I’m not sure why, but seasonal reading never struck me as an idea until a few years back. Now that I’m into it, I’m into it. This fall I read a lot spine-tingling and witchy books (and I still have a few more in progress).
The Kiss Curse by Erin Sterling • ★★★☆☆
I’m realizing that I love nothing more than a seasonal rom-com. The Kiss Curse is the follow-up to The Ex Hex, which I listened to last October.
I mean who doesn’t love some friendly competition between witches running their own magical shops? And, oh no, they have to ally themselves when one’s magic starts to disappear! I loved it. It’s a fun listen.
A Lullaby for Witches by Hester Fox • ★★☆☆☆
I thought that I’d been fooled by Hester Fox once, but looking back, I realized I’ve read two of her books (The Witch of Willow Hall and The Widow of Pale Harbor). A Lullaby for Witches will be my last. Spoilers ahead!
In this Hester Fox outing, Augusta makes some big changes in her life: she gets a new job at a small museum, dumps her boyfriend, moves in with her mom, starts dating a new guy and sort of becomes possessed by a spirit all within a few months. I mean, I could be into that in a general sense.
But when it came down to it, ugh. Augusta was such a bland character. And the author kept weaving in these tidbits about her trying to eat less and avoiding desserts. It’s a detail that didn’t make the character interesting or play into the plot. Spoiler: I don’t want to hear about any diet plan IRL or otherwise. Besides that aggravating fixation, Augusta was just very bland. How many times can I read about her taking notes on the condition of some old furniture? How often does that need to be done?
And, yes, I know that books with paranormal elements ask you to suspend belief. I can do that! I am all about believing that someone could be possessed by a vengeful half-witch from the past. But I also want people in these books to react to these outrageous situations in realistic ways. If your new girlfriend said, “I think a spirit is speaking with me and giving me visions,” your immediate response wouldn’t likely be Wow! Makes sense to me! I mean, sure you could get on board but not without some serious reckoning first.
One more thing: The author makes it seem like Augusta and Margaret, the witch from the past, have some really profound familial connection. It’s more like Margaret was her great-grandma’s niece. That doesn’t seem like quite enough. Who was my great-grandma’s niece? I DO NOT KNOW.
AND ANOTHER THING: Augusta’s mom is really reluctant to talk to Augusta about her late father. It turns out it’s because he was physically abusive. Instead of being sympathetic to her mother, Augusta is all Oh, well sometimes our memories of people are good and bad. What’s important is that we keep people’s memories alive and cherish the good times. Ummm… Not when that person is an abjectly terrible man. PASS.
Maybe this should be one star…
The Hacienda by Isabel Cañas • ★★★★☆
The Goodreads synopsis of this book had me at the first sentence: Mexican Gothic meets Rebecca.
Beatriz is Rodolfo’s second wife. She spends her time at the family hacienda while he works in the capital. When he leaves, she’s plagued by visions and ghosts. Who is this ghost? What’s up with the sister-in-law? Can the local priest help? Is he more than a priest?
I wouldn’t necessarily categorize The Hacienda as a Halloween read, but it definitely had some unsettling gothic elements that feel right at home this time of year.
The It Girl by Ruth Ware • ★★★★☆
Ruth Ware is back! Who doesn’t love to read a book set at an elite college during back-to-school season? Especially when there’s a mystery afoot.
Nothing But Blackened Teeth by Cassandra Khaw • ★★☆☆☆
I’m not sure why I bought this book in retrospect; the reviews were not great! And here comes my review—also not great.
In Nothing But Blackened Teeth, a group of five friends stays overnight in a supposedly haunted Japanese mansion. The legends say that a bride was buried alive in the walls of the home after her husband-to-be died on the way to the wedding that was to be held there. This is fine. This is a good haunted house setup!
What wasn’t great were all of the characters. These five were friends but there was absolutely no evidence of that. Everyone had serious beef with one another. Why would they agree to vacation together? To attend one another’s weddings? Maybe if any of the characters were more than half-baked, I’d have understood.
In sum: Come for the terrifying cover, leave the second you crack this one open.
A Dowry of Blood by S.T. Gibson • ★★☆☆☆
I was very into A Dowry of Blood, the first in a series about Dracula’s different partners for the first bit. It’s written in the style of a confession by Constanta, once a peasant girl then a vampire who sought to drain only those who deserved it. Spoliers coming up!
That is what sounds interesting, right? A vampire whose first kill was the army that slayed her family, who went on to kill abusive husbands and corrupt politicians. This idea could make for a very good book.
But within about 40 pages, Constanta is no longer a powerful warrior. Instead, she’s taken to tending to her husband, along with a second wife) in what seems to be a pretty psychologically abusive relationship. I went along with this, even though it can be hard to read, because I expected a really satisfying plot and payoff. Instead, the author just keeps hammering on this point—sometimes in Prague, sometimes in Verona, sometimes in St. Petersburg and later in Paris—over and over again. When the revenge came, it wasn’t sweet; it just seemed long overdue.
Tripping Arcadia by Kit Mayquist • ★★★★☆
The instant I see a new release with the subheading A Gothic Novel, you know I have to check it out. Gothic novels are my favorite novels!
And I really did enjoy Tripping Arcadia. Here Lena, a med school dropout, gets a job assisting a family’s private doctor. Her job is primarily to attend to the family’s ailing twenty-something son, but soon finds herself thrown into a world of parties and excess—but not in the way you’d think.
I don’t want to go in too deep, because this is one that deserves a read or listen. Think of it like The Secret Garden meats Girl in the Rearview Mirror.
I Walk in Dread by Lisa Rowe Fraustino • ★★★☆☆
I brought this Dear America book to Salem three years ago. Three. While I didn’t visit Salem on my latest trip to New England, I still decided to commit to this book this time around. Is this a book for middle schoolers? Yes. Did I still enjoy it? Yes.
As always, you can follow along with my progress and see what I’ve read over on Goodreads! Also, if you’re an audiobook fan, I encourage you to try Libro.fm—you can support your favorite small bookstore while downloading your next listen.
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