When Nicholas Pearce’s half-brother dies in the Civil War, he is summoned home as a replacement by his not-so-loving father. Besides, Nicholas hides a deadly secret: he hears the voices of the dead. To his disdain, his father sends him along with a famous witch hunter and so Nicholas becomes everything he loathes.
I was completely ‘fooled’ by The revels. A story about witchcraft in England at the time of Charles I. A beautiful cover and words of praise from some of my favourite authors (including Jennifer Saint and Elodie Harper) on the cover. So The revels almost had my name on it :).
But Stacey Thomas uses a strange writing style in her debut novel. At times, you just don’t understand what’s going on. And that makes for a confusing story. The plot in itself is not bad, but it gets snowed under by the writing style. The real witchcraft in the book wasn’t always clear to me either, but I believe that was the author’s intention. She creates different threads, but not all of them seem connected.
I also didn’t really care for the characters. Nicholas immediately falls for Althamia and I hate that kind of romance. I did find the fate of the other women charged as witches interesting. Some gruesome techniques of witch hunters are discussed.
So I must consider this a disappointment and I don’t understand the many great reviews. But that is precisely why everyone should see for themselves if this book is for them. Because my opinion seems a minority. And maybe The revels just couldn’t get me under its spell?
In Another Era 