Reviews with content warning for Death - Cunning Women

Pace was a bit slow at times. Phrasing / grammar was a bit awkward. I didn’t know what to expect going into this but agree with others that this is more of a historic fiction definition of witch than the magical fantasy type. Great book but don’t go in with the hope of everything being wrapped up nicely in the end. The big events of the book didn’t happen until the end and I wish there had been a bit more pages in that bit to really send home the feelings and message. Felt rushed, never really got pulled in to experience that “movie as you’re reading” feeling. The end felt unresolved and made me ask “that’s it?” Made me want to throw it across the room because ugh the potential is there! Still worth a read.

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taylahmay's review against another edition

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tense slow-paced

1.0

PLEASE NOTE: this review is for my own reflection and I in no way aim to offend with my rambling thoughts.

While the story has intriguing characters, not much is done with them. There’s a lot of teasing re the source of their magic and even the actions of the mother in the past that we never get a full explanation of. With a slow burn to start and a rush of events to end, it struggled to keep my attention and interest.

However, the historical world that’s built is wonderful and feels well fleshed out. With historical references to day to day life, celebrations, society, and beliefs, it puts you in the environment of the story and aids understanding of the characters.

I felt let down with the end after hoping for strong character development of the main male character, just to have him half heartedly own up for a portion of his actions and simultaneously act as a martyr which seemed unnecessary. Without spoiling it, I felt there was a way for all of them to leave. Or at least have that option voiced and considered and then dashed if need be.

My biggest gripe is the tag line of “feminist tale”. Yes, the main character is a female and it deals greatly with her station in life as a result, but the story doesn’t call negative attention on the sexism of the time or have any character voice it. Actually, the sexism and misogyny of the characters become more outspoken and dangerous towards the end. This doesn’t make the book bad, but considering I chose to read this book under the assumption I would be met with a strong female character making waves or at least having her strength make an impact, I felt doubly disappointed. I was met with

female characters turning on each other and pointing fingers, extreme jealously that turns dangerous, a matriarch who wants to protect but actually ignores all logic and pleas to place her family in direct danger and then ultimately weakens to the point of becoming a ward herself, male characters sexually assaulting female characters and getting away with it completely with no mention of their crime except the derision pointed towards the women (at least one of which is a child), and and a main character who ultimately holds her tongue in the end so as to save her family and get by in a mans world

. I think the feminist tag line is not appropriate. Actually, the more I think on it, the more I feel lied to, & the angrier I get.

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elementarymydear's review against another edition

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dark mysterious medium-paced

4.0

Sarah Haworth, daughter of her village’s “cunning woman”, just wants to keep her family safe. The shadow of the Pendle Hill witch trials hangs over the village, and she and her family are ostracised by the other villagers for their perceived witchcraft. After Sarah strikes up a friendship with the son of a local farmer, however, she not only begins to fall in love, but starts planning a future beyond a lonely life in their rundown cottage.

I’ve read a few books set around this time and place, and this is a welcome addition to the sub-genre. The writing is so atmospheric, you can’t help but be drawn into the slightly unsettling day-to-day life of the village. It is, mostly, a very still book. For the majority of the story there are undertones of danger, the sense that something terrible might happen at any moment, making it all the more dramatic when something does happen. It’s a slow burn but the pay-off is worth it!

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Something I really enjoyed about this book – and about similar books too – is that there is a certain ambiguity as to the magical element. You could read it as historical fiction, where the characters are convinced that there are magical forces at play to the point of near delusion. Alternatively, you could read it as a fantasy story of very real witches who are forced to hide their powers. This is a trope I really enjoy in historical fiction and it was done really well here, and I thought it added to the world-building and to the story.

The book deals with lots of very heavy topics (definitely check the content warnings if there are things you look out for). It was really interesting to see how the characters dealt with the consequences of their own and others’ actions, and the ramifications of that on the village as a whole. As is often the case with women accused of witchcraft, they did not commit the crimes they were accused of. It was an interesting twist to see this through the eyes of Daniel, the farmer’s son, as he comes to realise for himself the terrible way the Haworth family have been treated. There was a particularly touching moment towards the end where Sarah realises how much her mother has been through, and the difficult actions she has taken to keep her family safe.

That being said, I would have liked to see a little more at the end of the characters confronting their own actions. For spoiler reasons I won’t say who, but there was one character in particular who with the best intentions made a lot of decisions that had terrible consequences. While they began to face up to those consequences at the end, it didn’t quite follow through for me and the ending felt like a little bit of a let-down.

I do think it’s worth noting that the tag-line for this book – “A feminist tale of forbidden love after the witch trials” – felt quite misleading. While the story does centre women’s experiences at the time, I wouldn’t necessarily count it as a feminist novel, as it did little to examine or overcome the political, social and economic constraints on women. This is not necessarily a bad thing – I don’t think the book needed that – it does feel like the tag-line was added for buzzwords rather than for an accurate summary of the book.

Overall, this was an incredibly atmospheric historical fiction, with a touch of magic to leave you guessing right to the end.

Thank you to the publishers for providing me with a free copy for review. All opinions are my own.

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guinevere_s1994's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

2.75

I was not sure what to make of this book at first. It begins quite slow and I was not overly keen on the authors writing style. However, after continuing on I found that I cared about the main character and her relationships with her family and others in her life. Having said that some of the characters actions were a little annoying considering the consequences they faced and it felt like they should have and would have made smarter choices at times. I still enjoyed the story for what it was though. The ending was unexpected though thankfully not as unpleasant as it could have been and it leaves you with a sense of hope for Sarah and her family after everything they have been through.

The writing style continued to bother me a little. there was a handful of passages I had to reread as the way sentences are broken up makes it difficult to follow the story easily sometimes but as I was reading an ARC I suspect there might be some further editing to go through yet.

To finish off, I would probably recommend this book to anyone looking for a short-ish standalone story that has some challenging moments throughout but has you routing for the main characters and leaves you with a sense of hope at the end.

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