The Lighthouse Witches

by C.J. Cooke

Upon the cliffs of a remote Scottish island, Lòn Haven, stands a lighthouse.

A lighthouse that has weathered more than storms.

Mysterious and terrible events have happened on this island. It started with a witch hunt. Now, centuries later, islanders are vanishing without explanation.

Coincidence? Or curse?

Liv Stay flees to the island with her three daughters, in search of a home. She doesn’t believe in witches, or dark omens, or hauntings. But within months, her daughter Luna will be the only one of them left.

Twenty years later, Luna is drawn back to the place her family vanished. As the last sister left, it’s up to her to find out the truth . . .

But what really happened at the lighthouse all those years ago?

Genres: Fantasy, Horror, Mystery, Witches, Fiction, Gothic, Thriller

424 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 30, 2021

About the author

C.J. (Carolyn) Cooke is an acclaimed, award-winning poet, novelist and academic with numerous publications as Carolyn Jess-Cooke and Caro Carver. Her work has been published in twenty-three languages to date. Born in Belfast, C.J. has a PhD in Literature from Queen’s University, Belfast, and is currently Reader in Creative Writing at the University of Glasgow, where she also researches the impact of motherhood on women’s writing and creative writing interventions for mental health. Her books have been reviewed in The New York Times, The Guardian, Good Housekeeping, and the Daily Mail. She has been nominated for an Edgar Award and an ITW Thriller Award, selected as Waterstones’ Paperback Book of the Year and a BBC 2 Pick, and has had two Book of the Month Club selections in the last year. She lives in Scotland with her husband and four children.

Reviews

[Nilufer Ozmekik · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a dreamy blend of Nordic folklore, Icelandic mythology, witch trials—or let’s say it’s Fear Street Part Three: 1666 meets the German Netflix original Dark, with the eerie changeling vibes of European folklore taking shape as wildlings.

Can you imagine? Your sister, who’s been missing for 23 years, suddenly reappears in the very spot where she vanished—but she hasn’t aged a single day. She’s still seven years old. Intrigued yet? You should be, because each chapter only makes things more complex, twisted, and thrilling.

The story unfolds across three timelines and multiple POVs, but it’s never confusing. In the end, every piece of this paranormal, intelligent, mind-blowing narrative fits together, and every seeming loophole is resolved with shocking explanations.

The timelines are divided as follows:
• 17th century: Told through Patrick’s diary, recounting the witch hunts, trials, and burnings at the stake.
• 1998: Liv, escaping a painful secret, drives off with her three daughters—Sapphire (15), Luna (9), and Clover (7). A quick stop at a café changes everything when she accepts a mural commission from the mysterious and wealthy Patrick, owner of a decommissioned lighthouse in Lon Haven, Scotland. He wants her to transform the lighthouse, ominously named Longing, into a writing studio. What Liv doesn’t know is that beneath the lighthouse lies a cave that once imprisoned women accused of witchcraft. Before their deaths, they cursed the island, creating wildlings—supernatural changelings who perfectly mimic the lost children of the town.
• 2021: Luna, now grown, is pregnant after years of miscarriages and wrestling with her complicated relationship with her boyfriend—and her resentment toward her mother, who abandoned her 23 years ago. Then she receives shocking news: her little sister Clover has been found. But Clover is still seven years old, exactly as she was the day she disappeared. Is she really Clover—or something far more terrifying?

Luna must return to Lon Haven, face her family’s haunted past, and uncover a truth more horrifying than she ever imagined.

I devoured this in one sitting! The concept, the execution, and the stunning revelations kept me hooked. Without hesitation, I’m giving this book five changeling, shocking, and brilliantly smart stars!

Special thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for providing this digital review copy in exchange for my honest thoughts.

[MarilynW · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Lighthouse Witches by C.J. Cooke

1998 So much has gone wrong for mother of three, Liv. She's run away to a remote Scottish island where she has a commission to paint a mural in an old lighthouse. The old house where she and her daughters will be staying is old, dark, and damp and the lighthouse is full of dank water and bats and is falling to pieces. The mural Liv is commissioned to paint is a line drawing of symbols and the person who commissioned the mural is somewhere on the sea. Little did Liv know that she would end up losing seven year old Clover and fifteen year old Saffy, and attempting the unthinkable with nine year old Luna.

The lighthouse is built over the site of the prison where woman accused of being witches were imprisoned and tortured until they confessed their sins and were executed. The stories are grisly but so are the stories of what happens to the wildlings, inhuman creatures who made a pact with the long ago witches to make their aggressors pay for what they have done to the women accused of witchcraft.

