The Northern Witch's Book Blog

Thirteen Ways to Kill Lulabelle Rock by Maud Woolf 2 out of 5 Synopsis A washed up star creates a clone tasked with eliminating other clones of herself; a whip-smart and thrilling sci-fi read that's perfect for fans of Orphan Black, Killing Eve and Keeping it Real by Justina Robson. Set in a world of the near future, the celebrity elite have access to a technology that allows them to make perfect copies of themselves, known as Portraits. These Portraits exist to fulfil all the various duties that come as the price of fame. Our protagonist is the thirteenth copy made of the actress known as Lulabelle Rock. Her purpose is very to track down and eliminate her predecessors. While initially easy, her task is made difficult by the labyrinthine confusion of Bubble City and the unfortunate stirrings of a developing conscience. When she makes the mistake of falling in love with one of her targets, the would-be assassin faces the ultimate question; when you don’t want to kill yourself, what’...

Faebound by Saara El-Arifi 4 out of 5 Synopsis Yeeran is a warrior in the elven army and has known nothing but violence her whole life. Her sister, Lettle, is trying to make a living as a diviner, seeking prophecies of a better future. When a fatal mistake leads to Yeeran’s exile from the Elven lands, they are both forced into the terrifying wilderness beyond their borders. There they encounter the the fae court. The fae haven’t been seen for a millennium. But now Yeeran and Lettle are thrust into their seductive world – torn between their loyalty to each other, their elven homeland, and their hearts. . . Review Yeeran and her little sister Lettle are both doing their part in the Forever War. But when Lettle's prophecy that Yeeran will find glory in the East goes wrong, Yeeran is banished from the elf army, and stumbles upon the mythical fae. I received a free copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. The narrative is split equally between the two sisters, and although ...

The Lamplighter  by Crystal J. Bell 2 out of 5 Synopsis It’s an honor to bring light to the dark. The nineteenth-century whaling village of Warbler is famous for its lucky ship figureheads—and infamous for people disappearing into the nightly fog. In this murky locale, the lamplighter is synonymous with safety and protection, and it’s a position Temperance assumes when her father is found hanging from one of the lampposts. Though Tempe proves competent, the town is still hesitant to let a woman handle this responsibility. When a girl disappears after two lamps go out, Tempe’s ability to provide for her mother and younger sister hangs in the balance. She scrambles for answers, hindered at every turn by the village authorities’ call for her removal. As more villagers vanish under her watch, Tempe discovers unsettling truths about the famous Warbler figureheads and her own beloved father. But her warnings of a monster are ignored, even by her own family. Now she must follow the light ...

On The Edge: Forest and Fae by M.J. Glenn 4 out of 5 Synopsis For two years, Ebony Wick has survived alone as an outlaw and highwaywoman in Rundlewood Forest. She doesn’t need people. She only needs to survive. But when Hunter Sparrow breaks into her camp and invites her to join his gang, the Bounty Hunters, she finds herself facing a difficult choice. With a burning desire for revenge against a powerful enemy, Ebony must choose between reason and instinct. But in doing so, she discovers a long-hidden secret that will change her world forever. Review Ebony Wick doesn't need anyone; she's made an art of surviving alone, but Hunter wants her to join his Bounty Hunters, and he won't take no for an answer. This story follows our main character, Ebony, as she goes about her life, settles some grievances, and weighs up the pros and cons of joining a team. She spends most of her time in Rundlewood Forest, living in harmony with the fae that terrify most folk. Well, that and a red-...

The Future by Naomi Alderman 2 out of 5 Synopsis The latest novel from the Women’s Prize-winning, bestselling author of The Power, The Future is a white-knuckle tour de force and dazzling exploration of the world we have made and where we are going. Lai Zhen is about to die. As an Internet-famous survivalist, she’s spent her life prepping for the end of the world. But now, desperate and cornered in a mall in Singapore, she’s mad she might go out not knowing what the hell is going on. If she makes it out alive, what kind of a future will be waiting for her? Across the world, Martha Einkorn works the room at a gathering of mega-rich companies hell-bent securing a future just for them. Covert weapons, private weather, technological prophecy, when Martha fled her father’s compound she may have left the cult behind, but if the apocalyptic warnings of his fox and rabbit sermon are starting to come true, how much future is actually left? Martha and Zhen’s worlds are about to collide. While a ...

