Review: The Witch's Tears

Review:

I received a copy from Netgalley.

 

A delightful follow up to the Witch’s Kiss. A few months later witch in training Merry and her brother Leo are still trying to process the evens of the first book. It’s the summer holidays, no school. Merry is focused on her witch training. Leo has become moody and withdrawn.

 

Merry’s witch training isn’t going quite as well as she would like, she’s got much more power than anyone seems to realize, and she can do things that there aren’t written instructions for. I really like the way witchcraft works in the novel, the way the spells are performed and the history surrounding it. Though it’s a little surprising while there’s a big coven there seems to be so few teenage daughters. Only one other teen besides Merry shows up in the novel. That aside, the coven working together aspect is pretty interesting.

 

Though it’s not surprising that for Merry it can get incredibly frustrating because all these women are trained witches and grownups to boot. So when Merry accidentally stumbles on a file in her grandmother’s house about a women who turns out to have been murdered, and was a witch as well…it’s a new mystery to solve. Of course Merry is told to leave it alone.

 

Merry’s prophetic-like dreams are back as well, this time telling of a fairy-tale monster. But is there something more to this?

 

On top of this Merry’s grandmother has disappeared, more dead witches are turning up, Leo is becoming more withdrawn. Two different new boys turns up, one a drifter who camps in the woods near the Black Lake strikes up a friendship with Leo, which has potential to turn into something more, and the other shows up at Merry’s grandmother’s house around the time Gran goes missing. Both have secrets and mysteries about them.

 

The story telling is as a top notch as the first book, Merry is an incredibly likeable main character. I enjoy her voice immensely. She still manages to be sassy, and snarky, sensible, though not without faults. Her magic for one – still difficult to control and comes out at inopportune moments, especially when she’s pissed off – which happens a few times, leading to a few plot twists.

 

Didn’t like Leo quite as much in this book, he’s pulled away from Merry and has become quite stubborn and moody, he’s struggled to cope with a certain death from the first book, so it’s sort of understandable, but at the same time, his secretive attitude is annoying. He’s not outright mean to Merry or anything, but he’s got a definite chip on his shoulder attitude, and being secretive and shutting her out, which is sad considering how close they were in the first book. At least we get Leo’s point of view, so the reader does get a bit more insight into his character. Plus, Leo gets a romance in this installment, so yay for that.

 

An intriguing mystery to solve and new characters to unravel and get to know. And one hell of a cliff-hanger at the end! I really hope there is another installment ASAP.

 

Thank you to Netgalley and HarperCollins UK, Children’s for approving my request to view the title.

 

Original post: sunsetxcocktail.booklikes.com/post/1547396/review-the-witch-s-tears

Story Sprites Round 6 Wrap Up

 

And another board completed.

 

Pink Path

MG Book With Divorce: It’s Not the End of the World by Judy Blume (4 stars)

Story Regarding Anxiety: Finding Audrey by Sophie Kinsella (5 stars)

MG Book with Female Author: Clean Break by Jacqueline Wilson (4 stars)

Story with A Family Feud: The Weight of Feathers by Anna Marie McLemore (2 stars)

 

Yellow Path

M/M Romance Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz (5 stars)

Chosen One Trope: Mark of the Witch by Maggie Shayne (Five stars)

Male M/C with female best friend/sidekick: Phantom Limbs by Paula Garner (5 stars)

Wizards and Witches: Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by JK Rowling (5 stars)

 

Green Path

Book with Multiple POVs: Rebel Springs (Falling Kingdoms

#2) by Morgan Rhodes (4 stars)

Mostly Yellow Cover: The Bourbon Kings by JR Ward (5 stars)

Dark Contemporary: Some Girls Are by Courtney Summers (4 stars)

Strong Independent Female Lead: Frostblood by Elly Blake ( 5 Stars)

 

Blue Path

A Retelling: Blackhearts (Blackhearts #1) By Nicole Castroman (3 stars)

A Science Fiction Novel: Beyond the Red (Beyond the Red #1) By Ava Jae (4 stars)

Mostly Blue Cover: Carve the Mark (Carve the Mark #1) By Veronica Roth (3 stars)

Wolf/Lupine Element: Hemlock (Hemlock #1) by Kathleen Peacock (4 stars)

 

Purple Path

Diverse Author: A Torch Against the Night (An Ember in the Ashes #2) By Saaba Tahir (4 stars)

Story Centred Around Social Issues: How To Make a Wish by Ashley Herring Blake (5 stars)

PoC Main Character: Written in the Stars by Aisha Saeed (4 stars)

Book Addressing Socioeconomic Issues: Something In Between by Melissa De La Cruz (3 stars)

 

You can see my Goodreads shelf here which has dates read and some reviews.

