The Witch House Blog Tour

Who can you trust, if you can’t trust yourself?

Alice Hunter, grieving and troubled after a breakdown, stumbles on the body of her friend and trustee, Harry Rook. The police determine he has been ritually murdered and suspicion falls on the vulnerable Alice, who inherited the place known locally as The Witch House from her grandmother, late High Priestess of the local coven.

When the investigations turn up more evidence, and it all seems to point to Alice, even she begins to doubt herself.

Can she find the courage to confront the secrets and lies at the heart of her family and community to uncover the truth, prove her sanity, and clear herself of murder?

My Review:

First of all I want to give trigger warnings for the mental health concerns in this book. I know that trigger warnings are always a great start to any review. This book is a mystery through and through along with a bit of a thriller aspect but Alice can be unreliable depending on how you interpret the story. It has a very Flowers in the Attic feel with some Brittney Spears (if you know what is suspected of going on there). The characters are iffy to me. I only liked a select few and the professor was a great character. All together it is a really good story and I enjoyed it but there were some things wrong. I give it four out of five stars. 🙂

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ann Rawson has long been addicted to story. As a child she longed to learn to read because she knew there was magic in those pages, the inky squiggles that turned into words and became images in her head – the stories that could transport her away from the everyday. As she grew older, she divined there was truth in books too. They were a glimpse into other minds. Her reading became the foundation of a deep and abiding interest in what makes people tick – and so she soon became hooked on crime fiction.

Age ten, she wrote to Malcolm Saville, author of the Lone Pine Series, enclosing her first short story. He wrote back and encouraged her to continue writing – and she is heartbroken that the letter is long lost. His book, Lone Pine Five, sparked a lifelong interest in archaeology, as it mentions the Mildenhall Treasure which makes an appearance in The Witch House.

A lapsed witch with enduring pagan tendencies, she lives on the south coast. She still thinks of herself as a Northerner, although she’s been in exile for many years. Almost every day she walks on the Downs or the white cliffs with her husband, plotting her next novel while he designs computer systems.

Ann’s debut novel, A Savage Art was published by Fahrenheit Press in 2016. She has published some short fiction, and in 2019 her memoir piece If… was shortlisted for the Fish Short Memoir Prize.

She is currently completing a memoir and working on her third novel.

You can follow her on Twitter @AE_Rawson (where she doesn’t go far, to be honest), find her Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/aerawson/, and her blog is at www.strawintogold.co.uk

All Boys Aren’t Blue

This book leaves me with a lot to unpack and I hope you will bear with me as I unpack it. I would like to give trigger warnings for this book since it contains molestation.

I would like to start out with the fact I absolutely love this book. After finishing it at 11pm last night I had to just sleep on it. But there is some similarities I can see from myself in this book. I was a grandchild baby and my mother saw my LGBTQ+ tendancies early on and so I took to my gay uncles better than most family members. I also struggle with childhood/adulthood trauma that I wasn’t expecting to face in this book. The chapter on Boys Will Be Boys really struck home and when I finished this chapter I stopped reading to break down in tears. I mean ugly tears with snot and all.

I am younger than the author and would like to comment the differences as well since he was finishing college to my starting High School and figuring out my own journey. Plus a lot of the kids that were figuring out there own LGBTQ+ in a very christian south during my high school experience. I had a lot more role models, which could come from the fact that I had an uncle who was shunned from his family for being gay and marrying my uncle. I think he took me under his wing to shield me a little better and I wish G.M. Johnson had had that. I will say even with the differences I wish I had had this book in High School when I was trying to figure it all out. I hope that any child or adult trying to figure it out and needs that connection finds this book.

Five out of five stars.

Monday’s not Coming

This book is written in the before, before the before and after. It follows Claudia as she talks about her best friend Monday Charles. She talks about her being her only friend and what it is like trying to find out where she is and why she disappeared. This book takes you on an emotional roller-coaster that makes you keep the tissues close.

I started listening to this book as an audiobook but I wasn’t listening like I wanted to so I found the book in the bookstore while I was hunting for some other books and quickly bought it. I have to say this woman writes some freaking good books. If you haven’t read any of her work yet then you need to. This woman writes that good. This book is definitely going to hurt your feelings and you will need tissues.

Claudia tries to find her best friend Monday after she doesn’t show up at school for the first day of school. The two have been friends for a long time and they were close or so Claudia thought. Even when discovering things she didn’t know Claudia doesn’t give up the search. She shows true friendship throughout the book but it is the ending that twists it. I read Allegedly by Tiffany D. Jackson as well so I should have been prepared for it but I wasn’t. I recommend this book with everything I have.

Five out of five stars!!

The Gilded Wolves

Those who compare this book to the Six of Crows is a fool. This book is definitely better. I will say the beginning was a little tough to start out with but once I got hooked I was done for. I liked the characters and I wanted to know what happens so bad I read the last chapter while I was in the middle of the book. I hardly ever do that.

I made a bad mistake with reading the end like I did because it just made the rest of the book more heightened. I enjoyed the mystery and intrigue in this book and cannot wait for the sequel. I will say the last chapter is curious and makes me wonder what that will reveal in the second book. I wonder if Séverin is a part of a different line so to speak and if his friend was another line. That is as much as I can say on that without spoiling the book.

