Ratings14
Average rating3.9
An incredibly inventive, highly anticipated second adult novel--with witches, magic, and a road trip through America--from Cherie Dimaline, the critically acclaimed author of Empire of Wild. Métis millennial Lucky St. James is barely hanging on when she learns she'll be evicted from the tiny Toronto apartment she shares with her cantankerous but loving grandmother Stella. But then one night, something strange and irresistible calls out to Lucky. She burrows through a wall to find a tarnished silver spoon, humming with otherworldly energy, etched with a crooked-nosed witch and the word SALEM. Lucky is familiar with the magic of her indigenous ancestors, but she has no idea that the spoon connects her to a teeming network of witches across North America who have anxiously awaited her discovery. Enter VenCo, a front company fueled by vast resources of dark money (its name is an anagram of "coven.") VenCo's witches hide in plain sight wherever women gather: Tupperware parties, Mommy & Me classes, suburban book clubs. Since colonial times, they have awaited the moment the seven spoons will come together and ignite a new era, returning women to their rightful power. But as reckoning approaches, a very powerful adversary is stalking their every move. He's Jay Christos, a roguish and deadly witch-hunter as old as witchcraft itself. To find the last spoon, Lucky and Stella embark on a rollicking and dangerous road trip to the darkly magical city of New Orleans, where the final showdown will determine whether VenCo will usher in a new beginning...or remain underground forever. A wildly imaginative and compulsively readable fantasia of adventure, history, Americana, feminism, and magic, VenCo is a novel only the supremely gifted Cherie Dimaline could write.
Reviews with the most likes.
3.5 stars
Lucky and her grandmother Stella have each other and that's it. Soon, they won't even have their apartment. Lucky hasn't told Stella about the eviction notice yet. Hopefully she will figure something out.
Her grandmother's mental state seems to be declining, so Lucky has to take care of her. Stella recently told her an off the wall story about a secret tunnel in the basement. Even though she thinks it's nonsense, Lucky can't help but be curious. Turns out, it's not nonsense and she finds a spoon with SALEM written on it.
After finding the spoon, everything changes. Someone from a company called VenCo just offered her a job, and told her she's a witch. And that's just the beginning.
I was not enjoying this at the beginning. I'm not a big fan of contemporary settings, but I love witchy books so I continued on. I think the second half was much better than the first. I liked the diverse cast of characters. Stella is my favorite. She's very kooky.
Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for an e-arc.