The Witch of Willow sound is an atmospheric, cozy mystery that drew me in right away. Based on the description, I had expected something darker and spookier, which is my usual vibe, but I found myself pleasantly surprised and enjoyed its lighter tone. Set against the backdrop of Nova Scotia, and steeped in real witch lore, it was a fast-paced and engaging read. Once i'd started I didn't put it down, and finished it in an afternoon.

I was really excited to jump into this book. The cover art is really cool and the plot sounded like something I would really enjoy. It ended up being a huge disappointment. I felt like you never knew what direction the story was going in(not in a good way). The fmc was a moron and she was constantly putting herself in extreme danger. She was also a major hothead that could do with some anger management. I just didn’t understand a single decision she made. The writing felt really clunky and it wasn’t enjoyable to read. The dialogue between characters didn’t feel natural at all. I really wish the witchy aspect of the book was explored more. There was never a reason for why anything was happening at any given time. It was just a huge letdown and I’m honestly confused why it has such a high rating. I don’t mean to be a jerk, but it’s just not that good. There’s way too many questions and not enough answers. On top of that you have an extremely unlikable mc. The “villain” came straight out of a cartoon and the character made absolutely no sense. The entire story felt ridiculous and it made no sense.

2 stars simply because I at least finished it.

Thank you NetGalley for the arc.

I love a good modern gothic novel. I absolutely adored this and the facts and lore that it was based upon. I couldn’t pull my attention away for a second

A gothic mystery with a badass protagonist and witches? Obviously I was going to read this asap. I flew through this in two days. It starts pretty horrific but the story doesn't stay there. Once we meet our protagonist, Fade, we follow her as she travels to the forest of Willow Sound to find her estranged Aunt Madeline who has supposedly wandered off and no one can find her. Once there, Fade is met with hostility from the citizens of Grand Tea who believe her Aunt to be a witch.

This is a great read for the fall/winter season. There spooky moments that I was just waiting for something to jump out, horrific moments that will haunt me, but then I get some cozy elements combined with cute humour. If you pick this up, I highly recommend reading The Afterword at the end of the book. The author talks about her inspiration for the book based on dark events in Nova Scotia.

The Witch of Willow Sound is a beautiful witchy, folk story that reads like new adult. It was paced so well and the intrigue was there from the very beginning. That prologue was insane.

This book had a gothic vibe to it and was seeped in lore and the setting east coast of Canada (Nova Scotia) was so rich. The descriptions were incredible and I thoroughly enjoyed the writing style.

Fade, our main character, was so sarcastic and confident in herself it was great to read her journey solving this mystery with Nish.

Great read.

Very quick and enjoyable read. The prologue sucked me in and I quickly finished this book. The last half of the book flew by with what was happening and it kept you on your toes with what the actual truth was.

I found Fade to be an interesting strong female character. It was refreshing to see someone who has lived through trauma and hardship. Leave a job that gave her even more trauma and survive on her own on the streets. I loved that at the end the author deep dived into Nova Scotia history and gave even more meaning and backdrop to why she chose certain plot points and ideas throughout the book.

Thank you NetGalley & ECW Press for this eArc!

The Witch of Willow Sound is a gorgeous, beautifully written haunted gothic mystery set in remote Nova Scotia. It perfectly blends buried family secrets, folklore, identity discovery and real East Coast traditions and witch lore. It’s a fast paced atmospheric tale about women called witches and the consequences to those who’ve been accused.

Right from the prologue, which was very graphic and disturbing, I immediately got sucked right into the story and the lingering eeriness throughout the story almost made it impossible to put the book down. The writing is lyrical and lush and the atmosphere is heavy and dark which really adds to the eeriness of it all.

The story is intriguing and mysterious, sometimes even cozy. It’s about ignorance, misogyny and the real life horrors that comes with it.

Trigger/content warnings:

- murder
- misogyny
- death

This is a powerful debut that’s thought provoking and beautifully crafted. I give it 4.5 stars (One thing that bothered me was the character Fade using the word “frig” instead of a curse word)

The story of a modern witch with a lot of heart! So much here: found family, history, complicated family dynamics… and all handled with grace. I truly enjoyed this novel and felt satisfied with the ending. Fade is a fantastic main character and I enjoyed the time I spent reading this book.

Highly recommend!

