REVIEW: Eric Linnaeus -The Witch's Curse- by Kikito Lynn
THE SHORT & QUICK
Synopsis: Charles Walsh is a rookie forest ranger in Maine in the 1990s, and of course, he stumbles into trouble soon after he starts. He soon finds that where there is trouble, there is also Eric Linnaeus, a seemingly emotionless man with endless mysteries surrounding him, not to mention the ones that he keeps showing up to solve. Fae are real, they're not friendly, and they're hungry. Eric, though is on the side of humans, is morose and hates talking more than is absolutely necessary. But when something endangers Charles' life, Eric has to meet his past that he's spent decades trying to escape.
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My Rating: 4.25/5 Series? Yes Volumes: 4 (#5 tba) TWs: child deaths, abuse, gore
---------------------------------------- Book Pros: Each character's POV really adds to story, despite jumping back and forth between past and present, book is coherent and well-organized. Unique take on fae myth, plot twists are fun to guess and make theories about. Relationships between characters is authentic. Book Cons: Some could find story-telling method boring, long stretches of pages where nothing much happens, lots of nuance and subtle character changes. Lots of stubborn characters and lots of bickering can get tedious. There is/will be romance but it is SLOW burn. Quotes: "The locals have a set of general rules: donât go outside after dark; donât answer voices that come from the woods; and if you feel as if something is watching you, donât look back."
"'I told you, expressly, not to let them touch you. I said, specifically, if you see anything, to pour salt on it. Did I not?' he demanded. I tried to answer him, but my throat was too hoarse, so he continued, 'I come back, and youâre locking lips with one of them, Charles. Have you no self-control?' he scolded me." -----------------------------------------------------------
IN-DEPTH REVIEW
I am a "judge books by their covers" (not people, only books) kind of person, and this book's cover pulled me in because I am a weak woman. I see pretty man, I am interested.
So let's start with the positives....... First off, I want to compliment the author on how they nailed the creepy, spooky vibes. Horror isn't easy to write, at least in my opinion. I think it's hard to make a reader feel "scared" when they're just reading words on a page. You can't jump scare a reader. But you can 100% creep or skeeve them out, and this book succeeded in doing so several times for me. If you're an avid horror reader, then this book might be light work for you, but to me, it was a pleasant level of creep factor that left me wanting more instead of making me want a break. I'm normally not a fan of multiple POVs. I can tolerate 2 at most. But in this case, I greatly enjoyed the format of the book that used multiple POVs to tell the background stories of our characters. The book is formatted as if you're reading case files or journal entries. Some characters are unreliable narrators, some are inconsequential as people, but their story helps give context. Each chapter was like finding another piece of the puzzle. Last quick positive note: I'm attached beyond belief to Eric and Charles and the more I read, the more I cringed when bad things happened to them. The author did a wonderful job of creating characters with faults that are still incredibly likeable.
On the other side of things......... For me, this book didn't have a lot of negatives. However, for other readers, there were some things I felt I should mention as potential "warnings". But if you're like me, you may find them to be what attracts you to the book! The first "warning" being that pretty much every single character is morally ambiguous. If you're someone who likes characters to be black & white with their actions and motivations, this is not the book for you. Our band of characters have liars and murderers among them, but everyone has their reasons. The characters are rude and frustrating at times, but I never felt like I didn't understand WHY they were lying, murdering, and stubborn. The second "warning" I want to give is that this book is not lighthearted. If you're looking for a feel good, fantasy/supernatural book, this is not for you. There is humor to be found here and there, but by and large, this book's themes are HEA-VY. I enjoyed it because it was a nice change of pace from my usual reads, but if you read to escape reality, I don't recommend this book. The fae in this world are not well-intentioned prince-like creatures. They are ruthless and mostly morally bankrupt. They are committing heinous crimes out there, and the book follows the characters they experiences these horrors first hand.
Overall, I'm hooked in deep! The pacing was bordered on slow, but there is a lot of lore/backstory on the characters that needed to be shared, so I was more just impatient to gobble up everything as fast as I could because I was enjoying it so much! I could have used more romance/connection between the 2 main characters, but I always think that lol this is a SLOWWW burn (hopefully it will be worth it). Anyway, I'm already halfway through the 2nd book in the series, and it's just as good as the first. I'm looking forward to the rest of the series!!
Reviews scare me sometimes, but this one was really well structured 0_0
