Silvia Moreno-Garcia does not disappoint in The Bewitching. This is story of three women, who have crossed paths with witches. In early 1900s Mexico, Alba's family farm is slowly falling into an ominous darkness after her brother disappears. In 1990s Massachusetts, Minerva recounts her great grandmother Alba, and the stories she told her of her encounters with witches. At the same time, Minerva researches a 1930s horror story written by a Beatrice Tremblay, a story based off the disappearance of her friend at the same university Minerva is attending. We move back forth between these three timelines as the darkness escalates, building to an unforgettable climax. This was the dose of horror that I was looking for. It's scary and so expertly layered. I absolutely loved this book!

This one is pure spellbinding magic. Set in the late 1800s, it follows a young bride who arrives at her new husband’s remote estate—only to uncover dark secrets, eerie traditions, and a creeping sense that something isn’t right.

The atmosphere is rich and immersive, with haunted woods, decaying mansions, and just enough suspense to keep you hooked. It’s gothic, it’s moody, and it quietly unravels themes of grief, power, and what it means to reclaim your voice. The main character is strong, layered, and easy to root for.

If you love dark, atmospheric stories with a feminist edge and just a touch of the uncanny, this one completely delivers.

The Bewitching is a witchy folklore horror/suspense, and it is so good. Take a simple gothic horror tale, weave the characters together across three timelines together, and add a villain or two. Each young woman we follow in the timelines has a different voice, and the mystery they each have to solve is connected. I loved the characters and storytelling.

This is not my typical read (it’s the horror…) but it leans suspense and gothic tale vs jump scare. For me, for an author I already know and like, this was one I just didn’t read right before bed. I couldn’t wait to pick it up the next day, though!

I'm not quite sure what to say (in a good way), except that this is rather different from what SMG has done before, and yet it's not really very different at all. This is probably what I love the most about SMG: the genre-blending and expectation-breaking that seems inherent in her body of work.

As for this particular book, I was thoroughly impressed by the way that she weaves the different timelines together to create a cohesive picture of a collective consciousness insofar as witchcraft and magic goes. As usual, the suspense of the plot is great, the characters have clear voices, and the pacing doesn't slow down to let you catch your breath (which is a good thing).

It wasn't overly hard to guess who the bad guys were in the end, despite a couple of red herrings, but I don't think it was meant to be difficult. I think the suspense was the point, as it often is when we're dealing with multigenerational and multi-pov stories, and the suspense was magnificent.

I don't read a ton of horror or suspense. I have to be drawn to some other element, in this case it was the author and the supernatural element. I've enjoyed other books by Moreno-Garcia, and wanted to give this one a go, too. Overall I enjoyed this book, although I find myself getting impatient with multiple time lines. I get into a story just as we get transported to a different timeline.

If you know me, you know my favorite author is SMG. I'm a ride or die, read all the books, own all the books. This book, however, may be her weakest yet. Even her weakest novel is still an enjoyable read, so I still think it's worth it. SMG knows how to tell a story, she knows how to write in such a captivating way. But let me get into it.

The Bewitching has three points-of-view, all third-person, and in different time periods. Minerva is the first, in 1998 New England at college working on her thesis. Her focus is Beatrice Tremblay, a little-known horror author who was contemporaries with H.P. Lovecraft. She learns that Tremblay began writing after the mysterious disappearance of her college roommate, Ginny, in 1934. In her research, she also learns that local rich socialite Carolyn Wingrave (and friend of Tremblay's) has Tremblay's old journals in her possession. When she gains access to Tremblay's journals she is intrigued by the circumstances surrounding Ginny's disappearance, and as she investigates, she recalls the old stories about witches that her great-grandmother in Mexico used to tell her. The second POV is of Minerva's great-grandmother, Alba, following the death of her father. The family lives on farmland in Mexico and Alba has dreamed of leaving to travel the world. When her beloved uncle arrives back home, further tragedies strike and Alba must face the supernatural powers that seek her destruction. The final POV is in 1934 from Beatrice Tremblay's journals recounting the events leading up to the disappearance of her beloved Ginny.

