The Catalain women have always been different, stronger than other women. In Faith Falls, Minnesota, in an old house, there lies the Book of Secrets, full of the wisdom and learning of generations of Catalain women. Ursula is the current guardian of the book and she is happy to perform simple garden spells, until the day the man she murdered when she was a child shows up at her door. The ghost pulls her daughter, Jasmine home, even though Jasmine has sworn off the family magic. Also called home is Jasmine’s sister, Katrine, banished for 14 years. It is time for the Catalian women to stand together and rise up against the ancient curse that threatens them all

The Catalain Book of Secrets by Jessica Lourey is a delightful and magical book! The Catalain ladies are magical. Velda, Ursula, Helena, Xenia, Katrine, Jasmine, and Tara are the Catalain women. Each has their own magical gift. Katrine has been gone from Faith Falls for a number of years, but has now felt the call to come home. Jasmine (Katrine’s sister) has been keeping a secret, and, unfortunately, secrets can be this families undoing. You need to read The Catalain Book of Secrets to see what happens to these magical ladies and how revealing their secrets can free them. I loved this book and did not want it to end. I hope there will be more books about the Catalain family.

I was provided a complimentary copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book. A drama filled tale of a magical family, we first learn about the difficulties that each of the women in the family have faced. We begin to feel a connection to the women as we see them interacting and realize how deep their love runs. All comes to a head when the youngest girl in the family runs away and they all band together to find her. By the end of the story, the healing has started and we want to see what happens to all the women of the family.

Love this magical story definitely would recommend.

An interesting family drama with no small debt to Magical Realism, I enjoyed this book and its characters. Although they're not all given the same amount of development, they are all quite complex people and I'd definitely like to read more about them. I'm happy to see there's already one novella set in the same world.

I do feel ambivalent about how a few things were handled, however. For example the alternating POV shifts -- there are seven Catalain women, named for Bryan Sykes' Seven Daughters of Eve, but only four of them get POV chapters and it's not always easy to tell which one is which -- and more importantly the sexual assaults and their aftermath. It's taken very seriously in one case, but almost glossed over in another, and it's used almost as narrative shorthand in a way that didn't sit entirely well with me.

Ultimately, the relationships between the women really shone through. The depictions of small-town life were also handled nicely, though I wish that element had been better integrated with the Catalains' story. Maybe in a future book...

This is a fantastic story, with interesting and memorable characters. It captures the tricky family dynamics that can emerge when generational secrets are kept, as well as demonstrates the power of facing those secrets with loved ones. Just a touch of humor keeps this book from feeling dark and the undercurrent of magic fills the story with hope.

A nice light read with some unexpected curves.

Sometimes a novel stumps me on how to share my thought about it with you. Sometimes I don’t really want to share at all – because I want you to make your own judgement, experience the words, the atmosphere, the story all on your own.

I know, that is incredibly unfair for a reviewer on a review site to say to a reader.

Nonetheless, it is true. So instead of telling you about the story let me give you my reaction to the book.

The Catalain Book of Secrets is told in a variety of viewpoints. We will hear each woman’s part of the story or reaction to the situation in her own words. Which for me, made this story come even more alive. I wasn’t an outsider, hearing only one voice of this story – I was seeing the story through different eyes throughout it, and that made this an amazing tale.

I totally fell in love with the Queen Anne home – oh, how I want to find one of my own. The house had just as much personality as those living within it’s walls.

I enjoyed the “practicing” part of this novel. And the FOOD…my goodness, I certainly hope that you are a muncher while reading ‘cos you’re going to be hitting the snacks during this one. Okay, back to the practicing – reading how some of these delightful concoctions were put together was such fun for me. (I’m convinced I was a practicing witch in a former life)

Most of all I enjoy the intertwining story of all of these women and the secret that is causing such a commotion in their lives. I completely loved being invited into their home and their lives The story told cannot be the only tale these ladies have to tell. Because I want more.

What I’m trying to say, dear readers, is you need to read this novel. You don’t need me spoiling the experience for you. It is an amazing novel, it touches one on so many levels but you need to let it touch you because I’m convinced each person reading it will come away with something far different.

I highly recommend it, give it a 4 outta 5 on my rating scale — now you go pick it up somewhere and get lost in the pages of a really good read. Go. Now.

*I received an e-ARC of The Catalain Book of Secrets from the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. That does not change what I think of this novel.*

This book is EXACTLY what I love in a book of this genre. What genre? Hmm. Magic Realism? Paranormal? Women's Fiction? Yes, yes and yes. The Catalain Women are witches and this book is about 3 generations. All women have their own gifts and all are struggling with their own secrets and flaws. For any of the women to heal they will need to trust each other and forgive themselves.

