My favorite thing about this author is that she always does such and amazing job of transporting the reader to whatever time and place the book is set in. This one is no different. She skips between time and place effortlessly. I liked the story and the characters over all. Overall I really enjoyed this and will be looking forward to her next book.

4 stars.

To be reviewed in Charleston Gazette Mail month of publication. For copy of review lease email me at erinb25314@yahoo.com.

Silvia Moreno-Garcia effortlessly transitions between three separate timelines in this haunting supernatural thriller. Starting off in 1998 we meet 24 year old grad student, Minerva, who moved from Mexico to New England to pursue higher education at Stoneridge College.

Next, we're taken back to 1908 where we meet 17 year old Alba who lives on a farm in rural Mexico with her widowed mother and her younger brother, Tadeo. We are also introduced to Alba's maternal uncle, Arturo. While this was my favorite timeline, I feel there should be a content warning in regards to the relationship between Alba and Arturo. I'll just say it was giving a sort of "Flowers in the Attic" vibe and I felt it wasn't all that relevant to the overall storyline (although I can foresee it being an intriguing topic of discussion in book clubs--"Was this relationship relevant to the story? Why or why not?")

The third storyline takes place in the 1930s and focuses on Stoneridge student Virginia Somerset and her mysterious disappearance.

The girls from each timeline are connected, and each one finds themselves caught up in a world of dangerous witchcraft. It was very easy to predict who the villains were, which I'm assuming was intentional. I really appreciated how Moreno-Garcia included folklore from both rural Mexico and Salem, Massachusetts. It was interesting to note the similarities and differences of the lore between the two cultures.

Overall I enjoyed this book and would recommend it to those who like supernatural horror, especially if you also like historical fiction and multi-generational storylines.

Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Wow wow wow. The Bewitching is a dark and suspenseful novel -- exactly what I'd expect from Silvia Moreno-Garcia. I loved the three POVs and interwoven narratives. Even though it was pretty obvious from early on who the witches were (yes, there are multiple), I still found myself scared at night when I was reading in bed. This is my favorite book of hers yet!

Overall, I enjoyed reading this next book from Silvia Moreno-Garcia. My favorite thing about her stories are her female protagonists, especially her Latina characters. They are flawed and imperfect but still heroic and smart.
In this book, Moreno Garcia tells 3 different stories in 3 different timelines. It took me a while to keep track of the different timelines and characters but once I did, it was fun to go back and forth to see how each story unfolded. I think it would have been helpful to have the main character whose POV we are reading be in the chapter headers. I loved Alba and Minerva! I cared and worried about them and wanted them to win!
As with many of Moreno-Garcia’s work, the story takes a while to unfold. A lot of clues and foreshadowing are included to the point that you can easily guess who the big bad is. So much of the action takes place in the last 15% of the book that it feels like the book goes from 35mph to 100mph within a page. I wish the action had picked up more gradually from earlier in the book but also appreciated the journey that each character took. My least favorite character was Betty. I found her to be the most generic of the 3 main characters.
I did like how the book left the character of Noah a little nebulous and open ended. I would read another book about Minerva and finding herself in a few years meeting up again with Noah and testing each other out regarding Minerva’s abilities, her role in his grandmother’s disappearance and the level of Noah’s possible own abilities. I definitely think these 2 characters have more of a story to tell.

Thanks to the author and NetGalley for the ARC of this book.