2021 Twenty two years later Luna is notified that her sister, Clover, has been found. But that can't be right because this Clover is still seven years old. Everything about her indicates she's the same Clover who disappeared all those years ago. Could Clover be one of those mysterious wildlings? Against her better judgement, Luna takes Clover back to the remote island where everything went wrong, so long ago.

From the first word, the story throws you into the fray of long ago women being accused of witchcraft, with no chance of them being judged anything but guilty. So be it, as the aggressors, and all that come after them, are cursed, the curses to be carried out by wildlings. There seems to be no escape from this curse as those cursed do the unthinkable. The sense of foreboding and danger is constant and it seems impossible that things can ever change for the better.

But there is love in this story. The love of a mother for her children and the love of Luna, who will never give up looking for her two missing sisters. What happened in the past has colored Luna's life forever but she won't let go of her search for answers, no matter how the search affects her present. At no time is there a sense of ease or peace, as the curse, and all that it means, presses down on Luna and the island.

Publication: October 5th 2021

Thank you to Berkley and NetGalley for this ARC.

[Maureen · Rating 4 out of 5]

*4.5 stars*

Liv is a single mum of three girls, Sapphire, Luna and Clover, she’s finding it tough financially, so when she’s commissioned to paint a mural in a 100 year old decommissioned lighthouse on a remote Scottish island, she doesn’t hesitate.

The island is not the idyllic place one would imagine, there is talk of witches being burned in a cave beneath the lighthouse, and murmurings of wildlings (supernatural beings who mimic human children) and though sceptical, Liv has to admit that there is definitely an air of menace, a feeling that something bad is about to happen.

When two of her daughters go missing, Liv can no longer ignore the folklore, and what follows is a tale that is creepy but utterly compelling. Featuring three different timelines - 1662, 1998, and 2021, this is an ambitious but wonderfully engaging novel. The characters were perfect in their parts, one could easily place themselves in their shoes, and the island and lighthouse added a dimension that transformed them into a very important and scary part of the storyline.

Witches, curses, superstitions, creepy unexplained events - need I say more? A terrific read!

*Thank you to Netgalley and HarperCollins UK for an ARC in exchange for an honest unbiased review*

[Regina · Rating 5 out of 5]

You: Hey Regina, you seem to read a lot of books. I’m in the mood for a story about witches. I need a page-turner that gives me all the right vibes for October seasonal reading.

Me: Can you be more specific? What kind of witches? Scary/not scary? Who are your typical favorite authors?

You: I don’t really love fantasy “hocus pocus” paranormal books, and the witches that interest me most are of the 1600’s “burnt at the stake” variety. I’m a bit of a lightweight in the scares department, but it’s Halloween so I wanna get a little spooky. I usually read thrillers like those by Lisa Jewell, Clare Mackintosh, and Sharon Bolton.

Me: Ah well then I have just the thing! May I suggest The Lighthouse Witches? C.J. Cooke has concocted a spellbinding novel that bubbles over with gothic atmosphere, thriller vibes and the perfect amount of supernatural elements.

You: What’s it about?

Me: The story starts in 1998 when single mum Liv takes her three daughters to a remote Scottish island when she’s commissioned to paint a mural in the lighthouse. Two go missing. Flash forward to 2021 when the remaining sister is informed the youngest has been found, but - gasp - she’s still only 7 years old! Flash back to 1662 when the sinister nature of the island began, where women were labeled and murdered as witches, and hence the land started its cursed trajectory of superstition, paranoia, and spookiness.

You: Sounds perfect! What’s not to like?

Me: It nearly is. My only slight hesitation is that a major part of the storyline comes a bit too close to the Netflix series “Dark.” Maybe it’s true what they say that there aren’t any wholly original ideas anymore. But no matter. Buy the book for your shelves (the UK cover is gorgeous!) or listen to the fantastic multi-narrator 10-hour audiobook. Either way, you’ll love it.

4.5 stars

My thanks to HarperCollins UK Audio for providing a gifted advance listening copy for review via NetGalley. The Lighthouse Witches is now available.

Blog: https://www.confettibookshelf.com/

[Will Byrnes · Rating 4 out of 5]

He’s tall and rakish, with greasy black hair to his jaw, a tattoo of a panther on his neck, a missing front tooth. A grin.
“You’re Luna Stay?”
She frowns, confused by the shift to a smile. “Yes?”
He steps forward and eyes her coldly. “You’re supposed to be dead.”

2021 - Ok, so maybe not exactly a welcoming committee, with a sparkly, multi-colored sign at the local watering hole, all the residents in attendance, celebrating her return. But I guess it’ll have to do. It wasn’t Luna’s first time on the island of Lòn Haven. She had been there for a spell as a child, and, while her experience was memorable, it was relatively brief, and her exit had been fraught. Now, thirty years old, pregnant for the first time, she is not exactly eager to stick around. But she is there on a mission.


