Wild Dark Shore - Charlotte McConaghy // Book Review

 

Wild Dark Shore
Charlotte McConaghy || Publication Date - 04.03.2025

It's amazing what a little isolation and a climate crisis will make you do.

Fiction | Literary | Thriller

Affiliate Link - https://bookshop.org/a/110173/9781250827951

A small family living on an isolated island between the ocean of Tasmania and Antarctica have saved a woman from a frozen grave. Her wounds were extensive, Dominic had little hope she would make it. However, his suspicion gripped when he couldn't think of a reason why she would be here at all. No one comes here.

This family only have a few weeks left before they would be packaging precious cargo and moving off this god forsaken rock. Each day looms ever closer that the ocean is rising, weather is more chaotic and the world is falling victim to impending climate change.

The woman has come here to find something, the family are trying to keep things hidden, and nothing will prepare them for what comes next.

The Review (May Contain Spoilers)

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me early access to this eARC for an honest review!

I could easily write my own novel as to why this book was incredible. Everyone in this story is on edge, and you can really get roped in with their emotions as their conversations wax and wane through various topics. It was truly a devastating and haunting experience of a novel.

Exploring multiple themes over the length of a few weeks, I found it impressive in the way that it effortlessly weaves in and out of family, tragedy and compassion. You are never given the time to get comfortable with the characters, new aspects of their history on the island or interactions with other characters constantly throw new and tense situations into the mix. Towards the end I was gripping my seat because it all comes crashing into a myriad of emotions and circumstances that by the end of it, you're sitting there pondering everything that's just happened.

This novel explores what it's like to be human. The various emotions we exhibit and how perception changes and alters the way we feel about certain situations. What it's like from the outside looking into a future where humans have radically changed the course of an entire planet and it's inhabitants. Most importantly, and my personal favourite, the resilience of nature in all its forms.

It discusses the choice to have a family, how this choice can impact the lives of not only the ones coming into the world, but also those already existing. The biggest impact was the commentary of who really has this choice. Subtle cues indicating that even though women are the ones creating the life inside their bodies, they're almost expected to throw their own life away in the process, especially if something bad were to happen during birth.

Lastly how love transcends all other emotions. It's almost written in this novel as a superhuman aspect of humanity. It can be powerful and heartbreaking all at the same time. However, it remains to be said that without it, humanity would fail. The smallest things have an impact, and it can chain into some of the biggest accomplishments our species can achieve.

Overall Thoughts

Despite the bleak and overarching impending doom of the planet due to climate change, I don't know if I speak for everyone when I admit I found this book incredibly uplifting. It's slow pace was really the only negative for me in terms of narrative. However, towards the end, everything ramps up and all you're left with is sitting on the couch for 10 minutes while you ponder your life and everything in it.

The social commentary within the book is provoking enough on its own without throwing in the countless moral dilemmas that happen to all the characters. It left me with so much to think about, so many passages that resonate with me and I truly believe this will be a novel that sticks with me for a while.

I would highly recommend this novel, especially if you run a book club or discussion groups. Everything in this book is primed for conversation, which in turn a lot of these conversations being prompted are incredibly relevant to today's issues. A phenomenal piece of literature and I hope it gets the praise it deserves.

The Wolf Tree - Laura McCluskey // Book Review

The Wolf Tree
Laura McCluskey || Publication Date - 11.02.2025

There's always someone whispering about something...

Fiction | Mystery | Thriller | Crime

Affiliate Link - https://bookshop.org/a/110173/9780593852545

After an apparent suicide, DI's Georgina Lennox and Richard Stewart are sent to conduct a routine investigation into the death and confirm what everyone already suspects. Where they are headed is a picturesque small island approximately an hour off the mainland coast of Scotland.

From their first arrival, DI Georgina, or George as she commonly likes to be referred by, suspects something is simply not quite right. She's in her own head with something she cannot shake about the death of eighteen-year-old Alan. Things don't add up, and while questioning the island inhabitants, there's even more to this place than she could have even imagined.

What unfolds is an eerie mashup of local history, townsfolk who are way too nice for their own good, and folktales which turn out to have some truth to them after all.

