I really wanted to get into this book because the story, the setting and the characters were very intriguing and have a lot of potential.

Unfortunately, I had to dnf the book about a quarter in. I struggled to keep track of the story from the very beginning and it took me a few tries to try and get into it. The shifting pov with the time jumps made it quite difficult to keep track of what was going on. I think what would have helped a bit is to do a bit more world-building in the beginning and/or have longer chapters that introduce the characters and set the scene more before starting the jumps.

I did enjoy the fact that the time jump chapters were written in past tense. It gave the story more atmosphere. It did, however, have the unfortunate effect that the present tense chapters felt a bit more descriptive and less atmospheric. Maybe I just have a preference of past tense over present tense, so take it with a grain of salt.

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with a copy.

Thank you to Netgalley for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review!

For transparency, I DNF’d this book at 20%.

I really wanted to love this book, but unfortunately I just couldn’t keep track of the plot due to the constantly shifting POV and timelines with each chapter. I do typically enjoy back and forth timelines and find they are most effective when following the main timeline and occasionally dipping back to the past to scenes which are linked and shed light/foreshadow the main plot - this story jumps with each chapter between POV and timeline. I felt as though we did not have enough time with one timeline to settle in to the story which left me feeling quite disconnected. I think if it started on the now timeline and then went back to follow the events leading up to it, with some sprinkles of the historical timeline, I would have found it easier to follow, but the constant movement ended in confusion. I ended up putting this down for two days and upon picking it back up again I had no idea what was happening. I think if these timelines were adjusted/tightened this would be a fantastic and interesting story, as I did enjoy the writing style!

TW: aggression, verbal abuse.

What I liked most about A Southern Enchantress by Deborah Trahan was its vivid descriptions of the settings of Mississippi’s Gulf Coast and New Orleans. The book’s narrative takes place in dual timelines and describes the lives of several generations of women in the Lafountain family, a family with talent for folk magic, spellcasting and even clairsentience.

Published by Atmospheric Press.

This was a lovely surprise. I have never picked up a "paranormal" book before but this one intrigued me, I think because the setting is New Orleans and I love New Orleans.
Sometimes setting is so lovely that it is virtually a character in and of itself. In this book, setting was that. I was drawn into the story by the setting. Also, an honorable mention goes to the dialogue which is some of the best I have seen in a while: realistic and natural but not mundane. The characters were all compelling (both real and paranormal).
If there is any criticism, it would be that the plot could be a bit confusing. There was a dual timeline, which was clearly delineated in the titles of the chapters but it took some time to figure out why it was there. With the atmosphere, mood and setting though, it was easy enough to be intrigued until I could figure it out.
I would give it 4.5 stars and I would be interested in reading more by the author. Even more, I am now more willing to add paranormal to my reading repertoire.

This book was just what I wanted. The story was fantastic and the writing was beautiful. I loved the historical inspiration and I would highly recommend this book.