The Drowned Woods by Emily Lloyd-Jones | Book Review

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The Drowned Woods by Emily Lloyd-Jones
Published by Little Brown Books for Young Readers on August 16, 2022
Genres: YA Fantasy, LGBT, Romance, Retelling
Pages: 352
Format: Hardback (OwlCrate Edition)
Source: Purchased

Content Warnings: Death, Grief, Murder, Blood, Kidnapping, Drowning, Torture, Suicidal Thoughts
Rating:

Once upon a time, the kingdoms of Wales were rife with magic and conflict, and eighteen-year-old Mererid “Mer” is well-acquainted with both. She is the last living water diviner and has spent years running from the prince who bound her into his service. Under the prince’s orders, she located the wells of his enemies, and he poisoned them without her knowledge, causing hundreds of deaths. After discovering what he had done, Mer went to great lengths to disappear from his reach. Then Mer’s old handler returns with a proposition: use her powers to bring down the very prince that abused them both. The best way to do that is to destroy the magical well that keeps the prince’s lands safe. With a motley crew of allies, including a fae-cursed young man, the lady of thieves, and a corgi that may or may not be a spy, Mer may finally be able to steal precious freedom and peace for herself. After all, a person with a knife is one thing…but a person with a cause can topple kingdoms.

The Drowned Woods is a fantastical retelling of the myth of Cantre'r Gwaelod, a legendary sunken kingdom that is not Cardigan Bay in west Wales. The earliest account of this legend appears in the Black Book of Carmarthen in which it is said Maes Gwyddno was lost to the sea when a well-maiden by the name of Mererid allowed the well to overflow due to negligence. It's this version of the legend that Lloyd-Jones pulls from, following our main character Mererid "Mer" who is not a well maiden, but a water diviner on a quest to find her freedom.

As with most Welsh folktales, Lloyd-Jones's retelling is fantastical and dark, filled with magical creatures, gruesome deaths, unseen betrayals, and ultimate sacrifices all with a touch of romance (Mer is bisexual). Lloyd-Jones does an excellent job weaving realism and fantastical elements together in this high-stakes, fast-paced retelling. I thoroughly enjoyed her world-building and character development, particularly that of Mer and Fane, a fae-cursed young man who joins Mer's company as the hired muscle with his corgi Trefor. What I loved most about both of these character's story arcs is that you don't get their life story all at once. It slowly unfolds, being told in both the present and the past, allowing the reader to form a deep bond with both characters. This adds a bit of mystery to them, especially Fane whose story takes much longer to unfold.

What bumped this book up to a four-star read for me was the heartbreak I felt multiple times throughout the story, especially with Gryf, one of the motley crew seeking to topple Cear Wyddno, and my inability to see the twists coming. Gryf's character is largely a mystery until the very end, and the conclusion of his story left me shattered. I'm talking put-the-book-down-in-the-middle-of-a-chapter shattered. Llyod-Jones did an amazing job of hiding each character's real motivations, and, as I said, I did not see any of the twists coming. Yes...twists as in multiple. I pride myself in being able to guess plot twists before they happen, but Lloyd-Jones left no crumbs, no hints, no foreshadowing, and I ate it up like candy.

Finally, The Drowned Woods is set in the same magical world as The Bone Houses which I read a couple of years ago. I went back and read through a summary to jog my memory of some important details and I am certainly glad I did because there is a significant connection between the two. I'm not going to give anything away because I want you to read it for yourself, but the connection is not required to understand either story. I will say The Drowned Woods happens before The Bone Houses, so if you want to read them in chronological order start with The Drowned Woods. Reading them back to back will make their connection much more obvious. If you have already read The Bone Houses, you won't see the connection until the very end, so don't waste your time trying to figure it out before the last part like I did.

My only beef with this book that prevented me from giving it a five-star rating is the repetition and stunted pacing. There were several times Llyod-Jones repeated herself within 1 or 2 pages of each other as if she hadn't told us some important detail before. This annoyed me. Furthermore, the majority of the book is leading up to the heist, with very little time being given to the heist itself. I would have enjoyed it more if the book had been a hundred pages longer. I don't mind longer stories if it means doing the story justice. This one certainly needed some more pages to do it justice.

