This is a fun one to kick off spooky season! I will say that this one is an extremely slow burn and that made me a bit sad. The overall story was fun but having most of the action towards the backend make the beginning a bit long to get through.

Thank you NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review. Pub date: Oct 5.

The Lighthouse Witches:

“Forgiveness is a kind of time travel, only better, because it sutures the wounds of the past with the wisdom of the present in the same moment as it promises a better future.”

The Lighthouse Witches was such a fun and spooky treat! Think Fear Street: Part 3 with a pinch of Abba. (I had SOS in my head for a solid 3 days) It also kind of reminded me of The Returned, the TV show.

So basically, we got a fam of 4, mom Liv and 3 daughters. They end up on an island full of folklore and witches. One day in 1998, 2 of the girls and the mom disappear, leaving Luna by her lonesome. She doesn’t remember what happened, but she’s determined to find them again. In 2021, she’s pregnant and gets a call that her sister Clover, has been found! Yay! But, Clover hasn’t aged a day, what?! Luna is convinced she’s a wildling, which is suppose to wipe out an entire bloodline.

This has dual timelines, of what happened in 1998, and also Luna, the only one of the four found, in 2021. I loved the back and forth. We also get Liv, Sapphire (Saffy, the oldest child) perspective in 1998, which really heightened the story and atmosphere.

The twists and explanation was so wonderfully crafted. It was a kind of “that makes sense” but I wouldn’t have thought of it. There’s little breadcrumbs along the way, so that was nice to pull it all together. I also really enjoyed the fact we got more of grimoire from Patrick Roberts and that backstory. It all clicked into place. The ending was amazing. I got all the feels for the end.

The only part that didn’t work for me was the social services part. A simple Facebook check would have shown Luna’s “bring Clover Stay home” page and see she’s been missing since 1998, and home girl in 2021 should have aged. I know small town and all, but, I just felt that could have played out differently. I’m still confused about the Gianni part, but Kids gonna kid I guess!

This had such a atmospheric and creepy vibe, I had trouble reading at night. I also needed my kids to not creep me out because I kept imagining them as wildings trying to burn the dang place down. I really enjoyed the different layers Cooke imagined in this book and had many sleepless nights trying to finish this. Thank you so much Berkley for the gifted copy. The Lighthouse Witches is out 10/5 and is perfect for your spooky season TBR!

I loved that this book was about the history of witches in Scotland! I love that the book is creepy and dramatic but still historical and interesting. This book is perfect for spooky season and I love the journey the story takes you on!

What do I even say?

I may have to come back and add more because I finished it in one day, last night and I'm still all discombobulated.

The Lighthouse Witches was the perfect kickoff to spooky season. This novel, which takes place over several different timelines in Scotland, was incredibly interesting, majorly creepy, and compulsively readable; I read the entire thing in one day.

It is a fantastical conglomeration of Icelandic Myth, the dark history of witches in Scotland, historical fiction, science fiction, and major reading goosebumps,

We follow Liv as she moves her three daughters to a remote area in Scotland to work on a mural commissioned for an old lighthouse. The lighthouse has been built over a broch with a dark history. Amidst a flurry of eerie happenings, two of the girls and eventually the mother go missing.

Fast forward 22 years and we follow the remaining daughter, Luna, as she reunites with her long lost sister—who hadn’t aged at all in the 22 years that she had been missing. Is she a faerie wilding? A harbinger of death for her remaining family? A desperate wish from a traumatized soon-to-be-mother?

Agh! So good! This definitely kept me guessing the entire time and was such a thrilling read! Thanks to NetGalley, Berkley Publishing, and C. J. Cooke for the digital ARC.

Thank you to Berkley, C.J. Cooke and Netgalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!

