The Witch’s Kind is a book about family, toxic relationships, and having the strength to stand up for yourself, and those you love. There’s an ominous tone throughout the whole book, whether it be the lightly paranormal elements, or the dissolution of relationships.
Summary
Barrie Anne Blythe and her aunt Charlotte have always known that the other residents of their small coastal community find them peculiar — two women living alone on the outskirts of town. It is the price of concealing their strange and dangerous family secret.
But two events threaten to upend their lives forever. The first is the arrival of a mysterious abandoned baby with a hint of power like their own. The second is the sudden reappearance of Barrie Anne’s long-lost husband — who is not quite the man she thought she married.
Together, Barrie Anne and Charlotte must decide how far they are willing to go to protect themselves — and the child they think of as their own — from suspicious neighbors, the government, and even their own family…
Review
(Disclaimer: I received this book from Netgalley. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)
Having been a fan of Morgan’s ever since A Secret History of Witches, I knew I had to pick up The Witch’s Kind. But The Witch’s Kind is softer, it’s less focused on witches, then it is focused on trusting your own intuition. The way women ignore their gut reactions, or their instincts are twisted against them, their memories prone to re-writing. There’s a quiet tension that builds throughout the book as we jump from the past to the present. We witness the unfolding of these relationships, the dissolving of feelings, and the emergence of new emotions.
Characters
The Witch’s Kind is a quiet book that hooks you with empathetic characters. For me, this book was meaningful because Barrie Anne has to struggle to really trust herself. There are moments she makes mistakes, is persuaded into things, and so throughout the book the readers are asked to witness her growth as a character. Barrie Anne longs for conformity. She wants to be normal so badly. And so in many ways, this book is about realizing that nothing is ever as it seems. That normal is never something that you have, it’s something you work for.
Overall,
There are secrets and otherworldly glimmerings, but what really moved me about The Witch’s Kind is Barrie Anne’s journey, as well as her relationship with her aunt Charlotte. At the end of the day, do we have what it takes to trust ourselves?
Find The Witch’s Kind on Goodreads, Amazon, Indiebound & The Book Depository.
I loved The Witch’s Kiss by Katharine and Elizabeth Corr, which is a YA paranormal story! Also Wednesday Night Witches by Lee Nichols, is a women’s fiction/paranormal book.
Oh wow, I need to read those!