Synopsis
Arden has lived in the woods near the deeply religious town of Arrothburg all her life, practicing magic and keeping balance with nature. She heals the sick, as her mother did before her. No matter how deeply the people of the village hate witches, they still arrive at Arden’s cabin in the dead of night, looking for help that their pastor, mayor, and doctor would never provide.
Verity is trapped in a life she doesn’t want. Her mother was burned as a witch six years ago, forcing Verity into the role of caretaker for her father and her younger siblings. The Good Book asks her to serve, and so she does. But it also asks her to endure the ungodly, debilitating agony of her monthly bleeding. No medicine, no comfort, no protests. If God is kind, why is she so cursed?
When a chance encounter between them leaves both their skin charred at a single touch, Arden and Verity are left with questions that may get them killed.
Does something wicked live inside Verity?
If Arden is the only true witch for miles, who is burning on the pyres?
Will they be next?
Review
Great premise and cover. As soon as I heard this was a great “feminine rage” book, I knew I had to read it. And I was not disappointed on that front! I really enjoyed both viewpoints, one that was angry from the beginning of the story and one that slowly learned about the realities of her life and developed her anger throughout the book, giving it a target and goal eventually that led to an interesting showdown.
While I do wish the book would’ve been longer with a deeper exploration of the characters’ emotions and with the addition of an antagonist POV, I understand that not every story will be like that just because I prefer certain aspects (Oh no! 😆). This was still told really well in its short page count and conveyed the appropriate emotions throughout while maintaining a good pace. For someone that doesn’t want all the intricate emotional depth that I tend to look for, this will be an exciting, snappy, and righteous tale to read!
I especially enjoyed that at a specific moment where a character could make a momentous decision (and know how it would affect them later, probably negatively), they just went ahead and did it instead of somehow justifying not doing it to be the better person and causing way more issues later (and making it feel like it was just done to add more drama to the story). A strong woman being decisive and sacrificing for her community at a high personal cost isn’t something original, of course, especially in this story, but I love how it was used in that moment to quickly do the thing instead of talking in circles just to add more excitement to the story (talking and talking and talking without saying the thing like I’m doing here? 🤪). I know that was a lot of rambling but I just really enjoyed the decision the author made in that moment. It worked well for me.
The world building was really interesting and I could’ve learned about that for forever. The magic, the pacts, the possibilities! I love a good witchy story and this one really delivered on that front, both for actual witches and those accused by the community. The plot built around that was interesting and I enjoyed discovering the mystery buried beneath the shiny veneer of the community. The theme of feminine rage for a whole variety of reasons was threaded well throughout the whole book in a way that didn’t feel like it was beating a dead horse but rather felt consistent in the right way with overwhelming intensity where it was needed.
I have another story by the same author already waiting on my kindle, Coal Gets In Your Veins, and am really looking forward to it. It promises the same kind of satisfaction of an exciting story with a great message.
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