Otherwise I do like how each character solves things in their own ways and that they seem to be equally smart. They each have their own strengths but can solve things on their own fairly easy. It is shown when they can solve one of the puzzles without the “ringleader”, Séverin. I also don’t understand why they think this is a Six of Crows remake when the two books are only similar by the fact a team of people solve something and are one the “wrong” side of the law. There is a lot of other things different. Maybe it is because they do not see themselves in the characters? I will say if the two went against each other The Gilded Wolves would win in my book.

I also like how the author put bits of history in the book that you don’t realize until after. You go through the book thinking certain things are just macabre. Then the author tells you the story behind them with her notes at the end. I learned something new that I didn’t even know. If you are curious pick the book up and give it a read. 🙂

Five out of Five Stars!

Allegedly

I have to say this book was a damn good read. The way the author wrote this is a freaking masterpiece. The twists that she puts in this book as it unfolds and it just drags you along just right. If this book doesn’t become a classic I would be extremely upset.

The whole book follows Mary B. Addison as everyone tries to figure out what happened to a white baby girl in the care of her and her mother. They try to understand why she didn’t say much or speak up for what had happened. She is convicted and when she gets put in a halfway house she finds the strength to speak up and try to get herself free. The ending just shocks you to your core and confirms that Tiffany D. Jackson is an amazing writer that needs to be praised.

I give this book Five out of five stars.

Shadow and Bone

I know I say this quite often but why did I wait so long to read this book? If there is one thing this quarantine has given me is the ability to sit at home and read all the books that I have had in my TBR pile for so long. I took a chance and bought the whole trilogy one day.

I didn’t get captured in the story right away. It took about three chapters before I wanted to finish it. I also can say that I didn’t rush to finish it. It wasn’t that kind of hold on me when reading. It was more of a leisurely read that was captivating in its own way. I enjoyed the story and the characters. The author did a good job of unfolding parts of the story when she wanted to and keeping you figuring it all out.

There was a couple of twists in there I didn’t see coming I will say that. I also have seen on Book Twitter about Mal and I am loving every second of him before anything happens. I can honestly say this book wasn’t a rush read because I am hooked into the late hours on the story. It was more of an unfolding of the story for me was worth it. I don’t really know how to explain it.

Five out of five stars.

Aurora Rising

I really liked this book. I had been holding off on reading it for a while. I can see the flaws in this book that most people probably hated like the fact the Alpha is shown as a pair of dimples throughout the book. A lot of times instead of focusing on his knowledge that is claimed in parts of the book they just put he smiles with full dimples on display like that gets people everywhere. I will give them props for the twist with Cat but taking her out of the team seems a little harsh. She wasn’t my favorite character but I didn’t hate her towards the end. I have a feeling she makes a come back though. Something in my gut maybe.

I have to say of all the characters I think I like Fin the most. Fin draws me in with the hints of bisexuality and his sarcasm. Sarcasm is my superpower if you know me personally. All in all I really liked the book. I really wish there was more science fiction in young adult I can read. I probably haven’t found them yet right?

My only parting words to this are that I loved the Illuminae series a lot more. Maybe that will change with Aurora Burning.

Five out of five stars!

Internment

I saw this book on Twitter one day and the cover made me curious so I went to Goodreads to ready the synopsis. Put it in my tbr pile and didn’t think I would get it soon. One of my many trips to the bookstore lately brought me to the book and I snatched it up. I should be staying home but I don’t do ebooks really well since the screen irritates my eyes after an hour.

Back to the book at hand. I absolutely loved this book. It does have a lot of “political” views in it. But this book is definitely something that will go down in history like The Hate You Give. It has that level of breakdown to it and the main character uses political movements that people know to create understanding. She brought in NoDAPL and I couldn’t be happier she did. This book is about muslims and it is trying to create awareness to how things are going for them and some of the paragraphs really hit home for the times we are in as well. It is actually pretty scary and true.

I cannot express how much I want everyone to read this that has it sitting on their tbr pile. Maybe this is the first time you are seeing it and thats ok I still say go out and get it. But, go into this book with an open mind and understand that until you are in someone else’s shoes you cannot know their journey or what they have been through. Be mindful and bring a box of tissues.

Five out of five stars!

A Woman Is No Man

I was determined to read this book but I couldn’t get into it while reading it on my kindle. I went to the bookstore the other day saw it on the shelf and decided to buy a paperback copy. Best decision of my life. I was able to engross myself in the story and it kept me up until 3am just to finish it. I could relate to so much in this book and the stories she put in it just captivated you.

There were some honest plot twists I didn’t see coming and I loved that this book wasn’t your typical book. It shines a light on a culture that many people do not get to see into or try to understand. I couldn’t be happier I bought this book twice because the author honestly deserves it. I can only hope she writes another book as captivating and enlightening as this one.

Five out of five stars.

How to Make Friends with the Dark

This book is heart-wrenching and you just can’t help but feel it all. The author did a really good job writing this book. I will definitely say to step back and take a break from this book regularly. It does take a toll when you read it. I had to stop every 50 pages or so with some of the topics that are brought up in the book. Some of it was triggering for me which made this book hit a little harder than usual.

Let me also give you a heads up to the tears that will fall towards the end of this book. The rest of the story is sad but the ending hits a little differently and tears will spring forward a little quicker than you anticipate. Also, do yourself a service and read the author’s note. I usually just skim these but something made me actually read this one and I loved it. It was a nice come down from the book for me.

I will say this book was a nice read for Mental Health Awareness month. It is May and the hashtag is #breakthestigma. Find something to enjoy or someone to share with and enjoy life to its fullest. Be kind to yourself and others and remember to always practice self care.

Five out of five stars. Cheers.