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The Witches of Vardø
The Witches of Vardø
Anya Bergman | 2023 | Fiction & Poetry, Religion, Thriller
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
What starts off as a story about the life of a child in a fishing community, soon turns into a seemingly hopeless struggle for their lives. It’s dangerous to be a woman in the 1600’s. Dancing, laughing, drinking - all of these simple, everyday things can result in an accusation of witchcraft. Funnily enough, if a man does them, that’s ok (I found myself becoming increasingly frustrated with the injustice of it all!).
The young girls are the ones that hold the story together. They are the link between the accused women (their mothers, aunt and another villager) and the King’s prisoner, Anna. Anna is trusted to ‘care’ for the witches whilst they’re held in the Witches hold - a thoroughly inhumane incarceration. She’s a woman with an education, so I expected for her to treated a lot worse than she was.
There’s a great mix of history and magic in this, although done in such a way as the magic didn’t seem out of place - and fitted in perfectly with the rest of the book. It was interesting to learn about the way the Sámi were regarded by the rest of Finn-mark (I’m unsure of the spelling!) - even though it wasn’t good (they weren’t Christians, and therefore dangerous).
It was a really engrossing read - I loved it.
  
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Jamie (131 KP) rated Red Sister in Books

May 18, 2017  
Red Sister
Red Sister
Mark Lawrence | 2017 | Fiction & Poetry
10
9.0 (5 Ratings)
Book Rating
Excellent writing style (2 more)
Well developed characters
Fascinating world and magic system
After a while feels a little drawn out (0 more)
A fun dark fantasy with an interesting world
Nona has a natural ability to fight and at nine years old she’s already convicted of murder. She finds herself whisked away to a special covenant that trains young girls to become assassins, and herein lies the base of the plot and all I can say is WOW. I was absolutely blown away by Red Sister.

The world building in this book is phenomenal and I want to know so much more about it. The sun is dying, the planet is slowly being enclosed in ice and with it humanity is changing, becoming desperate and looking to prophecies. There is a focus on the four races, each with unique talents in combat. The magic system is complex and is split between two schools of magic, and there is a plethora of diverse specializations for both.

On top of the detailed world, the book also nailed atmosphere. I felt a sense of wonder as Nona learned not just about fighting, but about magic and the world around her through her classes. It gave me a nostalgic feeling about a certain school of magic that I had also enjoyed in the past. I actually liked Nona a great deal. Even though she is a tiny little ass kicker she’s also extremely flawed and has a difficult time dealing with interpersonal relationships. Having a heroine who wasn’t perfect in every way was really rather refreshing. Experiencing her school days as she befriended other girls at the covenant was just plain fun and I liked most of the characters.

As Nona’s opinions of certain friends fluctuates as the story goes along, I found my opinions of those same characters changing as well. Does Nona hate this girl because she’s truly awful? Or is it because of petty jealousy and pressure from friends that her view of this other girl is distorted? I found these subtle details about Nona’s change of heart to be clever – it really shows how her character develops over the course of the story while also making me as a reader realize just how invested I was in the character.

Oh and of course, this book is full of action. Lawrence truly has a gift with words and reading descriptions of action sequences was exhilarating. The fights are extremely violent and rather brutal. I love the way this author writes. I couldn’t get enough of it!

I think the only thing that I found frustrating was how slow the characters were to seek help when faced with danger much larger than themselves. There were several points where it was obvious certain characters were up to no good, but no one ever went to the abbess or the other sisters with information. I’m talking about the kind of danger that can get someone killed. Even worse, several characters even mention to Nona that she should tell someone and she never does. I can kind of forgive the characters because all of them are young but it’s just frustrating because it feels intentional in order to draw out the story.

Overall, Red Sister has become both one of my favorite reads of the year and now one of my favorite fantasy books. I’m excited for the rest of the series and I’m very interested in exploring more of Lawrence’s work. I may have a new favorite author!
  
Mayhem
Mayhem
Estelle Laure | 2020 | Young Adult (YA)
8
7.5 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
I am so happy to have the opportunity to be part of the blog tour for Mayhem by Estelle Laure. Thank you to the team at Wednesday Books, for sending me an e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

Estelle Laure, the author of This Raging Light and But Then I Came Back believes in love, magic, and the power of facing hard truths. She has a BA in Theatre Arts and an MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts in Writing for Children and Young Adults, and she lives in Taos, New Mexico, with her family. Her work is translated widely around the world.

It's 1987 and Mayhem Brayburn has always known something's off about her and her mum, Roxy. Roxy is in constant physical pain, and Mayhem has an irresistible pull to water. She knows they aren't like the other people.

When one day, Mayhem's stepfather goes one step too far, her and Roxy escape to Santa Maria, California, the beach town that holds the answers to all of Mayhem's questions about who her mother is. There, she meets the kids who live with her aunt, and she opens the door to the magic that runs through the female lineage of the Brayburn family. The very magic Mayhem is next in line to inherit and which will change her life for good.

But when she is on a mission to search for a man that has been kidnapping girls from the beach, her life takes another dangerous turn and she needs to pay the price of vigilante justice and to ask herself whether revenge is worth the cost.

My Thoughts:
Mayhem by Estelle Laure is one of a kind. Entwined with mystery, magic with family heritage and revenge, this book is full of emotions.

The beginning of the book, although powerful, is very slow. It took me a little while to get into it, but as soon as I was hooked, it stayed amazing.

Mayhem is an interesting character. She holds a lot of emotions inside of her, all from past experiences that have shaped her character. Sad to say that most of her experiences were not good, and she holds the burden for it all. I can imagine how hard it must be to write a character as complicated as Mayhem, and I think Estelle Laure did and amazing job doing it.

I loved the kids as well - each of them different in their own way, battling their own demons and living through their bad experiences in the past. Some of these characters drastically change over the course of the book, which was unbelievable to me.

The magic aspect of this book was interesting, and for me, original. I have seen many reviews mentioning that this might not be true, and it is a very similar story to The Lost Boys. Since I haven't watched The Lost Boys, I am unable to comment on this part. Personally, I really enjoyed the magic concept with the water, the dependency on it and the family heritage part too.

If you are searching for a YA fantasy thriller, with rich characters and mysterious adventures, I think you will definitely enjoy this book.