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3.86 AVERAGE
3.86 AVERAGE
This book is the first in a series of paranormal romances. This particular entry has elements of time travel.
Content warnings:
Witchcraft
Animal cruelty
Misogyny (historical societal understandings)
Elements of human sacrifice
Contact with the dead
Physical violence
Imprisonment
Torture
Discussions of historical racism. (Bullying from school)
Your mileage may vary. I found this one to be really quite mild.
Characters of Colour?
Yes! Our heroine is half white, half Moroccan! Her non-whiteness is frequently pointed out so there’s little chance of forgetting she’s POC.
Additionally, the local blacksmith is African, from Gambia. His non-whiteness is also repeatedly referred to, without creating a point of contention. It’s nicely done.
QUILTTBAG/Queer characters?
Yes! Secondary characters - I cannot say more without it being Spoilers, but yes, we have explicit Queerness! Superb!
Disabled characters?
Sadly, no characters are pointed out as being explicitly disabled. While the time travelling character has some difficulty getting oriented with their new time, they manage well enough that it’s not debilitating.
Worth my time?
Most certainly! This took me about 8 hours’ read-time. Strong, non-white female lead, strong supporting characters, a well considered plot with a compelling villain. The intimate moments between the heroine & her partner feel natural, & are not too numerous as to be gratuitous. It’s honestly a real pleasure to read. The compelling characters, including the villain, are well thought out. There is depth to all of them, which will only grow with future instalments. A very strong series starter that sets the bar. I’m excited for the next one.
Re-read?
Given the twists & the opportunities for future books to shed new light on the various characters, this book has a pretty high level of re-readability. If the rest of the series is this strong, I will have finally found a series I enjoy rereading as much as Seanan McGuire’s books.
Recommend?
Those who can handle heteronormative romance & delightful witchiness will love this! It’s a great introduction to well-written POC to nudge toward your friends who don’t realise POC Heroes are Important.
Anyone looking for something a little more than a single afternoon of reading will get plenty of Bang for their buck here.
Book Sirens pointed this beastie my way, & I’m very glad they did. For the low, low price of my honest musings, I got to add this book to my stash.
Content warnings:
Witchcraft
Animal cruelty
Misogyny (historical societal understandings)
Elements of human sacrifice
Contact with the dead
Physical violence
Imprisonment
Torture
Discussions of historical racism. (Bullying from school)
Your mileage may vary. I found this one to be really quite mild.
Characters of Colour?
Yes! Our heroine is half white, half Moroccan! Her non-whiteness is frequently pointed out so there’s little chance of forgetting she’s POC.
Additionally, the local blacksmith is African, from Gambia. His non-whiteness is also repeatedly referred to, without creating a point of contention. It’s nicely done.
QUILTTBAG/Queer characters?
Yes! Secondary characters - I cannot say more without it being Spoilers, but yes, we have explicit Queerness! Superb!
Disabled characters?
Sadly, no characters are pointed out as being explicitly disabled. While the time travelling character has some difficulty getting oriented with their new time, they manage well enough that it’s not debilitating.
Worth my time?
Most certainly! This took me about 8 hours’ read-time. Strong, non-white female lead, strong supporting characters, a well considered plot with a compelling villain. The intimate moments between the heroine & her partner feel natural, & are not too numerous as to be gratuitous. It’s honestly a real pleasure to read. The compelling characters, including the villain, are well thought out. There is depth to all of them, which will only grow with future instalments. A very strong series starter that sets the bar. I’m excited for the next one.
Re-read?
Given the twists & the opportunities for future books to shed new light on the various characters, this book has a pretty high level of re-readability. If the rest of the series is this strong, I will have finally found a series I enjoy rereading as much as Seanan McGuire’s books.
Recommend?
Those who can handle heteronormative romance & delightful witchiness will love this! It’s a great introduction to well-written POC to nudge toward your friends who don’t realise POC Heroes are Important.
Anyone looking for something a little more than a single afternoon of reading will get plenty of Bang for their buck here.
Book Sirens pointed this beastie my way, & I’m very glad they did. For the low, low price of my honest musings, I got to add this book to my stash.
In A Cover of Her Own, Sunny Chambers moves to her grandmother’s house in Cornwall and begins having dreams of a mystery man. But when Cullen Thaine turns out to be real, Sunny is faced with a new way of living and a love worth fighting for.
