Thank you to NetGalley, Silvia Moreno-Garcia and the publishers for this ARC! This was my first Silvia Moreno-Garcia book and therefore I had no expectations going into this book.

The Bewitching is a gothic light horror, with mystery and a dark academia-esque vibes, as well as historical fiction thrown into the mix that link throughout three different time periods.

I really enjoyed the time periods that Silvia created within The Bewitching. I especially enjoyed exploring the same place in both 1934 and 1998, and found that I was able to differentiate envisioning both time periods when reading the different POVs. I also thoroughly enjoyed the 1908 time period and setting of the small village farm in Mexico. All three time periods were creepy and atmospheric in their own ways, with untrusting people throughout!

All three POVs and characters read very strongly and I felt there was no blending between one another, all headstrong and wayward in their own ways, however deal with their own battles along the way. I especially felt a lot of dread reading Alba's journey in 1908 and what she experiences, I just wanted to jump in and give her a hug.. but also scream at her what I suspected all along was in fact true!

I did figure some of the reveals earlier on when I naturally found myself theorising, however this did not take away from the reading experience.

After this read, it's safe to say that I am looking forward into reading more of Silvia's work!

THE BEWITCHING - SILVIA MORENO-GARCIA

Mexican Gothic is one of my all-time favourite books, so when I saw that Silvia Moreno-Garcia had a new novel on its way, I had to get my hands on it!

Much like Moreno-Garcia's other novels, The Bewitching is a blend of genres. While it may feel easiest to just call it a gothic horror, at times this book feels like historical fiction - with a supernatural twist, of course. Set within three different time periods - the early 1900s in Mexico, and the 1930s and 1990s in New England - The Bewitching is a sweeping saga and it's impossible to not get sucked right in.

Moreno-Garcia is a master of getting to the heart of each character within a few words, making them utterly relatable even while going through the most extraordinary and creepy events. I think this is what always unsettles me the most, as it makes the storyline of The Bewitching feel a lot closer to home.

The Bewitching touches on familiar concepts: witches, ghosts, mysterious disappearances, curses and talismans. However, in Moreno-Garcia's hands, she takes all of these and makes them utterly unique and creepy in a way that I guarantee you haven't read before.

Thank you to Silvia Moreno-Garcia, the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this eARC.

Release date: 15 July 2025

Review score: 4.5/5

TWs: d*ath, injury detail, r*pe, s*xual content

Thank you Quercus Books and NetGalley for the arc I was excited to receive it as I have pre ordered the special edition on Waterstones

I fully enjoyed it and the different characters and different timelines in it

The book is a mysterious folklore witches magic intriguing supernatural fantasy horror story

Will I keep my special edition I’ve ordered and yes and would recommend others to read too

Seductive, sinister and steeped in folklore, Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s The Bewitching is gothic fiction at it's finest. A creeping sense of dread coils through he pages, building toward an sense of inevitable tragedy. With nods to classic gothic tradition and modern horror it's told through Moreno-Garcia's rich immersive, prose. This is a story that slips under your skin, a whispered enchantment where you can feel the chill in the air and hear the rustle of branches, listening for footsteps that may not be there.

Unfolding across three timelines, each with its own distinctive narrative voice, every thread is a compelling, complete story in its own right. There’s no weak link, no timeline you rush through to return to another. Yet it’s in their convergence that the novel really shines revealing how the past speaks through the present and how the legacies women inherit, scattered across years and continents, still echo one another with a haunting unease.

The three central women are vividly drawn and achingly real, less like characters and more like echoes of real lives. Each woman’s path is shaped by isolation, grief, love and an enduring resilience. Around them spins a cast of secondary characters that are just as complex as the story flickers between the ordinary and the uncanny

Even with the outcomes of some timelines laid bare and many twists easy to foresee every page is gripping. The novel doesn’t rely on surprise or cheap horror to shock. This is a novel for readers who crave atmosphere, who revel in the slow, deliberate unspooling of dread and descent into darkness.

Thank you Arcadia for the ARC.