“The Bewitching” is a paranormal horror book, with gothic and dark academia vibes. I had never read anything by this author and I must say that I really liked Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s writing style. The story flows very well and I appreciated the change of timeline in each chapter, which never seemed forced or disconnected from the events narrated in the previous chapter, which intertwine perfectly with the progress of the plot. The detailed descriptions of the settings and events made me feel as I was part of the story. I found the story of all three timelines very interesting. I definitely recommend this books to people who love stories of witchcraft, but a kind of witchcraft than the usual we find in other books: here the witches are no victims of a strongly religious, toxic and bigoted society, here the witches are malevolent and very dangerous entities, predators who feed on the blood of their victims and devour their hearts to strengthen their power. It was very interesting, since I was not aware of it, to discover that this type of witch is the one, apparently, most common in Mexican folklore. The author herself in the afterword tells us of the stories about witches that her great-grandmother told her, just as Nana Alba did with Minerva in the book. During the story we find ourselves investigating with all three protagonists on the mysterious disappearances in which they find themselves, willingly or unwillingly, involved and that will lead them to risk their lives in order to discover the truth. One thing is clear, especially to Alba and Minerva: at the root of all the strange events that torment them there is witchcraft, a powerful curse that could kill them if they don't find the way and the courage to do something to break it. I'm not an expert in the horror genre, but personally I found the amount of sense of unease in some scenes perfect, without ever being too much for me. Although the whole book was an enjoyable read, the timeline that I liked the most was that of 1908, in which there were also a couple of twists that I didn’t expect and made me suffer. As for the identity of the witches (because yes, there is more than one) I found them both predictable in both their identity and motivations, but I also think that this is not a flaw, since you understand it little by little, as Minerva and Alba's investigations progress. Everything is developed slowly, you don't get to the conclusion too quickly. In conclusion, I really liked this book and I recommend it!

i love silvia moreno-garcia's work so much, but I really feel like she is at her best when writing horror, and this is a perfect example. The three different timelines really balanced one another out, and the parallels were done so well without feeling like I was reading the same story three different times. Really just is a fantastic novel in so many different ways.

With The Bewitching, Silvia Moreno-Garcia has again given us an excellent horror novel. The story follows 3 women in different places and times, all dealing with a dark and dangerous witch. We alternate between each woman’s point of view, switching between early 20th century Mexico, and New England in both the Great Depression and current day. Each character feels well developed, as we follow their bravery and strength fighting back against an unknown bewitchment. I would recommend this to any horror fan.

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed a book with multi POV and multi timeline -- that's not usually my cup of tea. But then again, I truly believe Silvia Moreno-Garcia could write anything and I'd devour it. Give this woman all of the awards.

Thank you NetGalley! Not quite a 5 star, but rounding up. Massive warning for incest, animal death, and sexual coercion.

I feel like Silvia Moreno-Garcia books are a toss up for me where they’re either incredible or very mid. Happy to report this is probably my favorite I’ve ever read from her.

This was such an interesting book. It’s three interconnecting stories winding together. I found all three of them to be equally interesting and thought it was really cool how distinct the voices of the characters were. One thing I will say is that I found the twists to be…incredibly unsurprising. While the characters don’t know who the witches are until the end of the book, I had that figured out within the first 30%. However, I don’t really think that necessarily cheapened the story. Even knowing who the witches were, I was still super engaged in the story and wondering on the how/why.

The atmosphere is just chef’s kiss beautiful. I feel like it was the creepiest aspect of the whole book.

One thing I was really disappointed in was that, particularly in Minerva’s timeline, there were characters I felt to be underutilized. Conrad Carter serves literally no relevance to the plot. It could be essentially the same book without him there despite the fact he’s introduced and made to feel relevant. I kept waiting for him to become important beyond him having a missing roommate which Minerva would have had reason to know about and care about even without him, but it just never happened. I also feel like the ball was dropped a bit on Noah. I like that he was left a bit of a mystery, but I still feel like there was more development that could have been done for him without losing the creepy open-endedness he creates at the end.

The same dark, atmospheric writing that's so typical of Silvia Moreno-Garcia's work draws us into an archetypal New England college in 1998 and 1934, then back to a family farm in Mexico in 1908. There, we follow three young women learning about witchcraft through various means, out of fear they are at risk of bewitchment.

I was very invested in the story, and honestly got a little scared reading at home, alone one night. The downside was that I thought the big plot twists were very predictable, even early on, so I missed out on any element of suspense that I think would've added a bit to the experience. Big fan of the writing, just didn't love this story as much as some of her others. 3.75?

GRIPPING, SENSATIONAL, COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN. The ending was incredibly satisfying, and while I know it's not the author's style I was left wanting a sequel. Silvia Moreno-Garcia is a master of the horror genre, and I'm so grateful to live in a time when she's publishing.

Moreno-Garcia is a master of genre bending works and this is no different. An intriguing blend of historical novel, dark academia, and supernatural horror, there is so much to enjoy here. The three main female characters are all very well drawn, interesting, and different from another, and even if you see some of the events at the end coming, they are done so well and are so satisfying. Definitely a recommended read for this year and a true joy to read.

