ebgould's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
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
keeliesavage's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
I really, really enjoyed this book. It follows Mary Fawcett, a healer in a small village who is accused of witchcraft by a man "sent by parliament" to hunt down witches. When a local (horrible) man is murdered in an unknown way, covered in ritualistic scars, focus turns on her, her mentor and others who experiment as the possible culprits. Mary and some local friends have to go and figure out what happened to him to clear their names. I really, really enjoyed this well-written, engaging book. It felt like the author had done her research when she talked about different recipes and methods of healing that Mary used.
I normally love a twist ending but this one was hard on me. Finding out that the person who has spent years teaching Mary to heal and develop her intuitive skills was the one creating discord in the community and sacrificing people for her cause of finding the philosphers stone was something I definitely didn't see coming.
catevillain's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
katy_bee's review against another edition
3.0
On the whole, I enjoyed this one. There's a touch of magic realism about it as it blends historical fact- and a historical figure- with fictional characters and touches of the "unexplained."
It felt like it had the potential of a 4 * book for me, as I liked the history and the theme of women finding power in the face of oppression. However, it never quite reached that point. At times the plot points seemed a little too convenient, in particular Mary's attending to or leaving Tom somewhere, felt a little forced.
I didn't guess all the twists and turns the story took, but I did want to know what happened next. Mary and Agnes, and Mrs Chamberlen were all pretty well drawn and I thought the treatment of characters with a disability was fairly sensitive to the likely prejudice of the time, while not condoning it. I have read a couple of historical books where it feels like the author agrees with the stereotyped view of disabled people from the time period and writes them as though the way they're seen was accurate (looking at you Susannah Gregory...) so it was nice that it was mostly resisted here.
The historical notes at the end were excellent and I would like to know more about the time period
It felt like it had the potential of a 4 * book for me, as I liked the history and the theme of women finding power in the face of oppression. However, it never quite reached that point. At times the plot points seemed a little too convenient, in particular Mary's attending to or leaving Tom somewhere, felt a little forced.
I didn't guess all the twists and turns the story took, but I did want to know what happened next. Mary and Agnes, and Mrs Chamberlen were all pretty well drawn and I thought the treatment of characters with a disability was fairly sensitive to the likely prejudice of the time, while not condoning it. I have read a couple of historical books where it feels like the author agrees with the stereotyped view of disabled people from the time period and writes them as though the way they're seen was accurate (looking at you Susannah Gregory...) so it was nice that it was mostly resisted here.
The historical notes at the end were excellent and I would like to know more about the time period
fayebo's review against another edition
3.0
enjoyed the first half more than the second, found it got a bit fantastical and strange but not in any sort of way that made sense to me. Also the modern writing for a novel set in the 17th century threw me off at points!
laurenw22's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
lareinadehades's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
trisvande's review against another edition
4.5
I went into this book with my own ideas and quickly realized I had no idea what I was in for! This book is expertly researched, to the point I started to believe the characters were real. (Some are based on real people so that's interesting!)
katgent's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75