There are spooky elements here and SMG does well with playing with elements of horror. Massive trigger warning though, there is incest in this novel. It's pretty ugly and extreme and I don't really think it was necessary. Additionally, there are too many loose threads here which is really unlike SMG. There's a character in the 1998 portion that really serves no purpose except I suppose to attempt to distract the reader from who the real culprit is, but because the real culprits are fairly obvious from the beginning, it adds nothing to the story. Also, while the witch and the background are nicely developed in the 1908 plotline, the background is not fully developed for the witch in the 1934/1998 stories. Sure, a motive is revealed, but why did this character become a witch, what's the history there? It's pretty disappointing. That being said, I still really enjoyed this book because SMG is just that talented.

Netgalley and Del Rey provided me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I don't think Silvia Moreno-Garcia is capable of writing a book that isn't stunning. The Bewitching digs into folkloric traditions of witchcraft with a slow burn horror that builds to a gripping supernatural conclusion. I enjoyed the balance of points of view, especially Alma's.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc! Opinions are my own.

I received a digital advance copy of The Bewitching by Silvia Moreno-Garcia via NetGalley. The Bewitching is scheduled for release on July 15, 2025.

The Bewitching follows three women separated in time. Minerva is the most modern (1998) of the three and is researching an author of witchy horror tales. One of the stories she is interested is potentially based on a true story, which is revealed in the 1930s timeline. Woven through these two is Minerva’s great-grandmother’s story of her own encounter with a witch. Minerva finds echoes of the past in events unfolding around her, threatening both her academic career and her very life.

Often books that follow several timelines can be difficult to follow. That is not the case for this novel. The author does an excellent job of developing the characters and specifics of each world in ways that allow the reader to easily move from one to another. While each of the three stories echoes the other, the stories don’t feel repetitive. Each story reveals something different about the elements explored.

I also felt that all three main characters were equally well developed. While Minerva’s story is the primary tale, serving as the frame for the others, all three women felt believable. In addition, we get to know an additional woman in the 1930s timeline, as that story is told from the point of view of an observer speculating on what happened to the woman in question.

Overall, The Bewitching is Moreno-Garcia in my favorite form, blending together horror with history.

I've only read one other book by Moreno-Garcia (Mexican Gothic, in case you're wondering) but I will definitely be reading more! I read this over two days, glued to my phone (my least favourite method of reading) and I couldn't put it down. I've already recommended it to two separate people.

The Bewitching reads like a love letter to horror fans. Eagle-eyed readers will catch little nods to the genre every where, and as someone who picked up on many of them (but probably not all), I very much enjoyed it, including the multi-cultural tapestry of the witch lore.

That said, what I loved most about this story was the heart of it. Sometimes, when a novel has three different timelines, you find yourself wading through a few of them to get to the one you're really interested in, but Moreno-Garcia did a fabulous job of making all the separate ladies feel real, and adding enough intrigue within each section to keep me hooked. I felt for all of the characters, and worried about them when we would switch back to another timeline. In the case of Alba, I knew that, ultimately she would be fine, but that didn't stop me from being scared for her in her terrifying situation. More importantly, however, each woman felt extremely distinct. They reacted to the world differently, they wanted different things, they had different strengths and different faults. Minerva would have been entirely out of place in Alba's story and vice versa; poor Betty was stuck as an observer and was, in some ways, the closest parallel for me as a reader: wanting desperately to figure out the mystery, being a little in love with the characters, but never quite having all the pieces to put it together.

I did guess the answer to most of the "whodunnits" before the end of the book, and in that way, I was somewhat disappointed. I do like to be caught of guard, yet I felt the story made glaringly obvious what was going on. Even so, I was compelled to keep reading (see: read in two days, on a mobile phone) and even though I felt no surprise by the revelations, I did feel like the text had done a good job at pointing the breadcrumbs in that particular way. One of the things that I've found with horror novels is that the ending sometimes comes completely out of left field, but this one felt earned. I did think it may have wrapped up a little quickly, and did get a little messy between the Minerva/Alba stories right at the end, but the epilogue ultimately tied up the story in a satisfying way.

I'm very excited to recommend this book to more people once it comes in! I think it hits a lot of demographics: horror fans, obviously, but also those who like mystery-thrillers, and those who like historical fiction as well. This is a wonderful book!

Thanks to Random House Publishing Group Del Rey and Netgalley for the complimentary ARC. All opinions provided are my own.