I write haiku reviews on Instagram and star reviews on Goodreads, but am happy to provide further feedback, if desired!

The author lost me with reverence toward Lovecraft’s personal philosophy. I’ve picked up a couple of this authors books because I enjoyed Mexican Gothic. Unfortunately, none have hit that mark again for me. DNF

3.75 ⭐️

The Bewitching follows three women across three different timelines as they come face to face with the occult and its viciousness. And oh how vicious it can be! I’d like to thank Netgalley and Del Rey for this ARC. Some spoilers are present at the very end of this review!

This story is an atmospheric one that creeps at the same pace as a shadow stretching longer and longer. Silvia Moreno-Garcia is an artist who knows exactly how to paint an eerie picture and she does it again in this novel. Although the story starts off slow there’s an unsettling feeling that follows you as you read, as if you too are feeling something unpleasant coming around the corner. It’s what kept me itching to come back to this story every day and the reason it sent a chill down my spine. Each timeline is a mirror of the other but we get to experience various emotions throughout the generations we travel with the main protagonists.

We meet our graduate student minerva first as she toils away at her thesis about a woman horror author (a fitting topic for the novel!), followed by her great grandmother alba when she was just a young woman on a farm cursed with grief and loss and finally we meet beatrice who is the subject of current day minerva’s thesis, and who is walking us through the time before her friend and love mysteriously went missing.

I really enjoyed the different perspectives we got in the timelines and the entire story really captured the essence of gothic horror. It was slow and steady but one could tell that it was climbing towards a point to be made across all three tales. It was also very interesting to see the way one woman would learn about the ways of witches only for another woman in a different time to experience the same later down the line.

I found some of the twists to be a little predictable but it didn’t dampen my enjoyment. I thoroughly enjoyed this read but do have one major qualm that I think the book could have done without, listed below:

***SPOILERS BELOW***

What I did take issue with and what ultimately dropped my rating from a full 4 stars is the relationship between Alba and Arturo. Other readers have mentioned their discomfort about this as well. Maybe some historical context is missing here about why this attraction was present in the first place but the final scenes with them were highly uncomfortable, especially the second. I think a man’s monstrosity can be shown without the lack of consent and the incest. Silvia does an incredible job of writing slimy men but the graphic scene and the uncle-niece dynamic was the one thing that soured that timeline for me.

Morena-Garcia is one of my favorite authors and her books are delightfully creepy. The Bewitching includes several tales of a family being haunted by something unnatural--I'm not going to give away what/who that something is. I would have given this book five stars except that I am tired of multiple timeline novels. As a reader, I would prefer to have the focus on one story. There are so many authors using this device now that it is not unique anymore. And this novel had three timelines and character groups to keep up with. Thanks to Netgalley for an advance review of this book.

The Bewitching is a new novel from Silvia Moreno-Garcia.
Like many of her previous books this one looks at the presence of magic and evil in the world.
The book focuses on the disappearance and death of several people over the course of many years

In 1908 we meet Alba and her family, living in Mexico. A series of disappearances and deaths propels her to learn more about witches and magic from wise old women in a nearby village.

In 1998 we meet Minerva, Alba's granddaughter, who is studying at a New England college, and researching her thesis on witches and disappearances. While researching the stories of an author, Beatrice Tremblay, she becomes obsessed with the disappearance in 1934 of another student, Virginia Somerset.

In 1934, we meet Beatrice Tremblay herself and learn more about Virgina (Ginny) and her relationships with other students at the college.

This book was kind of a slow starter for me, but it picked up quite a bit in the second half. It kept me reading and held my interest as I wanted to find out if good triumphs over evil and how and if they were able to succeed.

Witchcraft! Folklore! Academia! The 90s! So much fun with a couple of nice spooky mysteries throughout. Although I found the ending(s) quite easy to see coming, I still very much enjoyed the ride getting there.

Thank you to NetGalley and Del Rey for providing the arc in exchange for my review.

Silvia Moreno-Garcia has quickly become one of my favorite authors. She has such a way of weaving folklore into modern day places without it feeling out of place. I loved the back and forth as we see parallel stories unfold and see how different women react to similar villains.