In 1998, Liv takes her three daughters with her to the remote Scottish island of Lon Haven to paint a mural in the island’s lighthouse. Several weeks after their arrival, Liv and two of her daughters are missing. Nine year old Luna is the only survivor of the family’s time on the island. Flashforward to 2021 and Luna gets a call from Inverness. Her little sister Clover has been found after being missing for 22 years. But Clover is still 7 years old. Is Clover actually Luna’s sister or is she a wildling, one of those fae creatures the residents of Lon Haven fear?

This book is so creepy but in the best way. C.J. Cooke does an excellent job of weaving in Icelandic and Scottish folklore together with Scotland’s history of burning witches. The remote location of a northern island and the superstitions of the locals adds an additional layer of suspense. The chapters from 1998 were the most terrifying to me as the tension ramped up for Liv and her daughters. Especially since you go into the book knowing that Liv and two of the girls will disappear.

This book was a great addition to my spooky season lineup and I would recommend it to anyone who is looking for a darker witchy read.

The Lighthouse Witches is out on October 5th!

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4065150990
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/CUX13MBpIYm/

The Lighthouse Witches by CJ Cooke is a standalone gothic novel. The story starts with Liv in 1998, when she accepts a commission to paint a mural in a 100-year-old lighthouse on a Scottish Island. Liv arrives in Lon Haven, with her three daughters, Sapphire (Saffy), Luna and Clover. While learning more about the strange mural that she needs to paint, Liv learns that underneath the lighthouse is a cave that imprisoned and burned to death women accused of witchcraft. The local people tell her about the wildings (created by the fae) that is the curse from back in the 1600’s hundreds.

Though we learn about what happened to the witches burned to death, the story centers around two timelines; 1998 and 2021; with Liv in 1998 and a grown-up Luna, in 2021.
Though Liv doesn’t believe in the local rumors about wildings, and young children who return after time, but are not the real child, but a wilding. In a short time, Saffy and Clover are missing, and Liv is desperate to find them, especially when the rumors are wild and crazy; and soon thereafter, Liv too is missing. The story does go back and forth between the two time periods.

The story moves to 2021, when Luna (the only survivor), gets a phone call that her sister, Clover has been found, after 20 years. Ecstatic, Luna rushes to get to her sister, as she has searched all these years for her mother, Saffy and Clover. To her shock, when they bring out Clover, Luna sees the sister she lost 20 years ago, and is still a 7-year-old child.

Luna, despite her shock, does not reveal that her sister is different, and takes her home to try and ravel what is happening. She will discover numbers on Clover, which have some kind of meaning. With Clover being erratic, Luna decides she must return to Lon Haven to find the truth. Is her sister a wilding or a witch? Are all those residents’ rumor real or myths?

The Lighthouse Witches was a dark gothic paranormal haunting thriller that managed to creep me out a few times. It was a wild story, filled with witchcraft (magic, curses, etc), which did keep me glued to the book (taking a few breaks along the way). To say too much more would be spoilers, as you need to read this from start to finish. The last ¼ of the book revealed some amazing twists that put the pieces together, though totally mindboggling. If you enjoy gothic, creepy books, I suggest you read The Lighthouse Witches, which is very well written by C.J. Cooke.

I am fast becoming a fan of Cooke’s immersive writing style. This story follows a single mother and her daughters sudden move to Scotland. As they explore more of their little village they discover a dark secret is hidden among the people. Bringing Nordic and Scotland folklore together, this is the perfect hook for the season. She weaves together the family element while also delivery high witchy vibes. I do wish there were a few things explored at the end but I really enjoyed it. Beware of the wildlings!

Loved it!! Atmospheric, mysterious, and absolutely unputdownable!!

This book is exactly the reason why I love to read. It was beautiful, chilling, spooky, witchy and gripping!! THE LIGHTHOUSE WITCHES immediately grabbed my attention and held taut right to the very end. I loved the witchy supernatural thriller aspect to the storyline. It was perfect! The ending was so darn satisfying and brilliantly creative. I was thoroughly impressed with this one and give it high praises!!

