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allygrove's review against another edition
5.0
Last year I had the pleasure of reading Manningtree and my interest in these characters were piqued. When I heard Becky was expanding on her tale I was excited to see where the shadows would carry us. The story was dark and twisted taking the reader into places best not explored in the dark. Once again Becky leaves me hungry to know more. This is a spooky tale that has a few surprises left even if you did read her previous tale. I recommend you visit the town of Manningtree for a stay.
ruth_miranda's review against another edition
5.0
I just finished reading this precious gem last night and I'm still reeling. Goosebumps all over! This is the kind of book that I go back to, often, as it wakes up my imagination and touches on all those things that go bump in the night and awaken my senses. Maybe some people will find it scary, for me it's eerie and magical. The whole ambiance is so well done, it wraps around you with cold, clawing fingers and does not let go. The storylines entwine like poisonous vines throughout the pages, keep you locked in a grip you just don't want to leave until you're done with it. The writing is exquisite, and where the author most excells: she can go from the Elizabethan England style of conversation to a vivid account of paranormal activity that will be credible enough to make you sit a little forward on your chair and grip the sides of it, to a relate that is so professional and factual as to feel like you are indeed immersed in redtape reports. One of the best books I've read lately, I seriously cannot understand how this hasn't got more reads and reviews, it is THAT GOOD!!!
pbanditp's review
4.0
Matthew Hopkins, the Witchfinder General, was a real person back in the 1640’s who was the judge and executioner that sent up to 230 people to their deaths in just a couple of years. The meat of this book is not nonfiction but it very well could be. This feels like such a large story for such a short book. Women are persecuted for such crimes as trying to cure a child’s fever. Guilt and execution are inevitable unless they give up the names of other witches.
However, the dead do not stay in the past. Angry spirits of some women come back in the modern time to drive out the living as paranormal investigators try to help the spirit crossover.
Becky Wright has left the names of the so called witches out, being respectful and knowing that the accusations are fabricated. While not having names did get a little confusing, it was honorable of her to do that. What these women went through was a disgusting display of masculine power that churned my insides while I read it. I really wanted to jump into the book and kick all of these guys in the round tables
However, the dead do not stay in the past. Angry spirits of some women come back in the modern time to drive out the living as paranormal investigators try to help the spirit crossover.
Becky Wright has left the names of the so called witches out, being respectful and knowing that the accusations are fabricated. While not having names did get a little confusing, it was honorable of her to do that. What these women went through was a disgusting display of masculine power that churned my insides while I read it. I really wanted to jump into the book and kick all of these guys in the round tables
namelesssam_'s review
4.0
So I found this book totally randomly. I wasn't looking for anything at all, but then Beverley Lee recommended this on Instagram. I think I didn't even look at the cover because she said the key word: witches. That's all I needed to know and I bought it, started it straight away and didn't even check what I was going into.
So basically, this book follows two different time lines: first one is set in 1645 and basically we follow the so-called Witchfinder in their mission. They have to find those who have been labeled as witches in order to punish them and rid the countryside of their poisonous presence. Based on a true series of events, Becky Wright (the author) is dragging the reader in this scary spiral and is showing us a reality that sometimes gets forgotten or ignored because of how harsh and barbaric it has been.
This leads the reader further in History, to the second timeline set in 2016 where Heather and Alex are traveling in the middle of the night in order to reach a manor and help one of their clients. The couple is in fact involved in paranormal activities and they're medium, people who can communicate with spirits and the other side and who help those who are haunted by them. Their mission for the night is to go and give some peace to a spirit that has been haunting a house and hurting those who live there. Unfortunately things don't always go as planned or expected and Heather will soon find out that there's more to that than what she had imagined.
This book is about fear of the unknown, mostly, because if you think about it the Inquisition was condemning and processing people mostly because those who reported them were afraid of the little behaviors they couldn't understand.
It's also about grief, losing someone you love and losing faith in those you thought were loving you. It's also about revenge because the love that has been taken away unfairly needs to be avenged somehow. But I guess there's more to that, maybe the pain that they felt, that has been inflicted; the betrayal; the loneliness and the rage.
