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sstrack37 's review for:
The Book of Witching
by C.J. Cooke
I actually finished this book last night but needed to get my thoughts together in order to review it. Oh. My. God. Just reading the dust jacket I knew this book would be phenomenal, and it did not disappoint! This was my first experience with C.J. Cooke, and I’ll definitely be looking into more of her stuff.
The Book of Witching weaves together historical fiction, fantasy, and feminism into a truly unforgettable story and I could not stop turning the pages. The story is told in a nonlinear timeline, which can sometimes be jarring, but Cooke manages it beautifully. In one timeline we follow Alison Balfour, a healer in the Orkney Islands, wrongfully accused of witchcraft and attempted murder in 1594. In 2024 Glasgow, we have Clem and her daughter Erin, who is currently in the hospital with burns covering 20% of her body after a tragic incident on a “hiking trip”. Not only is Erin fighting for her life, but when she is pulled from her medically induced coma, she believes herself to be someone named Nyx.
I was immediately drawn into both stories. Not only will the investigation into what happened to Erin and her companions—and the mystery of who Nyx is—have you on the edge of your seat, but Alison’s story is based on a real witch trial, and she was the first of over seventy women to be executed in Orkney for witchcraft (be sure to read the author’s note).
Just a warning, some of the torture scenes depicted in Alison’s story can be difficult to read.
I absolutely recommend this story!
The Book of Witching weaves together historical fiction, fantasy, and feminism into a truly unforgettable story and I could not stop turning the pages. The story is told in a nonlinear timeline, which can sometimes be jarring, but Cooke manages it beautifully. In one timeline we follow Alison Balfour, a healer in the Orkney Islands, wrongfully accused of witchcraft and attempted murder in 1594. In 2024 Glasgow, we have Clem and her daughter Erin, who is currently in the hospital with burns covering 20% of her body after a tragic incident on a “hiking trip”. Not only is Erin fighting for her life, but when she is pulled from her medically induced coma, she believes herself to be someone named Nyx.
I was immediately drawn into both stories. Not only will the investigation into what happened to Erin and her companions—and the mystery of who Nyx is—have you on the edge of your seat, but Alison’s story is based on a real witch trial, and she was the first of over seventy women to be executed in Orkney for witchcraft (be sure to read the author’s note).
Just a warning, some of the torture scenes depicted in Alison’s story can be difficult to read.
I absolutely recommend this story!