Name: The Bitterwine Oath
ISBN: 9780823445479

Hannah West

Can eighteen-year-old Natalie and her great-great-grandmother's magical sisterhood end the cycle of violence in Natalie's small Texas town?

The Bitterwine Oath

Every fifty years, a cult claims twelve men to murder in a small Texas town. Can one girl end the cycle of violence - and save the boy who broke her heart? "A richly woven tale of magic and murder and vengeance. This book kept me up all night! One of the best stories I've read all year." - Shea Ernshaw, New York Times bestselling author of The Wicked Deep San Solano, Texas, is a quaint town known for its charm, hospitality, and history of murder. Twice now, twelve men have been brutally killed, and no one knows who did it. A shadowy witch? A copycat killer? Or a man-hating murderess? Eighteen-year-old Natalie Colter is sure that the rumors about her great-great-grandmother's cult of wronged women are just gossip, but that doesn't stop the true-crime writers and dark tourism bloggers from capitalizing on the town's reputation. It's an urban legend that's hard to ignore, and it gets harder when Nat learns that the sisterhood is real. And magical. And they want her to join. The more Nat learns of the Wardens' supernatural history, the more she wonders about the real culprits behind the town's ritualistic murders. Are the Wardens protecting San Solano from even darker forces? There are shadows in the woods, bones on the outskirts of town, and questions Nat needs answered. But everything becomes more urgent when people start getting "marked" as new victims--including Levi Langford, the boy whose kiss haunted Nat for a year. With Levi in danger, doing nothing would be harder than fighting back. Nat knows that no one is safe. Can she and the sisterhood stop the true evil from claiming their town?

Caitlyn DeRouin

Candyce Kirk

I can only imagine what it’s like living in a town where cult massacres take place. And of course, with the 100th anniversary coming up, the town is more popular than it’s ever been. The Bitterwine Oath has a great spooky atmosphere, but it wasn’t everything that I was expecting (not all in a bad way).

Our main character Natalie is a descendant of the cult leader and it doesn’t seem like fun being looked upon for that. After senior year ends, all she wants is to spend time with her friends before they start a new chapter in their lives. Natalie’s life is thrown upside down when she learns there’s more to everything than she realizes and magic is a real thing.

The Bitterwine Oath is filled with strong female characters, friendship, magic and mystery. Even though I have to say I would’ve liked more magic. I did enjoy learning about the past through the excerpts of a book. This is really clever way of sharing information. Sometimes things like that really take me away from the story, but that wasn’t the case in this book.

I have to say I could’ve done without the romance element in this book. I get why it was added and it’s not bad, but in the beginning it felt like it took over the story a bit at times. That being said, I still enjoyed The Bitterwine Oath. The writing style is great and it was a fast read. The author sucked me into this world and I needed to know how it would all play out. I’ll definitely be keeping an eye on this author for future books!

Paige Green

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

Book: The Bitterwine Oath

Author: Hannah West

Book Series: Standalone

Rating: 3/5

Recommended For...: Fantasy, paranormal, ya

Publication Date: December 1, 2020

Publisher: Holiday House

Pages: 320

Recommended Age: 16+ (abuse, lynching, animal death and gore, molestation)

Synopsis: San Solano, Texas, is a quaint town known for its charm, hospitality, and history of murder. Twice now, twelve men have been brutally killed, and no one knows who did it. A shadowy witch? A copycat killer? Or a man-hating murderess?

Eighteen-year-old Natalie Colter is sure that the rumors about her great-great-grandmother's cult of wronged women are just gossip, but that doesn't stop the true-crime writers and dark tourism bloggers from capitalizing on the town's reputation. It's an urban legend that's hard to ignore, and it gets harder when Nat learns that the sisterhood is real. And magical. And they want her to join.

The more Nat learns of the Wardens' supernatural history, the more she wonders about the real culprits behind the town's ritualistic murders. Are the Wardens protecting San Solano from even darker forces? There are shadows in the woods, bones on the outskirts of town, and questions Nat needs answered.

But everything becomes more urgent when people start getting marked as new victims--including Levi Langford, the boy whose kiss haunted Nat for a year. With Levi in danger, doing nothing would be harder than fighting back.

Nat knows that no one is safe. Can she and the sisterhood stop the true evil from claiming their town?

Review: Overall, I liked the concept and storyline of this book. the plot was really interesting and the character development was the author strong point. The book is also fast paced and can be read in when sitting if the reader has a couple hours to kill.

However the book doesn't have a strong beginning and it takes a while for the reader to get into the book. I also thought the story was clunky and unorganized and that the world building was pretty bad. the book has potential to be really good and I hope that it is cleaned up in the finalized version but it has some work to do.

Verdict: It's good just needs work.

Samantha Bass

You can read the full review on my blog We Write at Dawn

My expectations going into this book were way different than the book I read. I thought this was going to be about a cult our main character Natalie (Nat) gets sucked into as they plan to commit murder on the 100th anniversary of the initial massacre. 

What I read was so much better. 

First off, the magical element in it was so well done. It answered every question I could come up with each time a problem was presented. How did Nat forget what she saw? Because the bone dust blocks their memory. How do people not see them patrolling the forest with guns or fighting Woodwalkers? Because there are disorientation spells to mask their appearances. I mean it was genius! 

As we got more into the story and the plot, I got more and more enthralled. We have history and familial, generational drama. Plus – we have a love interest who I loved and hated at the same time. Though, eventually, I was forced to love him because in the end, he was such a sweetheart!

The Bitterwine Oath

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