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3.8 AVERAGE
3.8 AVERAGE
Disturbing, made me physically gag at one point. Couldn’t stop reading it, though, and hours would pass without my notice.
This was really just brain candy. It was a trash read designed to take your mind off the real world. That said, this seemed more like a haunting than witches. I mean, witches have powers, can do things. This was an entity which followed the strong female (mostly) each generation.
Mayfair witches have been cursed (of blessed) for generations. Their powers have brought them riches and power. Their story is a several generation soap opera filled with incest, crime, and psychotic episodes. Interesting.
So far, so good. Then the end. The female to be blessed with the power seems to be stronger and ready to throw off the curse or blessing, but then acts totally out of character. I guess Rice decides that the reader needs to see that the temptation is too much for anyone or she decided she needed to make it a series. This will be the end for me, though.
Go to Interview with a Vampire for a good supernatural book!
Mayfair witches have been cursed (of blessed) for generations. Their powers have brought them riches and power. Their story is a several generation soap opera filled with incest, crime, and psychotic episodes. Interesting.
So far, so good. Then the end. The female to be blessed with the power seems to be stronger and ready to throw off the curse or blessing, but then acts totally out of character. I guess Rice decides that the reader needs to see that the temptation is too much for anyone or she decided she needed to make it a series. This will be the end for me, though.
Go to Interview with a Vampire for a good supernatural book!
It took me quite a while to get through, not because it wasn't good but because it is a lot of detailed information to go through before it starts developing much in the way of action happening. I did enjoy it though but I will be taking a break from the series for a bit before starting the next book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Incest
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
[Review from Aug 2019]
Oh my goodness I am not ready to rate this book yet. Definitely have to digest it a little bit first!
Initially I think I would say that I didn't *like* it, exactly, but it is also possible that I loved it... At the very least it was very, *very* interesting, and it definitely makes you think which is great... it also felt really honest to me, like Rice was totally taking the story where she honestly felt it wanted to go--this was my impression of the book in contrast to what a lot of other reviewers seem to think... (does anyone know if she is a pantser or a plotter?--this felt like a pantsed novel to me...)
What I'll say is that this book really felt like The Fountainhead but for morally ambiguous witches...? I would also say that it felt SO Christian--for a book that seems to be trying really hard to be non-Christian, it felt *really* Christian to me... *almost* like Christian apologism? somehow...? ¯\_(ヅ)_/¯
Also can someone like give me some clarity on all the sex scenes? Were those supposed to feel *highly* problematic or is that just my perspective influencing my take?
Ultimately I just don't think that this was my kind of book... but there was still a lot in it that I liked very much in spite of all the problematic elements... and like I said, it was very, *very* interesting... lots of things to think about! It would make a good book club book except for that it's a billion pages long! & the sex scenes… whewwweeeee.
[Updated thoughts from Oct 2019]
Ok so I… still haven’t really managed to figure out quite how I feel about it this one.
Oh my goodness I am not ready to rate this book yet. Definitely have to digest it a little bit first!
Initially I think I would say that I didn't *like* it, exactly, but it is also possible that I loved it... At the very least it was very, *very* interesting, and it definitely makes you think which is great... it also felt really honest to me, like Rice was totally taking the story where she honestly felt it wanted to go--this was my impression of the book in contrast to what a lot of other reviewers seem to think... (does anyone know if she is a pantser or a plotter?--this felt like a pantsed novel to me...)
What I'll say is that this book really felt like The Fountainhead but for morally ambiguous witches...? I would also say that it felt SO Christian--for a book that seems to be trying really hard to be non-Christian, it felt *really* Christian to me... *almost* like Christian apologism? somehow...? ¯\_(ヅ)_/¯
Also can someone like give me some clarity on all the sex scenes? Were those supposed to feel *highly* problematic or is that just my perspective influencing my take?
Ultimately I just don't think that this was my kind of book... but there was still a lot in it that I liked very much in spite of all the problematic elements... and like I said, it was very, *very* interesting... lots of things to think about! It would make a good book club book except for that it's a billion pages long! & the sex scenes… whewwweeeee.
