Name: The Lighthouse Witches
Rating: 4.00925925925926 (54 reviews)
ISBN: 9780008354718

C.J. Cooke

Don’t miss the brand-new chilling gothic thriller from the bestselling author . . .

The Lighthouse Witches

C. J. Cooke

Didn't think I'd like this book at first, it's been a very long time since I've read something first person which threw me off. However, this book blew me away. Once you get past the first few chapters, there's a perspective change, third person, a new character POV. Then later a new perspective and a new time. The story continues to piece itself together from the experience of several different, but very much connected people. Eerie, mysterious, with some good old fashioned horror towards the end, I highly recommend giving this book a place in your long dark nights reading schedule.

Revna

Two sisters go missing on a remote Scottish island. Twenty years later, one is found--but she's still the same age as when she disappeared. The secrets of witches have reached across the centuries in this chilling Gothic thriller from the author of the acclaimed The Nesting. When single mother Liv is commissioned to paint a mural in a 100-year-old lighthouse on a remote Scottish island, it's an opportunity to start over with her three daughters--Luna, Sapphire, and Clover. When two of her daughters go missing, she's frantic. She learns that the cave beneath the lighthouse was once a prison for women accused of witchcraft. The locals warn her about wildlings, supernatural beings who mimic human children, created by witches for revenge. Liv is told wildlings are dangerous and must be killed. Twenty-two years later, Luna has been searching for her missing sisters and mother. When she receives a call about her youngest sister, Clover, she's initially ecstatic. Clover is the sister she remembers--except she's still seven years old, the age she was when she vanished. Luna is worried Clover is a wildling. Luna has few memories of her time on the island, but she'll have to return to find the truth of what happened to her family. But she doesn't realize just how much the truth will change her.

I really enjoyed this book! It was a really interesting take on folklore, magic, and science! I have to say up until the last 50 or so pages, I wasn’t sure which way the plot was leaning which is really impressive!  This was a book equally heart-wrenching and heart-warming. One that, in my opinion, is a truly unique take on the subjects it contains!

It took me a little bit to get into this book but I think I read the last 3/4 in about 2 hours! Really gripping and had me wanting to read more. The story was so well thought out and the explanation for the disappearances was so so good and not at all what I'd expected! A little scary in the middle, although that might be because I was reading this in the dark on my own! Overall a really good feminist thriller with a stephen king feel

Soph

Don't miss the brand-new chilling gothic thriller from the bestselling author . . .

The Lighthouse Witches weaves together a story spanning over three different timelines and involving a mother, her three daughters, secrets and Nordic folklore.

This is such a captivating, slightly eerie story involving strong parent-child bonds.

While there was some small areas of the plot that I found obvious, they were so slight that I was still on the edge of my seat as I turned the pages waiting for the plot to slowly unravel and connect all these characters and timelines together.

The ending was heartfelt and wholesome that sent shivers down my spine.

A perfect witchy read for October, detailing an untold history of the unfairness of the witch trials throughout Scotland.

Victoria Justice

The Lighthouse Witches weaves together a story spanning over three different timelines and involving a mother, her three daughters, secrets and Nordic folklore.

This is such a captivating, slightly eerie story involving strong parent-child bonds.

While there was some small areas of the plot that I found obvious, they were so slight that I was still on the edge of my seat as I turned the pages waiting for the plot to slowly unravel and connect all these characters and timelines together.

The ending was heartfelt and wholesome that sent shivers down my spine.

A perfect witchy read for October, detailing an untold history of the unfairness of the witch trials throughout Scotland.

McKenzie McWhorter

I loved this book, watching all the answers come together in the end was the best part. I really enjoyed the concept and how it all happened.

Ale ♡

4.75 stars.


  "The only boundary between desire and obsession is time: if you crave someone long enough, it becomes a need. It becomes your ever-waking thought. The only thing you live for."



  here's my full review


This was a hell of a ride. Holy fuck. I found a new comfort book and a new favorite.

The Lighthouse Witches tells the story of Liv and her daughters. How they move to a lonely Scottish island, a remote place, because she receives the offer of a job to paint a mural inside of a lighthouse, The Longing. Liv says yes, she needs a new star, from zero. We learn about her life, her struggles raising 3 kids on her own —one of them a rebel teenager— and with life in general.

Liv doesn't believe in fairy tales, but when two of her daughters disappear, she begins to question if the stories that her friend, Isla, told her might be true.

