annarella's review against another edition
5.0
I don't know if this is a dark urban fantasy with some women's fiction and thriller aspects or what it is.
I just know I liked the mix of fantasy and realistic descriptions.
It's a gripping and entertaining read, it kept me on the edge and it was an excellent reading experience.
The most terrifying part was how easily a witch hunt could start and how easily the one who do not completely fit could be targeted.
The character and plot development are fascinating, the story is told by different characters and we can read their POV. Documents and interviews are also part of the story and makes it even more realistic.
The relationship between the women and their children are well described and it's hard to find anone likeable. They're all faulted and in a grey moral area.
The world building is interesting and I was fascinated by the magic system.
It was an exciting reading experience, highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.
I just know I liked the mix of fantasy and realistic descriptions.
It's a gripping and entertaining read, it kept me on the edge and it was an excellent reading experience.
The most terrifying part was how easily a witch hunt could start and how easily the one who do not completely fit could be targeted.
The character and plot development are fascinating, the story is told by different characters and we can read their POV. Documents and interviews are also part of the story and makes it even more realistic.
The relationship between the women and their children are well described and it's hard to find anone likeable. They're all faulted and in a grey moral area.
The world building is interesting and I was fascinated by the magic system.
It was an exciting reading experience, highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.
cinderrunner's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Unique play on hysteria and hatred. Its heavily influenced by our current world and the bigotry spawned by the Trump administration (author's note says so). Creating a tale where witches are a recognized but marginalized class and using a modern witch hunt lens is a fascinating way to explore these issues. I think its well done and makes the point without being overly heavy handed and still living in a world of engaging fantasy. It does feel very "white woman" take given the nature of the actual historic events inspiring the narrative which might be a negative for some readers. I can look past it cause it is so firmly rooted in a fantasty thriller world. I wanted way more pay off in retribution for the betrayers in the end though.
PLEASE CHECK TRIGGER WARNINGS
PLEASE CHECK TRIGGER WARNINGS
Content Warnings
Graphic: Police brutality, Sexual assault, Bullying, Child death, Homophobia, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Violence, Xenophobia, Death, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Grief, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, and Self harm
missamanogawa's review against another edition
5.0
In der Welt von "Sanctuary" sind Hexen die Minderheit. Sie müssen ab ihrem 18. Lebensjahr offiziell registriert sein und ihre Magie nur unter bestimmten Auflagen praktizieren.
Sarah ist die einzige und stadtbekannte Hexe. Von jedem zu Rate gezogen, die letzte Hilfe für die Bewohner. Sei es ein Trank oder ein kleiner Motivationszauber, Sarah hilft gerne. Und Dank der Hilfe ihrer Freundinnen kann sie ihre Zauber erfolgreich durchführen.
Ihre Tochter Harper hat diese Gabe leider nicht geerbt, wird jedoch aufgrund eines Videos verdächtigt, ihren Ex-Freund Daniel - Schulschwarm, erfolgreicher Sportler, der Star schlechthin - durch Magie auf einer Party getötet zu haben.
Dans Mutter ist Teil von Sarahs Zirkel und entscheidet sich gegen ihre jahrelange Freundin - obwohl diese ihr in einer äußerst prekären und illegalen Angelegenheit vor 6 Jahren half, und damit ihre Freiheit und Berufung gefährdete. Nach und nach kommen Geheimnisse und Intrigen ans Licht, doch wieso sollte man die Wahrheit sagen, wenn sich die Stück für Stück fallende Hexe als besserer Sündenbock eignet?
Was zunächst als eine Mischung aus "Desperate Housewives" und Highschool Mystery Drama erscheint, entpuppt sich als unterschwellige Gesellschaftskritik und am Umgang mit Minderheiten.
Akzeptanz und Toleranz, welche durch Massenmedien, Hysterie und geheuchelte Loyalität letzten Endes durch den Dreck gezogen werden.
Krankhafte Mutterliebe, Blindheit und Naivität den Fehlern des eigenen Kindes gegenüber, Verzweiflung und rasende Wut gegen alles und jeden, all dies führt zu einer Hexenjagd, die keine Gerechtigkeit mehr zulässt. Lügen, Manipulieren, Beziehungen geschickt einsetzen, um seinen Willen zu bekommen, um das Ansehen des toten Sohns nicht zu beschmutzen. Und dabei das Leben einer Unschuldigen zu opfern. Mutterliebe kann grausam sein.
Letzten Endes kommt alles ganz anders, und ein Glück wurde Detective Maggie mit dem Fall beauftragt, denn sie entscheidet sich für die einzig wahre Gerechtigkeit. Doch ob sie ihr Urteil nicht doch voreilig gefällt hat? Lest selbst
Sarah ist die einzige und stadtbekannte Hexe. Von jedem zu Rate gezogen, die letzte Hilfe für die Bewohner. Sei es ein Trank oder ein kleiner Motivationszauber, Sarah hilft gerne. Und Dank der Hilfe ihrer Freundinnen kann sie ihre Zauber erfolgreich durchführen.
