ARC Review: Witch 13 by Patrick Delaney
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Horse rating: 🐴 of 5 horses
ARC difficulty: slight incline
Expected publication: June 6th, 2022
"...and she wondered if it meant anything to be born on a night when the world was so angry."
This was a solid read. Overall, it had very horror-movie vibes, in generally a good way. I loved the art throughout the book. It read in three distinct pieces to me.
1. The beginning:
The prologue starts this off with 100% creepy factor and great imagery. We’re introduced to a lot of characters, and while the prose was dense at times, I found it didn’t take away from the story or building tension. This is the “characters begin to suspect something is wrong” phase, and it’s done well with creeping horror vibes.
We also get to know the characters, especially Sterling, more through their thoughts. I’d have liked more delineation between present and flashbacks in the character POVs, because I got lost at times.
2. The middle:
This is the weakest part of the book. I felt that it dragged on, and lost all the tension that had been building in the first third. There was too much time spent in various POV of characters, and random flashbacks, and I frequently felt lost. I can see the purpose in these after finishing the book, but as a first read through, it’s a significant drag. A bit of direction to these, and it’d feel less random.
3. The last third:
Once the action started, it really took off. This went back to the horror movie vibes, and it did it well. Back to both psychological creeping horror, and the more visceral types. Things start coming together about the witch, and some weird world stuff.
As a whole:
This story would have been improved if the middle had been streamlined, both in length and in language for clarity. This would have maintained the narrative/horror tension better, and made the end fit in better. As it is, the end came quite abruptly, and had less impact and less….lightbulb? moment than it could have, if we’d had a more clearly Sterling-centric storyline. Even within the other characters POV, I felt it could have been made cleaner.
Overall, I thought this was well done, and despite the slowness of the middle, I really enjoyed it. The art was beautiful, and added to the atmosphere.
Highlights:
"The air slowly decayed, peeling away and leaving something else in its place."
"He took handfuls of the hat in his hands, and just as he went to yank it off, the hat bit down on his head like a shark's mouth lined with serrated teeth."
"Sterling smiled pensively at Max, like she was trying to figure him out. What was there to figure out? He was a kid. Messy. Smelly. Expensive. What more did she need to know?"
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I received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. All the opinions are my own.
Witch 13 on Amazon
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