Despite these qualms, I deeply enjoyed the story and may come back to it again in the future. Welsh folklore is unforgettably fascinating and Lloyd-Jones certainly did it justice.

My Darling Dreadful Thing by Johanna van Veen | Book Review

Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.

My Darling Dreadful Thing by Johanna van Veen
Published by Poisoned Pen Press on May 14, 2024
Genres: Gothic, Horror, LGBT, Romance
Pages: 377
Format: Paperback
Source: Purchased

Content Warnings: Death, Abuse, Sexual Assault, Gore, Self Harm, Mental Illness, Incest, Homophobia 
Rating:

Spirits are drawn to salt, be it blood or tears. Roos Beckman has a spirit companion only she can see. Ruth—strange, corpse-like, and dead for centuries—is the light of Roos' life. That is, until the wealthy young widow Agnes Knoop visits one of Roos' backroom seances, and the two strike up a connection. Soon, Roos is whisked away to the crumbling estate Agnes inherited upon the death of her husband, where an ill woman haunts the halls, strange smells drift through the air at night, and mysterious stone statues reside in the family chapel. Something dreadful festers in the manor, but still, the attraction between Roos and Agnes is undeniable. Then, someone is murdered. Poor, alone, and with a history of 'hysterics', Roos is the obvious culprit. With her sanity and innocence in question, she'll have to prove who—or what—is at fault or lose everything she holds dear.

I am seriously slacking on writing reviews in a timely manner at the moment, but some of these books lately have required some thought before sitting down to write. My Darling Dreadful Thing left me reeling, unsure what was real and what wasn't. And for that reason, I have had to marinate on my feelings.

The story is divided into three parts and flip flops between Roos Beckman telling her story and notes from her doctor after she is locked up for allegedly murdering her employer and lover. This back-and-forth between viewpoints was sometimes jarring and left me feeling uneasy, which added to the story's creepiness. Despite this, the book is not particularly scary, which I was disappointed in because it was advertised as gothic horror. There were certainly times of unease, especially regarding the statues and the depiction of the ghosts Roos and Agnes can both see and talk to, but other than that, this is not a scary story, which van Veen mentions in her notes at the beginning of the book. 

"If you strip My Darling Dreadful Thing until nothing remains but its essence, you will not find a horrific secret at its very heart. You will find, instead, a love story." And that is exactly what I found, a love story between two abused and discarded women who sought comfort in their shared trauma. Their story is a tragic one, and a reminder that childhood trauma can manifest in many ways and bind people together. Some have mentioned they felt the love story happened too quickly, but I didn't feel that way. Roos certainly falls faster and harder, and I blame her lack of love as a child for this fact. Agnes was also discarded as a child, but at least had a loving mother for part of her childhood, creating a more reserved adult. Things don't fully blossom between the two until much later in the story, which does include some spicy scenes. I don't particularly like spice, but they were tastefully done. Even if some believe the love story happens too quickly, the love feels easy and real. Roos and Agnes finally found some solace in their desperately lonely lives with each other, which is all anyone could ask for.

What I enjoyed most, however, was the world-building. van Veen has a knack for picking just the right words to describe every detail, fully immersing the reader in the world she has created. Every macabre detail adds to the richness of the story and is anything but superfluous. It's clear van Veen pulled inspiration from Edgar Allen Poe's The Fall of the House of Usher, and she does a beautiful job reimagining the events that happen there. The Universe has certainly wanted this story retold recently, with several retellings popping up across multiple media types. I wonder what it's trying to tell us...

Despite loving the characters, the environment, the love story, and the attention to detail, the story fell flat for me. The juicy, dark secret was predictable and that lack of horror was disappointing. I wanted more than what I was given, but that's okay. It's still a stunning debut novel, just not one I will likely read again. Do I recommend My Darling Dreadful Thing? Yes, especially for those looking for tragedy and sapphic romance.

The Honey Witch by Sydney J. Shields | Book Review

Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.