C.J. (Carolyn Jess) Cooke – image from The University of Glasgow

1998 - Olivia Stay has just left her home in northern England, dragged her three daughters with her, and headed north on an hours-long drive to a remote island off the east coast of Scotland. She is an artist, with a commission to paint a mural on the inside of a 149-foot-tall lighthouse, which is in less-than-stellar condition. Her mysterious employer has left drawings for her of what he wants. She and the girls will be staying on the lighthouse property, in a small house, called a bothy. The lighthouse has an intriguing name.

“You’re staying at the Longing?” he said, raising an eyebrow. “Quite a history, that place.”
“I can see that,” I said, flicking through the leaflet, my eyes falling on an artist’s rendition of people being burned at the stake.
“Why’s it called the Longing?” Luna asked him.
“It’s named for the people who lost loved ones,” he said. “Sometimes they’d visit the site where the Longing was built and . . . pay their respects.”

…or something. The lost loved ones tended to be women murdered by the locals, accused of witchcraft and burned alive. The Longing was built directly over the place where the women had been kept and tortured, a broch, which is a circular castle-like structure, as much as two thousand years old. While there have been five major national bouts of witch-burnings in Scotland, the only witches likely to have been about were of the herbalist, rather than spell-casting sort. The ones with the matches provided the very human-sourced evil involved. The historical burning time of note here was 1662.

Olivia (Liv) is our first-person narrator for much of the book. Other chapters offer third-person POVs from Luna and Saffy. A second first-person account is historical. That one provides interceding chapters made up of passages from a book, left in the bothy, referred to as a grimoire. But it serves less as a source for studying the dark arts than it does as a memoir. Written by someone named Roberts, presumably an ancestor of Liv’s employer, it serves mostly as a fourth perspective, offering first-person exposition of historical events the book’s author lived through, events that inform the present.

We follow Liv as she is introduced to the island, and the local oddballs. (and wonder why she suddenly dropped everything and dragged her kids north several weeks ahead of the appointed time) But when she sees a small, almost feral-seeming white-haired child on the property, and the police do not seem to take her seriously, things get more interesting. Local lore has it that condemned witches, in league with the fae realm, created wildlings, copies of island children, who would suddenly appear out of nowhere, intent on wiping out family lines. Locals hold that any such beings must be killed ASAP. Then two of her daughters, Saffy and Clover, disappear.


St Mary’s Lighthouse – the English lighthouse that provided inspiration for the Longing – image from Photographers Resource UK

In 2021, after twenty-two years of searching for her lost family, Luna is contacted. Her sister, Clover, has been found. But instead of being twenty-nine years old, Clover is still only seven. Is this child even her sister? Or could she be one of the wildlings Luna had heard about when she was a child on Lòn Haven? Her behavior certainly gives one cause for concern.

The story braids the four narratives, alternating Liv, Luna, Saffy, and the grimoire’s Mr Roberts reporting of their experiences, and the times in which they are in the spotlight, offering nice chapter-ending cliff-hangers to sustain our interest from one strand to the next.

In an interview with The Nerd Daily, Cooke (who is married, with four children) was asked about her inspiration for the book.

I think it came from a range of places – I was thinking a lot (and still am) about how different it is to parent a teenager than it is to parent a baby, and yet the speed with which a baby seems to become a teenager feels like whiplash. So the story of Liv and her 15-year-old Sapphire in the book emerged from that thinking. When we moved to Scotland in 2019, I learned about the Scottish Witch Trials. I’m very interested in women’s lives, and this slice of history is very much concerned with what happened to women – and it also bears a huge relevance to the current moment. Gradually that thinking took shape. Lastly, I was invited to teach at the University of Iceland in 2019, and while I was there – and thinking a lot about the book and how I was going to incorporate all the various ideas I had – I came across 14th century spell books, which blew my mind. As I dug deeper into the history of magic and how it impacted women in particular, the story came out of the shadows.

The fraught relationship between 15yo Saffy and Liv will feel familiar, in tone, if not necessarily in the specific content of Saffy and Liv’s interaction. Cooke relied on her own teenage daughter for much of Saffy’s voice. Add to that the fact that Liv is a single mother, struggling to get by. Many of Liv’s struggles with parenting resonated, guilt versus responsibility versus coping with external limitations. Cooke offers, through the grimoire, a first-person look at the 1661/1662 witch-trial hysteria, providing a persuasive take on its causation, at least in this instance. The Icelandic spell books notion gave Cooke the tool she needed for exploring the past.