Having thoroughly enjoyed mexican gothic I was excited to receive an ARC for the bewitching.
I really enjoyed the myths, folklore and gothic atmosphere throughout the book that was present in all three timelines - and appreciated the unease of what had/was bewitching the three female protagonists centuries apart.
This was a slower read for me - It felt repetitious at times (in Particular with Alba's story) and the "twists" were predictable.
I also felt uncomfortable with the relationship between vulnerable Alba and her uncle - I thought we may have had an avunculate marriage on our hands....
Overall an enjoyable slow-paced horror read

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

A deeply immersive, eerie gothic-horror told through three different POVs stretched across 90 years. In 1998 we're in the dark academic setting of a New England college where Minerva falls deeper and deeper into a 60-year-old mystery. Meanwhile, her great-grandmother Alba fights and unknown evil in rural Mexico in 1908, and a lesser-known novelist reminisces on the disappearance of her first love in 1934. While extremely slow to get going, the creepiness really begins to ramp up with this one at around the 30% mark. Moreno-Garcia has such a beautiful way with words and the prose draws you in, atmospheric and descriptive. Tiny details foreshadow what's to come, and the timelines start to weave into one another as secrets are revealed.

Unfortunately I realised quite early on that The Bewitching was going the same way as Bury Our Bones In The Midnight Soil did with me recently, and for pretty much all the same reasons. So if you loved that book, I would recommend this one as well - but it just wasn't personally for me. I think for a lot of people this would be a slow burn, atmospheric read but to get into this, I either needed one of the three main characters to be likeable and to grab my attention, or for there to be an instant hook into one of the POV characters' storylines. And while Alma's incestuous relationship with her uncle was surprising (and uncomfortable), her story didn't hook me any more than Minerva's did, so I'd already sort of checked out by the time the third character's chapters started.

The Bewitching definitely wasn't for me but I can see it going down well with fans of Bury Our Bones In The Midnight Soil by V.E. Schwab

Disclaimer: I received an Advance Reader Copy from NetGalley, but this is my voluntary and honest review.

Note: As requested on the publisher information section, I will publish this review on Goodreads, Fable and Storygraph no more than 3 weeks before release. I will update this review page at that point with the links to the three reviews on those sites.

Updated 26/06 - provided links to Goodreads, Fable and Storygraph

Intriguing, mysterious and sinister 🧙🧙‍♂️✨👻🩸

This was a slow burn but wow, just my type of read when it got going. What is not to like? A gothic, dark and mysterious, multi-generational story about witches and curses.

We follow Minerva in the 1990s, writing a dissertation and investigating Ginny’s disappearance from the University years before. History shows that there have been many lose ends and secrets over the years and she is keen to discover what has happened. Her Great-Grandmother Alba’s stories always started with “When I was a young woman, there were still witches”, this statement has never left her.

Our second protagonist is Beatrice in the 1930s. She lives with Ginny whilst at university. Ginny is an unusual and spiritual young lady, who starts to act strangely, then just disappears one day.

Alba in the early 1900s, my personal favourite, lives with her family on a farm when it would appear they have been cursed.

I genuinely really enjoyed this story. I liked the sinister elements and the following of each of the ladies’ stories as they found themselves involved with the supernatural and how it wanted blood. This was not consistent throughout the book, and I liked this. For me, I enjoyed how each person’s story panned out with their family and/or friends, and then there were other times when the story grew much deeper. This added a change of pace and depth as the book progressed and kept me invested and guessing.

One thing of note, for those that would struggle with the idea of incest or animal harm, then please bear this in mind before reading.

My first and not my last book by Sylvia Moreno-Garcia. Really well written with some superb sections which kept me guessing what or where the story was going. Plus, some beautiful writing, one of my favourites:

“There were never any satisfactory answers, or there were, perhaps too many to be able to glimpse the truth. A mystery is the most seductive of poisons: it intoxicates the soul.”

Thank you to Netgalley, Quercus Books/Arcadia and Silvia Moreno-Garcia for access to the ARC in exchange for an honest review. Due to be published on 17 July 2025.

I really like Silvia’s writing style and even though I guessed the twists pretty early on, it didn’t stop me from enjoying the story.

The way that the three timelines wove together kept me engaged throughout.

Overall it was a good witchy book and I’ll definitely be reading more from Silvia Moreno-Garcia.

I really loved this! I found it didn’t lean quite as far into the horror and supernatural elements as some of her other work, but it was still an engrossing book.