Ihre Tochter Harper hat diese Gabe leider nicht geerbt, wird jedoch aufgrund eines Videos verdächtigt, ihren Ex-Freund Daniel - Schulschwarm, erfolgreicher Sportler, der Star schlechthin - durch Magie auf einer Party getötet zu haben.
Dans Mutter ist Teil von Sarahs Zirkel und entscheidet sich gegen ihre jahrelange Freundin - obwohl diese ihr in einer äußerst prekären und illegalen Angelegenheit vor 6 Jahren half, und damit ihre Freiheit und Berufung gefährdete. Nach und nach kommen Geheimnisse und Intrigen ans Licht, doch wieso sollte man die Wahrheit sagen, wenn sich die Stück für Stück fallende Hexe als besserer Sündenbock eignet?
Was zunächst als eine Mischung aus "Desperate Housewives" und Highschool Mystery Drama erscheint, entpuppt sich als unterschwellige Gesellschaftskritik und am Umgang mit Minderheiten.
Akzeptanz und Toleranz, welche durch Massenmedien, Hysterie und geheuchelte Loyalität letzten Endes durch den Dreck gezogen werden.
Krankhafte Mutterliebe, Blindheit und Naivität den Fehlern des eigenen Kindes gegenüber, Verzweiflung und rasende Wut gegen alles und jeden, all dies führt zu einer Hexenjagd, die keine Gerechtigkeit mehr zulässt. Lügen, Manipulieren, Beziehungen geschickt einsetzen, um seinen Willen zu bekommen, um das Ansehen des toten Sohns nicht zu beschmutzen. Und dabei das Leben einer Unschuldigen zu opfern. Mutterliebe kann grausam sein.
Letzten Endes kommt alles ganz anders, und ein Glück wurde Detective Maggie mit dem Fall beauftragt, denn sie entscheidet sich für die einzig wahre Gerechtigkeit. Doch ob sie ihr Urteil nicht doch voreilig gefällt hat? Lest selbst
hoggm07's review against another edition
5.0
OMG what a story. It has you hooked right until the last page. They were right when they said it is Big Little Lies but with witches - but this is so much better. I would recommend to anyone.
jenhay310's review
4.0
My true rating would probably be a 3.5. There was just so much going on in the story at some points that it made it hard to follow, but once you got into the meat of it it was a great read. The various elements of crime, witches, and a grief stricken small town gave you a lot to imagine in trying to figure out what really happened.
thereadingtrashqueen's review against another edition
4.0
UPDATE: bumping the rating up to 4 stars because a year later this book is still on my mind often. Ironically a year ago I wasn't sure if I liked the anger it provoked, but with everything that has happened I do like it. Of course like isn't the right word, but it's important. This rage is so important. It always has been, but especially now it needs attention. So, upping the rating, and recommending!
Giving this book 3 stars for now, though it might go up as I’m torn on it.
I spent the second half of the book absolutely raging at these characters and saw the ‘big twist’ coming right from the start.
The book conjuring such emotion is of course usually a good thing, but I’m not sure if I liked it. Sanctuary holds up a mirror to today’s bigotry and hatred, and how it can spiral out of control completely (very quickly)- James just used witches. It’s terrifying because I could see this happen today. Just not with witches, of course.
It’s the characters I struggled with, and especially the choices they made, and the melodrama they unnecessarily caused at the beginning. Maggie and Chester might be the only exceptions, while Abigail was the absolutely worst. I understand that all characters believe they are doing the right thing, and that grief can cause people to do all kinds of things, but when someone becomes THIS vile, I have no sympathy.
So I will think on it for a while, let it sit with me, and then reconsider my rating.
Giving this book 3 stars for now, though it might go up as I’m torn on it.
I spent the second half of the book absolutely raging at these characters and saw the ‘big twist’ coming right from the start.
The book conjuring such emotion is of course usually a good thing, but I’m not sure if I liked it. Sanctuary holds up a mirror to today’s bigotry and hatred, and how it can spiral out of control completely (very quickly)- James just used witches. It’s terrifying because I could see this happen today. Just not with witches, of course.
It’s the characters I struggled with, and especially the choices they made, and the melodrama they unnecessarily caused at the beginning. Maggie and Chester might be the only exceptions, while Abigail was the absolutely worst. I understand that all characters believe they are doing the right thing, and that grief can cause people to do all kinds of things, but when someone becomes THIS vile, I have no sympathy.
