Another masterclass in supernatural horror from Silvia! This author has had my attention for awhile now and this book for me was truly unputdownable! The three timelines kept me engaged the whole time and I found myself relentlessly tearing through the pages while I barreled towards the end. This will be another hit for fans of this author's previous works but I think it would appeal to any reader who enjoys mystery, intrigue and strong female characters!

Really enjoyed this one! Like Mexican Gothic but with witches. Following three different storylines in Mexico and a prestigious private college in New England, our main characters deal with the push/pull of the past, difficult family dynamics, snobby rich people with questionable motives...and witchcraft! As a librarian, I appreciated that research is an important part of the story. I was instantly absorbed by the perfect blend of slow build gothic and sensational pulp. I do think the different timelines could have been woven together better, but that didn't detract from my enjoyment of the book.

The Bewitching is a historical fiction horror novel told across three different timelines.

Alternating between 1908 farmland in Mexico and a New England college in both 1934 and 1998, The Bewitching tells the story of three different women who fall victim to a witch determined to destroy them.

In 1908, nineteen-year-old Alba’s ranch in Mexico has slowly become cursed, and the answer lies with the witches of Los Pinos. But everyone Alba once relied on is either dying or disappearing, leaving her to turn to her sophisticated Uncle Arturo.
In 1998, Minerva is a grad student at a small Massachusetts college, working on her thesis about Beatrice Tremblay, a horror writer and former student at the same college in the 1930s. When Minerva is given access to Beatrice’s diary and other writings, she uncovers details about an unsolved disappearance that inspired the author’s most famous novel. But eerie, unexplained things begin happening to Minerva as well, and suddenly her grandmother’s old stories about witches start to feel all too real.

I love Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s writing and her skill in creating complex characters and rich settings. From a ranch in early 1900s Mexico to Great Depression-era New England to the late 1990s, she builds three fully realized stories that could stand on their own but come together by the end. Speaking of the end—she absolutely nailed the final ten percent of the book. I especially appreciated how she wrapped up each storyline.
The only part I didn’t enjoy was the incestuous element in one of the timelines, and overall, I felt the book could have been tighter and more fast-paced. Still, for readers who enjoy a slow-burn novel with horror, family drama, the supernatural, and dark academia elements, this one absolutely hits the mark.

I love Silvia Moreno-Garcia and this book was no different! Two plot lines in worlds that blurred together kept me wondering and trying to connect the dots. The book did feel a little longer than usual but I think that's because of the the amount of set up that had to be done to get things where they needed to be at the end.

A fully mature offering from the author of Mexican Gothic. It runs the spectrum from spooky to horror, with an intensity that pushes the narrative at an astounding rate. Three storylines expertly woven together with a diversity of cultures, times, ethnicities and mythologies. This story s a new world we want to revisit and a protagonist we’d follow anywhere

A master of world building as always, I enjoyed this novel by SMG. The mix of different storylines and tom periods was also a fun way to move the plot. It’s not my fav SMG but still a well written book!

Gripped me in the first quarter and then just fell off for me...
The plot took too long to unravel and really get going. I felt like it was world and character building for 70% of the book. The vibes were there tho so I'd still recommend for the rich history lesson and fantastic character building.
The story is told from 3 perspectives: minerva, her great grandmother (Alba), and betty (whom minerva is writing a thesis on)
Unfortunately I felt the detail we got into during Alba's chapters were so unnecessary it just slowed the plot down with detail that didn't add more than 'vibes' to the story and build up minerva's story and character arc.

I'd still recommend for other readers to check it out! 2.5/5
Thanks to Netgalley for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A story to be invested in through three generations of witches. I truly became invested in this story but felt in the end it was lack luster. If anything, average. The New England witchy vibes mixed with the ancient witch magic of Mexico felt almost perfect. I loved the stories through the ages and each character I encountered. Overall, this was the perfect witchy read to get me in the mood for fall even if it fell a little flat for me.