The first storyline of the book is full of fear a bit of confusion, because what Becky does amazingly is to make you feel the main character's emotions throughout the novel. So at the beginning the reader can feel the fear belonging to the unknown, to not knowing what to expect next, the powerless feeling that hits when you don't know what to do, what's the next right thing - quoting Frozen II, here, because I'm a geek and I can't help it.
I also felt the filth, the loneliness, the resignation when the time finally comes. The relief.
The only thing that seemed to be a bit forced, in my opinion, was the writing style. It was in line with the setting in time and place, it was very realistic and accurate, but somehow I felt like it wasn't really Becky's comfort zone. I didn't read much else by her (but I'm planning on to, very soon) so I can't tell you if this is because it's not her actual and usual writing style, if it was due to the fact that she chose to represent a era as faithfully as possible and found the writing style to be on a different level, maybe to hard or what, but every now and then I struggled to let myself be in the story and I had to re-read a few passages.
In the second part I felt like the author was more comfortable with the writing style. The story developed without any problems and Becky enriched it with a touch of paranormal element.
Holy crap, guys. Holy. Crap.
I got sooooo scared you can't imagine! I was totally hooked from page one despite the fact that the writing style of the first storyline wasn't my favorite, and when I got to the parts in which the mediums start to communicate and Becky lets her characters speak in order to tell us another story, well... Don't read the book when you're in the dark. Or do, if you want to get spooked and shivery and totally amazed by how easily all the puzzle pieces come together and create the most amazing chain of events I've ever read about.
It's creepy, it's witch-y, it's morally grey and the ending is spectacular. I didn't see it coming, I honestly didn't foresee anything of what happens because I was too busy following the story step by step with every single character. It was so good, so engaging I couldn't stop thinking about it even after I finished the book. Sometimes I still get goosebumps when I think about the story.
So definitely, if you're into witches and you want to read something that doesn't revolve around positive elemental magic, if you want to get spooked and be teleported in a reality almost forgotten, than this is the book for you. Becky does an amazing job in describing atmospheres and places that the reader can't help but live the book and not only read it. But be aware of the fact that you might not sleep for a couple of nights and that you will always have to check your back when you know you've done something potentially wrong.
Remember that nothing goes unpunished nor unnoticed.
So basically, this book follows two different time lines: first one is set in 1645 and basically we follow the so-called Witchfinder in their mission. They have to find those who have been labeled as witches in order to punish them and rid the countryside of their poisonous presence. Based on a true series of events, Becky Wright (the author) is dragging the reader in this scary spiral and is showing us a reality that sometimes gets forgotten or ignored because of how harsh and barbaric it has been.
This leads the reader further in History, to the second timeline set in 2016 where Heather and Alex are traveling in the middle of the night in order to reach a manor and help one of their clients. The couple is in fact involved in paranormal activities and they're medium, people who can communicate with spirits and the other side and who help those who are haunted by them. Their mission for the night is to go and give some peace to a spirit that has been haunting a house and hurting those who live there. Unfortunately things don't always go as planned or expected and Heather will soon find out that there's more to that than what she had imagined.
This book is about fear of the unknown, mostly, because if you think about it the Inquisition was condemning and processing people mostly because those who reported them were afraid of the little behaviors they couldn't understand.
It's also about grief, losing someone you love and losing faith in those you thought were loving you. It's also about revenge because the love that has been taken away unfairly needs to be avenged somehow. But I guess there's more to that, maybe the pain that they felt, that has been inflicted; the betrayal; the loneliness and the rage.
The first storyline of the book is full of fear a bit of confusion, because what Becky does amazingly is to make you feel the main character's emotions throughout the novel. So at the beginning the reader can feel the fear belonging to the unknown, to not knowing what to expect next, the powerless feeling that hits when you don't know what to do, what's the next right thing - quoting Frozen II, here, because I'm a geek and I can't help it.
I also felt the filth, the loneliness, the resignation when the time finally comes. The relief.
The only thing that seemed to be a bit forced, in my opinion, was the writing style. It was in line with the setting in time and place, it was very realistic and accurate, but somehow I felt like it wasn't really Becky's comfort zone. I didn't read much else by her (but I'm planning on to, very soon) so I can't tell you if this is because it's not her actual and usual writing style, if it was due to the fact that she chose to represent a era as faithfully as possible and found the writing style to be on a different level, maybe to hard or what, but every now and then I struggled to let myself be in the story and I had to re-read a few passages.
