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adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Enchanting, arresting, spellbinding -- everything I've come to expect from Silvia Moreno-Garcia.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Incest, Blood, Cannibalism, Murder
Moderate: Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Please note that when the narrative of this novel veers dark, it gets really dark. Nonetheless, it’s mostly Gothic Horror/Gothic Romance
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child death, Drug use, Gore, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Kidnapping, Car accident, Death of parent, Lesbophobia, Cultural appropriation, Toxic friendship, Alcohol
There’s a lot of questionable material that may or may not be excusable depending on the time period depicted in the storylines. For instance, there’s a close relationship that veers inappropriate depicted between a similar age niece and uncle. It’s still an uncle. In other storylines, there’s racism and lesbophobia/homophobia/acephobia. It all depends on your perspective. The violence in the book involves mostly guns and knives. There are some mentions of various sorts of accidents befalling characters. Be aware.
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I really enjoyed this book! Moreno-Garcia has such a good gothic voice. Her atmospheres are excellent and she builds tension so well. Her mix of European witch folklore mixed with Mexican witch folklore in this book was really interesting. I loved the three different timelines being woven throughout. And I’m a sucker for some powerful women!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Death, Incest, Stalking
Moderate: Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Car accident
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
First and foremost, thanks to Kay Popple at Penguin Random and NetGalley for offering me a pre-approved eARC copy of The Beewitching in exchange for an honest review.
While it took me many months longer than intended to get through Garcia Moreno's newest publication (today is actually pub date!) due to being unexpectedly unemployed, and lots of life being adjusted as a result, I devoured The Bewitching in basically two days.
Split across three separate timelines (1998, 1934, and 1908) and three separate women battling bedeviled metaphysical forces across their particular timeline, The Bewitching tackles both multi-generational fights against evil, and very personal losses as a result of these fights. In 1998, our protagonist is Minerva, a graduate student just trying to get through the summer and work on her thesis - centered on witches and Northeastern US horror stories. In the 1930s, our protagonist is Beatrice Tremblay, writer and individual who is doing her own fighting against things that go bump in the night, which lead to a career in writing horror fiction, stories that have inspired Minerva's own interest in witches, horror, and more. Finally in 1908, our protagonist is Minerva's own grandmother Alba, who has just lost her father, and who has to engage in her own battles against witches and the occult.
All three timelines and stories converge as Alba and Minerva fight for their lives, their well-being, and those of their loved ones.
Inspired by Moreno Garcia's family's own stories of witches, the occult, and more, The Bewitching is a fairly fast-paced novel that will be great for fans of horror novels where witches aren't the "good guys" at the end of the story, but are up to something much more nefarious. Intertwined in the plot of the novel are folktales from Latin America and the US about witches and the occult, reflections on the era of studying the mysteries beyond the veil with séances and ectoplasmic art, and much more.
As always, this novel is well-researched, well-paced, and builds to a finale that is able to be anticipated in some ways, while in others not so much. The Bewitching will have you unsure who to root for at times as the reader, and keep you on the edge of your seat and turning the pages.
Happy pub day to Silvia Moreno Garcia!
While it took me many months longer than intended to get through Garcia Moreno's newest publication (today is actually pub date!) due to being unexpectedly unemployed, and lots of life being adjusted as a result, I devoured The Bewitching in basically two days.
Split across three separate timelines (1998, 1934, and 1908) and three separate women battling bedeviled metaphysical forces across their particular timeline, The Bewitching tackles both multi-generational fights against evil, and very personal losses as a result of these fights. In 1998, our protagonist is Minerva, a graduate student just trying to get through the summer and work on her thesis - centered on witches and Northeastern US horror stories. In the 1930s, our protagonist is Beatrice Tremblay, writer and individual who is doing her own fighting against things that go bump in the night, which lead to a career in writing horror fiction, stories that have inspired Minerva's own interest in witches, horror, and more. Finally in 1908, our protagonist is Minerva's own grandmother Alba, who has just lost her father, and who has to engage in her own battles against witches and the occult.
All three timelines and stories converge as Alba and Minerva fight for their lives, their well-being, and those of their loved ones.
Inspired by Moreno Garcia's family's own stories of witches, the occult, and more, The Bewitching is a fairly fast-paced novel that will be great for fans of horror novels where witches aren't the "good guys" at the end of the story, but are up to something much more nefarious. Intertwined in the plot of the novel are folktales from Latin America and the US about witches and the occult, reflections on the era of studying the mysteries beyond the veil with séances and ectoplasmic art, and much more.
As always, this novel is well-researched, well-paced, and builds to a finale that is able to be anticipated in some ways, while in others not so much. The Bewitching will have you unsure who to root for at times as the reader, and keep you on the edge of your seat and turning the pages.
Happy pub day to Silvia Moreno Garcia!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Gore, Incest, Misogyny, Blood, Murder, Gaslighting
Minor: Animal death, Mental illness, Death of parent
Note that the CWs around gaslighting, misogyny, and mental illness are, in part, at least, related to gender-centered understandings of mental illness and assumptions about mental illness and women in the United States in the 1930s.