The Review (May Contain Spoilers)

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me early access to this eARC for an honest review!

Incredibly atmospheric from the first page. I loved the eerie nature of the investigation and the island the detectives went to. I remember starting this book on a 42°C summer day and had goosebumps with how cold this novel made me feel.

There were so many layers of mystery coming into this book. One of the main detectives possibly being ill, or recovering from being so. Inconsistencies between the investigation they have been sent on and what is really happening in the case. There's also the creepy small village atmosphere where everyone knows everyone and is pretty aware of others business on the Island. The ending caught me by surprise and I had no clue where it was going until it was finally revealed. I loved the journey and for a debut it was an incredibly well written novel.

One of the best features was the interactions between the characters. Both the inspectors and the people who live on this island, and the inspectors between themselves. There's so much to everyone and it's hard to know if people are being genuine or are actually conspiring behind others backs. It creates an awesome amount of tension and I loved it!

The created lore of the island is another one of my favourite running lines of narrative. I don't know if it was intentionally referencing the disappearance of three lighthouse keepers from the Flannan Isles lighthouse in late 1900, however if it was, it made this novel even more intricate for me. It's a real story which immediately stuck in my brain while reading, and made this island feel like a real place I could go to and hear the howling for myself.

Overall Thoughts

For a debut novel, incredible. It was eerie, it had complex and genuinely well written characters, and the mixture of historical lore tying into the death investigation made this such a fun read. I would not hesitate to recommend this novel if you like detective novels for one. However, if you like a little history and/or folklore tying into your mystery books, this nailed it for me.

I am partial to a good story which involves close-knit communities with secrets and suspense. Throw a death investigation in there and reading how the author navigates the investigation and the characters is always a good solid time. Another top rated novel for me which follows this same style of narrative was 'One Dark Night' by Hannah Richell. Both are masterfully atmospheric and develop complex character relationships very well.

[Thorn Witch Trilogy] Tonight, I Burn - Katherine J. Adams // Book Review

Tonight, I Burn
Katharine J. Adams || Publication Date - 01.11.2023

Some witches move winds, some forge mountains, and others burn. 

Fiction | Fantasy | LGBTQIA+

Affiliate Link - https://bookshop.org/a/110173/9780316551816

Penny isn't just a run of the mill witch you read about in fairy tales, she's about to turn 21, and she's about to burn at the stake. Her elder sisters burned too, everyone in her Coven burns. Because they are Thorn Witches, ones with powers to cross the veil from life into death and protect it. Until one night one of her sisters, Ella, goes to patrol death and does not return.

While Ella is seemingly trapped in death, Penny is trying to convince her family and her coven to go in and save her. Unfortunately, a caveat to walking in death is that only one Thorn Witch can be in the veil at any one time. But Penny knows something is wrong, she can see her family acting strangely and she's decided to break the most fundamental rule... she will cross into death to save her sister.

What follows are countless revelations about the world she lives in, the immortal tyrannical ruler who has all covens bound to his servitude, and how Penny discovers who she really is and what she is capable of doing to destroy the suffering of everyone around her.

The Review (May Contain Spoilers)

Off the bat, this book is very descriptive, there's an air of mystery surrounding the complex world that these witches are living in. Especially when it pertains to the library, where there are books which have been restricted by the High Warden and effectively banished. There is a looming gothic presence, which I love, however, I felt the plot a little hard to grasp in the beginning. It seems to jump straight into the plot with not a lot of set up. Granted the plot isn't really that convoluted, but it does raise some questions that I have that I'll point out a little later.

Despite the jumpstart, it is incredibly dark. These witches we are following are Thorn Witches. Their job in this world is literally to die, every night, by burning at the stake and enter through the veil into death. There is a lot of description around death, and dying, and watching others go through this process that it really hammers home the idea that these witches are not to be envied. Their job in death is to patrol the veil to make sure that the souls of recently departed cross the 'Horizon' safely into eternal rest. If they do not, the souls risk twisting and turning into fog-wraiths. These nasties can cross over into Life if the veil is damaged and wreak havoc. 