Dark academia. Witch-y mystery partially set in New England. Witch-vampire hybrids.

"The Bewitching" by Silvia Moreno-Garcia traces the lives of three women over the course of a century, all dealing with disappearances of friends or loved ones. Alba (1908) works to find out where her brother has gone. Beatrice (1934) writes about the strange circumstances surrounding her good friend Ginny, and turns these events into a career as a horror writer. And Minerva (1998), Alba's granddaughter, researches Beatrice's book "The Vanishing", to discover how true-to-life the events of the plot really are. As each young woman begins looking into these disappearances, the frequency of mysterious, supernatural events seems to increase.

For me, the most interesting part of "The Bewitching" was the depiction of the witches. In the afterword, Moreno-Garcia describes the differences between the Mexican and more eurocentric versions of witches: in this book, they have magical abilities and conduct most of this magic through elements of the earth, but they also drink blood to amplify their magic. This mix of vampire and witch was interesting and added to the creepy factor as the book neared its climax. I enjoyed Alba's storyline the most, mostly because I think she grows the most of the three main characters and it felt more like an "origin" story.

However, I struggled to enjoy this book until two-thirds of the way through, which I think has to do with the multiple perspectives. Normally, I have no problem with books told through multiple narrators, but the structure of this was slightly different. Each of the three women have parallel experiences with different details, which means the reader essentially goes through each step of the plot three times before moving along. That means three expositions and three rising actions where the events that the reader experiences are nearly identical. By the third iteration of these events, the reader knows what will generally happen in the chapter they're about to read. I struggled with this in the first half of the book because it takes awhile for any magic/paranormal events to begin. It's more of a missing person mystery for a good chunk, and less about the witches and magic. And while I'm usually pretty good at predicting plot twists and end-of-book secrets, this felt a little too easy. I guessed every villain from early on in the book. One of them felt so obvious to me that I was nearly sure it would be a red herring. I hoped I was wrong about my prediction, but sadly, I wasn't.

Moreno-Garcia's writing and the plot overall make this a great fall vibes book. For lovers of mystery/horror, this would make a good choice for the October 2025 line up.

I LOVE SMG!!! This book was awesome!! My only feedback is I’m surprised it wasn’t a fall release as it’s got the fall creepy witches vibe! Thank you for the auto approval

In The Bewitching we follow the story of three women: Nana Alba in 1908, her great granddaughter Minerva in 1998 and the author Minerva is researching, Beatrice Tremblay in 1934.

This was another excellent book by Silvia Moreno Garcia. (I’m sure no one is surprised).

The three timelines had three distinct voices. Often when a book has multiple timelines or characters to follow, the voice of the character can sound the same as another character. Garcia does an excellent job of making sure all of the characters have their own personality and feel to them. None of the narratives were boring or a slog to get through. I was thoroughly invested in all three stories. Although I can’t pick a favorite timeline, I want to say I really enjoyed seeing university life in the 90s.
One of my favorite things about SMG is the way she writes interesting and flawed characters. Minerva was definitely my favorite character in this.

When I tell you that I was invested in the story, I mean it. I read the last half of this book while sick and it kept me going. That should tell my fellow readers how good this book was. As far as the story goes, I was surprised with the direction things went. Let’s just say I wasn’t expecting certain things to be taken so far. I found certain elements of the story to be disgusting but I’m sure that was intentional by the author.

The only negative, if you can call it that, is that I would have like a longer epilogue. That’s the only “criticism” I have and I only say that because I would have liked to see more of what happened with certain characters in the end.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. Truly. The story just pulls you in and doesn’t let go. This will be a fun book to revisit now that I know what was happening to the characters throughout the book. The author also created a playlist and if you’ve read the book I suggest you check it out. I’d recommend this book to any and all readers.


Thank you to Random House Publishing Group and the author for providing me with an ARC copy for review.