I came into this book expecting a story of witches. Based on the first chapter I was tempted to stop. The story focused more on classic horror novels and college students than actual witches. One character is preparing to write her thesis on some of these horror novels. Where other recent books by Silvia Moreno Garcia focus on horror movies, this focuses more on horror novels.

The other chapters set in 1908 also start without any magic, a typical woman wanting to get away from the men in her area who never seem to interest her. If it were any other author I would have given up after chapter 2 and decided the book should be marketed differently.

By the half way mark we have a few characters starting to fear possible involvement of witched and one buying protections in the form of birds with pins in them. It is such an intimate tale and not some grand tale of flashy magic. I continued because I trust Sylvia Moreno Garcia to tie things together well.

The last quarter brought everything together beautifully, both moving me to tears and sucking me in with excitement. The three stories tied together masterfully for a satisfying conclusion. There were a few shocking reveals and twists that I did not see coming.

The witch tales here blend nicely Mexican folklore and new England tales of witches. I enjoyed the focus on three women, with the men playing mostly supporting roles. Fans of Silvia Moreno Garcia'a other horror novels will not want to miss this one.

ARC REVIEW 😊🧙

Bewitched by Silvia Moreno-Garcia was my first read from her, and it truly impressed me. I found the exploration of Mexican horror folklore on witches both eerie and enlightening. The stereotypical view on a witch is an old haggard woman with a witches hat and a couldron, but learning about how the folklore saw them more as entities that come ago, suck your blood, and more (don’t want to spoil), was brill.

I found it slightly confusing to begin with, but was easily trapped into the tale of three different women and their timelines of finding witchcraft and how they (or someone they knew) became betwitcher. The atmosphere was haunting in all the right ways, and the way the three storylines eventually wove together was smart and satisfying. A unique, unsettling read that stayed with me.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

4.5 stars rounded UP!

Another huge win from Silvia Moreno-Garcia! The level of slow-burning dread she manages to infuse in her horror stories gets me every time.

In The Bewitching, we're following three women in different time periods as they navigate disturbing supernatural occurrences.

Minerva (1998): A grad student at Stoneridge College in Massachusetts who is writing her thesis on horror author Beatrice Tremblay. Tremblay's novel The Vanishing has become a cult-classic and may be based on a true event from her youth, which Minerva is investigating as we follow her timeline.

Alba (1908): Minerva's great-grandmother. We follow her along through a tumultuous period of her young adulthood as she is forced to deal with a disturbing presence that seems to be haunting her family.

Beatrice (1934): We get to take a peek alongside Minerva through an old manuscript of Beatrice's which explores the events of her youth that lead to her to write The Vanishing.

I love how these timelines are connected and interwoven in a way that is cohesive and kept my eyes glued to the pages. Alba's story was especially intriguing to me, and I was extremely invested, for both good and bad reasons, in what would happen next in her story.

Moreno-Garcia's stories tend to build slowly, and I adore that pacing for a horror novel. The feelings of dread and unease have the chance to grow and create a delicious tension and anxiety in the reader before coming to an explosive conclusion. And to be honest, despite the slower pace in the early chapters, I was absorbed from beginning to end, constantly thinking about this book when I'd have to put it down to do other things and itching to get back to it.

The witches of this tale are based in Mexican folklore and are quite different from those we see more commonly in stories these days, which made this book all the more engaging. It was easy to suss out the baddies of this tale but that didn't make it any less enjoyable - it just makes you want to yell at the characters a little as they still work things out.

In the end, I had such a great time reading this book. It feels like a love story both to Moreno-Garcia's ancestors as well as to so many beloved horror writers including Paul Tremblay, Shirley Jackson, Stephen King, Stephen Graham Jones and more.

This was so close to a five star for me and isn't for one reason only, but I can't tell you because spoilers! There is simply a line I hoped wouldn't be crossed but it SURE WAS and I'm haunted by it. That said, it obviously didn't shatter my enjoyment of the rest of the book - it's still incredible and Moreno-Garcia is forever and always a favourite author of mine. Can't wait to see this one hit the shelves!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Del Rey for sending an egalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Bewitching is out July 15, 2025 for those interested in a dark, atmospheric supernatural tale.

