I went out on a limb with this one because it's different from my usual type of read. Still, something about this book kept pulling me in. It kept appearing on my Libby dash as a book I might like. The cover is so eye-catching that I clicked on it every time, but I always thought, maybe not right now.
Apparently, November was the time, and I'm not upset I picked it up. I liked this book quite a bit, but it was a bit of a mixed bag for me. On the one hand, I loved the idea of the plot being told by three generations of women through their trauma and the discovery of their powers. I was sucked into Altha's story and how she ended up on trial for witchcraft, and there was something just very sad about Violet's story. I think it was because from the very start as a reader you know how her story is going to go, just like you know what's happened to mother.
And then there's Kate. I thought I was going to really like this character with the first chapter of her escape. However, her chapters were my least favorite. I do understand she went through something horrid, I do, but I kept waiting for her to have a breakdown and be helped, or pull herself together. There was also this thing with her father that kept recurring and kept tripping me up as I read. I did a lot of scanning her chapters to miss anything for the plot.
This is a heavy book and not easy to read at times. It's definitely one I couldn't read for than an hour, either right before work or between chores on my day off. None of these women have an easy time of it. Some of the trigger warnings are rape, abortion, and abuse both mental and physical.
Still, there was something hauntingly beautiful about this story. I spent a lot of the time not sure if I actually liked this book, only to pick it up and be sucked into it. It's been a hard book to review because I feel wrong disliking a character knowing all she survived and watching her come out the other side of it. Yet, here I am doing just that.
However I will say that the epilogue is easily the worst part of the book. For half a second I thought it was just a little look at adult Violet's life, and it was that, but at the same time, like really. From the shadows, when you could have been the cool aunt and taught properly. Showed her everything, that's how you saved her. I raged the most with the last handful of pages of this book.
I'm glad I gave this book a go, Emilia Hart is a wonderful author who weaved something beautifully but heartbreaking. I don't know if this genre is for me, still, it's a solid-built book.
HAPPY READING!!
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