I wanted everything for my children. But every single day I had to confront the glaring reality that I simply wasn’t able to provide the kind of life they deserved. And it crushed me.

There is a hint of prior, off-screen abuse in Liv’s background. This is likely a manifestation of Cooke’s experiences growing up in an abusive household in a council estate in Belfast during The Troubles. The up-front abuse here is in how power is used to protect those who have it from being held responsible for their actions, at the expense of the powerless, both past and present. And in how murderous impulses, combined with ignorance, under the mantle of religion, and official sanction, present a peril to any who do not conform, in any age.

Informational payload informs the story. You will pick up a few bits of Scottish terminology, and even a bit of spice on magical symbology and local fairy lore. Cooke has some fun with triangles of various sorts. We get a you-are-there look at an actual historical time of madness. Cooke, in the interview from The Inside Flap, talks about how surprised she was when she moved to Scotland to find that there had been witch trials there, and that there were no memorials at all for the hundreds of people (not all were women) who had been killed. Perhaps it might be necessary to light a fire under some public officials to see that this is corrected.

There were parts of the book that gave me pause. I had trouble, for example, with the police releasing seven-year-old Clover to Luna, given that there was no way the two were the sisters they supposedly were in any normal time line. There seemed some contradiction in the overall take. Where does magic leave off and other factors enter into things? Could an evil-doer, for example, be stricken with an awful affliction at the hands of a spell-caster? And if so, then a scientific-ish explanation for later events seems undercut. What if that scientific-ish situation was created by magic? And round and round we go.

While not exactly a hair-raising read for me, (few are) I did find some scenes in the book pretty scary, less, maybe, for the magical terror involved, than for the willingness of people to do terrible things in the name of insane beliefs, a terror we live with every day, and the fear any parent might feel when their child is in danger.

We can feel for Liv even as we might wonder at her judgment. She is clearly stressed beyond reason. And we can feel for Luna trying to solve this intricate puzzle, while taking on parental responsibility for her now-much-younger sib. The mysteries of the book will keep you turning the pages. In this fictional realm, are witches real? And if they are, did they really curse the island? And if they did, were fairy-generated wildlings a part of the plan? And if they were, was there an intent to end family lines? And what’s the deal with Clover showing up twenty-two years after vanishing?

One of life’s great joys is to begin reading a book expecting to be directed from Point A to Point Z with the familiar stops along the way, and then finding oneself in an entirely other alphabet. The Lighthouse Witches has the magic needed to make that trip possible. It is an enchanting read.

She turns her head from side to side, taking in the velvet expanse of the ocean on her left and the rocks and beach on her right. Ahead, surf furls into the bay. Something there catches her eye, and she wonders if it’s the basking shark, Basil, with his weird two fins. Something bobbing in the water. Seals, probably. Except it’s the wrong color. It’s pale.
She squints at the object. It’s about thirty feet away, moving on the waves. A cloud shifts from the moon and for a moment the light finds the object. It’s a face. A human face, its mouth open in a howl, someone in the water.

Review posted - October 8, 2021

Publication date – October 5, 2021

I received an eARC of The Lighthouse Witches from Berkley in return for casting one or two minor spells. Thanks to EK, and NetGalley for facilitating.

This review has been cross-posted on my site, Coot’s Reviews. Stop by and say Hi!




=============================EXTRA STUFF

Links to the author’s personal, FB, Instagram, and Twitter pages

From About the Author in the book
C. J. Cooke is an award-winning poet and novelist published in twenty-three languages. She teaches creative writing at the University of Glasgow, where she also researches the impact of motherhood on women’s writing and creative-writing interventions for mental health. Her previous novel is The Nesting.

She has been writing stories since she was seven years old.

Interviews
----- The Inside Flap Ep. 140 The Witching Hour Is Upon Us with C.J. Cooke - podcast = 1:30:00 – from about 30:00
----- The Nerd Daily - Q&A: C.J. Cooke, Author of ‘The Lighthouse Witches’ by Elise Dumpleton
-----Slider - Episode 2 – Interview with author CJ Cooke - audio - 25:23

Another book by the author
-----The Ghost Woods - Hardcover in UK - 2022

Wiki-ons and Other Items of Interest
-----bothy
-----Borromean Ring
-----broch
-----The Great Scottish Witch Hunt of 1661-1662
-----grimoire
-----St Mary’s Lighthouse
-----50 Megs - on Scottish faeries
-----Cambridge University Press - The Great Scottish Witch Hunt of 1661-1662 - a much more detailed look at this abomination – by Brian P. Levack

[megs_bookrack · Rating 4 out of 5]

**4.5-stars**

After the death of her loving husband, Liv has it rough trying to care for herself and her three daughters. It's generally difficult being a single parent, but as an artist, Liv is really feeling the strain on her resources.