If you know me then you know how much I love Silvia Moreno-Garcia, and how sad I am that this didn't end up being the hit I wanted it to be.

I can't quite pin point why it didn't work for me. I did feel the writing came off a little juvenile in places, especially some of the dialogue, the plot twists were a little too easy to predict, and I wished that the force's haunting all of these characters had been linked a little better. But if you enjoy spookier reads, with strong female leads and witches, I would absolutely give this a go, because while it wasn't an overall win for me, there was still plenty I loved.

I think the strength in this book lies with it's characters. Three women whose stories span nearly a century, but who are intricately linked together. Our main MC is Minerva, a young Mexican women who moved to America to study at the alma mater of her favourite writer, Beatrice Tremblay. Minerva is the glue that holds this story together, the one who is linked to both our other narrators, and it's her story that I found the most compelling. Not only because of the more modern nature, but also because hers was the only one told through the present tense, the only one where the outcome could potentially change, and that added another layer to her story. She's a quirky character, someone more at home in her own company, someone with a love for horror.

Our second narrator is Minerva's grandmother, Alba. The eldest daughter, she has always wanted more than the life she was given, always envied her Uncle who could travel away from their home, always revered him. She's the youngest of our main characters and absolutely reads that way. Naive, bullheaded and easily lead, Alba doesn't know she's in real trouble until her brother goes missing and her life get's turned upside down.

Our final narrator is Beatrice Tremblay, though her story focuses more on the disappearance of her friend, Ginny, than her own life. At Minerva's school decades prior, Betty's story is one of love and loss in the most mysterious and sinister of circumstances. All of these are linked by a force none could imagine, and it's only as Minerva start's investigating Ginny's disappearance herself, noticing the similarities to her grandmothers stories and her own current situation, that she starts to wonder if there is something out there hunting them

It's all very spooky and suspenseful. Moreno-Garcia does a great job at keeping the pace moving, thanks in large part to flitting between the timelines, and keeping us readers on our toes. But I just found the evil in the story a little too easy to predict. Almost obvious from the characters first meetings, it felt like a crime drama where you see someone on the screen and just instantly know that that person is the killer. So that did take away from some of the tension for me, and I did at times find myself just waiting for the inevitable to happen. But Moreno-Garcia can write, and she can write characters, so even if I knew what was coming, I never really felt it slowed the story down at all.

It's a story of resilience, of love and loss. There were some truly harrowing moments, as well as a few terrifying ones. Even if I knew the twists, Garcia still kept me on my toes with the way in which she delivered them, how the scenes played out. It does come with some pretty hefty triggers though of on page rape, incest, self-harm as well as some semi-graphic fight/murder scenes. All this adds to the horror and intensity of the book, but you should absolutely check any triggers out before jumping in, because it gets heavy in parts.

All in all I enjoyed this one, thanks mainly to the depth of the characters. Moreno-Garcia will always been an insta-pick author for me, but this wasn't my favourite of her works despite the premise sounding perfect for me.

This is now my second favorite book by this author (after Mexican Gothic). There are three storylines set in 1998, 1930, and the 1900s. I would say Minerva, a student writing her thesis was the main character (1998) and I quite liked her. The Gothic horror was very well done and once I started, I hated to put this book down. Spooky with a compelling mystery and everything came together perfectly.

4,5 ⭐
This was the first time I read Silvia Moreno-Garcia and I absolutely understand why people love her books so much! Such entrancing writing style!
Although the plot is not unique and I've read other books with similar stories, I swear I couldn't put this one down and I found myself thinking about these characters at all times.
Told from multiple points of view, with different interconnected timelines, academia and a pinch of witchcraft, this story has it all to become a new favorite for many.
Thanks NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for this arc!

"The Bewitching" is exactly what I've come to expect from Silvia Moreno García – an atmospheric and unsettling read that sticks with you. Her writing style is gorgeous; she has this incredible knack for building a mood that's both creepy and completely immersive, pulling you into these different eras.
I loved the way the story weaves together three different timelines, each with its own compelling character development. Seeing how Minerva in the 90s connects with Beatrice in the 30s and Alba in the early 1900s, all facing different kinds of "witchcraft," was super clever. It's not just about jump scares; it's about the more subtle, creeping horror that comes from historical secrets and societal pressures. The social commentary on power, privilege, and the vulnerability of women across generations really resonated.
While one of the timelines felt a tiny bit slower to start for me, once all the threads began to intertwine, I was completely hooked. It’s a beautifully crafted, eerie, and thought-provoking read that blends horror, history, and Mexican folklore so seamlessly. Definitely recommend picking this one up!

