Hello, Book Nerds! Welcome back to Reading Has Ruined My Life or welcome if you are new. As always, my name is Hannah and I am your captain on this journey into my bookcases.
Welcome back to Witchy Wednesday, Book Nerds. I swear the witchy theme is still unintentional! I just have mainly witchy reads on my TBR pile right now. I’m not sorry about it. I have a theme and I’m sticking with it.
So what witchy read am I reviewing this week? Who’s the lucky book? I’ll give you some hints. It has multiple POVs and takes place in multiple time periods, the witchcraft is very real and nature based, and the book says “fuck the patriarchy.” Do you know what I’m reviewing? Did you guess it?
It’s time to meet this week’s read. Please give a warm round of applause to Weyward by Emilia Hart!
Let’s crack in! As always, a spoiler alert is in order. If you’ve read any of the other reviews on my blog then you know I love to spoil the entirety of the books I read. This is your one and only warning. I also must issue a content and trigger warning. Weyward deals heavily with abusive relationships and rape. There is no way to avoid these topics, they’re very prevalent in the book, and are pretty much what this story is about more times than not. I highly suggest skipping this read if those topics are triggering to you in any way. With that, let’s get to the synopsis.
Told in dual POV and various time periods, Weyward is the story of three women, each a member of the Weyward bloodline. We’ll start with Altha. The year is 1619 and Altha has been charged with witchcraft for the murder of a local dairy farmer. The charges ain’t wrong. She is a witch. Her mother taught her her family’s nature based healing craft as a young child. The question is not is Altha a witch, it’s can she survive the witchcraft trial?
Next up is Violet, a teen girl growing up in the English countryside during the height of World War II. Violet longs to escape her father’s crumbling estate to travel the world and receive the same robust education of her younger brother. Alas it’s 1942 and she’s a member of the aristocracy. Her father is more concerned with her learning French and needlework in order to make a good societal match. Speaking of societal matches, Violet’s father secures one for her: her first cousin Frederick who is horrible and thinks he can get away with anything and everything cause he’s rich. Can she get out of this engagement among many other troubles?
Finally we have Kate. Her story is set in 2019 and is one that too many people experience. She has been in an abusive relationship for many years before the start of our story. When the book begins, she is leaving her abuser. She’s scared for her life, but as I said, she’s getting out of that situation. Her now deceased Great Aunt Violet left her a cottage in the English countryside. It becomes Kate’s safe haven. It’s a place where she can recover from her experience, grow as a person, and also raise her baby. Yeah, she left her abusive partner a few weeks pregnant. Now she gets to find her true self, experience the ups and downs of pregnancy, and learn about her family’s history in a rundown but super cute cottage.
I am obsessed with this book. I am super upset with myself for not picking it up when it released in 2023. Dare I say this is the best book I’ve read this year? Yes, I dare. Honestly, I feel like I should just leave this review here. Weyward is amazing and I think you should go read it for yourself.
No, I can’t do that to all of you. You came here for a review so a review you shall have. So let’s crack in.
Weyward, while dark, is immersive as hell. Emilia Hart painstakingly constructs three compelling narratives surrounded by vivid imagery and just a tad bit of gothic atmosphere. Nearly every chapter includes some reference to and depiction of nature; nature may as well be a main character. The detail work of this novel is simply perfection, it’s impeccable.
And the story is also amazing. It’s so good because it focuses so heavily on the main characters. Kate, Violet, and Altha each face such adversity yet they all find a way to dig deep within themselves to find resilience and personal growth. Typically they find this strength through their deep connections to nature, I did say nature may as well be a main character here, but it’s also through their connection to one another and the Weyward women who came before them; even if they don’t realize it.
I adore Kate, Violet, and Altha. They each go through hell in different yet similar ways. I cared about them from the moment I met them. As a reader, you get thrown right into the deep end when you open this book. Altha is in jail for witchcraft and who knows if she’s going to make it out alive. Then readers meet Kate who is leaving an abusive relationship. I need to know what happens to them when a book opens like this.
It also helps that all three stories are happening simultaneously. Weyward is not told linearly. Part one is not Altha’s story, part two is not Violet’s story, and part three is not Kate’s story. Readers have to read to the end to learn what happens to each woman. All three stories were equally compelling and lured me into wrecking my sleep schedule multiple days in a row.
My only issue is with how Altha’s story is told. Violet and Kate’s stories are told in third-person objective while Altha’s story is told in first-person omniscient. The mix of points of views bothered me. I think this read should have been third-person objective throughout the entire book. The switch from third-person to first-person took my out every time it occurred. This is seriously the only issue I have with this read. Aside for this, I think Weyward is pretty much perfect.
I highly recommend this read. Unless the topics mentioned in the content warning are going to be triggering to you in any way, I highly suggest giving this one a read.
With that, I must bid you all adieu. I shall see you all again next week with another great review. I cannot promise the witchy theme will be over next week. All I can promise is a review. If you can’t wait that long then you can always check out my podcast Nothing to See Hear. I’ve talked about Cleopatra, Christine de Pizan, fairies, hoaxes, and haunted house just to name a few things. You can listen to the show over on Spotify and YouTube.
Until next time, stay safe, wash your hands, and read some good books for me.
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