Told in three timelines, it’s the story of Alba in Mexico, torn between two potential lovers and facing down a bewitchment that has taken her brother, and of Betty in the 50s, a scholar and a secret lesbian who’s crush is about to go missing, and Minerva, moved internationally to attend school and studying Betty’s legacy in the late 90s but potentially being drawn into a mysterious witch curse.

Great character development, super true to the times of each timeline and just fantastic writing as always. The twist I did NOT see coming and it’s lovely how it wraps every up. It’s not necessarily a happy ending, but I was very satisfied by it.

4.5 Stars
I adored this book. I loved how the three timelines wove together to tell not only their individual stories but their combined stories as well. I did find that I had to take my time reading this book to not miss anything whereas usually I’m a speed reader but this didn’t affect my enjoyment of it. I’ve yet to read a book by Moreno-Garcia that I haven’t liked yet. I throughly recommend this book.

This is my True and Honest review my opinions are my own.
An abbreviated version of this review can be found on my Instagram .
3 timelines, 3 young women, 3 haunting experiences.
Minerva, a levelheaded university student studying in New England. Preferring to spend what little free time she has, emersed in her academic studies. Particularly with her favorite author Beatrice Tremblay, a former student of the same university from a different era and author of The Vanishing, Minerva's chosen thesis subject. Perhaps her love of mystery and the uncanny comes from the time spent with her great grandmother. Her stories of witches and spells of protection to guard against them are just that, stories!?
Beatrice Tremblay an author with a story to tell. A mystery that haunts her from her university days, a true story. Strange occurrences leading to a loss that will echo through the years, compels her to write The Vanishing.
Alba, a young Mexican woman dreaming of life beyond the family farm. When tragedy strikes and the bad omens persist. What must she do to protect her family. What legacy can she impart to future generations to keep them safe.
After all, Witches are just superstitious nonsense, aren't they?
I really enjoyed this book, the sense of eerie foreboding building throughout was perfectly paced. 3 timeline can be difficult to manage, while building character connection with the reader. I found that not to be the case here. Each character was given enough page time to express and react to their experiences within the plot and the nuances of the time setting.
The ominous feeling grew as the story progressed and the character experiences become dark and strange. The question of, How does a rational mind believe in folklore and stories of strange specters and witches. Or perhaps, the question should be: Is it irrational to not believe and not have the knowledge to protect yourself against evil things.
I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys mystery with an element of horror and the supernatural . I will be purchasing this book on its release date, as this will make a perfect Autumn re-read.
Thank you to Netgalley for the Arc
If you like reading:
• Cultural folklore
• Spells & Charms
• A ‘smidge’ of historical fiction
• Eerie, tension building, Atmospheric stories.
This book is for you!

Silvia MG has a lovely writing style. I read Mexican Gothic and loved it, and I found the writing style in this book just as engaging. I also liked the concept and initial setup.

However, and spoiler / trigger warning alert, I just personally don't like reading about incest and from very early in the book it plays a factor. If I'd known it was going to be so prominent, I would have skipped this one.

I'll read something by this author again, but will look up the trigger warnings next time.

Three women across a century are preyed upon by a witch in the latest novel from Silvia Moreno-Garcia, bestselling author of Mexican Gothic. Well written and atmospheric but far too long, full of filler and entirely predictable. It lacks any sort tension and would have been much better off being entirely focused on Betty, who has the most suspenseful and engaging story. Not one for me.

Thank you to the author and publishers for allowing me an e-ARC via NetGalley! That has in no way influenced this review and all opinions are my own.

Let me start off by saying that I expected this to be good, as all of Silvia’s books are, but this blew my expectations out of the water.

The premise of the book is one of the main reasons I wanted to read this. Having practiced some form of witchcraft/wiccan practices before, I felt drawn to this book as I really enjoy ‘unconventional’ books that will add to my knowledge. It’s glaringly obvious that Silvia has conducted extensive research prior to completing the book, or maybe she had this knowledge anyway, but either way it felt very genuine and it was informative (which I didn’t expect from a non-fiction book). The link between this book and previous titles such as Mexican Gothic is clear as day, and I really love that Silvia incorporates her heritage into her books. You can really tell that Silvia poured her heart and soul into this book.