Hurricane Wars by Thea Guanzon 3 out of 5 Synopsis All Talasyn has ever known is the Hurricane Wars. Growing up an orphan in a nation under siege by the ruthless Night Emperor, Talasyn has found her family among the soldiers who fight for freedom. But she is hiding a deadly secret: light magic courses through her veins, a blazing power believed to have been wiped out years ago that can cut through the Night Empire's shadows. Prince Alaric, the emperor's only son and heir, has been forged into a weapon by his father. Tasked with obliterating any threats to the Night Empire's rule with the strength of his armies and mighty Shadow magic, Alaric has never been bested. That is until he sees Talasyn burning brightly on the battlefield with the magic that killed his grandfather, turned his father into a monster, and ignited the Hurricane Wars. In a clash of light and dark, their powers merge and create a force the likes of which has never been seen. Talasyn and Alaric both know th...

The Seawomen by Chloe Timms 5 out of 5 Synopsis Esta has known nothing but Eden's Isle her whole life. Raised by her grandmother, after a fire claimed her parents and scarred her face, she's instructed to piety, to deference, and acquiescence by a religious society that will not suffer anything else. Cut off from the moral iniquity of the mainland, the island believes it can stay free of the Seawomen - creatures from the water that came upon land to corrupt God's creation and Man. The inhabitants fear the water and believe the only way to remain virtuous is to never enter it, and for the women to conceive within 12 months of their appointed motheryear. If they do not conceive, they're cast back into the ocean as a sacrifice in an act called the Untethering. Esta witnesses such an act as a child. Her childhood growing up on the island is fraught with tension as she comes to the terms with the prohibitive malaise of the culture she finds herself in. Before long, she gets ...

The Housekeepers by Alex Hay 1 out of 5 Synopsis:  On the night of London's grandest ball, a bold group of women launches a daring revenge heist against Mayfair society. Mrs. King is no ordinary housekeeper. Born into a world of con artists and thieves, she’s made herself respectable, running the grandest home in Mayfair. The place is packed with treasures, a glittering symbol of wealth and power, but dark secrets lurk in the shadows. When Mrs. King is suddenly dismissed from her position, she recruits an eclectic group of women to join her in revenge: A black-market queen out to settle her scores; an actress desperate for a magnificent part; a seamstress dreaming of a better life; and Mrs. King’s predecessor, with her own desire for vengeance. Review When Mrs King is let go from her housekeeper position, she plans to get revenge with the biggest heist London has ever seen. They plan to strip one of the most expensive houses bare, on the night its owner holds their first ball. I re...

The Foxglove King by Hannah Whitten 3 out of 5 Synopsis When Lore was thirteen, she escaped a cult in the catacombs beneath the city of Dellaire. And in the ten years since, she’s lived by one rule: don’t let them find you. Easier said than done, when her death magic ties her to the city. Mortem, the magic born from death, is a high-priced and illicit commodity in Dellaire, and Lore’s job running poisons keeps her in food, shelter, and relative security. But when a run goes wrong and Lore’s power is revealed, she’s taken by the Presque Mort, a group of warrior-monks sanctioned to use Mortem working for the Sainted King. Lore fully expects a pyre, but King August has a different plan. Entire villages on the outskirts of the country have been dying overnight, seemingly at random. Lore can either use her magic to find out what’s happening and who in the King’s court is responsible, or die. Lore is thrust into the Sainted King’s glittering court, where no one can be believed and even fewer...

Clandestine Lives by Tony Duxbury 2 out of 5 Synopsis A legendary assassin, the most feared in the land. A beautiful courtesan, famed for her beauty and skill; and a jester, servant to a Duke with a fearsome reputation. Three lives, one story. Their fates are bound together in a way in which none of them could ever have imagined. They are unwittingly tied together by a heinous curse. Each one slowly becomes aware of their strange existence until finally, the horrible truth is revealed. As the Empire slides into civil war, all three must confront the unpalatable truth about themselves. Unfortunately, none will be free to unravel the mystery of their past unless they first embroil themselves in the schemes of others. Review The Empire is slipping closer to civil war, and three unlikely heroes are brought together to set things back in the Duke's favour. I received a free copy in exchange for an honest review. This story is split between three narrators. Jax is the main character. He...

HappyHead by Josh Silver 2 out of 5 Synopsis We are in an epidemic. An epidemic of unhappiness.  Friends, here is the good news: HappyHead has the answer.  When Seb is offered a place on a radical retreat designed to solve the national crisis of teenage unhappiness, he is determined to change how people see him and make his parents proud. But as he finds himself drawn to the enigmatic Finn, Seb starts to question the true nature of the challenges they must undergo. The deeper into the programme the boys get, the more disturbing the assessments become, until it’s clear there may be no escape... Review Seb has been selected to go to a remote Scottish retreat where teens will attempt an intense course in happiness. Except, not everything is as it seems. I received a free copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Seb is just an ordinary teen. He lacks the confidence of others, and struggles with anxiety, but is a likeable chap. He has been selected for the first govern...