4! This was really fun and enjoyable. I know it was supposed to be spooky, but it’s more of a cozy spooky (if you’re more into the deranged spooky stories like me). Our story starts with our narrator Fade, who gets told her aunt is missing. She must return to Willow sound forest, in Nova Scotia. She arrives to find her aunts once cozy comfy cottage isolated in the woods, rotting and falling apart. By the way the cottage looks, Fade knows some serious shi is going on around here. Trying to search for answers, Fade realizes soon enough the people in town don’t like outsiders. She keeps hearing stories about her aunt Madeline being a witch and giving people a scapegoat for their problems and difficulties (the witch is doing it duh 🧙🏼‍♀️). It’s up to her to discover what happened to her aunt because the town sure as hell isn’t gonna help her. In the end, the truth is always brought to light. Thank you to the publisher for the earc.

I loved the gothic vibes and witch lore in this fast paced book! This was a wonderfully atmospheric read, perfect for fans of gothic tales, with quite a few twists.

The Witch of Willow Sound brings a haunting atmosphere and a tough female protagonist, Fade, who’s forced to confront family secrets in a remote village. The mystery of her missing aunt, Madeline, pulls her back to Willow Sound, where she discovers a place that seems abandoned by both life and hope. The village, steeped in dark rumors about Madeline being a witch, is on the edge of collapse both literally and metaphorically.

The author weaves in East Coast traditions and witch lore beautifully, with a narrative that doesn’t just rely on creepy vibes—it dives deep into the real fears and legacies of a society eager to scapegoat and silence the people it doesn’t understand. Fade’s journey of uncovering lost history is both personal and universal, confronting the ghosts of the past and the weight of what gets erased or misinterpreted.

I loved the blend of gothic suspense and feminist themes—it’s fast-paced, eerie, and a great pick for anyone who enjoys stories about women, power, and confronting dark histories. There’s a subtle yet powerful exploration of what happens when society chooses to forget, or worse, when it decides who to blame. The Witch of Willow Sound isn’t just a story about a witch; it’s about the legacy of women who’ve been misunderstood or forgotten, and it’s an unforgettable read.

Heartbreaking, twisty, and full of love from the most unexpected places.

I don’t know what I expected going in, but as I read, I loved it more and more. There were a couple of times I felt I had figured out the twist but I was very wrong.

We have long said they burned witches, but we know they just burned women who were too loud, too difficult, too free. We see it again and again- and the afterword hit so hard.

What a great book with a little bit of history and awareness.

Also, frig.

A gothic mystery that blends feminist rage with folklore, grief, and the quiet strength of found family. Fade’s return to the eerie forests of Nova Scotia unearths more than just her missing aunt—it cracks open long-buried truths about how society treats women who live on their own terms.

Thanks to @netgalley and @ecwpress for the ARC, I binged it in one sitting! Despite some of the rough edges on Fade, the slowly growing trust and bond between her and Nish was such a sweet found family moment.

If you’re looking for wonderful story of east coast lore and gothic vibes, look no further than The Witch of Willow Sound, which has all you could ask for and much more.

✨✨✨Witchy. Gothic. Whimsical. Cottagecore. ✨✨✨

I really enjoyed The Witch of Willow Sound! This feminist gothic story is very fast paced, intriguing, mysterious, whimsical, and atmospheric. It also gave me some dark cottagecore vibes and a little bit of Alice in Wonderland vibes! Honestly, the whole book is heavily an aesthetic vibe that I want to live in! The Witch of Willow Sound is a little bit different than what I had expected going into it but wow it was such a fun and entertaining read!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a free ebook copy in exchange for an honest review. This book will be released September 30, 2025.

If this book had followed along the path the prologue was going, I would have loved it. That's just me. I like scary, creepy, not afraid of gore stories. This ended up reading like a cozy romance which is just not for me.

I could not put this book down! The atmosphere in this is unreal. The journey this story takes you on is so fresh, fast paced and full of mystery. Such a joy to read.

Fade, the FMC, is such a strong willed character. Seriously, this woman was tough as hell. I admired her determination - once she had her mind set on something, nothing could stop her. Also her loyalty and strength of character. She took s*it from nobody and I LOVED it. Her interactions with some of the townsfolk had me chuckling.

Nish, the archivist and historian in the book, reminded me a little of Giles from Buffy. His extensive knowledge for the town history and lore was incredible and I loved how uncovering new information brought him pure joy. Nish is a friend you want to have by your side.