Three women, three stories that weave and intersect, each story centers around a monster, or is it a witch? In the 90s, Minerva is a graduate student focusing on horror in literature. She wants to research Beatrice Trembley, a former student at her school, who wrote only one novel, based on the disappearance of her friend. As she discovers a manuscript from Trembley, she begins to see a dark force at work, the same force that her great-grandmother warned her of. But this is not just in the manuscript and her Nana Alba's stories, but also in Minerva's life.

I think I would have enjoyed this more if I did not have such clear memories of Mexican Gothic. I found it to be a bit more predictable than I expected. Nonetheless, it was a wild and interesting ride, and I have no regrets about reading it.

Horror is not my usual genre, and that may also affect my perception of it.

Thank you to Del Rey, Random House Worlds, Inklore, and Net Galley for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

Silvia Moreno-Garcia always hits for me, but I really loved The Bewitching! It's an intergenerational witchy horror novel with a tinge of vampirism and it's fantastic. Three generations of women encounter dangerous witchcraft and their stories are skillfully woven together.

In rural 1900's Mexico, Alba is a young woman being courted by a farmboy but dreaming of the big city, and being groomed by her attractive young uncle.

In 1990's New England, Minerva is an international graduate student writing a thesis on a little known female horror writer from the mid-1900's. Minerva gains access to the author's journal about the disappearance of a friend who inspired one of her stories, but history and the present begin blur together in strange ways and some of the things that she reads in the journal are happening to her...

It's an eerie and brilliantly told story with themes of privilege, exploitation, survival, and working for a better future. I loved it. The audio narration is great, though the tone for the diary part is a little stilted. I kind of get that choice to differentiate it but it might not appeal to everyone. I received an audio copy from Libro.FM and a review copy via NetGalley, all opinions are my own.

Content warning for grooming and incest that's pretty disturbing, but not at all romanticized.

I received an ALC from Libro.fm and an ARC from Netgalley. While I primarily listened to the audio book I did occasionally read the e-book as well.

I enjoyed the thoughtful tone and careful pacing of this novel, although at times parts of the story seemed to drag on longer than I would have liked which is why it took me longer than usual to finish. Telling a story using three, fully fleshed out timelines is ambitious and Moreno-Garcia does a masterful job of weaving all the pieces together. Although I wasn't surprised by the ending it was still a satisfying conclusion. Overall a very worthwhile novel if you enjoy stories featuring witchcraft, strong female protagonists, and mysteries involving multiple timelines. Also, the voice acting was very well done and fit the tone of the novel perfectly.

4.5/5 Recommended for LibraryReads

There is something about coming back to a favourite author that is delicious, and The Bewitching promised classic Silvia Moreno-Garcia from the first page. Some Mexican folklore mixed with New England gothic: if itwasn't too confusing in her bibliography this could have been called Mexican, Gothic. And she gets to play with minor pastiche too, another of her favourite games. Set across three time periods, The Bewitching attempts to reclaim witches as proper horror antagonists and successfully merges the Mexican concept of the witch monster with the Salem style.

It is 1998, and Minerva is a Mexican student pursuing a postdoctoral fellowship at an old New England college. Writing about a minor female horror writer Beatrice Tremblay (who writes in the Shirley Jackson vein), she is investigating the effect of a friend's disappearance whilst at the same college Minerva is at, back in the 1930's. Minerva herself is steeped in the lore of witchcraft from her grandmother, who also - back in 1908 - was witness to a disappearance in the family. Minerva, who works as a campus supervisor on the side, is also starting to suspect that a student who dropped out, never to be seen again, might also be a missing person in similar situations. Moren0-Garcia runs the three stories in parallel - though Beatrice Trembley's story is in her own hand, and we are reading that along with Minerva. All three run concurrent mysteries which inform each other, and the eventual solution, as Minerva starts to realise she too has been placed under a spell.