When she receives a commission to paint a mural in a historical lighthouse on a remote Scottish Island, she jumps at a chance for a fresh start.



Moving the girls there is a big decision, but unfortunately, she really has no other choice. Boarding the ferry on the day of their move, Liv, Saffy, Luna and Clover say goodbye to their old life.

Once at the lighthouse and adjacent bothy, which will be their home, they realize it's a wee bit more dilapidated than they anticipated. Regardless, it's an exceptional location and they quickly settle in.



Saffy, as the oldest, definitely has the most difficult time with the move. You know how teens can be. As a result, she begins to distance herself from her Mom and sisters.

Liv dives into her work and actually ends up befriending a few village women, who fill her in on the history and lore of the island itself. Some of the things they tell her are quite disturbing, most notably a witch's curse that summons wildlings, supernatural beings who mimic human children.



Liv doesn't know what to make of these eerie tales, but it is clear her new friends whole-heartedly believe every word.

When mysterious things begin to happen to Liv and her girls, however, she starts to believe there may be some credence to the lore. After two of her daughters go missing, Liv panics and is willing to do whatever it takes, turn to whoever she must, in order to get them back.



Y'all, The Lighthouse Witches gave me exactly what I was looking for. If you read the synopsis, and it sounds incredible to you, have no fear, that is what you are getting; you will not be let down.

The atmosphere is freaking fantastic. Everything about the island, the lighthouse, the local history and lore, it is perfect Spooky Season reading!



The narrative follows three different perspectives, over two timelines: Liv, Saffy and Luna, with past and present perspectives.

You learn about the family's time on the island, the disappearance of the girls, and from Luna's present perspective, the aftermath of all of that.



My one small issue with this story was that I did find it hard to differentiate between the perspectives in the beginning. I was still learning everyone's name and their position in the family, so it was hard to keep it all straight at first.

Luckily, the chapters were headed with the person's name who you were following and the year, but I did have to page back quite a few times to figure out where I was and who I was reading from.



Eventually though, I was able to settle into it and really enjoyed my time reading this story. There are some genuinely creepy moments and some quite interesting supernatural twists.

I found the entire thing to be original and chilling. It definitely kept me up at night. The atmosphere and lore of the town were my two favorite aspects, but really there is so much to enjoy in this story!



Thank you so much to the publisher, Berkley Books, for providing me with a copy to read and review.

After this and The Nesting, I think it is fair to say, I will pick up anything C.J. Cooke releases!!

[Paromjit · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having read The Nesting by CJ Cooke, I was looking forward to reading her latest offering, and found myself enthralled by this riveting, imaginative and atmospheric gothic chiller and family drama, set on a remote Scottish island with its rundown lighthouse, The Longing. It begins in 1998 with single mum, Liv, finding it hard to make a living as an artist, arriving on the island with her three daughters, Saffy, Luna and Clover, having accepted a commission from Patrick Roberts to paint a lighthouse mural. All is not as well as hoped for, as the locals warn of the fae and wildings, supernatural beings that emulate humans, and a lighthouse that was built on a cave where in the 17th century women perceived as witches were imprisoned and burned. With the last gasp of their breath, the island residents were cursed terribly, a nightmare that resulted in missing children through time, the repercussions of which live on.

This is dismissed as ancient folklore, mythology and legend, except that every member of the family vanishes, only Luna is left behind. More than two decades later, a haunted and traumatised Luna is pregnant, still harbouring hopes that her family will return. Then she gets a call that informs her that her sister, Clover, has been found alive, but impossibly Clover is still 7 years old, how could that be? Moreover, Clover's strange behaviour has Luna wondering if she is a wilding, all of which has her returning to the island, to her memories, and in search of the truth of the mystery of what happened to her family all those years ago. The narrative is split between three timelines, from the 17th century from a grimoire of magic, spells and diary, from the family in 1998, and in the present with Luna.

Cooke expertly weaves the different strands of this eerie and unsettling story so that they connect beautifully by the end. The wonderfully evocative location and lighthouse prove to be characters in their own right as they come alive with the rich descriptions in the book. The author provides the reader with the timeless nature of human beings and how they react when overtaken by fear, misplaced beliefs, hysteria, and paranoia, which can so often have horrifying consequences that can result in pain, death, destruction and devastation. This is as true today in our contemporary world as it was in the past. This was a terrifically creepy, ominous and engaging read, dark, intense, and highly suspenseful, with great characters, holding my interest from start to finish. Perfect reading for Autumn and Winter. Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC.

