A review by atexasmole
Weyward by Emilia Hart

dark slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.75

In this instance, the book really didn’t live up to the promise of its beautiful cover art, and that was a disappointment. The novel covers the intertwined stories of three separate generations of witches and their grindingly horrific experiences with every man that crosses their paths, from fathers to husbands to doctors, with only one redeeming male character—but the bar is on the floor so he just has to do the basics. I consider myself an uncompromising feminist—but there was no nuance here. The men are trash and she’s going to tell you exactly why ad naseum, and beat you over the head with it for the entire book. I was hoping for a bit more fantasy, witchy shenanigans, nature, but it all just fell flat for me. I finished it, with a heavy dose of skimming, but I won’t read it again probably. The switching between the three main characters in time isn’t my favorite story structure and I found it distracting, eventually just reading one character at a time. I couldn’t get very invested in the characters. Even the graphic violence didn’t seem to break up the slow pacing. The end is not bad, it ties everything up neatly but you have to slog through about 60% before it starts to get interesting. 


Special note—very few of the intended audience are going to catch this or even care, but because of having the unique experience of a lady who grew up with the shooting sports, the author made a glaring error with the shooting scene. First—clay birds, and indeed, bird shooting in any form, is done with a shotgun, not a rifle and every time it comes up I want to chunk the book across the room because it’s such an easy detail to research. Second—during WWII ammunition was so heavily rationed that even a peer on his country estate wouldn’t be wasting shotgun shells for sport. (This too could also be confirmed with a quick internet search). Again, it will be a rare reader that catches this error and obviously the editor missed it, but if you know you know and it will irritate your sense of correctness to no end. 

It’s her first novel, not unreadable but not great either. Another review said the cover was the best part of the book and I honestly have to agree. Took off 0.25 stars to rate it 2.75 just for the annoyance over the shooting scenes. 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings