S is for Silvia

I’m doing folklore and book review posts to reach and please a larger audience. Previous years have shown select interest in both and to minimise blogging throughout the year, I’m focusing my efforts on April.

Focusing on an A to Z of my TBR (to be read) list, each letter will have books starting with that letter on my list, a book I’ve read and reviewed (with the review!) and one of my books matching the letter with a link about more info about the book.

If you’d rather check out my folklore post for today, go here.

My TBR

About the Book I’ve Read

The Bewitching by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

In this chilling multigenerational horror tale, three women across different eras grapple with danger and witchcraft. Silvia Moreno-Garcia, the New York Times bestselling author of Mexican Gothic, weaves a tale where every secret uncovered brings creeping horror. Minerva, a graduate student, delves into the life of Beatrice Tremblay, an obscure horror author, and uncovers a true story behind Tremblay’s famous novel, ‘The Vanishing’. As Minerva investigates, she feels a malevolent force that once haunted Tremblay and her roommate might still linger on campus. This force echoes the witch encounter Nana Alba, Minerva’s great-grandmother, experienced in 1900s Mexico. Minerva fears this shadow threatens her now. An academic pursuit can be challenging, but it could become deadly when witchcraft is involved.

Check it out on Goodreads.

My Review

If a friend hadn’t warned me about the animal deaths and the creepy uncle, I probably wouldn’t have made it past the 40% mark. So I’ll start with this: these witches are brutal, hurting, maiming and killing innocents to make themselves stronger. If they want something, they’ll take it. And they want the blood they drink to be filled with fear as it makes the magic stronger. (I think it’s mentioned twice in the book that this is the reason the witches toy with their prey.)

I liked that Beatrice’s story is written in that stilted, academic way of the 30s it plays off in and that it is mostly a story written by Beatrice to examine that specific time when her friend had disappeared.

I liked that Minerva was reading Beatrice’s story to inform her thesis. I also liked that she already knew a lot about witches from her grandmother, Alba.

I liked that Alba’s story is the true story of learning to trust your gut, face your fears, and “live through it” as she taught her daughter, granddaughter, etc. Hers is not a happy or pretty story, but one of survival.

I don’t usually like dual (or multiple) timelines, but this was done well and each story informed another.

I liked the line “when I was a young woman, there were still witches”, summing up so much of the story of each woman in this book.

The way the witches were depicted (their various powers, their place in society) and how the bad ones were destroyed was quite imaginative and added to the rich worldbuilding.

Rich worldbuilding, beautiful settings, characters worth caring for, and scary witches – a dark academia/horror well-worth reading.

Triggers: death/maiming of animals, incest (creepy uncle), missing persons, stalking

My Book

Stories on Scrolls

I hope you enjoyed this. For more books I’ve read and reviewed, check out either my Pinterest board about reviews or my Goodreads profile. Alternatively, you can check out my reviews on BookBub. Have you read any of the books? Loved or hated any of them?

You can now support my time in producing book review posts (buying books, reading, writing reviews and everything else involved) by buying me a coffee. This can be a once-off thing, or you can buy me coffee again in the future at your discretion.

*FYI, my reviews are my honest opinion and if something bothers me, I tell it straight. How else will anything change? My opinions are based on being a voracious reader and book buyer, not an attack on the author.*