"The Lighthouse Witches" by C.J. Cooke

 

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. ~taken from Goodreads

This was not my first C.J. Cooke novel and I loved "The Nesting" which you can read my review on. I had an idea about what this book would entail and the eeriness it would ensue. I was ready to read this just in time for autumn and cooler temps! 

Very atmospheric and eerie, the scene is set on a remote Scottish island. Tales of witchcraft and evil rituals start to swirl when a family is ripped apart by missing loved ones. Twenty years later heartache and confusion are dredged up once again when one missing child is found, but seems to not have aged a single day. 

Luna, the sister who seems to have moved on with her life and put this terrible tragedy behind her, has very little memory of her life on that horrible island. To get the answers of whether this child who claims to be her missing sister is truth she will have to go back to the place her family vanished. She will have to face the demons, witches, wildlings and whatever else haunts that area to get to the truth behind what happened. 

The author did a great job researching the folklore for this novel. It is well described and thought out, mixing folklore and mythology to perfection. The main characters are also well thought out and fit into the story with superb precision. Each has there place and grow with the story and we gain more insight. 

The issue I had with this was the scenery. We get very descriptive scenes of the lighthouse, which is the main scene, but beyond that I could not get a mental grip on what the rest of the island looked like. I had a very hard time imaging other scenes in the story, or even how the lighthouse fit into the island itself.

There are also too many narrators. This novel switches narrators and also timelines every chapter. It was too much to keep track of and I was easily confused every new chapter. I got mental whiplash trying to remember which character was who and what year it was and where I last left off with them. I think it would have flowed better had it been separated into parts and then it all come together in the end... 

Also, because of the constant switch in narration, it made the storyline extremely slow and boring for the first 50%. I almost stopped reading it. The only thing that kept me going was the fact I had read the previous book from the author so I knew they were capable of a good story! 

All in all, I have to give this a 3 star rating. I like the eerie, creepy, witchy theme. But the execution was not my style. 

Thanks to Netgalley and Berkley Publishing for allowing me an E-ARC to read and give my honest review. "The Lighthouse Witches" is set to be released here in the U.S. on October 5, 2021 so preorder now! 

Happy Reading!