Reviews and Comments

The first half of the book is the story of a lesbian couple meeting and negotiating their relationship. The magic bit is minimal. It's drawn out, a bit convoluted, and if that were the book, it would be one star. The second half is the story of their daughter, who can speak with the dead because her godmother is Death, and that is genuinely interesting and thought-provoking. More magic, less boring. If that were the book, it would be four stars. So we'll split the difference.

Solid rec for fans of 90s feminist fiction with strong themes (but no real plot lines) of magic and witchcraft.

First of all: excellent writing. Honestly. Strong line-by-line articulation of ideas.

The first half of the book is Anton LaVey's background and it's honestly fascinating. His childhood, years in the carnival and early exploits are genuinely fun. He lived 10 lives before he was 40. Of course, almost everything is entirely fabricated and has been debunked. So treat it as pure fiction.

The second half was written while LaVey was still alive but after the point he became a recluse. It's mostly him spouting off on his sexist, racist, old-man-yells-at-sky bullshit. It goes on for a shocking length, and frankly I skipped entire passages.

Recommended as a manufactured historical artifact, but not a moral compass, and that has absolutely nothing to do with religion.

I tried. The story of unjust incarceration in the beginning was fascinating. Then, everything fell absolutely flat. I tried to understand any of the characters, but they all kind of bled together over weird scattered diversions and the story went nowhere. Gave up 25% in. I wanted to love this -- the premise sounds great! -- but couldn't find anything to grasp.

Dark, creative fantasy/horror set in France during the height of the plague. Every chapter is a bounty of supernatural horror as well as the terrors of desperate people surviving in times of insane loss and death. Extremely well-crafted. The tight writing is lit up by sharp historical details and believable, relatable characters. Highly recommended for horror fans as well as fans of a high-resolution medieval set piece.