Thank you so much to NetGalley, Berkley Publishing, and C. J. Cooke. It was an absolute delight reading this book!

🧙‍♀️ The Lighthouse Witches🧙‍♀️
By CJ Cooke
Publisher: October 1, 2021

I requested this one solely based on the title (I mean who doesn’t love lighthouses?!). It was Scotland, it was definitely going to have a spooky vibe with witches in the title.. and seemed the perfect way to kick off October reads.

What I didn’t expect was to binge read it. I couldn’t put it down and felt like a super sleuth detective trying to figure out how and what happened with Olivia and her 3 daughters.

Liv (mom who had certainly dealt with enough trauma) takes on a painting job in a remote area of Scotland. It’s there where here Sapphire (15) and Clover (7) go missing. Actually, even Liv disappears, and all we are left with it Luna who decades later is still haunted by her family’s tragic ending.

Until it’s not an ending. Because Clover is found. But she isn’t what Luna expects.

Add in some urban legends, myths and suspense and you’ve got my first five star read of October. It was so unique and kept me guessing even with moments of creepiness that I wanted to believe where the author was taking me.

Another new-to-me author that I will definitely go to her backlist on. I also liked learning that she’s a champion of mental health from Belfast.

Ps. It has fantasy, Historical Fiction, family drama and urban legends. It also has a creep factor running through it. Recommend 💯

This book was just so lovely. The mythology and folklore mixed with a modern-day mystery made for a beautiful gothic story I'd absolutely read again. This is a perfect fall/Halloween story and I'm excited to recommend it to friends.

The Lighthouse Witches by C.J. Cooke

1998 So much has gone wrong for mother of three, Liv. She's run away to a remote Scottish island where she has a commission to paint a mural in an old lighthouse. The old house where she and her daughters will be staying is old, dark, and damp and the lighthouse is full of dank water and bats and is falling to pieces. The mural Liv is commissioned to paint is a line drawing of symbols and the person who commissioned the mural is somewhere on the sea. Little did Liv know that she would end up losing seven year old Clover and fifteen year old Saffy, and attempting the unthinkable with nine year old Luna.

The lighthouse is built over the site of the prison where woman accused of being witches were imprisoned and tortured until they confessed their sins and were executed. The stories are grisly but so are the stories of what happens to the wildlings, inhuman creatures who made a pact with the long ago witches to make their aggressors pay for what they have done to the women accused of witchcraft.

2021 Twenty two years later Luna is notified that her sister, Clover, has been found. But that can't be right because this Clover is still seven years old. Everything about her indicates she's the same Clover who disappeared all those years ago. Could Clover be one of those mysterious wildlings? Against her better judgement, Luna takes Clover back to the remote island where everything went wrong, so long ago.

From the first word, the story throws you into the fray of long ago women being accused of witchcraft, with no chance of them being judged anything but guilty. So be it, as the aggressors, and all that come after them, are cursed, the curses to be carried out by wildlings. There seems to be no escape from this curse as those cursed do the unthinkable. The sense of foreboding and danger is constant and it seems impossible that things can ever change for the better.

But there is love in this story. The love of a mother for her children and the love of Luna, who will never give up looking for her two missing sisters. What happened in the past has colored Luna's life forever but she won't let go of her search for answers, no matter how the search affects her present. At no time is there a sense of ease or peace, as the curse, and all that it means, presses down on Luna and the island.

Thank you to Berkley and NetGalley for this ARC.

In 1998, Liv, a single mother running away from her problems, is commissioned to paint a mural inside of an old lighthouse building. Her daughters Luna, Clover, and Sapphire are dragged along with her to a remote island in Scotland. While there, Liv learns of the mysterious history of the building, including that the cave beneath the lighthouse was once a hiding place to witches awaiting trial. Interwoven in the stories of witches are the stories of Wildlings: children cursed by the witches to kill everyone in their families. When two of her daughters disappear, Liv is frantic, leaving Luna alone in the woods by herself. Twenty-two years later, Luna is called to a hospital, as Clover is found - except she is the same age she was when she disappeared. What really happened on this island, and why did Luna’s mother abandon her in the middle of the woods one night?

