ARC Review: The Witch of Willow Hall by Hester Fox

37007910 TITLE: The Witch of Willow Hall

AUTHOR: Hester Fox

PUBLICATION DATE: October 2nd, 2018

GENRE: Romance, Historical Fiction, Paranormal

TRIGGER WARNINGS: incest, miscarriage

Special thanks to NetGalley and Graydon House for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Synopsis:

Two centuries after the Salem witch trials, there’s still one witch left in Massachusetts. But she doesn’t even know it.

Take this as a warning: if you are not able or willing to control yourself, it will not only be you who suffers the consequences, but those around you, as well.

New Oldbury, 1821

In the wake of a scandal, the Montrose family and their three daughters—Catherine, Lydia and Emeline—flee Boston for their new country home, Willow Hall.

The estate seems sleepy and idyllic. But a subtle menace creeps into the atmosphere, remnants of a dark history that call to Lydia, and to the youngest, Emeline.

All three daughters will be irrevocably changed by what follows, but none more than Lydia, who must draw on a power she never knew she possessed if she wants to protect those she loves. For Willow Hall’s secrets will rise, in the end…

my review

I LOVE witch-y books. I love the atmosphere of them. Especially when they make me feel like it’s an October night even when it’s actually July. The Witch of Willow Hall achieved this, but I don’t think it’s a book that will stick with me.

I quite enjoyed Lydia’s voice. She seemed to be fairly level headed, but I definitely would not have stuck by Catherine the way she did.. Catherine was awful and just got worse and worse. I’m pretty disappointed that she never got what she deserved. She’s lucky she has a sister that is as devoted to their family as Lydia is.

I really enjoyed the romance in this! There’s just something romantic about how courting and dating used to happen. I like Mr. Barrett a lot. Cyrus was awful, but I’m glad he was dealt with.

Emeline broke my heart. I didn’t expect what happened to happen, but after finishing the book I realized I really should have.

It was a bit of a slow burn, but I feel like it went with the tone of the book very well. I have found that lots of historical fiction books are slower than contemporaries and I usually end up enjoying it.

The only thing that really disappoints me about this novel is that it really didn’t have much witchcraft in it. Tons of ghosts, but very little practice.

The ending was kind of perfect, though. It wrapped everything up nicely, if not a little quickly.

The Witch of Willow Hall is a decent book, just not amazing. I feel like it’s going to be one of those books that I won’t be able to remember the names of the characters or the plot a year from now.