Slewfoot by Brom
Set in Colonial New England, Slewfoot is a tale of magic and mystery, of triumph and terror as only dark fantasist Brom can tell it.
A spirited young Englishwoman, Abitha, arrives at a Puritan colony betrothed to a stranger – only to become quickly widowed when her husband dies under mysterious circumstances. All alone in this pious and patriarchal society, Abitha fights for what little freedom she can grasp onto, while trying to stay true to herself and her past.
Enter Slewfoot, a powerful spirit of antiquity newly woken … and trying to find his own role in the world. Healer or destroyer? Protector or predator? But as the shadows walk and villagers start dying, a new rumor is whispered: Witch.
Both Abitha and Slewfoot must swiftly decide who they are, and what they must do to survive in a world intent on hanging any who meddle in the dark arts.
Complete with 8 pages of Brom’s mesmerizing full-color artwork and chapter illustrations throughout, his latest book is sure to delight.
For the Reading Challenge(s):
2024 52 Book Club Reading Challenge (Prompt #26: Hybrid genre – historical fantasy)
2024 Audiobook Challenge
2024 Library Love Challenge
The Reason
I read a review that highly recommended this book and I was intrigued!
The Quotes
“You are not made out of needs, you are made out of your dreams and desires.”
“Life is nothing but riddles … we spend our whole lives puzzling them out. Sadly, as soon as we find the answer, the riddle changes. Does it not?”
“As at least cruelty was a thing that could be pointed out, confronted. But this belief, this absolute conviction that this evil they were doing was good, was God’s work—how, she wondered, how could such a dark conviction ever be overcome?”
The Narrator(s)
Barrie Kreinik. The narration was good and clear, I have no complaints!
My Thoughts
While waiting for this book to be available, I managed to read another book by the same author, The Child Thief, and I didn’t like it very much. It put me off the author so much that I second-guessed if I even wanted to read this one. Still, it did come highly recommended and I thought I should at least give it a try. So I did, and I liked it better than The Child Thief but not by much. I think that perhaps this author is just not a right fit for my tastes.
I happened to have both the audiobook and the physical copy at the same time from the library, and mostly listened to the audiobook, but there were illustrations in the physical book that I loved! So essentially, what I loved most about the book is the illustrations of the characters.
My Feels
This book did manage to elicit a lot of feelings from me though! I was infuriated with the injustice, the misogyny, the horrible things done in the name of religion. Ugh!
My Rating
⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.
Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?
I’ve never read Brom before but I feel like he’s one I should check out! I’ll keep this title in mind (though maybe his works are too bleak for me, lol).