The Honey Witch by Sydney J. Shields
Published by Redhook on May 14, 2024
Genres: Fantasy, LGBT, Romance
Pages: 368
Format: Paperback
Source: Purchased

Content Warnings: Death, Burning, House Fire, Tattooing/Needles
Rating:

The Honey Witch of Innisfree can never find true love. That is her curse to bear. But when a young woman who doesn’t believe in magic arrives on her island, sparks fly in this deliciously sweet debut novel of magic, hope, and love overcoming all. Twenty-one-year-old Marigold Claude has always preferred the company of the spirits of the meadow to any of the suitors who’ve tried to woo her. So when her grandmother whisks her away to the family cottage on the tiny Isle of Innisfree with an offer to train her as the next Honey Witch, she accepts immediately. But her newfound magic and independence come with a No one can fall in love with the Honey Witch. When Lottie Burke, a notoriously grumpy skeptic who doesn’t believe in magic, shows up on her doorstep, Marigold can’t resist the challenge to prove to her that magic is real. But soon, Marigold begins to care for Lottie in ways she never expected. And when darker magic awakens and threatens to destroy her home, she must fight for much more than her new home—at the risk of losing her magic and her heart.

I finished The Honey Witch about a week ago and it's taken me a while to write this review because I needed to seriously reflect on what I liked and didn't like and figure out how I wanted to rate it. I thought I was missing something while reading this book because many people rated it 4 and 5 stars. I pride myself on being honest and authentic, and a 4, let alone a 5, did not sit well with me. Let me explain.

The Honey Witch opens with our protagonist, Marigold "Mari" Claude struggling to fit into society. She has no artistic talent, no desire to marry, and prefers running off every full moon to converse with land spirits known as landvættir. It's not until her grandmother shows up unexpectedly and informs her that she is a Honey Witch that Marigold finally understands her place in the world. From there, Marigold is whisked off to follow in her grandmother's footsteps to become the next Honey Witch of Innisfree, helping the people in a nearby town while simultaneously struggling to come to terms with the fact that she can never fall in love due to a family curse. 

The majority of the story is about Marigold wrestling with her emotions and trying not to fall in love with a local girl, Lottie. However, there is a threat looming over her from another witch known as an Ash Witch. While this threat is resolved in the end, it takes up very little space in the narrative, ultimately turning this book into a relatively cozy fantasy. I could have done without the entire Ash Witch storyline if I am being honest. It felt forced and ended too quickly considering the time it took the action to actually build.

The pacing is entirely off and it seems like entire chapters may have been cut to reduce the page count, specifically in Part 4 which is the battle between Marigold and the evil Ash Witch. Many parts of the book drag, like cold honey from the bottle, while others are over in a matter of a few sentences. I'm not sure who edited this book, but they did a truly terrible job. I hate to say that, but this is one of the worst-paced books I have ever read.

On top of this, much of the dialogue is stilted and unnatural. The author repeatedly uses "says" for almost every single speaking line, which leaves the text choppy and uninteresting. In the first few chapters, there is a fight between Marigold and her mother that is supposed to be this huge passionate affair, but it falls completely flat. This made it difficult to connect with the characters and ultimately care about what happened to them.

However, there were other times when the language was beautiful and engaging. Shields has some amazing one-liners such as "What is so wrong about being a bitch? It is the closest a girl can be to a wolf." and "These are the wild women who run barefoot through the meadow. Who teach new songs to the birds, who howl at the moon together. Wild women are their own kind of magic." Other times the language is stupid...like when there is a discussion of opposites and her grandmother states the opposite of honey is ash. What? No...

There also were some cultural inconsistencies which rubbed me the wrong way. This is supposed to take place during the Regency era (think Bridgerton). No one bats an eye at homosexuality but tattoos are a prison-worthy offense. Make it make sense. The whole tattoo ordeal while dress shopping should have been cut from the book as it didn't help progress the plot in any way. 

The pacing and dialogue ruined this book for me, despite some of it being wonderful. The relationship between Marigold and Lottie blooms beautifully as the story progresses and their desire to break the curse should have been the only focus, not defeating an off-the-page villain, even if the villain is responsible for the curse. There are much better ways the curse (which says a Honey Witch can't fall in love without giving up their powers and that it was done to end the family line but babies can be created without love???) could have been broken that didn't involve the Ash Witch narrative. I thoroughly enjoyed watching their relationship grow and change over time, and the role magic played in its development. Despite the book's many flaws, the sapphic romance was perfect and I was rooting for the two to end up together.