[Jayme · Rating 4 out of 5]

You must be careful not to take hands with your other self -(wildling) If you do-the two of you will become one …

1998: Liv, a single mom of three is commissioned to paint a mural in a decommissioned lighthouse, called The Longing, which was built over the grounds where women were held before being burned alive as Witches. While there-she and two of her daughters go missing.

2021: Twenty Two years later, Luna gets a call that her younger sister has been found but when she arrives to reconnect with her-Clover is still seven years old-how can this be? Could she be a wildling (fairy that takes on human form with one touch of a child)?

The 4 numbers branded on her would suggest so…

The Grimoire (magic spell book) of Patrick Roberts-fills in the history of the Witch Trials in Scotland. (The one alternating narrative in the book which didn’t hold my interest despite the fact that the history is fascinating …)

No doubt that this was a UNIQUE and WELL WRITTEN story exploring Scotland’s actual folklore of Wildlings, and the history of the Witch Trials in Scotland which took place in the 1600’s, and I can understand why it was loved by all of my Goodreads friends…

I enjoyed learning what a Bothy is (a basic shelter in remote mountainous areas of Scotland, usually left unlocked and available for anyone to use free of charge) and the Mareel Seas (Milky Seas-a luminous phenomenon in which large areas of the seawater glow blue-bright enough at night to be visible from satellites orbiting the Earth-please Google them both- they are gorgeous!!)

But, the story itself based on an enjoyment level was just okay for me..

3.5 ⭐️ rounded up for the writing and the armchair travel to Scotland which was wonderfully descriptive and was the part that I did enjoy immensely.

[Kay · Rating 5 out of 5]

WOW! I love it so much and didn't want it to end. I'll be adding this to my favorite shelf.💜 A perfect read for the spooky season, The Lighthouse Witches is chilling, and captivating. It's an outstanding suspenseful witchy story that weaves Scottish folklore, local history, legends, and family drama together beautifully.

Set in 1998 Lòn Haven, The Black Isle - Scotland, a mother of three daughters, Liv is commissioned to paint a mural in a century-old lighthouse built on an ancient Scottish broch. It's owned by the island's mysterious millionaire whom she's yet to meet. As a single mother, Liv thinks she finally catches a break with this commission. Little does she know about the island's dark secrets and history.

This is a multiple timelines/POVs story - 1998, and 2021 with historical part, 1667, read from a grimoire found at the bothy where the family is staying. Atmospheric and spoooky... I loved it!

Thank you Berkley Publishing Group via Netgalley for an ARC for review.

[Debra · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars

A light house, missing children, a land cursed by witches and wildlings make for a riveting, gripping and oh so enjoyable book!

Single mother of three, Liv is left her former life behind. She has been commissioned to do a mural in a 100-year-old lighthouse on a remote Scottish island. It's an island steeped in history -witches were killed here. Specifically in 1662, women were imprisoned, tortured, and burned at the stake. Their cures one the land left the island reeling and people afraid, superstitious and in a strange way looking out for each other.

But Liv isn't quite aware of that when she takes the job. She is looking to escape, make some money and think of some plans. Soon is she told tales which she finds hard to believe. Who would? But things go awry and then two of her daughters go missing.... Twenty years later, one of them comes back!

C.J. Cooke got my attention with The Nesting and I could not wait to read this book. She did not disappoint! This book is told in three timelines -1662, 1998, and the present. Don't let the timelines scare you away. These are expertly done, and nothing is confusing! As more of the story unfold, there is a mounting sense of dread, tension, and unease. Those things along with the journal entries were my favorite parts of the book. There is some creepy things that go on in this book that will leave readers guessing, and trying to figure out what is really happening.

For me this was a pleasure from beginning to end. It had the right amount of atmosphere, Gothic vibes, and mystery to keep me engaged and wanting more.

Creepy, tension filled and Dark - curl up with this one on a long October night!


Thank you to Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.

Read more of my reviews at www.openbookposts.com

[Margaret M - (having a challenging time and on GR as much as I can) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Double double foil and trouble
Fire burn and cauldron bubble (Macbeth)

*****************************

Fire burn, burning bright
Through the flames I read tonight
I followed the plot and the stories untold
Of the lighthouse witches the curse unfolds

I read about the “Longing”, and the witch’s power
As Liv is commissioned to paint the round tower
A haunting gothic tale that is rich in history
While the disappearance of Liv’s daughters remains a mystery

I read the reviews from Goodreads friends I trust
And now I’m recommending this book as a must
With this dark skilful writing, shiver you might
But for Halloween month this book is just right.