Here in lies the first of my grievances with this novel. Penny at one of her first passings into the veil draws a sword into the sand, manifests this sword and slays a fog-wraith. Bad ass, good for her. However, no where previously written has she gone to any classes, or been shown training with a sword to kill them. She simply states that killing a fog-wraith was nothing for her with all her training. The only places she has been to in this book up until this point has been the burning chamber, her bedroom, the dining hall and the library... It set the stage for a lot of magic in this book to be spontaneously convenient.

One of my other issues with this book was the characters and their relationships felt very hollow. Penny doesn't seem to have any friends outside of her sisters, and her first relationships outside of her own family appear to be love interests. Unfortunately, I feel the same as I did when I was reading 'Shadow & Bone', that the relationships were only there to be a plot device to drive the narrative forward. There was nothing else about these relationships which felt compelling. Things may develop over the 2nd novel, and I am really hoping they do, because relationships of convenience are not my thing.

Overall Thoughts

I can confidently say this book did nothing new for me in terms of genre or storytelling, but it also did not suck. Katherine put a lot of work into developing a world suppressed by a tyrannical ruler, multiple different types of witches within a compound suppressed by his rule, and each coven being unique and completely different from any other. The richness of the world however, was lost on me. As I had mentioned above, a lot of the magic and characters felt convenient. There was no real development of the world, and instead of seeing a fleshed out magic system explained and then utilized, it was used but never explained.

How do the Thorn witches cross over through the veil? How do they come back into life? How does the Guilding magic actually work? When did Penny learn to fight with a sword? Why can Thorn witches draw swords into the sand in death and then manifest them physically? When did Penny learn to control her magic? These and more questions I do wish were answered in this book, and I hope maybe there will be an explanation in the 2nd.

I would recommend this book to you if you enjoyed 'Shadow & Bone' or 'The Dagger and the Flame'. The narratives are not like each other in the slightest, but have themes of practical uses for magic, faction style divisions between users of magic, and follow one main female protagonist who is trying to discover how to destroy a looming threat over their freedom. Personally I feel that 'The Dagger and the Flame' did these concepts the best, and I would recommend it if you have read this novel and wanted something similar to read in future.

One Dark Night - Hannah Richell // Book Review

 

One Dark Night
Hannah Richell || Publication Date - 01.01.2025

One dark night in the woods, and a party that takes a disturbing turn. 

Fiction | Thriller

Affiliate Link - https://bookshop.org/a/110173/9781668081334

There's a legend in this small town. On a lonely stretch of road engulfed on either side by dense forest, there's a girl in a white dress. She wanders aimlessly, and if you see her, it's said you will never be seen again.

The morning after Halloween, a scout group is hiking a trail through these woods which leads to an old stone folly. What they discover, is the grim and staged body of a girl in white. This rocks the small town, for believers of the woman who haunts the forest, and those who are terrified a murderer is roaming the streets.

Was this girl the victim of a Halloween party turned violent in the woods? Or was she killed to represent something more sinister, ritualistic perhaps? The answers lie with a local police detective and a broken family, where they attempt to navigate this crime and try to piece together the case, and their family.

The Review (May Contain Spoilers)

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me early access to this eARC for an honest review!

Firstly I want to acknowledge that I thoroughly devoured this thriller. It left everything up to the imagination and gave nothing away until the very end. Hannah's writing was atmospheric and created the dank and eerie picture I needed to get sucked into this mystery. No one in this novel was as they seemed and it leant heavily into the creepy, claustrophobic, small town aura I loved.

As much as I love that it played on a real location, it would have been fun to have leant into the superstition a little more, even leaving a final 'is it really true?' impression that lingers in the back of readers minds. There was also a scene in the book which takes place between two characters at a house. This was CREEPY! Intricately disturbing, but sadly, nothing really went anywhere with it. It was disappointing, because with the above mentions, I felt that Hannah had the makings of something truly gripping, but let it slip into 'just another crime novel'.