[Updated thoughts from Oct 2019]
Ok so I… still haven’t really managed to figure out quite how I feel about it this one.
The story itself revolves around the legends and history concerning the Mayfair witches—a family that descends from a Scottish peasant woman who accidentally (I think?—lots of vagaries make the mystery of the story really linger with you because you almost never get any definitive answers… do I like that? or do I *love* that? or do I find that really, *really* irritating?? Idk!) anyway, the peasant woman, Suzanne, accidentally conjures a spirit? angel? ghost? (agh!)—a supernatural entity of some kind that then becomes attached to the Mayfair family and especially a particular female scion in each generation who becomes the sole beneficiary of the Mayfair legacy. The Mayfairs themselves all possess some degree of supernatural powers from mind-reading to telekinesis and other various skills. And the main character is Rowan, the current Mayfair scion. The modern story takes place in the late 20th century but there is a lot of historical backstory that starts in the 17th century. And I guess there’s not much more I can say about it plot-wise without giving too much away!
Basically if you’re in the mood for a book about witches that is a thousand pages long, and crazy dark, devastating, southern, gothic, absolutely horrific, and not feminist (unfortunately) at all, with quite a bit of rather violent sex, then this is the book for you! Oh dear that sounds like a mess, doesn’t it?
Four stars!
(I really just need to move on from this book…)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence
I much prefer the Mayfair witch stories to her vampire series, although this book (the first in the series) was to me far superior to the subsequent books. I find these books fascinating in large part because of their setting in New Orleans, a city I've been to many times and so can recognize the places in the books.
A many-tiered story to say the least. Rowan, who is supposed to be the main character, is completely outshined by characters from flashbacks. This one's great.
This book really intoxicated me. The Scottish accent of Lasher is so good. Thank you Kate Reading for the narration.
I liked parts of the book - the couple of hundred pages or so where things happened. The multiple hundred pages or so of backstory was, I'm sorry to say, deadly dull. I did find it completely predictable and knew the basic premise of what was going to go down the second one revelation was made.
I have the other two books in the series on my nook and will read them (the second at least is HALF the number of pages - which gives you an idea of how much of the first book is backstory)...but I'm going to take them slowly and with other books in between.
I like detail in my books...but the amount in this book is right on the edge of overkill imho.
I have the other two books in the series on my nook and will read them (the second at least is HALF the number of pages - which gives you an idea of how much of the first book is backstory)...but I'm going to take them slowly and with other books in between.
I like detail in my books...but the amount in this book is right on the edge of overkill imho.
Tiene la nota que tiene porque, en general, es una historia interesante y te engancha. Pero voy a echar pestes porque he terminado muy a disgusto, quizás lo edite más tarde.
Es insoportablemente larga y lenta en algunas partes, la cantidad de paja que tiene este libro debería ser ilegal. La segunda parte, la historia de las Mayfair, podría reducirse mucho. Y en la tercera parte, los interludios de nada que se marca entre las escenas importantes son no aportan absolutamente nada.
No me convence el desarrollo del personaje de Rowan en la última parte, aunque quizás sea algo que tenga que reflexionar. Y la explicación de la naturaleza de Lasher, que la autora quiere vender como algo profundo, interesante y original, es ridícula y echa para atrás. Y todo por la usar un cientifismo innecesario
Es insoportablemente larga y lenta en algunas partes, la cantidad de paja que tiene este libro debería ser ilegal. La segunda parte, la historia de las Mayfair, podría reducirse mucho. Y en la tercera parte, los interludios de nada que se marca entre las escenas importantes son no aportan absolutamente nada.
No me convence el desarrollo del personaje de Rowan en la última parte, aunque quizás sea algo que tenga que reflexionar. Y la explicación de la naturaleza de Lasher, que la autora quiere vender como algo profundo, interesante y original, es ridícula y echa para atrás. Y todo por la usar un cientifismo innecesario
omg this book was sooooo long. I had to switch to audiobook to get through it. But it was good. DO I feel like a better human being for having read this book? No, but I am glad its off my tbr list now!