I also enjoyed the magic system, which is rooted in folklore and modern-day correspondences. Shields did an excellent job making sure spell ingredients corresponded with the intention of the spells, such as the inclusion of honey to heal and sweeten, roses to attract love, lemon seeds for growth and happiness, and cinnamon, salt, chili powder, and cloves for protection. Furthermore, Shields refers to the land spirits as landvættir, which is the Nordic word for land spirits. Her depiction of these spirits matches those of folklore across multiple cultures telling me that she did her research. I really appreciate the thought and consideration that went into ensuring the magical system matched our modern understanding of magic and witchcraft.

While I enjoyed the story overall, the pacing and dialogue are the reason I rated this book a 2. When I take everything into account the book was just okay. I almost DNFed it before finishing Part 1, but I am ultimately glad I didn't. The book does get better after Part 1, so if you can push through, do so. Many have found this book to be far better than I did, so keep that in mind when deciding to pick up The Honey Witch. Just because it wasn't my favorite, doesn't mean it won't be yours.

June 2024 Reading Wrap Up

We made it to July, fellow readers!

We are officially halfway through the year. I can't believe how quickly time is flying. The past month I have been on vacation and have been able to spend much more time reading than I normally would. On top of this, it has been too hot to go outside and do much, which means more time inside my nice and cool house cuddled up with a blanket, tea, and a candle with a good book! This month I read 6 books, 4 of which were occult books for my other blog and 2 that were fun reads.

What I Read

The Hedgewitch of Foxhall by Anna Bright
Published by Harper Teen on March 12, 2024
Genres: YA Fantasy, Romance
Pages: 400
Format: Hardcover
Source: Purchased

Content Warnings: Death

Rating:

Magic is fading from Wales—choked off by King Offa’s Dyke, the enemy earthworks that spans the entire border. Even the dragons have disappeared. And now an attack is imminent. Prince Taliesin would love to watch magic die. Prince Dafydd fears it, and the throne. But when their father promises the crown to whichever son can destroy the dyke and restore magic to Wales, the brothers are forced into an uneasy rivalry. Ffion works hedgewitch magic for poor folk, not princes. Unlike the power-hungry Foxhall coven, she uses only what nature can spare. But when the coven’s greed costs Ffion everything, she will need power beyond her wildest dreams to get back what she’s lost. So when Prince Taliesin arrives, begrudgingly seeking a witch’s aid, Ffion agrees to help him—even if it means walking from one end of Wales to the other with the most use-less peacock she’s ever clapped eyes on. Even if it means striking a bargain with Dafydd behind Tal’s back. The fate of Wales depends on their quest . . . and so might the fate of Ffion’s heart.

Read my full review here.

The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo
Published by Flatiron Books on April 9, 2024
Genres: Historical Fiction, Fantasy
Pages: 400
Format: Hardcover
Source: Purchased

Content Warnings: Torture, Antisemitism, Death, Murder, Sexual Assault, Gore

Rating:

In a shabby house, on a shabby street, in the new capital of Madrid, Luzia Cotado uses scraps of magic to get through her days of endless toil as a scullion. But when her scheming mistress discovers the lump of a servant cowering in the kitchen is actually hiding a talent for little miracles, she demands Luzia use those gifts to better the family's social position. What begins as simple amusement for the bored nobility takes a perilous turn when Luzia garners the notice of Antonio Pérez, the disgraced secretary to Spain's king. Still reeling from the defeat of his armada, the king is desperate for any advantage in the war against England's heretic queen—and Pérez will stop at nothing to regain the king's favor. Determined to seize this one chance to better her fortunes, Luzia plunges into a world of seers and alchemists, holy men and hucksters, where the line between magic, science, and fraud is never certain. But as her notoriety grows, so does the danger that her Jewish blood will doom her to the Inquisition's wrath. She will have to use every bit of her wit and will to survive—even if that means enlisting the help of Guillén Santangel, an embittered immortal familiar whose own secrets could prove deadly for them both.

Read my full review here.

Occult Books I Read and Reviewed

• The Herbalist's Guide by Mary Colvin, RH
• Alive With Spirits by Althaea Sebastiani
• Be Your Own Shaman by Jane Barlow Christensen
• Botanical Cocktails by Tenae Stewart

Reading Stats

I am super excited to see what books I read in the month of July. Until next time!