I do feel, however, that the writing does an amazing job of tying everything together. As much as there are influences in this novel I wish had more attention paid to them, overall it was a solid read. I was guessing where it was going to go next, the entire book. There were a lot of layered twists that I did not see coming. One twist I did see coming, but was exponentially creepier than I was expecting and I was gripping my seat hoping someone would make it out alive. And the overarching mystery surrounding the death of the girl in the woods was interesting and intricately planned.

Overall Thoughts

If you like slow burn, eerie atmosphere, and questionable characters, then I would easily recommend this as a read for you. I generally don't write my ratings in my long form reviews, but this one I gave a 5☆ without question. I definitely had some issues, especially pertaining to the supernatural story that's loosely tied into the novel. I really wish they went harder with that aspect, as it is a main point in most of the marketing for this book and is seemingly casually brought up to add flavour to the story, but no spice.

Though with my feelings pushed aside, and if the supernatural hook is forgotten completely. I loved this novel. It genuinely kept me guessing through the whole story and had moments of pure, delicious, creepy tension, which I love. 

The Sirens - Emilia Hart // Book Review

The Sirens
Emilia Hart || Publication Date - 29.01.2025

A haunting and atmospheric tale of magical realism.

Fiction | Fantasy | Historical | Magical Realism

Affiliate Link - https://bookshop.org/a/110173/9781250280824

'The Sirens' follows a young woman named Lucy, set in 2019. While at University housing she attacks a boy as she was sleepwalking and, terrified of the consequences, she flees.

Twin sisters Mary and Eliza, set in 1800, are being sent to Australia from Ireland on a convict ship. They have also committed a similar crime and have been sentenced to the New World.

Lucy is experiencing odd dreams of these two sisters from over 200 years ago, she has no idea why, and decides to try and track down her older sister Jessica to see if she can get some answers.

When Lucy arrives at Jessica's house, she finds it practically abandoned. It's almost as if her sister has disappeared, the same as a dozen men off the coast of this clifftop town have done... without a trace. 

The Review (May Contain Spoilers)

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me early access to this eARC for an honest review!

This is the first novel I have read that's been written by Emilia Hart, and after making her debut in 2023 with 'Weyward,' I can see why she's celebrated as a talented author. That being said, this novel had all the parts I would need to piece together an amazing story. Mysteries that are interconnected with Historical events which shape the lives of modern day characters. Eerie and captivating folktales which may or may not actually be true. And I cannot forget the underlying narrative of empowering women, especially those who have suffered at the hands of someone else. Putting this all together in 'The Sirens' however, left me underwhelmed towards the end of the novel.

To say this novel is drenched in atmosphere is an understatement. It was a constant looming presence over the entire duration of the novel. I loved the uncertain, mystical energy it created. Definitely the strongest point of this novel next to Emilia's writing. Phenomenal. Emilia's descriptions of events, especially during the voyage of Mary and Eliza, were haunting to say the least. It was cruel, callous and full of wavering despair as the girls and their fellow convicts were hauled to Australia.

I had hoped that the weaving storyline of Mary and Eliza didn't abruptly finish when Lucy and Jessica end up together, unfortunately this was the case. It made their involvement and story almost meaningless as this novel could be told entirely without their perspectives and still make sense. There was a huge emphasis on these two girls, and for them to get pushed aside made them seem almost trivial, or an afterthought, to make the story fantastical. I would have liked to have seen them integrated properly into Lucy and Jess's discovery solidifying their linked storylines.

Overall Thoughts

I cannot speak for those who have read Emilia's first novel 'Weyward', however, as a stand alone novel it was a solid story. As I had described above, for me personally, it had all the elements I love when it comes to magical realism and enriching a modern story with it. The premise was interesting and the mixed media components of the novel made it engaging. I do wish, wholeheartedly, that the novel leaned into the fantastical more than it did. I feel it could have raised the potential of this novel, but instead it felt like an afterthought.

If you enjoy stories around magical realism, especially when it influences modern characters, magic and eerie associations with disappearances and the ocean, I could recommend this to you. I would double down on this recommendation if you have read and enjoyed 'The Lost Apothecary' by Sarah Penner. Although the premise is quite different, it has very similar themes and both stories embrace the empowerment of women's voices giving justice to those who have been harmed.