"Three women in three different eras encounter danger and witchcraft in this eerie multigenerational horror saga from the New York Times bestselling author of Mexican Gothic.

"Back then, when I was a young woman, there were still witches": That was how Nana Alba always began the stories she told her great-granddaughter Minerva - stories that have stayed with Minerva all her life. Perhaps that's why Minerva has become a graduate student focused on the history of horror literature and is researching the life of Beatrice Tremblay, an obscure author of macabre tales.

In the course of assembling her thesis, Minerva uncovers information that reveals that Tremblay's most famous novel, The Vanishing, was inspired by a true story: Decades earlier, during the Great Depression, Tremblay attended the same university where Minerva is now studying and became obsessed with her beautiful and otherworldly roommate, who then disappeared under mysterious circumstances.

As Minerva descends ever deeper into Tremblay's manuscript, she begins to sense that the malign force that stalked Tremblay and the missing girl might still walk the halls of the campus. These disturbing events also echo the stories Nana Alba told about her girlhood in 1900s Mexico, where she had a terrifying encounter with a witch.

Minerva suspects that the same shadow that darkened the lives of her great-grandmother and Beatrice Tremblay is now threatening her own in 1990s Massachusetts. An academic career can be a punishing pursuit, but it might turn outright deadly when witchcraft is involved."

Silvia Moreno-Garcia writes Dark Academia!?! YAS!

Ohhhh I LOVED this. This is the perfect book for me. Gothic, dark academia, multi-timeline mystery and suspense! And dare I say, I enjoyed this more than 'Mexican Gothic'?? I'm sorry but I said what I said.
We start off with Minerva in a 1998 timeline, writing her thesis and working during the holidays at a prestigious college. She is fascinated by horror writers and particularly, the story surrounding a missing student from the 1930's, and the account as written by her friend and prolific author, Betty Tremblay.
We also flit back to Alba in the 1900's, following her family's troubles on a farm in Mexico, due to what seems to be a curse.
The way everything was interwoven was genius, and rarely did one storyline start nto grow tedious. The pacing was perfect and the way everything tied together? Amazing.
If you're a fan of gothic literature, you will love this. It had a touch of the classics to it- I certainly picked up on a bit of Daphne Du Maurier in the details. I think this will be very popular around Halloween, as people who might not typically read this genre give it a go.

4.5 stars rounded up for Goodreads. THE BEWITCHING is Silvia Moreno-Garcia returning to her supernatural historical fiction roots! There are three stories and timelines that are interconnected and all of them held my interest. Moreno-Garcia writes women who feel real, complex, and strong.

The novel centers on Minerva in 1998 New England, studying a relatively unknown author named Beatrice Tremblay for her thesis. Minerva has a connection to supernatural stories thanks to the stories from her Nana Alba.

We get to explore Alba’s story as Minerva investigates a mystery connected to Tremblay. There are great references to other supernatural stories and Mexican folklore.

For anyone who loved Moreno-Garcia’s MEXICAN GOTHIC, I highly recommend THE BEWITCHING for a supernatural tale that isn’t nearly as terrifying but it just as compelling.

Thank you to Del Rey for sending an eARC. This is my honest review.

Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s The Bewitching is a spellbinding gothic horror novel that masterfully intertwines history, folklore, and the supernatural. It follows three women across different time periods—Minerva, a 1990s graduate student researching an obscure horror writer; Beatrice Tremblay, the mysterious author herself; and Nana Alba, Minerva’s great-grandmother, who once had a chilling encounter with a witch in early 1900s Mexico.

As Minerva delves deeper into Tremblay’s eerie fiction, she uncovers unsettling connections between their lives, bringing the past’s dark secrets into the present. The novel’s atmosphere is haunting, its suspense finely tuned, and its exploration of witchcraft and forgotten myths deeply immersive. If you loved Mexican Gothic, this book would leave you spellbound.