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A review by boocwurm
The Binding Season by Claudia Cain
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.0
“Anybody who believes dying is easy has clearly never done it. Or maybe it’s coming back that’s hard.”
Thank you to the author for a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.
With no more options available to her, Cassandra Reilly performs the rite to become the Witch of Fallow Creek. There’s just one problem—she might not have done it correctly. Her magic is unreliable at best, creating sketchy situations for her and her family. What’s worse, there’s a new danger lurking in the woods, drawing on power they shouldn’t have and threatening everything that Cass holds dear.
The third installment in the Fallow Creek series, The Binding Season takes readers on another wild and haunting ride full of magic, evil creatures and some truly grotesque scenes. It’s full of plant and body horror (and as the author puts it, “sometimes both!”) that had me squirming in my seat and flinching at imagined pain. True to books 1 and 2, The Binding Season is also chock-full of death—Cass and the reader are both haunted by the pain and suffering from the previous novels, and I was particularly scared for the fates of a few characters (we love an author who’s not afraid to ax their favs for funsies, no matter HOW MUCH it hurts).
Beyond the creepy and the crawly, The Binding Season gives us a lot of character growth. Cass is forced to reckon with her decisions and make new ones to protect the ones she loves, but she learns that pushing everyone away isn’t the solution she wants it to be. I loved the closer family dynamic between her, Theo, Helen, Merich and Pen, but more than that, I appreciated how the decisions these characters make actually have consequences in the overarching plot.
Cain does a great job at unraveling mysteries and planting the seeds for plot twists gradually, so nothing feels too out of left field while still being surprising. One of the big revelations in this book had me sitting with my mouth open for a good few seconds. I think this is my favorite of the three so far, and I cannot wait to see what happens next.
If you like horror and fantasy, magical families, a little bit of romance and setting descriptions that make you think “ewwww,” check out the Fallow Creek series!
Thank you to the author for a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.
With no more options available to her, Cassandra Reilly performs the rite to become the Witch of Fallow Creek. There’s just one problem—she might not have done it correctly. Her magic is unreliable at best, creating sketchy situations for her and her family. What’s worse, there’s a new danger lurking in the woods, drawing on power they shouldn’t have and threatening everything that Cass holds dear.
The third installment in the Fallow Creek series, The Binding Season takes readers on another wild and haunting ride full of magic, evil creatures and some truly grotesque scenes. It’s full of plant and body horror (and as the author puts it, “sometimes both!”) that had me squirming in my seat and flinching at imagined pain. True to books 1 and 2, The Binding Season is also chock-full of death—Cass and the reader are both haunted by the pain and suffering from the previous novels, and I was particularly scared for the fates of a few characters (we love an author who’s not afraid to ax their favs for funsies, no matter HOW MUCH it hurts).
Beyond the creepy and the crawly, The Binding Season gives us a lot of character growth. Cass is forced to reckon with her decisions and make new ones to protect the ones she loves, but she learns that pushing everyone away isn’t the solution she wants it to be. I loved the closer family dynamic between her, Theo, Helen, Merich and Pen, but more than that, I appreciated how the decisions these characters make actually have consequences in the overarching plot.
Cain does a great job at unraveling mysteries and planting the seeds for plot twists gradually, so nothing feels too out of left field while still being surprising. One of the big revelations in this book had me sitting with my mouth open for a good few seconds. I think this is my favorite of the three so far, and I cannot wait to see what happens next.
If you like horror and fantasy, magical families, a little bit of romance and setting descriptions that make you think “ewwww,” check out the Fallow Creek series!