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sharron_joy_reads's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
3.75
Following on from the 2nd short story in Within, Harper is hiding in New York from the witch hunters determined to capture her and use her power but a letter arrives and she knows she has been found. This is her journey to find out who she is.
The Council of Hunters is now led by Brady and he is using science to drain the witches and use their power to defeat them but Harper is prepared to do anything to end his slaughter of her kind and to make them all pay for what they have taken from her.
A great witchy story, fast paced with secret magical places, cursed and powerful amulets, shadowy mercenaries, powerful witches, magic and mystery. There is also an underlying message here of the power of women, exploited and discarded, mental illness as a pathway to power and self harm as a weapon to defeat the enemy. An adventure story with magic, good versus evil and the fight for the right to exist, excellent!
aratecla_the_bookrat's review
5.0
What an amazing sequel!! Edmund Stone did a fantastic job with the continuation of Harper's story, whom we met in Hurt part of the short story collection Within: A Three Part Horror.
Harper is a witch and after all her family was destroyed by the Hunters she thought she was free but how wrong she was.. The Hunters have been busy in the background, concocting horrible ways to annihilate witches with the help of science..
At the head of the Council of Hunters is Brady, evil and deprecabile man who'd do anything to pursue his objectives.. But greed and hubris will sign his demise. Underestimating Harper's powers and tools at her disposal was a mistake..
I love Harper so much and her character is so well defined that my brain doesn't have any problem believing she exists somewhere. I didn't know how much I missed her and her story until I started reading Punish and now I want more!!
I cannot wait for the sequel as there's a hint for a crossover with another short story of the same collection and I'm so eager to see where that leads!
It's not often that sequels live up to the first installment, but this has surpassed my expectations! Full of emotions, action and enough gore, I know you'll fall in love with Harper and Edmund Stone's writing..
Thanks to the author for a copy and this is my honest review.
Harper is a witch and after all her family was destroyed by the Hunters she thought she was free but how wrong she was.. The Hunters have been busy in the background, concocting horrible ways to annihilate witches with the help of science..
At the head of the Council of Hunters is Brady, evil and deprecabile man who'd do anything to pursue his objectives.. But greed and hubris will sign his demise. Underestimating Harper's powers and tools at her disposal was a mistake..
I love Harper so much and her character is so well defined that my brain doesn't have any problem believing she exists somewhere. I didn't know how much I missed her and her story until I started reading Punish and now I want more!!
I cannot wait for the sequel as there's a hint for a crossover with another short story of the same collection and I'm so eager to see where that leads!
It's not often that sequels live up to the first installment, but this has surpassed my expectations! Full of emotions, action and enough gore, I know you'll fall in love with Harper and Edmund Stone's writing..
Thanks to the author for a copy and this is my honest review.
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