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4.8 AVERAGE
4.8 AVERAGE
informative
reflective
fast-paced
I absolutely LOVED this book. I literally finished it the same day that it came in. I was just going to read a little as a preview to the vibe, since I was already reading another book - BUT it pulled me in almost immediately. This isn’t like other occult books or grimoires. This book is important and everyone should read it. It resonated with me in a way I didn’t expect.
If you’ve been hesitating about reading it, this is your sign to do it - because it’s fucking beautiful.
There are 3 different sections to this book:
1. Cunning Tales : (my favorite section)
This section includes multiple short stories (within the same “world”) that reveal valuable lessons in the craft, introduce you to several character archetypes that can be worked with, and gets you emotionally involved and tugs majorly at your heart strings.
The absolute devastation at realizing who the midwife being burned at the stake was, realizing how exactly each character and story fits together and interacts with each other, and the entire story related to Una and Tessa (i was in complete shock the entire time to be honest) just made me fall in love with this book before I was even halfway through it. It was so beautiful seeing my beliefs reflected back to me so clearly in stories. Part of me wishes I could’ve read them when I was younger. ALSO- the trans/non-binary representation within the stories was so so refreshing and beautiful to see.
My favorite part of this section was the knowledge and lessons hidden within each story and throughout the narrative of all the stories (you MUST read them in order). Some lessons are stated very clearly and are difficult to miss and much of the knowledge shared is written in between the lines with the intention of only the most cunning deciphering them. I already plan to do a re-read with a lot of highlighting and note-taking.
2. Cunning Rhymes :
This section contains a multitude of poems/verses (with yes lots of rhymes) covering a wide variety of information from luck charms to sigil making to using sex in magic to baneful magic, working with specific spirits/archetypes and much more.
These poems tell stories of their own to present the information -it isn’t just direct instructions. In fact, many of the rhymes are purposefully vague or indirect so we can rely on our own cunning and adaptability to carry them out.
Side Note: I read almost the entire book out loud to myself and my spirits and this section was particularly fun to read out (highly recommend).
3. Cunning Compendium :
This section was a compilation of information regarding specific sigils within the book, as well as spells and rites created by the author as well. I like that the author included spells related to the archetypes you meet in the Cunning Tales section for you to work with those archetypes and work with spells/rites that fall under their dome of influence. (I am a mighty big fan of Our Mother in Black)
This section was definitely more practical/for direct reference and included various things such as, return to sender spells, have the day you deserve spoken charms (i will be using this), and more.
The only issue I had with the book was there were multiple errors that I noticed as I was reading but as this is a self-published book and editing is a difficult feat of it’s own, it really wasn’t that big of a deal. This book is still a complete five star for me even with the errors, and the errors DO NOT affect the ease of reading this book. I say this mainly for those who tend to DNF a book if it has more than a couple grammatical errors, this book is worth it. It was written extremely well and holds such valuable content.
This is honestly my favorite witchy/occult book that I’ve read so far. I think the style of writing and the stories within just resonated with me in a very unique way. As I was reading, I found myself genuinely enjoying the content and experiencing emotional reactions to the stories and characters while also uncovering the magical knowledge presented instead of just forcing myself to read for the sake of gaining the information.
I will be honest and say that I did not expect to like this book, let alone love it. I didn’t completely understand what the book was at first and, although I thought the cover was beautiful, I was off put by it being a collection of stories instead of information being directly given to me. Funny that the stories were what made me fall in love with the book (forgive me for not being more open minded - I won’t make this mistake again).
Thank you, Marshall, for writing a book that resonated with me in a way no other occult book has before. Your book is truly beautiful. I’m excited for the re-read where I get to annotate, and I deeply regret not buying the hardcover version.
<3
If you’ve been hesitating about reading it, this is your sign to do it - because it’s fucking beautiful.
There are 3 different sections to this book:
1. Cunning Tales : (my favorite section)
This section includes multiple short stories (within the same “world”) that reveal valuable lessons in the craft, introduce you to several character archetypes that can be worked with, and gets you emotionally involved and tugs majorly at your heart strings.
My favorite part of this section was the knowledge and lessons hidden within each story and throughout the narrative of all the stories (you MUST read them in order). Some lessons are stated very clearly and are difficult to miss and much of the knowledge shared is written in between the lines with the intention of only the most cunning deciphering them. I already plan to do a re-read with a lot of highlighting and note-taking.
2. Cunning Rhymes :
This section contains a multitude of poems/verses (with yes lots of rhymes) covering a wide variety of information from luck charms to sigil making to using sex in magic to baneful magic, working with specific spirits/archetypes and much more.
These poems tell stories of their own to present the information -it isn’t just direct instructions. In fact, many of the rhymes are purposefully vague or indirect so we can rely on our own cunning and adaptability to carry them out.
Side Note: I read almost the entire book out loud to myself and my spirits and this section was particularly fun to read out (highly recommend).
3. Cunning Compendium :
This section was a compilation of information regarding specific sigils within the book, as well as spells and rites created by the author as well. I like that the author included spells related to the archetypes you meet in the Cunning Tales section for you to work with those archetypes and work with spells/rites that fall under their dome of influence. (I am a mighty big fan of Our Mother in Black)
This section was definitely more practical/for direct reference and included various things such as, return to sender spells, have the day you deserve spoken charms (i will be using this), and more.
The only issue I had with the book was there were multiple errors that I noticed as I was reading but as this is a self-published book and editing is a difficult feat of it’s own, it really wasn’t that big of a deal. This book is still a complete five star for me even with the errors, and the errors DO NOT affect the ease of reading this book. I say this mainly for those who tend to DNF a book if it has more than a couple grammatical errors, this book is worth it. It was written extremely well and holds such valuable content.
This is honestly my favorite witchy/occult book that I’ve read so far. I think the style of writing and the stories within just resonated with me in a very unique way. As I was reading, I found myself genuinely enjoying the content and experiencing emotional reactions to the stories and characters while also uncovering the magical knowledge presented instead of just forcing myself to read for the sake of gaining the information.
I will be honest and say that I did not expect to like this book, let alone love it. I didn’t completely understand what the book was at first and, although I thought the cover was beautiful, I was off put by it being a collection of stories instead of information being directly given to me. Funny that the stories were what made me fall in love with the book (forgive me for not being more open minded - I won’t make this mistake again).
Thank you, Marshall, for writing a book that resonated with me in a way no other occult book has before. Your book is truly beautiful. I’m excited for the re-read where I get to annotate, and I deeply regret not buying the hardcover version.
<3
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence
Minor: Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Infertility, Sexual content, Transphobia, Death of parent, Pregnancy