Reviews with content warning for Violence - The Witch of Tin Mountain

Reviews tagging 'Violence'

The Witch of Tin Mountain by Paulette Kennedy

13 reviews

em23jjh's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

Overall I thought the story was pretty good. It was hard to keep the characters straight as it is simultaneously told from two different viewpoints in different times simultaneously. The first half of the story moved really slowly but the second half moved at a good pace. All of the main characters are gay or bi. At first I thought it was weird but then I thought about all the stories I've read where all the main characters were straight.

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lyssylyssy's review against another edition

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dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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tangleroot_eli's review against another edition

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challenging emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

This book has an intriguing premise and gets off to a good start. The settings are beautifully described, and some of the minor characters are quite vividly drawn. But the vast similarities between Deirdre and Gracelynn, as well as the large chunks of Deirdre’s story that we're told in Gracelynn’s sections made me feel like I was reading the same book twice at once. I really liked how the story(ies) resolve, but I definitely slogged through the middle.

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georgiabee's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

I really enjoyed this book. The switching POVs weaved together interesting story elements and illustrated the parallels between the characters despite the 50 year time difference. The characters voices are very similar, but I found that the switch between Deirdre's 3rd person narration and Gracelynn’s 1st person narration made it easier for me to keep details straight between the two storylines and I never had to go back to figure out whose chapter I was reading. While it did require a little suspension of disbelief,

I did like how it turned out that all the women were tied together by blood, and connected by their experiences with Bellflower.

The writing is beautiful! This book gave me a new appreciation for the dictionary/wikipedia capabilities on Kindle — I got to learn about different herbs and gained some shiny new vocab words! Also, gay witches!!!!

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eadrianschmitz's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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artemishi's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Characters: 9, I think Dierdre felt the most real as a character- being both tough and flawed. But the dual POV storyline with Gracelynn helped give us perspective on Dierdre's evolution as a person. Each character felt like their own person, and most of them contributed to plot and/or atmosphere, so I'd say they were additive.

Atmosphere: 9, between the colloquialisms, the realistic mass hysteria, the wild weather, and the ever-present threat of poverty in every character's life, the atmosphere was very much on point. As was the tension. I live at the foothills of the Appalachians, not the Ozarks of Arkansas in which the story is set- so I only have vague understanding of the crags and deep hollers and wending rivers that shape the geography of this story. However, I could picture it pretty darn well.

Writing: 10, I thought the writing felt effortless, with a good balance of internal dialogue narration and external dialogue. The villain had motivations and foibles, and at times a humanity that made his monstrous nature even more unsettling. I wouldn't say I found it scary, but disturbing in that "people are so easily manipulated" way. I also felt the romantic tension well, and the representation felt organic.

Plot: 8, the overall plot was on par with expectations, though at times the pacing dragged for lack of investment in current storyline. I think that might be a common issue with multiple POV/timeline stories. Nevertheless, by about 70% in I was hooked and had difficulty putting it down.

Intrigue: 8, I did think the ending wrapped up too neatly and happily- but then, there was plenty of suffering for the MCs before their epilogue so perhaps I'm just mean. I expected some very end hat-tip suggestion of freaky events, but alas.

Logic: 9, the characters all acted in accordance with their motives and fears, which seemed generally along the lines of anger, pride, fear, short-sightedness....all the very human things. There's terrible trauma and tremendous grit, and nobody was purely a villain or purely a hero.

Enjoyment: 9, For the most part, I felt engaged and intrigued by the story as well as the atmosphere.

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