The vibes. The fucking vibes of this book made me fall in love with it very quick. The atmosphere was dark, eery and gloomy. Hell, I don't even know how to describe it. The vibes and atmosphere were the reason this book was fast paced to me.

I've always been interested on witches, especially on the "trials" held against thousands of women in Europe, acussing them of practicing witchcraft, torturing them and killing them in awful ways.

This book has many layers and it becomes interesting as you're getting through. I must admit that I had a hard time at the beginning trying to differentiate the mcs perspectives, because sometimes they were mixed. Gladly, I made my way through it.

It was like the tv show, Dark featuring witches and eery vibes. We learn how a rational and logic-minded person can lost their shit when weird or emotional things happen, how that thin line between reality and tales can be crossed in one single step.

I liked Liv and her daughters' story. It was an emotional journey and I shed some tears towards the end of the book —on the last 3 chapters. You can feel her struggles with her illness, raising 3 kids on her own —one of them being a rebel teenager— and trying to protect her family. I liked Saffy, Luna and Clover as well. I felt bad for Saffy after Brodie played with her. Luna grow up as a broken kid, haunted by the ghost of her past and what happened with her mother and sisters and how she tried so bad to get her family again. I wanted to protect Clover at all cost.

In overall, this book was fast paced, had really good eery/paranormal/terror elements that transported me to Lon Haven with Liv and her daughters, and with Patrick and Amy, and made me feel very very very sorry for all those women who were hunted and killed for being "witches". It's a story about family, love and folklore and myth that is very well written.


  previous review:

okay, this was even better than i expected!

if u see me crying, no, you don't

rtc

Nash

This book is a trip. A chilly and entertaining trip. I was in shock the whole time I was reading it. I couldn’t comprehend what was going on. Even when I knew what was going on it didn’t even seem possible. 
The story behind the legend is absolutely macabre. In a way that engrosses you and hooks you to the point where you just have to keep reading to find out what in the world is going on. 

It’s a very complex and well-thought story. Very depraved and unfair things happened. Things that just thinking about them make you shudder. Running from your problems can only bring you more trouble along the way. The fact that this book will be a Limited Series soon brings joy to my heart. I cannot wait to see how everything turns out. Would love to read more of Cooke.

Heather Harrington

Honestly, I feel pretty neutral about this book. It wasn't great, but it wasn't terrible either. It just was. It had an interesting concept, and I liked how it was told in alternating timelines. We also follow a lot of different perspectives, and I appreciated seeing the story unfold from all the characters. Although, it did get a little confusing at times keeping everything straight. Cooke's writing was detailed, and I loved all the descriptions of this small Scottish island. It helped drive home the creepy atmosphere. Overall, I liked the paranormal vibes, but there was just something lacking for me.

Jennifer

Despite its atmospheric writing and the promising opening chapters, I unfortunately didn't enjoy The Lighthouse Witches. I found the execution of the writing inadequate and incoherent. I did find the characters interesting but I struggled to get engage with them due to the writing that felt all over the place to me.

Personally, my biggest concern is related to the show / tell in the writing. I feel like nothing particular remarkable happened in the first portion of the book and then suddenly everything is told (and nothing particularly surprised me) in the final 1/3 of the novel. It's definitely one of the biggest pitfalls in mystery/thriller books and this book isn't an exception.

I think the storytelling is okay. It's definitely the better aspects of the book, but it's nevertheless bogged down by the general incoherence in the writing: I couldn't follow through that's happening and the entire book is just very poorly paced.

To sum it up, I wish I enjoyed this but this ended up really not being my cup of tea. There are way too many issues in the writing here and it misses its mark for a decent mystery/thriller book.

N.B. Content warnings: death, separation, abandonment, accidents, grief, gore, and blood mention

(1.5 stars out of 5)

Jessica Williamson

3.5 Stars

This was a weird one. We get four perspectives in three different time periods and I'm impressed by how well I was always able to tell who was speaking, even if I started in the middle of a chapter. The character work here was very well done. I quite enjoyed seeing the different perspectives we got.

The mystery of this was a little easy to guess from the time we see the sister reappear. I went "I bet xyz is why this is happening" and I was completely right. But I did enjoy seeing everything play out and the characters figuring it out to. There's a think Luna does toward the end of the book and I thought it was going to go hugely one way and it went a different direction and I was happy to see that surprise. 