This story is incredible from start to finish. C.J. Cooke manages to balance four points-of-view, three different timelines, and two tenses. That might sound like a lot, but it’s actually the perfect way to tell this story. The reader can gather pieces of information from each point in time as the story goes on, slowly piecing together what might have happened. The witchy elements of the story blend perfectly with the Scottish lore of the story; I loved how the past influenced the present. Now, I’m someone who doesn’t really read horror, and so reading the bits of prologue in the beginning made me wonder how much blood and gore there would be. It turns out, the prologue is as bad as it gets, and I was super fine with the gore parts of this story; if you’re interested in reading it, don’t let that stop you!

Having four different points-of-view, the reader can really get an insight into each character. Sapphire is the classic rebellious teenager, Clover and Luna are the sweet younger siblings, and Liv is the stressed out mother with a lot going on in her life. Probably the only negative I can think of for this book is the fact that there was a forced romance between one of the town’s people, Finn, and Liv. I just thought they were good friends until they started kissing, which I just felt came out of nowhere. In the end, I appreciated the romance between them, but I liked the lore and witches elements of the story more.

About half way through the book, I had no idea how the book was going to end. As the end came closer, I discovered that I somehow simultaneously knew the ending (in that I could comfortably say who was behind the disappearances) and that I did not know the ending (in that I didn’t know how Luna and Liv’s stories would play themselves out). In the end, the themes that the author explored ended up being really good ones; however, I don’t want to get into the specifics because it would pretty spoilery! There were a few minor plot points that I still had questions about at the end; for example, one character seemed to know something, but then had another character explain this to them. I’m willing to dismiss most of these, as almost all of the threads were tied up at the end, while still leaving a little room for imagination.

I flew through this book in three days, which is unheard of for me right now. It got me out of a reading slump - all I wanted to do was keep reading to see what happened! After finishing, I wanted to pick up the author’s other books, because I loved this one so much. If the synopsis sounds at all interesting (the official one might give you an even better idea), pick this book up now. It’s the absolute perfect fall read - especially in October when we all crave a little more spookiness in our lives.

The Lighthouse Witches, set in a small island off the coast of Scotland accessible only by ferry, is about an island that feels in some ways untouched by time. But, there’s a long history here of witchcraft among the fog-shrouded forests, and of witches burned in a cave for leading a rebellion against a king. The townsfolk still, hundreds of years later, are still haunted by wildings, children returning from the cave’s embrace. No one wants to talk about the caves and the witches and the strange ones who appear. A Lighthouse has been built above the sealed-in cave and Liv has been contracted to paint a mural there. Having nowhere else to go Liv takes her three children with her to this strange place, where she isn’t welcomed with open arms, and where two of her children are destined to vanish, only perhaps to reappear decades later, unchanged. It’s a hauntingly beautiful novel that dabbles in the occult, although not particularly scary for a horror story.

If you are looking for a spooky, atmospheric Halloween-season read, you are in luck.

In 1998, a vagabond artist moves to Lon Haven - a Scottish island with plenty of mood, attitude, and creepy history. Liv doesn't arrive alone, though. She's brought along her three daughters: Fifteen-year-old Sapphire, nine-year-old Luna, and little Clover, just seven years old.

Liv has been hired to paint a mural in 'the Longing', a derelict lighthouse. Patrick Roberts, the island's wealthiest resident and owner of the Longing is somewhere on the ocean in his yacht, but has left behind a strange, symbol-filled drawing to guide the artist in her work. The lighthouse is built on top of an ancient cave with a gruesome history.

I know, I know, what could possibly go wrong?

This Horror Fantasy Fairy Tale SciFi Romance Coming-of-Age story (try finding the right shelf in the library for *that*!) is chilling enough to raise real goosebumps. The atmosphere inside the derelict lighthouse is so well-described that I shivered more than once as I read about that cold, wet, dank-smelling, filthy yet compelling place.