********************************

A short summary. Liv, a single mother of three daughters, is commissioned to paint a mural at the Lighthouse known as the “Longing”. However, built on an old Broch from the Iron Age, a place where 12 women were reportedly tortured and burned at the stake for witchcraft, the lighthouse is not a beacon of light instead it is a haunting place feared by the locals. When Liv and two of her daughters go missing then the true macabre story of the disappearances, killings, and sightings is uncovered. Twenty-two years later, the surviving sister is contacted by police to reveal the news that Luna’s youngest sister Clover has been found. There is one thing wrong she hasn’t aged in twenty two years and still looks a seven year old girl.

This is a wonderful book, dark, menacing, and full of suspense, set in 1998 and 2021 and draws from folklore dating back to 1662 and a witch-hunt in Scotland, when hundreds of women were accused of witchcraft. The setting of the Lighthouse is mysterious, haunting, wild, and untamed and the characterisation is superb, with witches and the wildlings that connect the past and the present. The writing is creepy but sharp and darkly ominous. The anticipation is created in the opening chapters and the author does an amazing job of maintaining the suspense throughout as she unspools the past, but the evil is accretive, extending and eternalising. If you want to read a ghoulish and chilling book for spooky month, then look no further than the Lighthouse Witches.

You do have to suspend disbelief in a couple of places but other than that it is a great book for everyone who likes a bit of mystery.

[Terrie Robinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

"The Lighthouse Witches" by C.J. Cooke is an atmospheric, creepy, and foreboding read!

A secluded Scottish island with a century old lighthouse, is steeped in a past of women accused of witchcraft in the 17th Century. The women, held in an underground prison, were tortured and burned without trials. Before the burning, these brutalized women screamed a curse on the island and its people causing fear and superstition for centuries to come.

The lighthouse, known as the Longing, was built over the underground prison in the 19th century. In 1998, a single mother and artist, Liv Stay, is commissioned to paint a mural inside the Longing by the owner, Patrick Roberts. Struggling financially, Liv jumps at the opportunity to begin anew with her three daughters, Sapphire 15, Luna 9, and Clover 7.

Liv wonders about the stories told to her by the residents about the island's history of witches, curses, and wildings. Originally skeptical of the island folklore, when Sapphire and Clover go missing, Liv is wild in her search and open to the possibility of truth behind the island's dark history.

In 2021, Clover is found and Luna is shocked when she sees that her sister isn't 29 years old, as she should be. Clover is seven years old, the age she was when she disappeared more than twenty years ago...

This story is told, primarily, in two timelines of 1998 and 2021, with a third timeline of 1662 mingled into some of the chapters. Holding onto the mystery through to the end, with its atmospheric, creepy, and foreboding narrative is everything I was looking for in an October Spooky Season read.

However, this story didn't completely work for me. I had trouble connecting to the MC characters, especially Liv, based on lack of character development and emotion. Overall, I didn't feel this story had the depth of emotion it should have based on the premise. The entire story felt like it was above-ground when much of what happened felt like it was underground. The three timelines gave this story the feel of being spliced together with gaps, rather than cohesive and complete.

The audiobook's four narrators, Eva Feiler, Lesley Harcourt, Jess Nesling, and Joshua Manning, did a remarkable job of voicing and bring this story to life. This is a prime example of how an audiobook elevates the enjoyment of a book for the reader/listener.

Although I didn't love this one, I did like it. 3 stars for the story, 4 stars for the audiobook, averaging 3.5 stars. I do recommend the audiobook as an atmospheric October Spooky Season listen!

[Ceecee · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 rounded up.

In 1998 Liv Stay arrives at Lon Haven off the coast of the Black Isle with her three daughters in tow. There’s Saffy (Sapphire) 15, Luna who is 9 and Clover, 7. Liv has been commissioned by wealthy Patrick Roberts to paint a mural at The Longing, a dilapidated lighthouse built on a broch, an Iron Age Round tower. Beneath the lighthouse lies a cave where women accused of witchcraft have been imprisoned. The local people warn Liv about ‘wildlings’, a fae (fairy) who takes in human form after a pact made with witches. A few weeks later, two of the sisters and Liv go missing. In 2021 Luna gets a phone call out of the blue to say one of her sisters is found. The story is told in 1998 by Liv and Saffy, by Luna in 2021 and via extracts from a Grimoire from the 1660’s, a book of magic, spells and invocations.