The plot line was consistently interesting. There were no ‘slow parts’ during the book, and everything came together towards in end in a hugely satisfying way. I could not put this book down and every time I finished a chapter I was eager to read more, so I’m actually sad that I’ve finished this now!

The links between the characters are so cleverly done and I’m just in awe at how intricately things fit together like a puzzle. There were plot twists that weren’t predictable and I love that there’s a hint of the morally grey characters and the potential unreliable narrators. The character development was really satisfying, and I think the differences and similarities between the different characters are really interesting.

This may be THE best gothic horror book of 2025, and if you’re looking for a sign to read this book, this is it!!
I absolutely will be buying a copy of this in July.

Rating: 5/5 stars (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)

Thank you Netgalley for the arc 🫶🏻

This is a 3.5/3.75 star read for me. The book is comprised of a multi-generational historical fiction told from three POVs, with a running theme of witchcraft and an ongoing mystery to be solved. On the tin, this is a perfect book for me.

I really enjoyed the writing style and found it easy to read and never found myself bored. I did however find the plot lacking sometimes and sometimes wish for a little more depth. Though it did tie up nicely at the end, it did feel like a slow build up for a reasonably quick resolution.

This is my second read by Moreno-Garcia and she certainly has a talent for writing a peculiar type of horror that will make your skin crawl and leave you feeling uncomfortable at times. If you enjoy historical fiction, light horror and weird vibes, I'd recommend giving this book a read.

Thank you Queercus Books and NetGalley!
I finished this a few days ago and still can’t get over it! An absolute masterpiece. This was medium paced yet suspenseful the whole way through, and the three timelines were woven together so seamlessly and beautifully I absolutely couldn’t put it down. I found myself loving every characters even the evil ones cause they were so interesting and complex. Silvia Moreno-Garcia is slowly becoming one of my favourite authors - very few write horror and intrigue like she does. No notes. Chefs kiss.

The Bewitching by Silvia Moreno-Garcia is an evocative and chilling tale that weaves witchcraft, literary obsession and generational trauma into a richly layered horror experience.

Spanning three timelines, the book follows Minerva, a 1990s graduate student who becomes fixated on Beatrice Tremblay, a little-known horror writer whose most famous book, The Vanishing, appears to be based on real, sinister events. As Minerva delves into her research, she discovers disturbing parallels between Tremblay’s life, the mysterious disappearance of a university roommate during the Great Depression, and her own great-grandmother’s tales of witches in early 1900s Mexico.

As the threads of past and present converge, a malign presence seems to awaken, casting its shadow once again. Moreno-Garcia expertly conjures a creeping dread while exploring the cultural and personal costs of power, fear and the stories women tell each other to survive.

Haunting and immersive, The Bewitching is a masterful meditation on memory, myth and the darkness passed down through generations.

Read more at The Secret Book Review.

Hauntingly addictive, the bewitching had its claws deep within me from start to finish. Set across three generations within the US and Mexico, each generation is scarily interconnected which makes for a gripping story.

Our main charachter is a student Minerva, the olderst generation we see is her great grandmother Alba and her own haunting young adulthood. The third generation while not related, sits between the two and has history intersecting with Minerva - having attended the same university and having personally known the author of whom Minerva's thesis focuses on. I loved how diverse the representation was within this, we had characters of varied classes and ethnicities as well as queer rep and even brief jewish representation.

Witchcraft was rooted in this from start to finish, from folktale's to horror books, but sometimes the impossible becomes real. From receiving portents/ visions like the tales her alba told her tales of, to a series of eerily familiar drawings, the oddities continue to intertwine and may be more relevant to Minervas thesis than she'd ever considered.

Ultimately, this had me hooked from start to finish and finding out it held inspiration from Silvia's own family history and lived experiences made it even more gripping. My first foray into Silvias books despite having many in my want to buy list, it's safe to say I'll be diving into Silvias back log as soon as possible.

I wanted to love this and there was plenty that I did enjoy, but I found both timelines too predictable by far. The slow build atmosphere was done really well and I enjoyed the Minerva timeline but I was less sold on the 1908 timeline, although the atmosphere in that one was great. Overall, it was a bit too much style over substance for me but it was an entertaining read nonetheless.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.