Voodoomary
224 points
Voodoomary started reading...
4h
The Once and Future Witches
Alix E. Harrow
In the late 1800s, three sisters use witchcraft to change the course of history in Alix E. Harrow's powerful novel of magic and the suffragette movement. In 1893, there's no such thing as witches. There used to be, in the wild, dark days before the burnings began, but now witching is nothing but tidy charms and nursery rhymes. If the modern woman wants any measure of power, she must find it at the ballot box. But when the Eastwood sisters -- James Juniper, Agnes Amaranth, and Beatrice Belladonna -- join the suffragists of New Salem, they begin to pursue the forgotten words and ways that might turn the women's movement into the witch's movement. Stalked by shadows and sickness, hunted by forces who will not suffer a witch to vote -- and perhaps not even to live -- the sisters will need to delve into the oldest magics, draw new alliances, and heal the bond between them if they want to survive. There's no such thing as witches. But there will be. An homage to the indomitable power and persistence of women, The Once and Future Witches reimagines stories of revolution, sapphic love, motherhood, and women's suffrage--the lost ways are calling.
Voodoomary finished a book
5h
Agatha Raisin and the Witch of Wyckhadden (Agatha Raisin, #9)
M.C. Beaton
After being shaved bald during a previous case, Agatha Raisin goes to a seaside resort and enlists the aid of a local witch to grow her hair back, putting her right in the middle of things when the witch is found dead. Reprint.
Published in 1859 and considered one of the first sensation novels, The Woman in White follows a drawing teacher who becomes entangled in a mystery involving two women, a dangerous secret, and a villain who is genuinely one of a kind. The multiple-narrator structure is Collins’s great achievement here. Having different characters tell their portions of the story in their own voices creates a propulsive, addictive reading experience that feels remarkably modern for its age.
The novel’s central imbalance is Marian Halcombe, who is also its greatest strength. As the half-sister of Walter’s love interest, Laura, who embodies the dull, delicate ideal of Victorian ladyhood and is never given a narrative voice of her own, Marian runs circles around everyone else. She is sharp, capable, and fully realized in ways that make every page she narrates crackle with energy, while Walter, the nominal hero, requires real effort to stay engaged with. Walter and Laura deserve each other.
The one character who truly sees and appreciates Marian for who she is happens to be the villain, Count Fosco, which is its own telling irony. Fosco is charming, intelligent, and dangerous in ways that feel earned, and his sections are among the most entertaining in the book.
A few Victorian conventions will test modern patience, particularly around how female characters are managed and protected, or how obvious mysteries get stated explicitly anyway. Still, the atmosphere, the pacing, and Marian easily make it worth the read.
Voodoomary finished a book
16h
The Woman in White
Wilkie Collins
'In one moment, every drop of blood in my body was brought to a stop... There, as if it had that moment sprung out of the earth, stood the figure of a solitary Woman, dressed from head to foot in white' The Woman in White famously opens with Walter Hartright's eerie encounter on a moonlit London road. Engaged as a drawing master to the beautiful Laura Fairlie, Walter becomes embroiled in the sinister intrigues of Sir Percival Glyde and his 'charming' friend Count Fosco, who has a taste for white mice, vanilla bonbons, and poison. Pursuing questions of identity and insanity along the paths and corridors of English country houses and the madhouse, The Woman in White is the first and most influential of the Victorian genre that combined Gothic horror with psychological realism. Matthew Sweet's introduction explores the phenomenon of Victorian 'sensation' fiction, and discusses Wilkie Collins's biographical and societal influences. Included in this edition are appendices on theatrical adaptations of the novel and its serialisation history.
Voodoomary started reading...
1d
Diavola
Jennifer Marie Thorne
Jennifer Thorne skewers all-too-familiar family dynamics in this sly, wickedly funny vacation-Gothic. Beautifully unhinged and deeply satisfying, Diavola is a sharp twist on the classic haunted house story, exploring loneliness, belonging, and the seemingly inescapable bonds of family mythology. Anna has two rules for the annual Pace family destination vacations: Tread lightly and survive. It isn’t easy when she’s the only one in the family who doesn’t quite fit in. Her twin brother, Benny, goes with the flow so much he’s practically dissolved, and her older sister, Nicole, is so used to everyone—including her blandly docile husband and two kids—falling in line that Anna often ends up in trouble for simply asking a question. Mom seizes every opportunity to question her life choices, and Dad, when not reminding everyone who paid for this vacation, just wants some peace and quiet. The gorgeous, remote villa in tiny Monteperso seems like a perfect place to endure so much family togetherness, until things start going off the rails—the strange noises at night, the unsettling warnings from the local villagers, and the dark, violent past of the villa itself. (Warning: May invoke feelings of irritation, dread, and despair that come with large family gatherings.)
Inspired by the real mystery of an early 20th-century Swedish village that vanished without a trace, The Lost Village follows a documentary film crew exploring the ghost town while alternating with the historical events leading up to the disaster.
If you appreciated the daylight dread of Midsommar, this operates with a similar slow burn of deeply unsettling tension rather than jump scares, but the mechanics of the fear are fundamentally different. Midsommar works because the community is harmonious, joyful, and operating with absolute coherence by its own moral framework. Sten’s story, by contrast, is driven by chaos, paranoia, and arbitrary cruelty. There is no comforting sense of collective unity or order to hide behind, which breeds its own raw, unpredictable dread.
The dual-timeline structure builds fantastic atmospheric weight, making this an ideal pick for moody autumn reading, even if a few transitions feel slightly mid-thought in ways that might stem from translation. By the time the ending arrived, I already assembled enough pieces that the resolution felt more like confirmation than revelation, but the buildup remained thoroughly chilling.
Just note that the disturbing content veers beyond standard thriller territory, so checking content warnings is wise if you prefer to tread lightly. Ultimately, it is a very satisfying pick when you are craving something dark, unsettling, and distinctly Scandinavian. 🍂
Voodoomary finished a book
2d
The Lost Village
Camilla Sten
The Blair Witch Project meets Midsommar in this brilliantly disturbing thriller from Camilla Sten, an electrifying new voice in suspense. Documentary filmmaker Alice Lindstedt has been obsessed with the vanishing residents of the old mining town, dubbed “The Lost Village,” since she was a little girl. In 1959, her grandmother’s entire family disappeared in this mysterious tragedy, and ever since, the unanswered questions surrounding the only two people who were left—a woman stoned to death in the town center and an abandoned newborn—have plagued her. She’s gathered a small crew of friends in the remote village to make a film about what really happened. But there will be no turning back. Not long after they’ve set up camp, mysterious things begin to happen. Equipment is destroyed. People go missing. As doubt breeds fear and their very minds begin to crack, one thing becomes startlingly clear to Alice: They are not alone. They’re looking for the truth… But what if it finds them first?
