The Book of Witching

I was pretty disappointed by this book. It was my choice from the subscription box ‘Book of the Month' this month, and I had been skipping BOTM for many months. I decided to select this creepy book for October, even though it didn't seem that interesting to me. I was hoping it would be good and surprise me. BOTM's quick take is: “A mysterious hiking accident kicks off this sp**ky tale of witchcraft, revenge, and a mother's search for answers.” Additionally, their full synopsis does not cover that there is a second narrative taking place in the past at all. In retrospect, I should have just skipped another month, and maybe I should cancel my subscription altogether.

The book is just over 350 pages and I got to page 74 before giving up. There were a few things that bothered me: First, different narratives in different time periods. This seems to be a big trend these days, and most of the time if this is in a synopsis in a book, I will not read it. It's just not interesting to me to read virtually two different stories that somehow come together in the end. The synopsis offered by BOTM did not really point to different narratives in the book. One is modern day (2024), and the other is far in the past (1594), and they are (or will be from my point-of-view as a reader who stopped reading) connected by witchcraft. I found the modern day story very intriguing and almost enjoyed those chapters, and often when I flipped to a new chapter set in 1594, I audibly groaned.

Second, 74 pages in and I'm utterly uninterested in half the book? That's a problem. Third, the writing is quite poor. Not only is it in present tense, which, to me, is unenjoyable to read, but sentence variation, descriptions, tension, character and plot development were all extremely lacking. It was just so uninteresting.

Let me go back to the line level for a moment: I'd read sentences like (not an exact quote): “Clem puts on her shoes and walks out the door. Clem gets in the car and drives to the hospital. Clem speaks to the doctors.” Maybe I'm being a bit over-the-top, but this is what it felt like. Also, another pet peeve is this flip of the hand to try to build tension at the end of a chapter (not an exact quote):

“They place me back in chains and pull me down the stairs.
To the dungeon.”

I am not alarmed by this. I'm annoyed that, “To the dungeon,” is not a sentence.

So, all-in-all, I don't recommend this and really want my time and money back.

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I just finished The Book of Witching by C.J Cooke and here are my thoughts.

Clem's literal worst nightmare comes true when her daughter, away for the weekend with her friends, ends up in the burn unit in hospital, she is unconscious. The only people who can answer the question of what happened are either dead or missing.

Clem realizes she doesn't know her daughter like she thought she did. She is into some dark stuff and the more Clem digs, the more she learns about the reason why her daughter was in the Orkneys.... The site holds a tragic event long ago, a woman executed for witchcraft. So why was Erin drawn to the site and why, upon waking, is she only answering to the name Nyx?


I was hooked right from the word witchcraft. The book straddles two timelines. We get the book from the current day and Clem's POV and centuries ago from Alison, a mother of 2 and a healer... A woman who was accused, falsely accused, of witchcraft.

I didn't need so much of the jumping back in time. I think the book was trying to go for a balance but I would have really been hooked by more on the current day and that dang book! While I understand the story of Alison is loosely based on a real witch trial and it added some serious weight to the story, it didn't excite me the same way the Clem and Erin storyline did.

The writing was eerie as all heck and I can almost feel the atmosphere running over my skin. There was so much going on but it held it all together with serious gravitas and kept the creepy vibes going the whole way through. That is an incredible feat in itself. The characters were great, they all felt realistic and I really enjoyed the book from start to finish.

Such a great horror book. It's not in your face horror but that under your skin spooky vibes that I simply adore.

4.5 stars ( I need the audiobook of this one)

Out now! (oct 8th)

Thank you to @berkleypublishing and @netgalley for my gifted copy.

5 stars for the captivating atmosphere and my inability to put this down - I finished it within 12 hours, which is VERY rare for this mood reader. I adored the flashbacks to the 1500s witch trial, Erin's badass mom, and the unique blend of mystery and true crime that sets this apart from other witch stories. The conclusion between family members was satisfying and heartwarming. However, I felt the ending had a few plot holes, the resolution of Erin's possession by Nyx was rushed and under-reflected upon by the present-day characters. The ancestral connections between past and present could've been fleshed out more. The epilogue felt lazy and tacked on, but I see it as the author's attempt to show the continued magical lineage. Overall, I would definitely recommend this especially during spooky season. I think all readers of all genres could enjoy this book!