I LOVE a Book about witches when it's written well. I also love a good book about sisters. For me this had it all. It's grabbed me from the first line and I was engrossed til the Authors note.

My Kindle copy is highlighted in quite a few passages that were brilliant at explaining the inner dialogue that goes on when a secret testers and grows into an all consuming and life altering thorn. With sprinkles of magic and women you will love, I highly recommend reading this.

It's reminiscent of Alice Hoffman's Practical Magic but in sTands alone as its own fantastic work of fiction. So sad that's it's over.

P.S. Do not let the cover fool you into thinking this is a young adult or Harry Potter-ish story. It is not.

I LOVED this book. I enjoyed how the Catalain magic is something that just is. It's not something taught or revered, but just accepted as part of being a Catalain. The tenuous relationships between the Catalain women really pulled at my heart strings. Jessica Lourey does a good job a developing the characters in a way that you understand how they got to be who they are.
It was also nice to see how the magic ended up healing all those whom seek out or posses the magic in the end and how they were all interconnected by the magic.

A wonderfully different story. For the first chapter or so, I have to admit I wasn't that keen. Once the story got rolling, however, I'd finished the book before I'd even noticed I was half way!

This is a great book! I was hooked right from the beginning. I would love to read more about the Catalains!

Magical Realism is what pulled me into reading this novel. I love the genre and when I read the synopsis I was intrigued. I thought the novel was written beautifully with many metaphors and intricate details. I felt the characters were really well written and had depth to them. I always like when the author splits up the point-of-view to be told by different characters, as with The Catalain Book of Secrets. The story could be dark at times but it always came back to something positive. The pacing was a little slow but it didn't deter from my enjoyment. It made me feel like I was taking a nice slow stroll and enjoying the scenery. I would recommend this book.

This is a beautifully written story about family, the power of love and the damage that can be done by a parent even when they are trying their best to be better than their own parents were but they’ve built walls that aren’t easy to penetrate.

The writing was so provocative that I found myself wanting to crawl in the pages to gather the child Ursula into my arms and tell her special she was and once I knew that she was safely tucked away I wanted to go and beat (and I am not a person who likes physical violence) some sense into her mother, Velda. The author has such a descriptive flair that all of the characters are crystal-clear. (Excerpt) “Ursula worshipped her mother back then. Velda didn’t reciprocate. Instead she would joke over Sanka and cigarettes that the fairies must have switched her real daughter for plain, thick-wasted Ursula, with her glasses and hair straights as a bone, a plain lump next to her mother’s grace and style. Ursula was always within hearing distance. She would look down at herself and know her mother was right”. Ursula wanted her mother’s love and approval so badly that when her mother asked for something she did it, no questions asked. It is her mother’s cruel request and her swearing her daughter to secrecy that would set into motion events that would bring harm to the daughters that Ursula would have and nearly cost all of them their lives.

Lourey has a way with words that made me see things in a way I’ve never experienced. The following is an excerpt when Katrine drinks a bottle of root beer; “ She twisted open her bottle of root beer, the sharp kiss of released carbonation loud inside the VW. She hadn’t drunk a root beer since high school, hadn’t even known she missed it. It tasted like caramel and a good joke.” I don’t usually read about food in a book and start salivating, but once again her descriptions are so wonderful that my mouth was watering. (Excerpt) “ The table was creaking under lavender-infused Duck L’orange covered in a crispy, sweet-salty skin, tiny quails stuffed with sage dressing, wild perch drizzled with onion jam, garlic soup with poached eggs, fresh-dug garden potatoes in browned parsley butter, their skin so tender that it melted when you bit into it, haricot verts in a lemon-almond sauce, roasted butternut squash, delicate mushroom caps filled with salty bacon, wild rice and poached raisins, fresh spinach dressed with poppyseed vinaigrette, a wild lettuce salad speckled with sunflower nuts and bits of bright, fresh orange, platters of grapes, apples, nuts and cheeses, and two loaves of oatmeal bread, another two of crusty French, all four loaves steaming.”

This is a story of the pain that family can do to one another but more importantly the love and strength that is given by them and the power of forgiveness when you draw together to protect one another. It is also a story that shows the danger when you hide secrets and that you shouldn’t judge others because you never know what their life is really like since we all tend to hide behind a façade that we want other to see.

5/5 **I want to thank the author and/or publisher for providing a copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review; all opinions are mine.**

Great read, would recommend.