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DID NOT FINISH: 53%
ARC review; thanks to NetGalley, Kensington Publishing, and Erewhon Books for the access to this ebook. Pub date: Jan 21 2025.
First of all, this cover is STUNNING. I love it. You will like this if you like slow-paced stories, witchy magic, folk horror elements, Appalachian settings, dual timelines, and nuanced characters.
I personally wasn't a huge fan of the story. This claims to be a queer fantasy, but I don't think it fits that description. Yes, there are fantastical elements because there are witches and magic, and there's a dash of queer romance, but it's more a mix of literary and historical fiction with mystery, magic, and a little folk horror.
The writing is lovely, I really enjoyed the prose, but the plot left a lot to be desired in my opinion. It felt very slow and meandering, and I just wasn't gripped by what was happening. I liked a lot of elements of this, mainly the writing style, Appalachian setting, folk elements, and characters, but I didn't like much of what was happening.
The commentary about environmentalism and other themes felt surface-level, the romance felt thrown in, and it didn't make sense to me (I think they should've just been friends or platonic because they had no romantic chemistry at all), and the constant references to Christian scripture got old for me very quickly. That's a preference thing, though. I personally don't like when religion is a big element unless there's commentary around it.
Overall, I don't think this will work for everyone, especially not if they're expecting fantasy, but it will work splendidly for a lot of people. I just wasn't one of them. I still think it's a solid debut and I will keep my eye on this author to see if their future work is better suited for me cause I already love their writing style and creativity.
First of all, this cover is STUNNING. I love it. You will like this if you like slow-paced stories, witchy magic, folk horror elements, Appalachian settings, dual timelines, and nuanced characters.
I personally wasn't a huge fan of the story. This claims to be a queer fantasy, but I don't think it fits that description. Yes, there are fantastical elements because there are witches and magic, and there's a dash of queer romance, but it's more a mix of literary and historical fiction with mystery, magic, and a little folk horror.
The writing is lovely, I really enjoyed the prose, but the plot left a lot to be desired in my opinion. It felt very slow and meandering, and I just wasn't gripped by what was happening. I liked a lot of elements of this, mainly the writing style, Appalachian setting, folk elements, and characters, but I didn't like much of what was happening.
The commentary about environmentalism and other themes felt surface-level, the romance felt thrown in, and it didn't make sense to me (I think they should've just been friends or platonic because they had no romantic chemistry at all), and the constant references to Christian scripture got old for me very quickly. That's a preference thing, though. I personally don't like when religion is a big element unless there's commentary around it.
Overall, I don't think this will work for everyone, especially not if they're expecting fantasy, but it will work splendidly for a lot of people. I just wasn't one of them. I still think it's a solid debut and I will keep my eye on this author to see if their future work is better suited for me cause I already love their writing style and creativity.