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Well, this was a hell of a lot of fun.

I’ve never read Brom and even when I requested this ARC on NetGalley and Tor Nightfire gifted me with a copy, I know nothing whatsoever about him - I went in base solely on the synopsis and the cover. I didn’t even realize until about a third of the way through the book that the non-ARC will have illustrations! Sounds like this is going to necessitate a buy or at least borrow from the library.

Because I enjoyed this so much. I hadn’t a clue that Brom is an artist and, as a writer, they were barely a blip on my radar as existing before I was attracted to and requested this one. Having googled Brom, now, I like the art as much as the writing; my kind of themes and darkness.

Other reviewer’s criticisms about the one-note villain(s)? True, absolutely. I can see where the author sort of attempted to give the primary antagonist some justification - if reasonably only in his own mind - for his actions, but it felt like a bit of a lame attempt at rounding out the guy. This is a harsh thing to say, but let me hasten to add that, ultimately� I didn’t care. I didn’t care that the bad guy was just� a bad guy. Instead of being disappointed that the author didn’t give him too much of a backstory or depth beyond his role in the story� I just enjoyed thoroughly hating him for what he was, and rooting for the protagonist(s). Alternately, I did enjoy the fact that, despite Abitha, the primary protagonist, being pitted against an entire village of Puritans, they were not all just automatically evil and antagonistic through and through. In so many stories like this, there’s no gray area, no bending, nothing other than black and white of men hating women and assuming that if they don’t conform, then they must be witches. Many of the characters here are more nuanced and multi-faceted than that, and for at least a couple of them, they have half a brain and a touch of compassion and justice. They try, anyway.

This is such a lovely blend of elements I love - paganism coming up against Christianity, people attempting to survive in extreme communities, supernatural versus religion, etc. I’ve never read “this story� - as in, the basic story of witchcraft/the witch trials in Puritanical New England, told in this way, regardless of other stories I’ve read in the same setting/time period that also include supernatural/paranormal elements. It just really delivered on the type of story I’m always looking for when I’m attracted to books like this, without giving any spoilers.

(view spoiler)[ But let’s make it clear that, if The Witch is a favourite movie of yours, as it is mine, you’ll likely enjoy this, too. (hide spoiler)]

Based on friends� reviews of Brom’s backlist, I’m somewhat hesitant about what to try next from the backlist, but I will definitely be on the lookout for and absolutely consider his future novels. I thoroughly enjoyed this one, and it was the perfect month and season for reading it.