In the second part I felt like the author was more comfortable with the writing style. The story developed without any problems and Becky enriched it with a touch of paranormal element.
Holy crap, guys. Holy. Crap.
I got sooooo scared you can't imagine! I was totally hooked from page one despite the fact that the writing style of the first storyline wasn't my favorite, and when I got to the parts in which the mediums start to communicate and Becky lets her characters speak in order to tell us another story, well... Don't read the book when you're in the dark. Or do, if you want to get spooked and shivery and totally amazed by how easily all the puzzle pieces come together and create the most amazing chain of events I've ever read about.
It's creepy, it's witch-y, it's morally grey and the ending is spectacular. I didn't see it coming, I honestly didn't foresee anything of what happens because I was too busy following the story step by step with every single character. It was so good, so engaging I couldn't stop thinking about it even after I finished the book. Sometimes I still get goosebumps when I think about the story.
So definitely, if you're into witches and you want to read something that doesn't revolve around positive elemental magic, if you want to get spooked and be teleported in a reality almost forgotten, than this is the book for you. Becky does an amazing job in describing atmospheres and places that the reader can't help but live the book and not only read it. But be aware of the fact that you might not sleep for a couple of nights and that you will always have to check your back when you know you've done something potentially wrong.
Remember that nothing goes unpunished nor unnoticed.
ruth_miranda's review
5.0
I just finished reading this precious gem last night and I'm still reeling. Goosebumps all over! This is the kind of book that I go back to, often, as it wakes up my imagination and touches on all those things that go bump in the night and awaken my senses. Maybe some people will find it scary, for me it's eerie and magical. The whole ambiance is so well done, it wraps around you with cold, clawing fingers and does not let go. The storylines entwine like poisonous vines throughout the pages, keep you locked in a grip you just don't want to leave until you're done with it. The writing is exquisite, and where the author most excells: she can go from the Elizabethan England style of conversation to a vivid account of paranormal activity that will be credible enough to make you sit a little forward on your chair and grip the sides of it, to a relate that is so professional and factual as to feel like you are indeed immersed in redtape reports. One of the best books I've read lately, I seriously cannot understand how this hasn't got more reads and reviews, it is THAT GOOD!!!
booksies_booksies's review against another edition
5.0
I adored this extended version of The Manning Tree Account! Where the author went with the story was unexpected and brilliant! The author has a very spooky but realistic take on what may have happened all those centuries ago, and her writing style is so elegant.
beverleyleeauthor's review against another edition
5.0
Daughters of the Oak is the special extended edition of The Manningtree Account which I read earlier this year.
The original story remains the framework of the book but Wright has delved deeper into character (and in so into darkness) with Daughters of the Oak.
What I find especially unsettling about this story is its base in actual fact. The Witchfinder General, Matthew Hopkins, isn't a fictional character. Women were subjected to terror and torment all in the name of religion. Once named as witch, their fates were sealed.
The author crafts an extremely well-written narrative in the period pieces of this book, something that is hard to do well without coming off as too flat or overused. And the modern sections flow from this seamlessly.
Wright builds her own tower of darkness, brick on brick, taking your hand and leading you into the places where light refuses to live.
You will want to leave a candle burning...
The original story remains the framework of the book but Wright has delved deeper into character (and in so into darkness) with Daughters of the Oak.
What I find especially unsettling about this story is its base in actual fact. The Witchfinder General, Matthew Hopkins, isn't a fictional character. Women were subjected to terror and torment all in the name of religion. Once named as witch, their fates were sealed.
The author crafts an extremely well-written narrative in the period pieces of this book, something that is hard to do well without coming off as too flat or overused. And the modern sections flow from this seamlessly.
Wright builds her own tower of darkness, brick on brick, taking your hand and leading you into the places where light refuses to live.
You will want to leave a candle burning...
findingmontauk1's review against another edition
4.0
a great story that combines past and present, witchcraft, paranoia, and the supernatural. the writing is pure elegance and helps blend the historical aspects of the novel very well.
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