The Darkest Part of the Forest by Holly Black 4 out of 5 Synopsis Children can have a cruel, absolute sense of justice. Children can kill a monster and feel quite proud of themselves. A girl can look at her brother and believe they’re destined to be a knight and a bard who battle evil. She can believe she’s found the thing she’s been made for. Hazel lives with her brother, Ben, in the strange town of Fairfold where humans and fae exist side by side. The faeries’ seemingly harmless magic attracts tourists, but Hazel knows how dangerous they can be, and she knows how to stop them. Or she did, once. At the center of it all, there is a glass coffin in the woods. It rests right on the ground and in it sleeps a boy with horns on his head and ears as pointed as knives. Hazel and Ben were both in love with him as children. The boy has slept there for generations, never waking. Until one day, he does… As the world turns upside down, Hazel tries to remember her years pretending to be a knight. B...

Ink Blood Sister Scribe by Emma Törzs 4 out of 5 Synopsis Some books should never be opened. Ink Blood Sister Scribe follows a family tasked with guarding a trove of magical but deadly books, and the shadowy organisation that will do anything to get them back...even murder. ____________ Joanna Kalotay lives alone in the woods of Vermont, the sole protector of a collection of rare books; books that will allow someone to walk through walls or turn water into wine. Books of magic. Her estranged older sister Esther moves between countries and jobs, constantly changing, never staying anywhere longer than a year, desperate to avoid the deadly magic that killed her mother. Currently working on a research base in Antarctica, she has found love and perhaps a sort of happiness. But when she finds spots of blood on the mirrors in the research base, she knows someone is coming for her, and that Joanna and her collection are in danger. If they are to survive, she and Joanna must unravel the sec...

A Most Intriguing Lady by Sarah Ferguson 1 out of 5 Synopsis INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER From Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York, a sweeping, romantic compulsively readable historical saga about a Duke’s daughter—the perfect Victorian lady—who secretly moonlights as an amateur sleuth for high society’s inner circle.  Victorian London was notorious for its pickpockets. But in the country houses of the elite, gentleman burglars, art thieves and con men preyed on the rich and titled. Wealthy victims—with their pride and reputation at stake—would never go to the police. What they needed was a society insider, one of their own, a person of discretion and finely tuned powers of observation, adept at navigating intrigue. That person was Lady Mary Montagu Douglas Scott, the youngest child of Queen Victoria’s close friends the Duke and Duchess of Buccleuch. Bookish, fiercely intelligent, and a keen observer, Mary has deliberately cultivated a mousey persona that allows her to remain overlooke...

The Witch in the Well by Camilla Bruce 4 out of 5 Synopsis Once upon a time, the townspeople of F -. did something bad . . . Local schoolteacher Catherine Evans has made writing the definitive account of what happened when Ilsbeth Clark drowned in the well her life's work. Some don't want the past raked up, but Catherine is determined to shine a light upon that shameful event. Because Ilsbeth was an innocent, shunned and ostracized by rumour-mongers and ill-wishers, and someone has to speak up for her. And who better than Catherine, who has herself felt the sting and hurt of such whisperings? And then a childhood friend returns to F -. Elena is a successful author who's earned a certain celebrity. Now in search of a new subject, she announces her intention to write a book about the long-dead woman. And Elena has everything Catherine has not. A platform. And connections. And no one seems to care that this book will be pure speculation, tainting Ilsbeth's memory. Catherin...

The Direction of the Wind by Mansi Shah 3 out of 5 Synopsis A heartfelt story that spans continents and generations, about a young woman who searches for answers about a mother she barely remembers. Sophie Shah was six when she learned her mother, Nita, had died. For twenty-two years, she shouldered the burden of that loss. But when her father passes away, Sophie discovers a cache of hidden letters revealing a shattering her mother didn’t die. She left . Nita Shah had everything most women dreamed of in her hometown of Ahmedabad, India—a loving husband, a doting daughter, financial security—but in her heart, she felt like she was living a lie. Fueled by her creative ambitions, Nita moved to Paris, the artists’ capital of the world—even though it meant leaving her family behind. But once in Paris, Nita’s decision and its consequences would haunt her in ways she never expected. Now that Sophie knows the truth, she’s determined to find the mother who abandoned her. Sophie jets off to Pari...