To be published May 27th 2021…
Anna is a witch. Fortunately she isn’t a very good one, because magic is dangerous and should be feared. At least that’s what Anna’s Aunt says and that’s why she, like all the others in their Binders coven, will be having her magic bound as soon as she turns of age. The one problem? Anna loves magic; its temptations lure her in. So when fellow witch Effie moves to town it doesn’t take much to convince Anna that they should start a coven all of their own. The more Anna plays with the limits of her magic, the more she starts to question everything she has ever known… What really happened to her parents? What is wrong with her magic? And what does her Aunt keep hidden behind the locked door in their house?
The pacing in this book kept the plot moving at a steady pace, not too slow and not too quick, although a lot seemed to happen all at once in the final chapters. I had actually worked out the main plot twist before it happened (most of it anyway) but that didn’t make it any less shocking when it was finally revealed. In fact it probably added to the suspense and anticipation of the slowly unravelling plot.
The different characters are well defined by their individual characteristics, although they do lean slightly towards stereotypes: the rebellious religious girl, the wild child, the quiet girl with hidden depths, the popular school bully, the chubby girl with a heart of gold. However, this does not detract from the important parts that they each play. As the lone male in the main character cast, Attis stands out a fair bit and plays a particularly important role. This is obvious from the very beginning, yet the truth of this role is not revealed until the final pages of the book. Aunt Vivienne and Selene, so directly opposite in character, are perhaps the most interesting characters in the book. Their personalities, Aunt Vivienne’s especially, are complex and their secrets create more and more mystery and tension as the plot progresses.
This book was a bit fun, a bit serious, and a bit intriguing; together these made the perfect combination for an easy weekend read.
Escape to the Bookshelf 