Thank you to the author and publisher for sending me a copy of this book.
Lindsey Kelk’s first fantasy novel, The Bell Witches, is the perfect autumnal read. It’s filled with witches, werewolves, magic and betrayal.
The book follows Emily. After the death of her father, she has to move to Savannah to live with her grandmother and auntie. There she discovers she’s a witch.
I fell in love with Savannah based on the beautiful descriptions. The story brought the place to life in my mind and is the perfect cosy setting.
The Bell House and the magic that filled its walls sounded so inviting too, while also having a strange eerie vibe to it. I loved how the magic extended to the home.
There are flashbacks to South Wales and Emily’s past which were wonderful to read. As someone from Wales, I found it to be a nice addition as we don’t see many books set here.
Emily, the main character, had a lot of growth in this first instalment. Becoming headstrong and making decisions for herself, while helping others was nice to read about. As she searches for the truth about her past and her family, she discovers things about herself and her parents that she wasn’t expecting. I liked how she handled every situation, never moaning, always being proactive.
Lydia is the best and most fun character in the book. I loved her bluntness, loyalty and caring nature. She’s also very witty. Having a character like this adds a nice layer to a book that may be a bit intense at times.
It’s a slow paced novel. There is a lot of world building and lots of discoveries about Emily and the Bell Witches that are important to the story. The plot felt faster and more intense in the final quarter, with thrilling scenes of conflict. Some of the twists were easy to guess but it didn’t deter my enjoyment of the plot.
There are some things in this book I didn’t love as much such as the insta-love between Emily and Wyn. They’re great characters but the declaration of love felt way too sudden.
Ashley, Emily’s auntie, also felt massively childish, and while she has character development, I still found her behaviour to be a bit strange even with the context we’re given about her.
This story made me very reminiscent of the paranormal books from the 2010s – in the best way possible. I’m excited for more books to be released in this series.
Rating: 3.5/5
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What are some of your favourite cosy fantasy reads? Let me know in the comments below. I’m also on Instagram, Twitter and Threads – @bookwormgirl_24
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