From the very beginning it hooks you right in. Not enough words to express how much i enjoyed this book.

DNF at 20 % the writing style wasn't for me and the formatting for kindle was not great. That may not be on the publishers side but it was very disorienting.

★★★⯪☆ 3,5/5

🌷 Thank you to Netgalley and ECW Press for the ARC.

This novel is described as a “feminist gothic tale,” and of course, I was drawn to it. Add to that the incredible cover and captivating summary, and I was ready to dive into this world.

The prologue is intriguing, though a bit creepy (oddly enough, the book never reached that kind of atmosphere again). The first chapters provide context: we follow Phaedra “Fade,” a former “detective” who quit her job and is now homeless. Her mother gives her a phone call and tells her that her aunt is missing and that she must go to Grand Tea to investigate, but the inhospitable nature of the town's inhabitants will make this task difficult.

Although I liked the beginning and end of the book, I found it difficult to get through the first half. Very quickly, the plot falls flat, there are no more gothic elements, things happen but do not seem to matter that much in the story, and some are never discussed again.

The second half of the book is much faster (perhaps too fast?) and drew me back into the story. Some plot elements and twists are too vague, too “easy".

I found the revelations at the end interesting. The horror themes in this book are nostalgic, and personally, I still love these ideas when they are used respectfully, which is the case here.

I think this book would benefit from a sequel (or a prequel?) to explain the family history of Fade's family (and by extension Madeline).

Apart from the story, I liked the protagonists. They were funny and touching, but I still found some of their dialogues a little naive, too crude, too childish for their age and the situation they were in.
Similarly, the protagonist doesn't really seem to be in her thirties. She has a way of expressing herself that is more like that of a 17- or 18-year-old teenager.
These are my big regrets about this book, and unfortunately, since the dialogues and internal monologues make up a large part of the novel, it lowers my rating.
If Fade showed more maturity, at the risk of being much more raw and disturbing, and if the story had a more consistent pace, I think my rating would reach 4 stars.

Overall, this was a good read and if aimed for a teen/YA public, I'm sure it will be well received!

This book was haunting. The writing was beautiful; it crafted this creepy, earthly atmosphere and established a great sense of place. It also really upped the naturalistic pagan sort of vibes of the book. It was exactly the kind of writing I’d hope for when I saw the cover.
However, sometimes I felt that the story, and Fade, in particular, felt more YA. The word “frig” was used enough that it become extremely notable, and made me wonder if the book was initially written for a younger audience. Fade was not the most likeable character to follow, but the overall story was interesting, particularly the folklore elements.

*Thank you to NetGalley & ECW Press for providing a digital copy to review*

I don’t typically read horror or gothic books, but I love any stories revolving around witches and the women who were branded with the title.

I definitely felt the dark, spooky vibe as I was reading. The setting has that creepy, uncanny vibe, with the residents of the small town being even weirder. I did get an actual jump scare as I was reading, which has never happened to me before, and left me feeling on edge. However, after that, the story just felt flat, and some of the things that happened just felt ridiculous.

The FMC, Fade, has not had the best life. As a result, she is angry most of the time, and I just found her almost two-dimensional. It just felt like she had no depth. I did love Nish as a character in himself and how he brought out a side to Fade and was less flat.

This is a book about women who choose to live their lives differently from the norm and, as a result, are persecuted by it. This is the true horror of the book. So much more so because this isn’t fiction; this happens everywhere to this day.

It had a very immersive beginning, but then loses the tone. I couldn’t grasp if it was meant to be creepy atmospheric or humorous or trying for a mix, but it wound up muddled and confusing. I found myself working harder to figure out the tone of delivery for dialogue and getting over formatting choices than I was sorting through the plot.

The twist itself and the reasons for the clues were obvious, but once revealed on the page the story leveled out and became more engaging.

The areas of the book rooted in research shone through the disconnect of the main character, and the plot could have been better served had Nish been the main character

The cover art and that it was Gothic is what drew me to this book. However this one just wasn't for me. I never got pulled into the story. I think it's more of a me issue than a book issue, read a ton of gothic lit! I would still recommend it to reader's who don't read a ton of gothic lit and are looking for some atmospheric books to maybe dip their toes into the genre

I quite enjoyed this one, even though after the prologue it wasn’t at all what I expected.

The story follows Fade as she goes in search of her estranged Aunty, known by the people of Grand Tea, as the Witch of Willow Sound.

I loved the setting! The woods and Madeline’s cottage felt very gothic.
The closest town, Grand Tea, was unique and strange, filled with unbelievably cruel towns people, with the exception of three.

In saying all that, the gothic setting didn’t detract from the cozy vibes the book gave (after the initial prologue).

As far as the plot itself goes, I think it reads at a good, steady pace and I loved the gradual family history reveal.

The FMC was kick arse but I didn’t really relate to her, however, her new found friend/family Nish stole my heart.

