winterzeshoek's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
occultivatedbooks's review against another edition
3.0
I have mixed feelings about these books (there are 3 in one).
On one hand it was an intriguing look into 90s Wiccan culture and reminder of how much things have changed since then. On the other, it was 90s culture and some of the language and attitudes really sit wrong from a 2020-21 perspective.
In book 1 Speak Daggers to Her, it was hard to look Bast (the protagonist) for most of the novel.
In book 2 Book of Moons, the story was more compelling and I’d gotten used to Bast so I was more sympathetic to her. The at said, the Queen Mary of Scots plot line was hard to follow and felt disjointed. If anything book 2 really cemented my feelings about how oddly structured Edghl’s narrative style is. I enjoyed the story but Edghill’s vagueness in narration often drove me a little crazy.
In book 3, Bowl of Night, I found a story that was more compelling to read but the ending was so obvious that it was a bit painful to follow Bast till she got there. Bast’s relationships are painful to watch throughout all 3 novels but this one once again made you scratch your head and wonder why she was part of this community at all.
What I did really appreciate in the novels, aside from the snapshot of 90s Wiccan culture, was Bast’s own growing disenchantment with the Wicca she was immersed in. She was looking for something more that she wasn’t finding in her community and even though that is never reconciled (which is frustrating but life like), I appreciated how the book took on these questions. I wonder though, if a reader unfamiliar with 90s subculture, would appreciate the books as Edghill’s writing style really does leave so much out to be filled in by the reader.
On one hand it was an intriguing look into 90s Wiccan culture and reminder of how much things have changed since then. On the other, it was 90s culture and some of the language and attitudes really sit wrong from a 2020-21 perspective.
In book 1 Speak Daggers to Her, it was hard to look Bast (the protagonist) for most of the novel.
In book 2 Book of Moons, the story was more compelling and I’d gotten used to Bast so I was more sympathetic to her. The at said, the Queen Mary of Scots plot line was hard to follow and felt disjointed. If anything book 2 really cemented my feelings about how oddly structured Edghl’s narrative style is. I enjoyed the story but Edghill’s vagueness in narration often drove me a little crazy.
In book 3, Bowl of Night, I found a story that was more compelling to read but the ending was so obvious that it was a bit painful to follow Bast till she got there. Bast’s relationships are painful to watch throughout all 3 novels but this one once again made you scratch your head and wonder why she was part of this community at all.
What I did really appreciate in the novels, aside from the snapshot of 90s Wiccan culture, was Bast’s own growing disenchantment with the Wicca she was immersed in. She was looking for something more that she wasn’t finding in her community and even though that is never reconciled (which is frustrating but life like), I appreciated how the book took on these questions. I wonder though, if a reader unfamiliar with 90s subculture, would appreciate the books as Edghill’s writing style really does leave so much out to be filled in by the reader.
tangleroot_eli's review against another edition
4.0
4.5 stars
Oh, wow, did I enjoy these books! I'm torn between wishing Edghill had written more in this series and being grateful that she ended it where she did, a well-contained gem of a trilogy that didn't have a chance to go too far off the tracks. If you fiction that reflects the lives of ordinary witches, minus the Harry Potter/Charmed/Sabrina special effects, these are the books for you.
Here are some of my favorite things about this trilogy:
* Bast has very little idea what she's doing most of the time, but she does it boldly, because she feels like it's the right thing to do. I admire that (even though I often think she's doing THE EXACT WRONG THING).
* If you've been part of any urban Pagan/magical community in the last thirtyish years, you'll absolutely recognize all the players in Bast's circles. The inter-trad side-eye and occasional low-grade witch war. The potluck-related squabbles. Bast loves them as people but is cynical about them as a community and also kind of wants to boot a lot of them out the nearest airlock. Better than any other fictional representation I've encountered, Edghill writes Pagans who are people first and foremost, with all the foibles human flesh is heir to, plus magic and polytheism.
* Bast struggles, as I believe many neo-Pagans struggle, with whether anything she believes or experiences is real, or if she's just bought too deeply into Paganism's glamour. Bast lives, as many of us do, in the place where experience and conventional wisdom don't match up; it can be a deeply uncomfortable place to live, if you let it, and Edghill wisely lets Bast's discomfort shine throughout.
The parts that aged poorly aren't the ones I expected. Yeah, it was weird to see everyone running around New York City without cellphones, but I consume enough period fiction to accept that. I had a harder time grokking Bast's unwavering conflation of US legal structures with true justice.. It made the last book jarring, and yet it was in-character for Bast, so I had to roll with it. Such are the perils of the modern reader.
Oh, wow, did I enjoy these books! I'm torn between wishing Edghill had written more in this series and being grateful that she ended it where she did, a well-contained gem of a trilogy that didn't have a chance to go too far off the tracks. If you fiction that reflects the lives of ordinary witches, minus the Harry Potter/Charmed/Sabrina special effects, these are the books for you.
Here are some of my favorite things about this trilogy:
* Bast has very little idea what she's doing most of the time, but she does it boldly, because she feels like it's the right thing to do. I admire that (even though I often think she's doing THE EXACT WRONG THING).
* If you've been part of any urban Pagan/magical community in the last thirtyish years, you'll absolutely recognize all the players in Bast's circles. The inter-trad side-eye and occasional low-grade witch war. The potluck-related squabbles. Bast loves them as people but is cynical about them as a community and also kind of wants to boot a lot of them out the nearest airlock. Better than any other fictional representation I've encountered, Edghill writes Pagans who are people first and foremost, with all the foibles human flesh is heir to, plus magic and polytheism.
* Bast struggles, as I believe many neo-Pagans struggle, with whether anything she believes or experiences is real, or if she's just bought too deeply into Paganism's glamour.
Spoiler
Did Miriam die because she was drugged, or because of the death spell that was put on her? Is the Book of Moons a genuine sixteenth century grimoire or an exquisite fake? Is the final ritual in the Tesorarias meant to be symbolic only, or did Julian get it right?The parts that aged poorly aren't the ones I expected. Yeah, it was weird to see everyone running around New York City without cellphones, but I consume enough period fiction to accept that. I had a harder time grokking Bast's unwavering conflation of US legal structures with true justice.
Spoiler
From my 2019 chair, I struggled to swallow the idea of any member, even a cishet white one, of a minoritized religion handing over their group's identifying information without a court order or other official compulsion to do soelentarri's review against another edition
This is an omnibus containing all three Bast Mystery novels - Speak Daggers to Her, Book of Moons, and The Bowl of Night. This is a lovely collection of Wiccan-centric murder mysteries.
cyan_ink's review
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
janastange's review against another edition
4.0
l did not get into it as much as I thought I would. It did not keep me on edge and therefore it was not the fast read I expect of a mystery. I enjoyed the main character though and the way she describes being Wiccan in the 90s in New York City.
More...