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3.77 AVERAGE
3.77 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Really liked this one! 4.5 stars. I felt a bit confused at times about connections that seemed to be there but weren’t really fleshed out. But overall really enjoyed the story and look forward to checking out more from this author
mysterious
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:
No
I struggled with the torture scenes and the tortuous conditions in the old sections of the book, and once I'd skimmed them I found I didn't mind skimming other bits. The present day sections were more engaging but it all felt a bit low stakes. Maybe I'm jaded and need to lay off the witch lit for a while.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Physical abuse
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I selected this book because a reviewer said that two storylines come together in a moment of perfect clarity and it makes all the plot points come together like puzzle pieces. I like that sort of thing. That was not my experience with this book. I did enjoy the structure of jumping back and forth between two plots. Both stories are about a mother finding her strength to fight for her children, and both are entertaining enough. We follow Clem as she tries to figure out what happened to her daughter when she was badly burned, and Allison as she is accused of being a witch and threatened with her family being tortured. The plots do overlap, but I honestly found the connection tenuous and a little pointless. There were a lot of different things going on in the plot, and the "answers" we get just weren't that satisfying for me. The ending of Allison's story is sad. It was nice to hear it was based on fact, but still kind of unsatisfying. The very end of the book left me a bit confused all over again. It was alright, but certainly not a favorite of mine recently.