Catherine Cavendish

I’ll be honest, I haven’t read a lot of books about witches but they (at least the bad ones) terrify me. The dark and unpredictable power they hold over normal people is frightening, and everything about the setup for this book led me to believe I was in for a thrilling ride. It has an isolated cottage on a remote cliff, strange occurrences right from the beginning, and a back story about burned witches looking for revenge

Unfortunately, the story I got was less exciting than anticipated. Lots of crows, but not much in the way of scares. Loads of exposition dumps when I wanted more character development. And an ending that left me wanting and a little frustrated.

Despite its flaws the story kept me turning the pages to see what would happen. I liked the emphasis on spells/hexes/totems, and there were moments when I was genuinely concerned for Robyn’s safety. I also thought it was really neat that Robyn gains a powerful ally in the last third of the book. There were some cool ideas here, like the haunting of Robyn’s niece, but many weren’t fleshed out enough to fully enjoy.… (mere)

Chills and Shivers!

Backstory:

Evelyn and Claire want to get away from their home and go to some place quiet out on the moors. Evelyn purchases a place called Heather Cottage for her and her sister. While they are staying there they come across a toy box called "Garden of Bewitchment" that seems to be some kind of game but when they open it they unleash something that turns their world upside down. With the help of a neighbor, Matthew they try to figure out the magical qualities of the box and what the toy box represents. Though besides the toy box the cottage seems to be haunted as well as things become active with the paranormal not too long after the sisters move in.

The more they delve into the mystery of the box the more things do not seem to make sense and when the dream world of the toy box blends into their real world they will need to escape the clutches of the Garden and all what lies within as something evil was unleashed which will send everyone involved on a hunt to find the truth of what the box contains!

Thoughts:

Impressive story kept me on the edge of my seat as I just could hardly lay this book down! The writing style of author, Catherine Cavendish just flows along at a quick pace and the story was so deep with mystery that I just could not detach myself from the story!

The pace picks up more as the story moves along and there are tons of twists and turns within. I loved all the characters - especially the sisters, Evelyn and Claire as I love how they were both fleshed out. I just wanted to spend the day with them as I felt that they could be real. I am always impressed by this author's stories as Catherine Cavendish has the ability to grab the reader and plop them into her story surrounding them with all the details and atmosphere of the plot.

The story just weaved its way into my soul along with some of it spooking me out of my skin! The story with the haunting and the toy box just kept me tensed up with anxiety and I even had some interesting dreams from reading this book! I will definitely be adding this book to my favorites shelf! Another awesome book by this author and I feel that Catherine Cavendish writes the best gothic haunting stories! Giving this book five "Bewitching Spooky Mystery" stars!… (mere)

As a young lonely child Maddie looked forward to her time spent at Aunt Charlotte's house. Maddie is an only child but her imagination creates the siblings she wishes she had. She is often scolded for talking to herself, but at Aunt Maddie's house she is free to chatter away to her imaginary brother and sisters while her parents are off on Safari. Now that Maddie is a grown woman and has inherited her Aunt's house she struggles to remember what happened the summer she turned 16 and why she never visited Charlotte again. Strange things are seen and heard in the house and rumors abound concerning Aunt Charlotte and the previous owner. Maddie begins to wonder if she is losing her mind or if something more sinister is at work. I would rate it 4 out of 5 spooky stars.

I received an advance copy for review… (mere)