 

And a huge thanks to Great Imaginations’ Kara for helping me find titles for the Middle Grade with divorce books (I’m not really a Middle Grade reader I’ve bought about five MG books from the lists provided).

 

Lots of really great books this time round, particular favourites were The Bourbon Kings, How To Make a Wish, Frostblood, Beyond The Read, Written in the Stars, Rebel Springs, Aristotle and Dante, Mark of the Witch.

 

The only truly terrible thing I read was Moon Called by PC Cast for the Chosen One trop which was so awful I DNFed after 20 pages, but I did find something else I really liked.

Original post: sunsetxcocktail.booklikes.com/post/1543304/story-sprites-round-6-wrap-up

Reading progress update: I've read 3 out of 818 pages.

Obsesssed with the .musical? Check! I have tickets for Hamilton London next February so I'm determined to have this read by then.

Original post: sunsetxcocktail.booklikes.com/post/1543187/reading-progress-update-i-ve-read-3-out-of-818-pages

Bad Blood

Review:

I received a copy from Netgalley.

 

I pre ordered this ages before I requested a review copy from Netgalley. I must admit I pre ordered based on cover and the fact that the title is Taylor Swift song. I probably read the blurb at some point and forgot what it was about.

 

And to my immense surprise my Netgalley request was actually approved.

 

Possible trigger warnings for self-harm.

 

This was a fun book about a girl who’s visiting relatives in Scotland while at the same time having strange dreams about twin girls in the time of the Scottish Witch Trials. (I usually don’t like books where the characters have the same name as myself, but thankfully this was a first person novel so it didn’t grate on me too much). The main character Heather has some disturbing compulsions that make her carve intricate designs into her skin, which make her bleed.

 

At the start of the novel she’s been caught by her parents and been sent to a Wellness Centre for recovery. Which at least seems to be working, she’s taking meds, talking to a therapist and come home, and been allowed to go on to her annual vacation to visit her Aunt Abbie in Scotland.  With check ins with her parents and on line Skye sessions with her therapist.

 

Only the need to carve the weird designs into her skin haven’t really gone away. She’s got it under control enough to fool the grownups into thinking she’s okay when she’s really not. To be fair though, she knows she’s doing something wrong, there is something unexplainable about the way the sudden compulsion over comes her. But she can’t cope or do anything until the design is carved into her skin. It’s a weird intricate knot type design.

 

There’s a historical element to the novel telling the story of twin sisters Prudence and Primrose who lived in the 1700s. Their story starts with one of them being burned as witch. Their history is revealed to Heather in the modern day through her dreams. Once loving sisters learning the healing craft of their ancestors with the mother, things turn sour turning the twins into bitter rivals going deeper into magic they should not be messing with.

 

All this is having a big effect on Heather in the modern day. In Edinburgh with her aunt Abbie, Heather gets some bad news about her aunt, and also has to deal with the fact that her grandmother has dementia and has been put into a home. Not fun on top of increasingly frightening nightmares starring Prudence and Primrose.

 

Having been to Scotland every summer for years and years Heather has made some really good friends with some of the other teens in town. She gets to see them in the summer. They’re all quite excited to be together again, though initially Heather is a little disappointed the older boy she likes isn’t there that summer, just his brother Robby who she’s known forever is. They’re good friends, but there’s a definite spark between them that everyone but Heather seems to see.   

 

As the dreams get worse and worse, and a few visits to grandma reveal some surprising information, talk of witches in the family, something bad involving using blood for spells, Heather does some digging. And discovers some home truths she never knew.

 

It’s a good story with a great historical and some really good mystical elements. Some good teen angst added in and with an inevitable romance. My only real issue with this which is why it was a four star rather than a five star read was I found most of the characters very two dimensional. They were all likeable, but I didn’t get much of a sense of personality from any of them really.

 

The novel was exceptionally well written, so it didn’t really matter that the characters were a little flat, the history and mythology worked well, and the magic elements were well done and quite unique. There’s also a really good sense of place, the Scottish setting is brilliantly done. I really enjoyed the descriptions of Edinburgh and the Scottish countryside. Both modern day and historical it felt really authentic, beautifully written and easy to picture.

 

Despite a few flaws, it was a really good read and definitely something I would read again.

 

Thank you Netgalley and Random House Children’s for approving my request to view this title   

Original post: sunsetxcocktail.booklikes.com/post/1541373/bad-blood