Overall, I think the plot did meander a bit and I'd have liked to see a bit more action, but I still enjoyed it. The mythos behind everything is pretty cool. I really like the idea behind it. I would definitely consider picking up more from this author.

Cover 2; characters 5; plot 4; pace 3; writing 4; enjoyment 3.

Moray Lyle McIntosh

On a remote Scottish island two sisters, Sapphire and Cover disappear. 20 years later one is found but when the third sister, Luna, pregnant and traumatised by the long-ago disappearances, arrives she is dumbfounded to find that Clover hasn't aged a day, she's still 7 years old. The story slowly unfurls through centuries, revealing a long history of witchcraft, murder, changelings and disappearances as well as what happened to the there sisters and their mother (Liv) 20 years ago.

The atmosphere is consistently unsettling and Cooke created a disorientating uncertainty about what is real and what is lies, myths or folklore. Unfortunately, after a while this behind to undermine the narrative and it feels like the story is pulled from one direction to another with the author unable to settle on what she actually wants it to be. It's it a story about misogyny and the damaging power of superstition with a coming-of-age element for the teenage Saphy, or is it a story with a place for real witchcraft, real magic? The constant skipping of POV and timeframe becomes frustrating after a while as the storylines become murky and confused. When the truth about the changelings (wildlings, here) it is revealed, instead of resolving this conflict it adds another bizarre element that does little to untangle the plot in a satisfying way.

In the end, I struggled to finish. There's a lot of violence and implied violence, particularly towards children that was uncomfortable, particularly because of the uncertainty over who/what they are. This is probably intended as a warning against the terrible things superstition can cause but it wasn't done effectively. There's also an episode towards the end of Liv's story that was unbearably gory for me, I had to skip it. I was left frustrated and uncomfortable by the whole book, and not in a good way. It was trying to do and be too many things, and ended up doing none of them very well.

Cordelia Johnstone

Paige Green

Disclaimer: I received this e-arc from the publisher. Thanks! All opinions are my own.

Book: The Lighthouse Witches

Author: C.J. Cooke

Book Series: Standalone

Rating: 3.5/5

Recommended For...: fantasy, paranormal, horror, thriller

Publication Date: October 5, 2021

Genre: Paranormal Horror

Recommended Age: 16+ (death, violence, gore, sexual abuse, physical abuse, emotional abuse, grief, trauma)

Explanation of CWs: There is a lot of mention of death, violence, and there is some gore. Sexual abuse scene. Abuse in both physical and emotional. There is also grief and some trauma shown.

Publisher: Berkley

Pages: 367

Synopsis: When single mother Liv is commissioned to paint a mural in a 100-year-old lighthouse on a remote Scottish island, it's an opportunity to start over with her three daughters--Luna, Sapphire, and Clover. When two of her daughters go missing, she's frantic. She learns that the cave beneath the lighthouse was once a prison for women accused of witchcraft. The locals warn her about wildlings, supernatural beings who mimic human children, created by witches for revenge. Liv is told wildlings are dangerous and must be killed.

Twenty-two years later, Luna has been searching for her missing sisters and mother. When she receives a call about her youngest sister, Clover, she's initially ecstatic. Clover is the sister she remembers--except she's still seven years old, the age she was when she vanished. Luna is worried Clover is a wildling. Luna has few memories of her time on the island, but she'll have to return to find the truth of what happened to her family. But she doesn't realize just how much the truth will change her.

Review: Overall, I liked the story to an extent. It was well plotted and it was an interesting story. I also enjoyed the world building.

However, the book is almost excruciatingly slow and it’s hard to stay into the book. Mid-way through the book I had to stop and read another book because it was still very slow, but I was determined to finish the read. It was a bittersweet ending, one that I saw coming a bit. The characters, while developed, are also hard to connect with. There was also some oddball moments in the book, like with the 2021 numbers where everyone was wondering if they were a mysterious number. It was just a very odd and slow book.

Verdict:

Elodia

I went into this book blindly, only knowing it would be about witches. Once I started reading this, I couldn’t put it down!

It was descriptive and atmospheric. There was so much intrigue, and I couldn’t guess what was going to happen. The ending was a twist, and I loved it!

The characters were all well written; I’d thought having kids in the story would make me like it less, but they were great too!

The story itself was intriguing and fast-paced, with a shocking (and sad) plot twist in the end.

Thank you to Berkley Publishing for an advanced copy of this book!

The Lighthouse Witches

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