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A review by clemslibrary
The Briar Book of the Dead by A.G. Slatter
4.5
Thank you to NetGalley and Titan books for an arc in return for an honest review!
The Briar Book of the Dead is a captivating and enthralling story surrounding a family of witches and the town they live in, but something is happening and change is on its way
Ellie, our main character, is a witch, who isn’t truly a witch - she has no powers/magic and feels left out from her early childhood. She’s a wonderful character to read about, and she had the motivations and ideals that made me root for her, and the way she was her own separate identity was so clear. All of the characters within the book were fleshed-out and didn’t feel one dimensional, they all had their faults and i found they were all complex characters that melded to create a dark and compelling fantasy story.
The world itself is immersive and i loved reading about it, it’s all set within an established community/town which meant that we learnt more about their lives as the story developed! There’s a slight gothic atmosphere, and all of the characters interact in realistic ways that just helped the story and world feel well balanced without the reader having info dumps. Being a world with witches, we see their magic grow with them, especially Ellie, and the differences in their magic was always interesting to read about.
There are two romances within the story, but neither are overpowering and both allow for the characters to be themselves without being chained to that relationship. One of the relationships is an already established queer romance, and whilst it is not a large part of the story, it’s sweet and i enjoyed the small moments that we did see them together. And for the one that develops within the book as we read, its not a central part to the story but i loved seeing them together and how they treated each other and found comfort!
This is a wonderful witchy story that does have mention of (only slightly) christianity/religion and its impact on the witches which i thought was a nice touch as it allowed for a character to develop and give us a larger understanding of the world
The Briar Book of the Dead is a captivating and enthralling story surrounding a family of witches and the town they live in, but something is happening and change is on its way
Ellie, our main character, is a witch, who isn’t truly a witch - she has no powers/magic and feels left out from her early childhood. She’s a wonderful character to read about, and she had the motivations and ideals that made me root for her, and the way she was her own separate identity was so clear. All of the characters within the book were fleshed-out and didn’t feel one dimensional, they all had their faults and i found they were all complex characters that melded to create a dark and compelling fantasy story.
The world itself is immersive and i loved reading about it, it’s all set within an established community/town which meant that we learnt more about their lives as the story developed! There’s a slight gothic atmosphere, and all of the characters interact in realistic ways that just helped the story and world feel well balanced without the reader having info dumps. Being a world with witches, we see their magic grow with them, especially Ellie, and the differences in their magic was always interesting to read about.
There are two romances within the story, but neither are overpowering and both allow for the characters to be themselves without being chained to that relationship. One of the relationships is an already established queer romance, and whilst it is not a large part of the story, it’s sweet and i enjoyed the small moments that we did see them together. And for the one that develops within the book as we read, its not a central part to the story but i loved seeing them together and how they treated each other and found comfort!
This is a wonderful witchy story that does have mention of (only slightly) christianity/religion and its impact on the witches which i thought was a nice touch as it allowed for a character to develop and give us a larger understanding of the world