Release date: February 25, 2025
Publisher: Minotaur
Genre: Mystery/Thriller
Synopsis:
Newly minted child psychologist Mina has little experience. In a field where the first people called are experts, she’s been unable to get her feet wet. Instead she aimlessly spends her days stuck in the stifling heat wave sweeping across Britain, and anxiously contemplating her upcoming marriage to careful, precise researcher Oscar. The only reprieve from her small, close world is attending the local bereavement group to mourn her brother’s death from years ago. That is, until she meets journalist Sam Hunter at the grief group one day. And he has a proposition for her.
Alice Webber is a thirteen-year-old girl who claims a witch is haunting her. Living with her family in their crowded home in the remote village of Banathel, Alice’s symptoms are increasingly disturbing, and money is tight. Taking this job will give Mina some experience; Sam will get the scoop of a lifetime; and Alice will get better, Mina is sure of it.
But instead of improving, Alice’s behavior becomes increasingly inexplicable and intense. The town of Banathel has a deep history of superstition and witchcraft. They believe there is evil in the world. They believe there are ways of…dealing with it. And they don’t expect outsiders to understand.
Review:
This was an odd one for me, there were parts I really liked and others that just didn’t work for me at all. Initially I was intrigued, it was a unique premise with fantastic creepy and unsettling vibes and I wasn’t sure what would happen next. I couldn’t figure out if it was supposed to be horror or not, and I’m still not quite sure honestly. Where it lost me is there were so so many unanswered questions in the end leaving giant plot holes that were never explained. There were just too many things that either didn’t make sense or were entirely implausible for me to overlook so unfortunately this was a total miss for me.
Overall rating: 3/5
Thanks to the publisher for my review copy.
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