was well done and the protagonist was interesting; I also burned through the entire second half of the book in one sitting, so there's that! On the other hand, certain themes/phrases started to feel really repetitive ("brain like white meat" and "sins added to one's ledger" come to mind). Finally, the ending definitely went off the rails a little. The buildup and the suffering and the tense atmosphere of the whole book ended with about five pages of payoff, not much of which felt realistic or true to the tone of the story. I'll try to summarize here:
So, Mary deduces out of nowhere that Peregrine is the real witch, because Thomas probably beat her when she was a child. (Where did she learn witch stuff? Who knows.) Peregrine and Rebeckah break Mary out of jail with the help of an uncle who was only introduced two pages previous; we have no idea why he's willing to risk his life or his soul to free a convicted witch, but okay. Peregrine then reveals that her father not only murdered her mother, but sexually assaulted her as a child - okay!! That's kind of a lot to dump on us in the last five pages of the book, but okay! Then they're cornered by Thomas on the way to the harbor, and Mary mcfreaking murders him in cold blood (quite the turnaround from a hundred pages ago, when she stopped trying to poison him at the last second because she was definitely Not willing to be a murderer, but okay), followed by Peregrine doing the same to the rando he was riding with. Mary then escapes Boston with her love interest, a man willing to give up literally everything for her for no reason, and we get a one-page epilogue where they're happily married and have a child and Mary still has a relationship with her parents and everything! Everything is fine, somehow!
I'm torn here, because I didn't want things to end with Mary dying for the crime of trying to escape her abusive husband. The problem is, the plot was written such that avoiding that ending required some serious deus ex machina. I was happy to suspend disbelief for the jailbreak; cool, we have an offscreen feminist uncle here, whatever. But then suddenly everything is murder and there are no consequences, and like, I'm not mad Thomas died! He had it coming! But the tone of the book took a hard left from "gritty historical drama" to "feminist power fantasy" really quickly. I enjoy both of those things; they just don't gel together very well, especially when the shift from one to the other is so abrupt. It makes the ending feel hollow - like, all right, I guess you could've saved yourself some trouble by actually murdering him the first time.
So as usual, I have mixed feelings. 2.5 stars are being rounded up for the well-drawn setting and a female protagonist who felt nuanced (if occasionally an idiot). But the longer I think about Henry Simmons as a character the more confused I get, so I'll stop here before I start wanting to round down!
dark
informative
reflective
medium-paced
The writing style takes a bit to get used to. Overall, a good storyline but could have been told in half the amount of pages. The story fell a little flat for me as I was expecting a bit more of a page turner.
It is a truth universally acknowledged that if it's got the word "witch" or "Salem" in it, Alexa will read it. But even so, this book about a (fictional) witch trial in Boston thirty years before the hysteria in Salem was SUCH a solid commute listen—infuriating and suspenseful and DEEPLY satisfying by the end, even if I did have a slight quibble about the pacing (certain parts dragged out, which wasn't unpleasant to listen to, but I think would have been a chore to read, and then by the end it was like LET'S GO! HERE COMES PLOT! HERE COMES ACTION!). I'm not sure what I love more, this book or the fact that I am not a Puritan woman living in colonial New England in the mid-17th century. (Their lives were SO TERRIBLE????)
dark
hopeful
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Religious bigotry
Minor: Suicide