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
is this my new favorite SMG novel??? i am unwell! i am unsettled! these pages are dripping with eeriness. we follow the stories of 3 different women (2 really and the third is a little more complicated and this novel is all the better for it) as they are caught in the snares of a bewitchment. i love stories set across differing timelines, and it is done so well here. set in the years 1908, 1934, and 1998, the descriptions of each era really pull you into the times; having house mothers at your school, burning CDs for your friends, listening to the new Neutral Milk Hotel album.. i could see where i was being led with this plot but i was still surprised with what happened.. jaw dropped, hand running over my face... to me no one does this like Silvia Moreno-Garcia. whatever the giggling and kicking my feet equivalent in horror is.. that is what i was doing.
there is also an element in this novel that I LOVED AND AM SO EXCITED FOR THE WORLD TO READ but i don't believe in spoilers so let's chat once you've read it. all i will say is the renaissance is truly upon us.
OUT 15 JUL 2025!!! YEEAAHHHHH
thank you to Del Rey and netgalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review!
there is also an element in this novel that I LOVED AND AM SO EXCITED FOR THE WORLD TO READ but i don't believe in spoilers so let's chat once you've read it. all i will say is the renaissance is truly upon us.
OUT 15 JUL 2025!!! YEEAAHHHHH
thank you to Del Rey and netgalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death, Death, Incest, Mental illness, Car accident
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I’ve adored Silvia Moreno Garcia’s work for a couple of years now. I first read “Gods of Jade and Shadow” and was immediately entranced by her world building and storytelling. Having read almost all of her works since then, I was ecstatic with the chance to read and review “The Bewitching” given how much I enjoyed the gothic horror “Mexican Gothic” and the magical horror within “Silver Nitrate”. “The Bewitching” weaves together three stories across time, all featuring a strong and intelligent female whose identity in society causes them to be seen as less than those around them. In 1908, Alba is a young woman living on a struggling farm in Mexico after the death of her father; Beatrice Tremblay is a young queer woman in the 1934 recounting the story of her vanished friend Ginny from their small college in Massachusetts; and lastly Minvera, the great-granddaughter of Alba in 1998, attending at the same college Beatrice and Ginny attended as an international student on scholarship. As Minerva researches the life and works of Beatrice, a horror author with little known about her, and how her work ties in with the witchcraft lore of the Northeastern United States, secrets are revealed within then three timelines as each of the women encounter strange occurrences and experience various levels of loss and witchcraft.
What I admire about this book is actually based on what Moreno Garcia herself spoke about during her book tour stop in Portland, Oregon in July of 2023 for the release of her book “Silver Nitrate”. During her talk, Moreno Garcia spoke about the horror genre as being largely dominated by male authors despite the works of female authors that are just as good, if not
sometimes better, than their famous male counterparts. I love that this theme weaves itself into
Minerva’s story as she tries to research a female horror author that history has mostly forgotten while being met with skepticism by both peers and professors as to if her effort is worth all of the time. As with her other works, Moreno Garcia also invites social critiques of many issues that exist today, including but not limited to: education/academia, sexism, power structures, poverty, mental health, gender identity and expression, academic freedom, familial responsibility, and bodily autonomy. This book is a beautiful look into power and what those who want it will stoop to in order to gain it, as well as a look at what it means to believe the outcast over the wealthy.
As with all books in the horror genre, you must of course check your trigger warnings: blood, bodily harm, abuse, and consent are the bigger ones in my opinion, with some lower ones for animal cruelty and death. Overall, this is another great work by Moreno Garcia. Each character’s voice and personality is distinct and rich, and the ending of the book falls together seamlessly with each timeline layering into one another to create a vivid story. I also would like to add that I appreciated that Minerva is still her own, strong woman in the end and thriving despite the challenges she faced in her own time and as a descendent of Alba. I cannot wait to have this book in my hands when it comes out in July!
What I admire about this book is actually based on what Moreno Garcia herself spoke about during her book tour stop in Portland, Oregon in July of 2023 for the release of her book “Silver Nitrate”. During her talk, Moreno Garcia spoke about the horror genre as being largely dominated by male authors despite the works of female authors that are just as good, if not
sometimes better, than their famous male counterparts. I love that this theme weaves itself into
Minerva’s story as she tries to research a female horror author that history has mostly forgotten while being met with skepticism by both peers and professors as to if her effort is worth all of the time. As with her other works, Moreno Garcia also invites social critiques of many issues that exist today, including but not limited to: education/academia, sexism, power structures, poverty, mental health, gender identity and expression, academic freedom, familial responsibility, and bodily autonomy. This book is a beautiful look into power and what those who want it will stoop to in order to gain it, as well as a look at what it means to believe the outcast over the wealthy.
As with all books in the horror genre, you must of course check your trigger warnings: blood, bodily harm, abuse, and consent are the bigger ones in my opinion, with some lower ones for animal cruelty and death. Overall, this is another great work by Moreno Garcia. Each character’s voice and personality is distinct and rich, and the ending of the book falls together seamlessly with each timeline layering into one another to create a vivid story. I also would like to add that I appreciated that Minerva is still her own, strong woman in the end and thriving despite the challenges she faced in her own time and as a descendent of Alba. I cannot wait to have this book in my hands when it comes out in July!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Sexual content, Blood
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Mental illness, Self harm