This book surprised me! I was unsure about the beginning, as the story is launched a bit awkwardly as we meet the main character's family and learn she is being sent away to work as a servant by her cruel step-father. While I appreciate that we started off with a taste of normalcy right on the brink of change, there was too much exposition shoved into the dialogue ("but ma, why?" type questions/answers), and it made the main character sound much younger than she did for the rest of the book. From the time Dee left home and started on the road, the book picked up, and I'm glad I kept reading. The story offers great character development and relationships between characters, light foreshadowing on the road, and pacing that kept you on your toes, but also comfortable to explore Dee's new world. The descriptions of setting, especially the witch's house, was gorgeous and effective, and the action scenes were well-placed and well-written. If you like fantasy, witchcraft, and stories that highlight the bonds between women, A Curse of Ash & Embers would be a great fit for you.

An ENJOYABLE READ.
LIKE THE CHARATERS. STORY AND THE FACT THAT THIS BOOK CENTERS IN WITCHES (WICH I LOVE WITH MY WHOLE HEART AND ALWAYS WILL).

I really enjoyed this book as a quick and fun read. The pacing is more on the slow side, but the character interactions help make it go a bit quicker. There was quite a bit of a let down with the lack of world building, however I feel the books after this one will involve more of the world. Overall, I loved the plot and characters, and am looking forward to reading more in the series. I definitely recommend!

While I deeply enjoyed the characters and plot executed by Spurrier in A Curse of Ash and Embers, the narrative unravels at a slow and extremely detailed pace. The writing itself was clever and well executed, but could have been better paced so that readers can go about their reading with more ease. That being said, I truly enjoyed this new world and I easily connected with the main characters. I would recommend this book to any fans of fantasy.

I read this all in one sitting, it just read so quickly and sucked me in!

Sometimes fantasy books take a bit to get into and have too much world building, but this drops you right into the story. Ellodie is a good character to follow, she's smart and resourceful and she asks a lot of questions that the reader wants to know. Even though she doesn't want to leave her home, she does what she needs to and tries to make the best of it. She gives Aleida her respect and doesn't judge her for being a witch. She's fierce and even when she's scared she carries on.

The world is easy to understand and the magic makes sense. The author has a good balance of showing and telling, so it's not information overload but I also didn't have too many unresolved questions. The ending wraps up well with room for the sequel without leaving us on a cliffhanger.

Fun story and I really enjoyed the characters!

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Wow. What an amazing read. I loved the characters and the writing really surprised me.I highly recommend this one.

This story was really interesting. Elodie is a sweetheart and Aleida has that sass I love. Life or death witch mayhem and twisty speeds keeps you wondering the whole way through. I highly recommend!!

I think that this book had the potential to be truly amazing. However, the writing style was really off putting for me as a reader. There were long, detailed pages of description where nothing was happening (at one point I skipped 6-7 paragraphs and had missed no plot point or action in the story). This slow pace made it hard to feel engaged with the story, particularly at the beginning when you are learning about the world and the characters. The characters themselves are alright but don't feel particularly special or attention grabbing. The dialogue is very simple. Overall, I think that the book had potential and if you are someone who enjoys slow, flowery writing, then you might enjoy this book.

A Curse of Ash and Embers tells the story of Elodie, a young woman sent away from home to work in a mysterious cottage. Elodie’s new mistress is the witch Aleida, who is secretly struggling with a curse. After defeating the previous cottage witch, Aleida has inherited all of the burdens and treasures of Black Oak Cottage. But someone is haunting the cottage and enemies are gathering to challenge Aleida. As Elodie learns more about who haunts Black Oak Cottage, she must decide who to trust and what she ultimately wants to be.

This was a fun read! I enjoyed the plot and the magical world. A Curse of Ash and Embers reminded me of Dealing with Dragons, by: Patricia C. Wrede. Throughout the book, Elodie must learn about magic and decide how far she will go to help Aleida. A Curse of Ash and Embers has powerful witches, morally grey characters, and fearsome villains. I’m looking forward to seeing how Elodie and Aleida’s adventures continue! A Curse of Ash and Embers releases November 3, 2020. Thank you to Jo Spurrier, Voyager- AU, and Netgalley for a free ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Elodie is an outcast in her family. A bit of sass and a good heart. She’s been summoned as a servant girl. She travels for days and finally reaches her destination. Black Oak Cottage, where she meets Aleida. Things are not what they seem, and starts Elodie’s journey of magic and more.
I really enjoyed this book. Her journey to find her place was fun. The connections and the sass. Definitely worth a read.

This was a fun magical read. It mainly focuses on the journey of Elodie and her path to living with a witch and surviving. I enjoyed reading from Elodie’s perspective and found her character to be really likable. I liked the journey that Elodie goes on from uprooting from her family to an entirely new home. I enjoyed the magic and the mystery of a dead witch who is attacking them. Overall a great fantasy book about finding a place for yourself and growing.