Moreno-Garcia mentions in her afterword that she was a student in New England in the late nineties, and the sense of place (and time, particularly with music references) is painfully accurate. There's a pervasive sense of class that runs through all three stories too, from gender, to wealth, to power - and in some cases ,that will be mystical power. Minerva is an appealingly flawed heroine, as is her grandmother and Beatrice, and the details underpinning the rules and power of the witches is well done. The case is made for them as one of the geat neutered monsters, and in Minerva she creates an equally good monster hunter (academically and literally).

I really enjoyed The Bewitching! Silvia brings her signature blend of atmosphere and sharp character work to 18th-century France, layering court intrigue with eerie magic and a wonderfully ambiguous protagonist. It’s a slower-paced story, but the gothic mood and historical detail kept me hooked. I especially liked how slippery and calculating the main character was—you’re never quite sure what she’s up to, and that kept things interesting. It’s not as immediately gripping as some of her other books, but it’s a smart, stylish read that grew on me the more I sat with it. A strong 4 stars!

This is the latest from Silvia Moreno-Garcia. Three women from three different eras of the 20th century in Massachusetts and Mexico encounter witchcraft. It’s not scary and one of the stories was a little dull. It’s really 2.5 stars but I’m rounding up for an otherwise stellar author.

Every book I read by Silvia Moreno-Garcia increases my devotion, and THE BEWITCHING is no exception. I appreciate her modern take on gothic storytelling, and I appreciate how well she creates such atmospheric stories - the kind where the setting becomes a character on its own. While THE BEWITCHING is a little too predictable for my taste, I still found plenty to enjoy within its pages.

My favorite thing about THE BEWITCHING was the chance to revel in the late 1990s nostalgia. Just like Minerva, I graduated from college in the late 1990s, so each period relic Minerva uses hit me hard. Yes, we did have laptops in the late 1990s. No, the Internet and email were not really a thing yet, but we used our computers for writing papers. Research still had to be done in person in libraries, museums, or through interviews, and you wrote your research notes by hand. Paper was still king. We didn't have MP3 players or iPods yet, so Minerva's use of a Discman is apt. We didn't have cell phones, so you had to borrow someone's phone or use a pay phone. Everything about Minerva's story, aside from the mystery, took me right back to college and those years when the world was at your feet, waiting for you to make your mark.

Maybe because I connected so fiercely with Minerva's story, I read Alba's and Beatrice's stories with a more clinical eye. I was less emotionally invested in their tales, more interested in seeing how the three stories would connect versus appreciating each on its own merits. Alba's story is creepy; Beatrice's is more tragic. Both deal with loss, but Alba's hits harder because her loss was much more personal and included more people. Beatrice's story reads exactly like what it is, a journal of events written long after they happened and with hindsight being colored by love and the selective forgetting of memory. It is easy to dismiss Beatrice's story as nothing more than a tale told to explain the long-ago loss of a friend. You learn Alba's tale as it is happening, and, since it is happening to her, hers is the much more impactful.

Together, the three women's tales combine into one that speaks of power and violence. I've never read anything like the witches found in Alba's tale, so THE BEWITCHING is a new take on witchcraft for me, or at least the how of their witchcraft. THE BEWITCHING is a moody mystery, even if it is predictable in the who and the why. I know my nostalgia plays a large part in my fondness for the story, and that's okay. Take that away, and you still have a decent mystery with plenty of chills and thrills and things that go bump in the night.

I have come to fear the all-too-common trope of badass indigenous woman falls in love with mediocre white man, however, The Bewitching did not fall victim to it! I was pleasantly surprised by Minerva as a moody young woman of the late 90's and thoroughly enjoyed the narrative of Alba. Witchy and dark, yes, but an example of some complex women. Sapphic yearning makes an appearance, as well. Perfect October read!!!

The Bewitching was a bit of a slow read but I found the story and timelines intersecting compelling. It didn’t feel like the twists at the end were shocking or mind blowing and fell a little flat for me.