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megatza 's review for:
The Bewitching
by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
1998, North Shore, Massachusetts. Minerva is a graduate student at a small college near Salem, where stories of witches and disappearances are thick in the atmosphere. She's there to write a thesis on Beatrice Tremblay, horror writer and alumna of Stoneridge, and stumbles upon the source material for her only novel, The Vanishing, inspired by a disappearance from campus in 1934.
1908, Mexico. Alba, Minerva's great-grandmother, is the daughter of a ranchero in a rural village. Her father recently passed away, and now it seems as though no one is setting the wards to protect the lands, and suddenly her brother has gone missing as well.
1934, Stoneridge College, Massachusetts. A region fame for its textile mills is struggling in the Great Depression. Betty Tremblay knows that college is the best way to advance her professional prospects. Her friend Virginia is there from the west coast to escape a bit of the past, but her spiritualist leanings turn darker as something stalks her in the campus woods at night.
A ghost story with traditions in Mexican and New England folklore is right up my alley. I don't tend to pick up historical fiction with a dual timeline, but for some reason three timelines works really well for me. Silvia Moreno-Garcia holds the main plot threads in the 1998 timeline, but ties them hauntingly well in the 1908 and 1934 timeline as well, so all hold equal story weight. To have well-developed main and side characters in all three timelines shows her incredible ability to create characters.
I listened to the audiobook, narrated by Gisela Chipe, and the hairs stood on the back of my neck at times. (It was a choice to listen to this on a walk at night near some New England woods...) I love listening to books written by Silvia Moreno-Garcia; I really connect with her prose and storytelling that way.
This is eerie and dark, and I cannot recommend it enough to lovers of the occult and ghostly witch stories across generations and cultures. It falls on the scarier side of horror that I can handle, with its creeping feeling and consistent fear that someone is watching. That fear is overridden by my desire to see just what Silvia Moreno-Garcia can do next, though! I love that this is a blend of her own experiences - of the witches of her Mexican family and those of her collegiate home (Endicott College, Beverly, Massachusetts).
Thank you to Del Ray for an eARC and LibroFM for an ALC. The Bewitching is out 7/15/25.
1908, Mexico. Alba, Minerva's great-grandmother, is the daughter of a ranchero in a rural village. Her father recently passed away, and now it seems as though no one is setting the wards to protect the lands, and suddenly her brother has gone missing as well.
1934, Stoneridge College, Massachusetts. A region fame for its textile mills is struggling in the Great Depression. Betty Tremblay knows that college is the best way to advance her professional prospects. Her friend Virginia is there from the west coast to escape a bit of the past, but her spiritualist leanings turn darker as something stalks her in the campus woods at night.
A ghost story with traditions in Mexican and New England folklore is right up my alley. I don't tend to pick up historical fiction with a dual timeline, but for some reason three timelines works really well for me. Silvia Moreno-Garcia holds the main plot threads in the 1998 timeline, but ties them hauntingly well in the 1908 and 1934 timeline as well, so all hold equal story weight. To have well-developed main and side characters in all three timelines shows her incredible ability to create characters.
I listened to the audiobook, narrated by Gisela Chipe, and the hairs stood on the back of my neck at times. (It was a choice to listen to this on a walk at night near some New England woods...) I love listening to books written by Silvia Moreno-Garcia; I really connect with her prose and storytelling that way.
This is eerie and dark, and I cannot recommend it enough to lovers of the occult and ghostly witch stories across generations and cultures. It falls on the scarier side of horror that I can handle, with its creeping feeling and consistent fear that someone is watching. That fear is overridden by my desire to see just what Silvia Moreno-Garcia can do next, though! I love that this is a blend of her own experiences - of the witches of her Mexican family and those of her collegiate home (Endicott College, Beverly, Massachusetts).
Thank you to Del Ray for an eARC and LibroFM for an ALC. The Bewitching is out 7/15/25.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Animal death, Gaslighting