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Zuky the BookBum (15 KP) rated The Witchfinder's Sister in Books

Mar 15, 2018

The Witchfinder's Sister

Beth Underdown | 2017 | Fiction & Poetry

9.0

(4 Ratings)

Book Rating

I think now that to be close to someone can be to underestimate them. Grow too close, and you do not see what they are capable of; or you do not see it in time.

The Witchfinder’s Sister is based on true life witch hunter Matthew Hopkins that grew to fame during the English Civil War around East Anglia, hunting and killing “witches”. This book isn’t non-fiction, it’s fiction based around non-fiction! I love these sorts of books that create their own stories from something that was very much real. Not only does it make for good reading, they also bring in some true history facts, so you’re being educated on the subject as you read.

High praise goes to Underdown for this novel. I feel like historical fiction can be hard genre to get right, and considering this is a debut novel, I’m amazed at how well put together and beautiful this has turned out to be! I love reading historical fiction, every once in awhile, and this is the sort of book that keeps my love for the genre burning.

The writing in this novel was haunting and beautiful. Nine times out of ten, it was exactly as you would have imagined the 17th Century to be, but I felt there were a few slips that made the book feel modern. For example, would a lady in 1645 say the phrase “shitting herself”? Correct me if I’m wrong, but that feels like a reasonably modern phrase to me.

I loved our main character, Alice. Me and my mum were talking about historical fiction novels and how we find it hard to understand why women make the decisions they make in these books, because we’re so used to having some equality and independence. But I noted that in this book, even though Alice is inferior to her brother and his counterparts, she is still a risk taker; going against her brother's wishes & sneaking around. I liked that she was strong and a little rebellious, it was so much easier to connect with her because of this.

On the other hand. I hated Matthew. He was a despicable character. I can rarely hate a character in a book, even if I’m supposed to. I tend to find the good in them at some point, or have some sort of sympathy for them, but I absolutely despised Matthew. Well done to Underdown for creating such a hate-inducing character. It’s quite a hard feat, but she managed it perfectly. The same goes for Mary Phillips.

The tension was built so well in this novel, you could feel the mystery growing and growing with every page and I loved it! Though the story moved reasonably slowly, the book was still absolutely riveting and I found it extremely hard to put down when I knew it was time to get some rest.

I am so, so excited to read more from Underdown. This was an amazingly well put together and researched.

Thanks to Netgalley and Penguin Books UK for giving me the opportunity to read this in exchange for an honest review.

Kudos

Nicole Hadley (380 KP) rated The Toad in Books

Jun 18, 2018

<a href="https://awindowintobooks.wordpress.com">Full Review</a>
The Toad by Elise Gravel is part of the Disgusting Critters Series. It is a non-fiction picture book about all things toads. The book shows how toads relate to frogs, their habitat, and food. It also shows that there are different kinds of toad breeds. Beyond talking about the different kinds of toads, the readers learn about their skin and the bumps. Readers learn that the pests that toads eat help to keep the insects at a reasonable amount so we humans don't have to deal with them as much.

The text in the book is presented in an easy way to read which is both entertaining and funny. The illustrations are a great visual that accompanies the text.

I received an advanced readers copy from Penguin Random House Canada and Tundra Books via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Kudos

Deborah (162 KP) rated The Princes in the Tower in Books

Dec 21, 2018

Wilkinson admits that in writing the second part of her biography of Richard III, she became too bogged down with the whole 'princes in the tower' enigma and so chose to pull some of her thoughts together in this book.

Each chapter looks at a different suspect of aspect of the mystery. I've given only three stars not because there was anything particularly wrong with what was written, I think I just expected that Wilkinson had uncovered something new or had a stunning new theory to present! The downside with reading non-fiction books on the Kindle can be that you get to about 75% in and it suddenly ends with the rest of the book being footnotes, bibliography etc.

It is a good and lucid look at the facts and the arguments, so not a bad book, just nothing new and didn't meet the expectations I had formed.