One of my favourite parts was the blossoming friendship between Fade and Nish. Nothing pulls on my heart strings more than two outsiders finding each other. Ultimate duo, these two 🥹

Folklore and town urban legends play a big role in the story with Fade's missing aunty being accused of being a witch. To find out in the afterword that some of the town history is based off some real life events - *chefs kiss* to my brain that loves dark things 🥰

I have no notes. This was such a refreshing read! 4.5/5 ⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley for providing this ARC.

The cover and the description really drew me to this book. And while I found the mystery to be very compelling (and enjoyed the story overall as a whole), the writing and the dialogue felt clunky in places. For a good bit of the book most of the sentences were very short and choppy (and it wasn't an intense action scene where this might make sense) and the dialogue felt unnatural.

There's a lot of potential in this author and I plan to watch and see how she develops as a writer!

Random thoughts:
I imagine Fade to look/act like Brienne of Tarth from Game of Thrones.
I appreciate that this book didn't have a romantic subplot.
I really enjoyed Nish as a character and his dynamic with Fade.
I liked learning about the true historical events that Madeline/Doreen's childhood was based on.
I wished Fade's past was explored more deeply.

Thank you Netgalley and ECW Press for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

“The Witch of Willow Sound” is a haunting, beautifully written gothic mystery that blends small-town suspicion and buried family secrets into a slow-burning, emotionally rich debut. Set against the stormy, remote coast of Nova Scotia—with a hurricane looming and secrets swirling—it’s a story that wraps you in tension from the first page and doesn’t let go until the final, cathartic reveal.

At its heart is Phaedra—aka Fade—a former cyber-investigator who carries emotional and physical scars from her dark line of work. Now, she’s come to the eerie, rotting town of Willow Sound to search for her missing Aunt Madeline, a woman long ostracized and vilified by the locals. Accused of being a witch, Madeline has become the scapegoat for a community more eager to condemn difference than confront truth. The atmosphere is heavy with suspicion, and Penney expertly captures the oppressive weight of mob mentality, generational fear, and the need for someone—anyone—to blame.

But this isn’t a story about supernatural magic—it’s about the real-life horrors of ignorance, fear, and misogyny. The "witch" in the title is symbolic, a reflection of how strong, unconventional women have historically been silenced, scapegoated, or destroyed. The book's social commentary is sharp without being preachy, layered within a mystery that unfolds like a puzzle box—each revelation more surprising than the last, especially the deeply moving truth behind Aunt Madeline’s past.

Adding both levity and heart to the darkness is Nish, a folklore archivist who’s equal parts confetti and chaos. Over-the-top, dramatic, and downright delightful, Nish brings humor and warmth to the story. His banter with Fade is one of the book’s strongest threads, grounding the eerie plot with a believable and deeply lovable friendship. Their dynamic feels real and earned—a balance of opposites that works brilliantly.

The writing is a standout—lush, lyrical, and deeply evocative. From the creaking of Aunt Madeline’s wind-lashed house to the decaying edges of a town steeped in secrets, Penney’s prose conjures an atmosphere of unease that lingers long after the final page. While not traditionally scary, the story carries a subtle eeriness that gets under your skin. And though a few minor questions may remain unanswered, the emotional resolution is deeply satisfying—highlighting themes of memory, grief, and the lasting power of love and belief.

A powerful debut with soul and teeth, “The Witch of Willow Sound” is part gothic mystery, part feminist fable, and wholly unforgettable. Vanessa F. Penney has delivered a novel that’s as thought-provoking as it is beautifully crafted—a quiet storm of a book that speaks to the danger of buried truths and the resilience of those who refuse to be silenced.

I see a lot of glowing reviews for this book, and I have to say that this sadly missed the mark for me, it was very Okay.
I was intrigued by the plot and the cover, and the beginning felt very promising. However, as the book went on it started to have more issues with the storytelling.
The story itself is very compelling, but the execution could have used a little more work. Taking place in Nova Scotia, one of the main plot points of the book was an approaching hurricane. I have lived through plenty of hurricanes, and the way it was described was not at all in reality, though the rest of the book seems to take place in our own reality. This took me out of the story a little bit. The passage of time and the pacing also felt unnatural, and it didn't seem intentional.
I did like the characters of Nish and Fade and their dynamic, and the settings that were used were described very well. Perfect witchy, gothic settings that I really enjoyed envisioning.
Overall. it just left me wanting more. I believe this is a debut and I think that the author definitely has something here and I am would love to read more from her to see how her writing continues to develop.