So I will think on it for a while, let it sit with me, and then reconsider my rating.
lydiahephzibah's review against another edition
5.0
I loved this book! I've never been a fan of witches before but this was brilliantly done, marketed as Big Little Lies with witches, and I'd say it also felt like a mix of American Horror Story: Coven and How to Get Away with Murder. I love when a book keeps me guessing, which this definitely did, and managed to turn things on their head after I was certain of how it would end. Brilliant!
softstarrynights's review against another edition
2.0
Sanctury is a mystery novel following the death of a star athlete at a party in the small town of Sanctuary, a town with one witch. The narrative switches POVs between the parents, the kids, and the detective assigned to the case.
This was my first time read V.V. James, though I was aware of her writing under the name Vic James. Why does this matter? Well, because she is not a debut author. This book felt like the work of a debut, and not in a good way. I realised pretty quickly that this is not a YA novel. That was my mistake, but I do read plenty of adult novels so it shouldn't have been a problem. I just wanted to start with that in case anyone else makes that mistake.
As I mentioned there are a lot of POVs, and each chapter is first-person from a different perspective. Off the top of my head I can count four, Both of these I found annoyingly problematic. Firstly it was not easy to tell the POVs apart and for the first third, I spend a lot of time flicking back to the character list to check who these people were. Mystery novels typically stick to one perspective, not just because it makes them easier to follow, but it gives the author room to build suspense as there will be things that the character does not know, and by extension, that the reader does not know. This is impossible to do when you keep switching perspectives. I often say that I enjoy short chapters, and while these were short chapters, they were consciously so. It felt a though James, or an editor, had decided, that a chapter cannot be longer than X amount of pages because sometimes a chapter would just end it a strange place. Is this a cliffhanger? Are we switching to a new POV? No. Because the next chapter would pick up straight away, with the exact same POV.
The other way that James chooses to tell her story is though random transcripts and tweets. This technique is used so sporadic that they felt as though they were coming from nowhere. As with the POVs it lessened the mystery and just made the whole narrative structure seem even messier if that is even possible.
The narrative structure did not help the mystery in any way shape or form, but to be brutally honest, there wasn’t much of a compelling mystery, to begin with. A boy dies at a party and the detective is there to determine whether it was an accident or not, except the focus was not on the party. Instead, the focus was on the parents and something that had happened six years ago. The tagline for this books talks about how the town is shrouded in secrets and yet this thing that happened all those years before is revealed so quickly that it loses all mystery and tension. I find this especially annoying when retrospectively there is a perfect moment to reveal it if only the author had shown some patience and restraint. Essentially, in terms of mystery, it doesn’t feel as though the author really knows how to handle a mystery.
As you can tell I really didn’t like Sanctuary though it wasn’t for a lack of trying. I did not go into this book intending to dislike it, and I wish I had enjoyed it. I’d love to know what you think, whether you agree or disagree.
This was my first time read V.V. James, though I was aware of her writing under the name Vic James. Why does this matter? Well, because she is not a debut author. This book felt like the work of a debut, and not in a good way. I realised pretty quickly that this is not a YA novel. That was my mistake, but I do read plenty of adult novels so it shouldn't have been a problem. I just wanted to start with that in case anyone else makes that mistake.
As I mentioned there are a lot of POVs, and each chapter is first-person from a different perspective. Off the top of my head I can count four, Both of these I found annoyingly problematic. Firstly it was not easy to tell the POVs apart and for the first third, I spend a lot of time flicking back to the character list to check who these people were. Mystery novels typically stick to one perspective, not just because it makes them easier to follow, but it gives the author room to build suspense as there will be things that the character does not know, and by extension, that the reader does not know. This is impossible to do when you keep switching perspectives. I often say that I enjoy short chapters, and while these were short chapters, they were consciously so. It felt a though James, or an editor, had decided, that a chapter cannot be longer than X amount of pages because sometimes a chapter would just end it a strange place. Is this a cliffhanger? Are we switching to a new POV? No. Because the next chapter would pick up straight away, with the exact same POV.
The other way that James chooses to tell her story is though random transcripts and tweets. This technique is used so sporadic that they felt as though they were coming from nowhere. As with the POVs it lessened the mystery and just made the whole narrative structure seem even messier if that is even possible.
The narrative structure did not help the mystery in any way shape or form, but to be brutally honest, there wasn’t much of a compelling mystery, to begin with. A boy dies at a party and the detective is there to determine whether it was an accident or not, except the focus was not on the party. Instead, the focus was on the parents and something that had happened six years ago. The tagline for this books talks about how the town is shrouded in secrets and yet this thing that happened all those years before is revealed so quickly that it loses all mystery and tension. I find this especially annoying when retrospectively there is a perfect moment to reveal it if only the author had shown some patience and restraint. Essentially, in terms of mystery, it doesn’t feel as though the author really knows how to handle a mystery.
As you can tell I really didn’t like Sanctuary though it wasn’t for a lack of trying. I did not go into this book intending to dislike it, and I wish I had enjoyed it. I’d love to know what you think, whether you agree or disagree.