Overall, a really enjoyable read!

Thanks so much to Net Galley and ECW Press for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!!

1.25/5

Madeline Luck is infamous in the Grand Tea community for being a witch. Living isolated and removed from everyone she's considered a bringer of misfortune and feared by all. When she goes missing it's up to her niece Fade to look for her and protect her legacy and secrets from the suspicious locals.

This book is being horrendously mismarketed, it has nothing to do with Our Wives Under The Sea or The Once and Future Witches. There's no real horror in here, nor supernatural or fantasy elements. It also lacks any real witches, witchcraft, or magic. Mostly, it's a slow paced mystery with too obvious twists and turns, clear bad guys, and weak prose. This needed a serious amount of editing, both the plot and the prose. I found this to be quite boring, it's a book where things just happen as the author demands it.

You can see that this book has an identity issue, there are lot of themes the author touched on but never committed to, and that indecision is clear. Did this want to be about inequality? Racism? Indigenous land rights? Family? It needed to commit itself to one thing at least. Same with the tone, it tried to be dark but never went there and all the character interactions were unbelievable. I don't have much more to say, I only added the .25 for Nish because I found him adorable.

(I received this book from the editor and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review)

The most important thing to be said about this book is to not judge it by the prologue, because the tone of the rest of the novel has nothing to do with it. It is dark, but not as dark; the narrator changes from third to first person (you lose some, you win some) and, even if Fade Luck is quite an interesting character, she never finds her feet in the position of protagonist. Then there is Nish, who, and I can’t really pinpoint why, reminded me of some kind of Lorax. And also, Davish, who is the most cartoonish villain I have seen in a while, and whose actions were a concatenation of nonsensical decisions that did not even really help to advance the plot. The plot, centred in the disappearance of Fade’s aunt, the witch of the title, but not only, had the means to becoming something very interesting, but the dialogues were extremely heavy in information and made the journey a very irregular mixture, sadly.

Unfortunately, despite an excellent title and synopsis, and a strong prologue, this novel did not live up to my hopes. I wasn’t quite sure what it wanted to be, and I don’t think it was sure either — the comp of Our Wives Under the Sea was frankly baffling, and although it felt much closer to something that fans of T Kingfisher’s quippy dialogue would enjoy, that doesn’t seem exactly right either.

The plot and writing are extremely exposition-heavy, with each action and every reveal feeling overwrought rather than tense. The main character, Fade, seemed very juvenile despite her heavy backstory (although I did like her relationship with her family). And for a book ostensibly about “the witch of willow sound,” there wasn’t as much exploration of this as I would have liked, apart from the locals’ superstitious views (which I did think were well-described by the author).

I also had a number of nitpicks — the self-censoring of the protagonist’s swearing to “frig” over and over, the small fact-check that Nish’s time in the Netherlands would probably have been pre-Brexit and so wouldn’t have involved work visas, the cartoonishly evil villain who at one point offers to write a letter of recommendation “that will get you anywhere you want to go” (presumably as long as it’s small town rural Nova Scotia because I’m not sure where else his recommendation would carry that much weight). Minor in isolation but irritating as they compounded.

Despite my complaints, there were elements I really liked here. The afterword was astounding — I nearly wish the author had abandoned the fantasy-horror genre and written a historical novel about the true events that inspired the story. Although I didn’t particularly vibe with Fade, I did think she was a solid example of a protagonist who can be the hero without necessarily being likable. And though some of the descriptions were overwritten, the author certainly captured the eerie isolation of the small town, rural setting. I just wish these elements had come to the forefront more. The author clearly has talent, and this is her debut, so even if this book didn't quite work for me I will keep an eye out for what comes next.

Thank you to Netgalley, ECW Press, and the author for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Witch of Willow Sound by Vanessa F. Penney is a dark tale about a woman who searches for her long lost aunt suspected of being a witch and uncovers deadly secrets as she falls under the spell of ancestral traumas.

Phaedra is tasked with searching for her missing aunt Madeline and must return to Willow Sound Nova Scotia the eerie town where her aunt lived. When Phaedra arrives she finds her aunt's ocean side cottage abandoned and full of strange witchy objects. Phaedra enlists the help of locals in a nearby neighboring town whose obsession with Willow Sound and its rumoured witch, unsettles Phaedra who links her aunt's disappearance with the murky history of Willow Sound, her aunt's cottage, and the local town.

The Witch of Willow Sound had the perfect cozy creepy vibe with its rustic magic aesthetic. The green witchery and nature spellcasting amidst the backdrop of the wilderness of Nova Scotia created an eerie atmosphere. The pacing was propulsive as was the mystery which had as many twists and turns as the gravely roads of the story's setting.