I honestly didn’t like A Coven of Her Own, but I can’t say that other people wouldn’t. I like hot and steamy sex scenes as much as the next girl, but it really came off as sex magic during the first half, and then I just got annoyed with everyone involved in the second half. It just didn’t pay off the way that I thought that it should have.
The writing was fine, but I don’t like that Sunny’s Moroccan heritage was made a plot point, but it really doesn’t go anywhere. It’s suspected that her maternal grandfather might have had powers, but nobody can really answer that because he abandoned his family when Sunny’s mom was twelve. That should have been the end of it, but Sunny decides to use it as a fakeout later. On the other hand, Sunny’s paternal grandmother’s powers should have been enough, but we really only hear about her as part of the setting. Even when her ghost comes to visit, Grandma Chambers doesn’t feel like a real person.
Sunny’s mentor having had a previous relationship with the villain never stops feeling suspect, even when we know she won’t betray the group. I’m not sure if Walker ever delves into their relationship in other books, but it just feels weirdly incomplete here. There’s also the issue of Sunny’s grandmother and the aforementioned mentor basically telling Sunny to use her womanly wiles to throw the villain off his game in order to defeat him. It just doesn’t sit well with me when Sunny spends a good portion of the book arguing with Cullen about how she can handle herself and women in this century can fight their own battles.
I understand how all of that was supposed to come off, but what ends up happening is me wanting Cullen to tell Sunny that he could go back to his time if that's what she was going to do.
Speaking of Cullen, he seems to be pretty ill-used. He gets caught up in a scheme of his so-called friend - for reasons that are never fully explained - and now he’s stuck in a time where he’s basically a houseboy. Even his big reveal is useless. Cullen’s frustration at not at least being able to deal with the villain for Sunny is very understandable, but the ending makes it seem as though Cullen is supposed to have his own adventure at some point.
I have to give A Coven of Her Own it’s good writing and great setting, but it’s definitely not a standalone. There’s no real problem with this novel in and of itself, it just doesn’t work for me. I can’t see myself reading any more of Walker’s novels, but if she does get around to giving Cullen his own book I would definitely give it a chance.
I honestly didn’t like A Coven of Her Own, but I can’t say that other people wouldn’t. I like hot and steamy sex scenes as much as the next girl, but it really came off as sex magic during the first half, and then I just got annoyed with everyone involved in the second half. It just didn’t pay off the way that I thought that it should have.
The writing was fine, but I don’t like that Sunny’s Moroccan heritage was made a plot point, but it really doesn’t go anywhere. It’s suspected that her maternal grandfather might have had powers, but nobody can really answer that because he abandoned his family when Sunny’s mom was twelve. That should have been the end of it, but Sunny decides to use it as a fakeout later. On the other hand, Sunny’s paternal grandmother’s powers should have been enough, but we really only hear about her as part of the setting. Even when her ghost comes to visit, Grandma Chambers doesn’t feel like a real person.
Sunny’s mentor having had a previous relationship with the villain never stops feeling suspect, even when we know she won’t betray the group. I’m not sure if Walker ever delves into their relationship in other books, but it just feels weirdly incomplete here. There’s also the issue of Sunny’s grandmother and the aforementioned mentor basically telling Sunny to use her womanly wiles to throw the villain off his game in order to defeat him. It just doesn’t sit well with me when Sunny spends a good portion of the book arguing with Cullen about how she can handle herself and women in this century can fight their own battles.
I understand how all of that was supposed to come off, but what ends up happening is me wanting Cullen to tell Sunny that he could go back to his time if that's what she was going to do.
Speaking of Cullen, he seems to be pretty ill-used. He gets caught up in a scheme of his so-called friend - for reasons that are never fully explained - and now he’s stuck in a time where he’s basically a houseboy. Even his big reveal is useless. Cullen’s frustration at not at least being able to deal with the villain for Sunny is very understandable, but the ending makes it seem as though Cullen is supposed to have his own adventure at some point.
I have to give A Coven of Her Own it’s good writing and great setting, but it’s definitely not a standalone. There’s no real problem with this novel in and of itself, it just doesn’t work for me. I can’t see myself reading any more of Walker’s novels, but if she does get around to giving Cullen his own book I would definitely give it a chance.
It's hard to pin down just exactly why I dislike this book so much...is it the tone? Is it the writing? Is it the verbiage? I think the story has a lot of premise...but it feel far short and had way to much dialogue that went nowhere for me to like it.
I received an ARC of this novel. The review is my own. I enjoyed this story seeing a powerful woman learn who she is while also finding her love. It was a fun read with just the right balance of action and romance.