Unfortunately this was a book that I never managed to fully take a hold of as I struggled to understand what it was trying to be.

“A Curse of Ash and Embers” follows Dee as she is forced to leave her home and take a position as a household secret for a mysterious mistress who has secrets of her own and along the way she learns that the stories of monsters and witches are far from fictional.

This is probably one of the hardest reviews I’ve ever had to write because I still don’t know what to make of this book. It has all the trappings of your typical girl stumbles in to a world of magic and becomes an apprentice but never managed to go there. I felt like there was so much of this world to explore but we got a watered down version and I can’t understand why.

The witches were portrayed as cunning and vicious creatures and we got some of that but a majority we just had to take at face value as Dee learned of the towns past through that of her neighbors and very little was shown on the page. We get a Stranger Things rift, a couple who are more creature than human and hybrids ripped right out of AHS Coven with hardly an explanation between them as to not only how they fit together but how they work in the story itself.

I thought the relationship between Dee and Aleida and their back and forth as one was too hurt to scare off the other was nice but their relationship was just that, nice I never felt that one had this awful reputation or that they would be able to grow together to be the very beings that are so powerful that it lead one to the other in the first place.

I don’t know this one is both strange and dull but offers promise if it found the right direction.

**special thanks to the publishers and netgalley for providing an arc in exchange for a fair and honest review**

The atmosphere of this story wrapped me in a comforting embrace. I love all things witch and so the darkness of the embrace was perfect. It had a superb blend of details, plot, and character that made it flow with a pace perfect for the creeping dread effect. It's one of those books you want to save for a weekend forecast with thunderstorms and gloom as that will match the landscape you're taken to.

The bond I developed with Elodie made everything happening tense even during the parts with a more relaxed tempo. Aleida really spoke to me. In fact, both of these women are strong in their own ways and refreshing female leads. The magic of this world was creative and had a genuine feel making the fantasy parts of the story feel just as real as everything else. I was utterly captivated from start to finish.

And that ending! Didn't see that coming. I love when that happens.

Love it! This is witches done right.

I tried to push past this, I really did, but the dialog killed me. I just don't think I was the target audience at all for this book. It sounded interesting and I love all things monster and witchy, but I couldn't handle the characters or the dialog. It was all just too simple for me, I tried to keep reading it, but I gave up. Definitely not for me.

Great storyline - the dialogue KILLED me. Not a fan of the simple speak everyone had. Also none of the characters are particularly like able... but I powered through. Really, the story was good, and I enjoyed the book overall.

This is unique, hooking, fast pacing, folklore dances with feminist vibes kind of entertaining fantasy with powerful, likable heroines and detailed, outstanding world building. Finally I found a great beginning of new installments: a fresh, breath taking, moving fantasy series.

Glyssha Blackbone, cutthroat bitch is finally dead but the monsters she’d created are out there, moving around, threatening the peace of woods.

Aleida left behind, scared of warlock threatening her to pay the debt she owes and the monstrous tree lurking in the orchard is another ominous sign that she cannot lose any second: things are about to get worse and she needs urgent help.

Her path crosses with Elodie, our main character, living isolated life at a ramshackle homestead, still grieving with the loss of her father, mentally and verbally abused by her stepfather, neglected by her own mother. But when a job opportunity appears out of nowhere by a strange correspondence which forces her team up with a farmer, the farmer’s daughter and a magician to start a journey headed to Black Oak Cottage close to Lilsfield community, she sees this as an escape route from her miserable life.

Of course she has no idea what kind of dangerous and important task waiting for her and she has no idea she will work for a witch and team up with strick, harsh mistress Aleida.

Overall: I enjoyed the world building and competitiveness of Aleida and Eloide who seemed like opposite characters but they are both manipulated by harmful characters throughout their lives who prevent them see their own powers and strengths. This fact brings two characters closer and creates a loyal bounding.

Lack of romantic elements fit well with this story. In my opinion sometimes unnecessary romantic involvements affect the pace and credibility of the story.

I’m giving my four solid stars and I’m looking forward to read upcoming journeys of Aleida and Eloide.

Special thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins Publishers/ Voyager-AU for sharing this unique ARC with me in exchange my honest review.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the arc. I was not sold on this book. It was so slow. The characters lacked any depth. The only thing that remotely kept it going was the mystery of what was going on and what had happened. I didn’t connect with anything and had to dnf at 53%. I feel like even if I pushed through and finished, I wouldn’t rate it higher 3 stars due to all the problems mentioned. Even if it ended up getting better. If you like The Near Witch, this book may be up your alley.