As a Canadian, I was shocked to learn about the dark history of Nova Scotia and its treatment of vulnerable and ostracized peoples, and the ethnic minority communities, both black or indigenous. To write a story about these topics is important and courageous and I appreciate that the "magical" aspects of the plot did not distract or deflect from the truth and shame of the history. The characters in this story used witchcraft as a way to remember the past, to preserve memories, and to ultimately survive in a harsh world where their mere existence posed a threat to the façade of their community. This is not a fantastical story, but a harrowing tale of trauma and healing and how despite burying the bones of the past, the truth is eventually unearthed.

The Witch of Willow Sound by Vanessa F. Penney is recommended for fans of We Have Always Lived in the Castle and fans of Canadian historical fiction.

this book ended with me crying. i did not expect to love this book so much and what got me was the acknowledgements. specifically the line of "Her only crime was having mental illness. Or being a rebellious woman."

was an absolute wonderful, mysterious, and unsettling story! it took me a little bit to get into but after that, i didn't want to stop reading. this story takes such a real and hard look at what has happened to indigenous folk, people of color, and those mentally ill in not only Canada, but North America. this book is such a wonderful call of justice for those who were abused by the system. im so thankful i got to read this and i hope it's a stepping point for folks who didn't know what had happened to marginalized people to learn more.

This is a challenging one for me in terms of giving it a star rating. I feel SO guilty leaving this review, but it is genuinely how I feel. This book has SO many things that I love. The setting, witchcraft, recipes, a small town full of fearful neighbors, generational trauma, trinkets, grief, and familial bonds. There was some gorgeous writing, especially in the prologue, and the ending of the book. I felt like everything was lining up for a 5 star reading experience.

But I can NOT get over the very liberal use of "frig" and "cripes". Every time these words were used, "frig" in particular, I felt so uncomfortable and disappointed. It was incredibly cringey. I know this slang is local to the East Coast setting, but it was really distracting. It was like a persistent mosquito you constantly swat at. It just whines and whines and won't go away.

I love the folklore. Give me a talking wolf and a cottage with a secret door any day. Again, the prologue was visceral and brutal and I thought was setting us up for a story that would be consistent with that tone. But it wasn't. The prose was beautiful at times, and flat and boring others.

I felt for Fade, and I think her character was quite well fleshed out. You immediately get a sense of who she is, despite her self-induced isolation. But as the book went on, I simply didn't care about her anymore. I lost interest.

I would love to read more from this writer in the future, but this one unfortunately wasn't for me.

Thank you NetGalley, ECW Press and author Vanessa F. Penny for letting me read this ARC for an honest review. Perfect for Summerween! I really enjoyed reading this book. It was a perfect witchy atmospheric read! Loved the FMC Fade. She was sent to Nova Scotia by her Mom to find her missing Aunt Madeline. Once she got there she realized this wasn’t go to be easy because there was a lot more going on than just her Aunt missing. She meets the town archivist Nish who joins Fade in her quest for answers. Loved the banter between the two of them. It was a very fast paced read with lots of twists and turns.

This is very much a case when a story just simply isn't for me. I can appreciate a beautifully written piece of witchy feminist Gothic fiction but I couldn't actually get immersed in the story. I wanted to love this one but I just couldn't get into the narrative. It's not a bad book by any means but I realize that I am not the right audience.

I requested this one because it might be an upcoming title I would like to review on my Youtube Channel. However, after reading the first several chapters I have determined that this book does not suit my tastes. So I decided to DNF this one.

This is THE perfect witch book. Lots of the lore being inspired by real cases from Nova Scotia; strong, outcast characters who can't be killed. The writing is absolute perfection. It's super cozy and portrayed the atmosphere so well. Though a lot of it is fucked up, I feel a very big part of this read was incredibly wholesome. I read this super fast and couldn't put it down, and I wish I could just spend some more time in Aunt Madeline's cozy cottage.

Unfortunately this just wasn't for me. I dnfed jt after about 30% but I can see other people loving this.

The prologue was eerie and unsettling in the right way, and I wish the rest of the book followed that same tone. Instead, we follow Fade, whose inner monologue and constant defence of her aunt made me think she was going through an emo "no-one-understands-me" and "I-hate-everyone".

I figured out where things were headed around the 70% mark, but that didn't ruin the experience. The setting is eerie but not exactly scary. It leans more into a cottagecore aesthetic and a touch of folklore. The story pulls from real witch lore and East Coast traditions, which was nice.

The cover art is stunning as well. Overall, it was fine. Just fine. Nothing bad, but nothing that truly stuck with me either. A very "it was there and I read it" kind of book.

Unfortunately, I DNF'ed this book after 75 pages.

I know the initial chapter was meant to be the "hook," however, the chapter relied too heavily on trying to shock the reader rather than trying to build an actual interest in what was occurring or in the story. Once the story joined the protagonist, it failed to build interest or pace. Without appropriate pacing or a reason to care for the main interest or her aunt, the novel unfortunately fell flat.

I very rarely DNF books, but could not bring myself to finish this one.