Reviews - The Bewitching | The StoryGraph

1.07k reviews for:

The Bewitching

Silvia Moreno-Garcia

4.18 AVERAGE

sunshinedye's review against another edition

3.0

adventurous mysterious slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

sprainedbrain's review

4.0

dark reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

arianemota's review against another edition

4.5

dark mysterious slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

natalie12345's review against another edition

3.5

medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

This book could've been great but it fell a bit short. The idea was really interesting and though a bit predictable, it kept me entertained. One of the main disappointments was the characters, there are three timelines in this book and they all read pretty much the same despite the characters being from very different stations in life. The characters themselves didn't have any personality or growth, in the end Minerva was still so unlikeable. There was no atmosphere to the story even though it was supposed to be spooky, the timelines jumping between summer and winter likely didn't help. Lastly, there were a ton of minor plot inconsistencies which took you out of the story and were just annoying to read.

Some were bigger questions like why did Carolyn spend so much time haunting Tom and Minerva before killing them? Just because it made their blood taste better? That doesn't seem to make sense given how badly she seemed to want Minerva. And when did Valentin die? When Alba gets to the house during the daytime she's told he died 30 mins prior but at the funeral she overhears he died in the night. Then there are smaller things like establishing how Minerva always has to make coffee followed by a scene she comes home and immediately takes an aspirin with coffee that's just there. Or she makes a point of telling Hideo she'll call him before she comes over for dinner, SEES a payphone before she heads over but doesn't call. And it's just not mentioned at all. It seems really minute but it happens so often it's impossible not to notice.

I feel like this could have been so much better with a better editor. A few changes really could've improved the overall effect.

atb's review against another edition

4.0

dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

cakt1991's review against another edition

4.0

I received an ARC from the publisher. Review based on the final copy. All opinions are my own.

Silvia Moreno-Garcia can be rather hit-or-miss for me, given her tendency to genre-hop quite a bit. And with her books often being multilayered and complex, they don’t always “click” for me. But while The Bewitching wasn’t my favorite of her books, it had aspects I enjoyed, for the most part.

Moreno-Garcia is a master of creating a creepy atmosphere, and she absolutely does that here, with the variations across timelines helping them to feel distinct. There’s a subtle creep factor, and while it doesn’t rank among her better books in this regard for me, it’s still my favorite aspect of her writing.

I did more or less enjoy the three timelines. Each of the three women, Minerva, Alba, and Beatrice, shined, and each drew me in in equal measure. The connectedness between the narratives did feel a bit thin at times, particularly the 1934 storyline, however, I did get the sense that this was built as one story, not three haphazardly smashed together.

However, there’s an odd mix of the book being an extremely slow burn, yet not having enough page time to really flesh out the characters. I definitely felt my investment flagging a bit in the middle, although I did enjoy how it all came together.

This was a pleasant surprise, as Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s books often are, and I would recommend it to readers in search of rich, atmospheric horror told across multiple timelines.

sarahreadsabook's review against another edition

3.5

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Content Warnings

emilysteve's review against another edition

4.0

Generally speaking I’m not a fan of anything described as dark academia, because the true dark academia (as anyone who’s worked at a university knows) is paperwork and meetings, but I loved Mexican Gothic and this sounded fun. I did really enjoy this - the three plot lines felt a little forced together at times (we really only had the Alba plot line

to give us the resolution for Minerva’s victory at the end

but that only came later on so for much of the book they felt disconnected. I also guessed early on exactly who

the witches

were, though that wasn’t a bad thing and didn’t affect my enjoyment of the book.