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mediaevalmuse 's review for:
The Bewitching
by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
I love Silvia Moreno-Garcia's books, so when I saw this one at a local bookstore, I snatched it up. I'm glad I did, even though I didn't quite enjoy it as much as I enjoyed Moreno-Garcia's other novels. The character work was still good and I liked the witchcraft lore, but I think the plot just took a little too much time to get somewhere and the ultimate reveals were a little unenthusiastic.
WRITING: Moreno-Garcia's prose is about the same as in previous novels. It's clear and evocative, though it does tend to linger on details that you'll either love or hate. The pace can also be a little slow, so this book is something of a slow burn, but I do like the slowly mounting dread.
PLOT: The plot of this book is told in three timelines. In 1998, a graduate student named Minerva is researching obscure horror writer Beatrice (Betty) Tremblay and the connection between Tremblay's only novel and the disappearance of her college roommate. In 1934, Betty recounts the events leading up to her roommate, Ginny's, mysterious disappearance. In 1908, Minerva's great-grandmother fights a dark entity that causes her brother to disappear.
I liked the parallels between the three timelines as well as the mounting dread that builds up in each narrative. Each character's story feels distinct with different circumstances, and yet all are united by the focus on witchcraft and strange disappearances. It was satisfying to read and I appreciated that it wasn't too heavy-handed.
I also very much enjoyed the witchcraft lore with the mysterious sounds and visions in addition to the blood-drinking and spell work. It was fun to read about witchcraft that was different from the typical Salem-esque stuff I've seen before, and the malevolent undertones made for some unsettling atmosphere.
I do think, however, that this book took a while to start mounting the dread it needed and once the culprits are revealed, I felt it was something of a letdown. The witches are almost a boogeyman, being a vague threat without a face until the last moment, and I both liked and disliked it. Sometimes, the witches barely felt present, only doing things to spook their victims. Other times, I felt like there was a missed opportunity to tie witchcraft to something thematic, like belief in a supremacy in a bloodline or something. I really wanted the lore to do some interpretive work, but it didn't quite get to the level where I thought it was effective.
CHARACTERS: Minerva, our 1998 protagonist, is fun to follow since we get to go on a journey with her as she learns information. The spooky things that happen to her feel like they can be easily explained by something mundane, so there was a bit of paranoia in this timeline. However, we also know that Minerva is primed to believe in witches on account of her great-grandmother, so we don't waste a lot of time watching Minerva dismiss obvious signs that something's amiss. I do wish her timeline hit a little harder, though, when we found out who was bewitching her; as it stands, it felt like Minerva was a somewhat random victim, and the rationale was weak. I would have loved to see Moreno-Garcia do something more fascinating, especially with the link between magic, blood, and power.
Betty, our 1934 protagonist, is ok. She feels like a supporting character since her perspective focuses less on herself and more on her roommate, Ginny. While Ginny felt fully-realized, Betty felt like she existed just to relay the events of 1934. There wasn't much of a sense of Betty as a horror writer; it would have been interesting to actually see how she worked through her feelings about Ginny through her work rather than reading everything spelled out for us through a journal.
Alba, our 1908 protagonist, was perhaps the most interesting to me. She lived on a struggling farm and dreamed of going to Mexico City, so watching her struggle with her feelings about her foppish uncle, her stubborn and prideful brother, and her homely childhood friend was compelling. Watching her realize that witchcraft was real and not just peasant superstition was also fun, as it caused her to share secrets with her friend and caused some strife with her family. I do wish the witch in this timeline had a stronger rationale for their actions, however; like in Minerva's timeline, there's a lot of potential for exploring the thematic connection between magic, blood, and power, but not much is done with that until the last minute.
TL;DR: The Betwitching is enjoyable for its lore and strong character work, but I personally wish it had done more thematically with the idea of witchcraft and its connection to blood.
WRITING: Moreno-Garcia's prose is about the same as in previous novels. It's clear and evocative, though it does tend to linger on details that you'll either love or hate. The pace can also be a little slow, so this book is something of a slow burn, but I do like the slowly mounting dread.
PLOT: The plot of this book is told in three timelines. In 1998, a graduate student named Minerva is researching obscure horror writer Beatrice (Betty) Tremblay and the connection between Tremblay's only novel and the disappearance of her college roommate. In 1934, Betty recounts the events leading up to her roommate, Ginny's, mysterious disappearance. In 1908, Minerva's great-grandmother fights a dark entity that causes her brother to disappear.
I liked the parallels between the three timelines as well as the mounting dread that builds up in each narrative. Each character's story feels distinct with different circumstances, and yet all are united by the focus on witchcraft and strange disappearances. It was satisfying to read and I appreciated that it wasn't too heavy-handed.
I also very much enjoyed the witchcraft lore with the mysterious sounds and visions in addition to the blood-drinking and spell work. It was fun to read about witchcraft that was different from the typical Salem-esque stuff I've seen before, and the malevolent undertones made for some unsettling atmosphere.
I do think, however, that this book took a while to start mounting the dread it needed and once the culprits are revealed, I felt it was something of a letdown. The witches are almost a boogeyman, being a vague threat without a face until the last moment, and I both liked and disliked it. Sometimes, the witches barely felt present, only doing things to spook their victims. Other times, I felt like there was a missed opportunity to tie witchcraft to something thematic, like belief in a supremacy in a bloodline or something. I really wanted the lore to do some interpretive work, but it didn't quite get to the level where I thought it was effective.
CHARACTERS: Minerva, our 1998 protagonist, is fun to follow since we get to go on a journey with her as she learns information. The spooky things that happen to her feel like they can be easily explained by something mundane, so there was a bit of paranoia in this timeline. However, we also know that Minerva is primed to believe in witches on account of her great-grandmother, so we don't waste a lot of time watching Minerva dismiss obvious signs that something's amiss. I do wish her timeline hit a little harder, though, when we found out who was bewitching her; as it stands, it felt like Minerva was a somewhat random victim, and the rationale was weak. I would have loved to see Moreno-Garcia do something more fascinating, especially with the link between magic, blood, and power.
Betty, our 1934 protagonist, is ok. She feels like a supporting character since her perspective focuses less on herself and more on her roommate, Ginny. While Ginny felt fully-realized, Betty felt like she existed just to relay the events of 1934. There wasn't much of a sense of Betty as a horror writer; it would have been interesting to actually see how she worked through her feelings about Ginny through her work rather than reading everything spelled out for us through a journal.
Alba, our 1908 protagonist, was perhaps the most interesting to me. She lived on a struggling farm and dreamed of going to Mexico City, so watching her struggle with her feelings about her foppish uncle, her stubborn and prideful brother, and her homely childhood friend was compelling. Watching her realize that witchcraft was real and not just peasant superstition was also fun, as it caused her to share secrets with her friend and caused some strife with her family. I do wish the witch in this timeline had a stronger rationale for their actions, however; like in Minerva's timeline, there's a lot of potential for exploring the thematic connection between magic, blood, and power, but not much is done with that until the last minute.
TL;DR: The Betwitching is enjoyable for its lore and strong character work, but I personally wish it had done more thematically with the idea of witchcraft and its connection to blood.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death, Sexual content, Violence, Blood
Minor: Death, Incest, Car accident, Death of parent