In her second novel after winning numerous awards for
The Rust Maidens, Kiste introduces readers to Odette, the last of the witches. Odette has banished herself to a magic-free life of isolation on the outskirts of a small town after the Witchfinders came from The Capitol five years earlier, violently burning every witch, except for Odette, who would not burn. When dead birds start falling from the sky, Odette is forced to stop hiding, confront her extreme loss and trauma, stop living in fear of the future, and seek out justice, no matter the cost. Kiste’s writing style moves fluidly back and forth through time with lyrical language describing awful things. Readers will hang on every word, cringe and cheer through the action, and passionately root for Odette.
VERDICT Kiste casts a spell with this original and suspenseful horror story, but it holds more than meets the eye. Clearly influenced by Shirley Jackson, this will appeal to fans of Naomi Alderman’s The Power, Alexis Henderson’s The Year of the Witching, or Zoje Stage’s Wonderland.
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