Cackle

When I first read [b:The Return|49878129|The Return|Rachel Harrison|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1565966737l/49878129.SX50_SY75.jpg|71378230] by Rachel Harrison, I was initially ambivalent about it, but the more time that elapsed since finishing it, the more fondly I looked back on it. (Maybe because I read a lot of worse books after it, but in hindsight it wasn't as bad as I first thought.) Finishing this one, I'm also feeling kind of neutral right now, but there's a nonzero chance that this shift happens again.

It almost feels misleading to label this as a horror story. There are certainly unmistakable supernatural elements and spooky bits (if you have arachnophobia, maybe skip this one), but really at heart it's a character study that has some vaguely disturbing bits lurking in the dark corners.

We have a protagonist, Annie, that was recently broken up with, and she is not taking it well. Needing a change of scenery, she moves to a new town and hits it off with one of the locals, resulting in a fast and intense friendship. As in too intense. It takes a while to get there, but once you realize this is a story about a deeply dependent person having yet another deeply dependent person latch onto them it gets tense. Especially when every encounter feels like it's one wrong answer or misunderstood joke away from spiraling into a dangerous confrontation, doubly so when you're not exactly certain of the threatening party's limits.

Annie absolutely is a different person by the end of the book, and it was a change for the better. The journey to get there felt a little off to me however; the two thirds or so felt too long, and the last third felt too fast. But we did get somewhere, so at least there's that.

(There was also a lot of focus on food and meals in this book. So much so that it was hard to ignore. The significance kind of went over my head though; maybe one of you can tell me what I missed.)

So again, we have a tale about female friendship with a healthy dash of horror elements just like The Return, but this still managed to strike a completely different vibe and dynamic that this book stands up on its own without stealing too much from its predecessor.

I had very low expectations for this. Obviously, I was wrong. I’m guessing I based that on a synopsis that went something like this: when the man Annie expected to marry breaks up with her, she moves to a tiny town where she makes a friend who helps her -a woman previously defined by her relationship to a man - learn to enjoy being on her own. Too many books with a set up like that end up overly misandristic. This one doesn’t. But honestly this book ended up being so much fun I don’t think I would have minded if it went that route. This is probably the best witch-oriented book I’ve ever read, even though I think certain elements mean it still should be categorized in a genre I don’t tend to like (it’s very chick lit). I may be adding an extra star because I enjoyed it despite those elements, but given that I will probably be referencing this book as an example I don’t hate, I think that star is well earned.

I adored this book! This is the cozy wicked witch origin story that you didn't know you needed. It has farmer's markets, a quaint small town, amazing banter, lots of cooking and wine, and an adorable spider who likes to wear costumes. What's not to love?Annie moves to a small town in upstate New York that seems to be just a bit too perfect. She is taken under the wing of an impossibly glamorous woman who seems to know everyone in town. She just floats through life and ... doesn't seem to pay for anything? Sure, she joked about cursing Annie's unruly high school students the night before a bad thing happened in class but that is just a coincidence, right? Annie is dealing with a bad breakup and her confidence is shook. She needs someone to believe in her. So what if the town people keep warning her to stay away from her new friend? This is good for her. Yeah, Sophie has a lot of ghosts living in her mansion in the woods but that happens sometimes. I haven't seen witch stories written from this perspective before. I loved it and read most of it in one sitting. I liked the fact that the author didn't keep Annie in the dark for too long. Once she admitted what Sophie was to herself, she embraced the life. This book takes female friendship and empowerment all the way to highest level. Watch out world!That cover is just perfectly delightful too. I would absolutely buy that tea set. This review was originally posted on Based On A True Story