Season of the Witch by Natasha Mostert

In her award-winning novel, Mostert blends alchemy, the art of memory, high magic and murder to create a highly original psychological thriller. 

Gabriel Blackstone is a cool, hip, thoroughly twenty-first century Londoner with an unusual talent. A computer hacker by trade, he is also a remote viewer: able to 'slam a ride' through the minds of others. 

But he uses his gift only reluctantly ― until he is contacted by an ex-lover who begs him to find her step-son, last seen months earlier in the company of two sisters. 

And so Gabriel visits Monk House, a place where time seems to stand still, and where the rooms are dominated by the coded symbol of a cross and circle. 

As winter closes in, Gabriel becomes increasingly bewitched by the house, and by its owners, the beautiful and mysterious Monk sisters. But even as he falls in love, he knows that one of them is a killer.



My Rating: 4.1/5
Genre: Paranormal (Witches), Romance, Adult Fiction

Goodreads Link




MY REVIEW:


This is the kind of a book that, although it has its faults, you will catch yourself thinking about it a long while after you've read it. If I were to suggest it to other people though, my target group would be named "WOMEN ONLY", as it has a very very strong feminine touch that might not go very well with a male reader. If you are the kind of person who is intrigued by witchcraft, the occult and all kinds of mind powers, then this is the book for you! Every supernatural aspect is explained in such a way, that even if you are not that type of person, you will soon get the idea and won't feel left out. Still remaining on the positive side, Season of the Witch has a tad of a gothic feel, a tinge of a sexual feel here and there and with those two in combine, I soon was seduced and couldn't stop reading it. Other things that made me insta-like it were the flawless language the writer used and the names of the characters(1), which will be discussed in the "Spoilers" part of this review. 

Let's talk about flaws now. Some characters where finely developed (for example Frankie and the two witch-sisters) when some others like Gabriel and Isidore were carpet-flat(2). Also, there where some cliche parts in the plotline (which will be pinpointed in the "Spoilers" part) that made me almost know what will happen next. Overall, if it wasn't for Mostert's wonderful spiritual world, this book would crumble down to 3 rating stars maximum. 

Let's get Spoiled:

(1)  Gabriel for the avenging angel, and Morrigan for the celtic godess of war, whose forms could either be a human, a wolf or a crow. Fitting, right? And then we have Minnaloushe, from the poem "The Cat and the Moon"  by W.B.Yeats. From the German "minna" and the latin "lux" you get a possible meaning for this name, which is "protective light" and it also fits our Minnaloushe. 

(2) I am not going to talk at all about Isidore, to me he felt like some kind of a plot tool that adopted some character traits just for the sake of the story. Gabriel was decent, but then again, I was never convinced that he was a man - what man watches a naked woman and doesn't even look at the direction of her gender? That scene was exactly like a woman describing another woman. Also, what man would fall in love through a diary without even knowing how "his love" looks like? Ok, I get it, both were beautiful, but at first he thought it was Morrigan and then suddenly his love was Minnaloushe. Which brings me to the "Cliche" part. 

(3) Cliche number one: Seductive Redhead, the good guy and also the lover. Aggresive Raven-haired, the bad guy and also the power-hungry. Almost-beautiful brunnete, the cute girl with the puppy eyes. The subject of Gabriel's adoration dies, but they have time to make love, just once, before that happens. He ends up with the love of his life, which although I thought it was cute... I found it cliche too.