The story is not told in a linear fashion. Instead, we hop between 2021 and 1998, with occasional glimpses into the pages of a grimoire - a memoir and spellbook - written in 1620. The author has taken great care in crafting a story that spans hundreds of years and is told from various points of view.

For me, the most important aspect of any story I read is the 'what happens next?' factor. If I'm not constantly craving just one more chapter, I'm not happy. This book made me happy. I postponed dinner to finish the final chapters. I knew I couldn't relax with my meal without knowing how this tangled mystery ended!

My thanks to author C.J. Cooke, Berkley Publishing Group, and NetGalley for allowing me to read a digital advance review copy of this book. This review is my honest and unbiased opinion.

Completely atmospheric and chilling! I could not put this book down once I started. Every chapter left on such a cliffhanger that I had to continue just to know what happened next. I liked that it went back and forth between timelines and showed how witch trials were held. At times I found myself cringing while I read because it was that descriptive and horrific. I do feel there were some things in the book that could have been explained or executed a bit better. It feels like it was missing something that could have made it even better. Overall I loved the idea behind the book and would recommend to anyone who loves a good witch book! Thank you so much NetGalley and BerkleyPub for the ARC.

In CJ Cooke’s riveting new novel, The Lighthouse Witches folklore and witches combine to make for an original and compelling Gothic thriller.

Set in 1998 struggling mom Liv, who has accepted a job to paint a mural in the local lighthouse, arrives on a remote Scottish island with her three daughters, Saffy, Luna and Clover. The island villagers warn of magic, far and changelings. They also share the tale of how the lighthouse built on top of a cave housed imprisoned witches in the 17th century who were burned. With their last breaths the witches cursed the town. The curse which lives on has resulted in missing children.

Of course this is perceived as folklore but then all meme bets of the family vanish except for Luna. Then 20 years later Luna receives the news that Clover has reappeared but she is still only 7 years old. Is she one of the mythical changelings or wildlings the family had been warned about? Luna of course must now return to the island to discover the truth about what happened to her family.

I enjoyed how the author showed the various time periods, from the days of the witches, 1998 and present day. It was an effective technique that allows the reader to uncover and begin to piece together the answers. Like any good gothic it creates a dark and foreboding atmosphere and allows the setting to become a character in it’s own right. It was probably the thing I enjoyed the most about this novel. This is one of the best thrillers I have read this year. It twists and turns and goes places you don’t expect. It also makes you think and isn’t that what books should do?
Thank you to NetGalley and Berkeley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest and fair review.

The Lighthouse Witches was such a great blend of mystery, magic, and history. The island seemed like a quaint and quiet place for Liv and her family, but it was also one of those weird small towns where locals have their own ways of dealing with things. Everything felt eerie from the start, though Liv’s kids seemed to be enjoying the island and exploring the lighthouse.. were they really safe there?

I love that the book jumped through time a little and was told from the perspectives of Liv and that of her daughters. I thought it was cleverly told, especially considering how everything turned out.

This is the perfect fall read.. witchcraft, folklore, and a little bit of mystery and small town secrets. It was so atmospheric and interesting without being actually creepy or too much for those who aren’t quite into horror. I wasn’t sure what would happen or why the island had so many issues with missing children, but I enjoyed piecing together the mystery.

I definitely recommend this one!

I greatly appreciate the publishers for sending me this book in exchange for my honest review. The Lighthouse Witches was the perfect book to bring in fall! I loved the mystery aspect of the plot and the creepy surroundings added so much to the equation!

I loved this book. Mysterious, supernatural, a bit witchy and a lot about family—this book completely captured my attention from beginning to end. The ending was so satisfying and creative. It’s exactly what I wanted to read, especially during the spooky season!

Thanks Netgalley and Berkley for the advance copy!