Wow. This is a superb Gothic thriller , we have sorcery, witchcraft, magic, spells and curses which reveals a creepy world full of superstition, apparitions and the wildlings, the latter completely capturing my imagination. The premise and unfolding dark events are really creative and original and I’m spellbound caught up in the enchanting, well written storyline which mesmerises as it weaves the fantastic tale. I love the superstitious folk lore element with the earlier timeline of the Grimoire being some of my favourite sections as it tells of dangerous times of witch-finders and so on. The setting principally on the island is fantastic as it lends a haunting, threatening, fearful , malevolent presence especially in and around The Longing which feels alive. At the start when we first meet the Stay family there are some good touches of humour which contrasts starkly with later dark events. The characterisation is excellent, even peripheral characters have depth. This is a very clever story which although it centres in witchcraft it is also about love, motherhood and family. My only slight negative is that maybe the end is a bit convenient but that’s not to say I don’t like it as I do!

Overall, this book enthrals from start to finish with the ideas and concepts keeping you hooked. I love the cover too.

With thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins, Harper Fiction for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Liv Stay is a struggling mum with three daughters Sapphire, Luna & Clover she is an artist she is commissioned to paint a mural
in a 100 year old lighthouse she doesn’t give it a second thought it’s at Lon Haven the black Isle of Scotland when all of a sudden her daughter Saffy disappears the year 1998


This is a book within a book dating back to 1668 when witches were found burned in a cave behind the lighthouse.

Then Clover who was only seven when she disappeared a lady by the name of Eillidh brings Clover to see Luna now 29 but still looks like, sounds , like Clover but she isn’t her Luna thinks so who is the child who has scrapped back , hair mattered at ends?

This is a beautifully written story that I couldn’t put down the gothic feel & the Nordic setting drew me in from start to finish, there was so much to take in was dark & the wives tales whether you believed or not was beautifully penned a must read if you are into this genre.

[Lucy · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5****

I raced through this. This book was creepy and atmospheric within the first couple of chapters... and this continued through out the novel, drawing me in.

In 1998, Liv is commissioned to do a mural for “The Longing” a decommissioned lighthouse, she ups and moves herself and her three children to the island of Lon Haven. She is commissioned by the mysterious Patrick Roberts and the mural contains strange symbols and signs.
In 2021, Luna (Liv’s daughter) is now grown up with so few memories of Lon Haven- other than it being the place where her mother and sisters suddenly disappeared. She’s got Facebook pages set up for information which have lain dormant for many years, until one day she gets a call from social to say that they’ve found her sister, Clover.... but how is it possible that Clover is still 7 years old!? The same age she was when she went missing over two decades ago!?
To answer these questions, Luna must recount what happened on that island many years ago.

The book flickers back and forth from largely Liv’s POV in 1998 (some of Saffy) and Luna’s POV in 2021. This also contains some excerpts from Patrick Roberts grimoire recounting his past. Through these we uncover the bloody and secretive history of the island.

This book is the perfect fall read and had everything I loved- witches, curses, secrets, mysterious symbols, and had quite a few horror elements too! This book was eerie through out and was a page Turner- my adrenaline was pumping while turning the pages, needing to find out the answers.

Some things are typical for a horror- a creepy forest, abandoned places, a random hut in the middle of the woods- but CJ Cooke makes this work. I’ve seen this advertised as a “gothic thriller” but it was definitely more of a horror/mystery with a tiny bit of sci-do chucked in.

A highly enjoyable and atmospheric creepy read- I loved it!
My only issue is of personal preference where I try to avoid books where children play a large role... as I find them annoying usually.

Thank you NetGalley for this E-Arc.

[Kristina · Rating 2 out of 5]

When I read the synopsis for this book I was so excited. I love witch stories and folklore and this story promised both. It's too bad that this one didn't work for me at all. It was painfully slow and anticlimactic. There was no suspense and I thought the atmosphere was lacking.
The adult characters made really idiotic choices at times, and it really annoyed me.

This could have easily been a DNF for me, but I made myself finish because I was hoping the ending would pay off. It did not. Based on how many glowing reviews this book has, I clearly have an unpopular opinion. Therefore, I would say if you were thinking of picking this up you probably should. Books are so subjective. I didn't love it but maybe you will.

[Chrissy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Folklore, witch trials, children returning as wildlings, a grimoire, multiple timelines and different points of view, set in a 100 year old lighthouse on a remote Scottish island. This was right up my street and I loved it.

[Shelby *trains flying monkeys* · Rating 4 out of 5]

I LOVED this for Halloween! A mom (Liv) and her three daughters arrive on a remote Scottish island. She is commissioned to paint an old lighthouse. When they arrive the lighthouse is run down and there is history attached to it. The land was used to keep women accused of witchcraft and when the witches were murdered they cursed the island.


There are tales of children disappearing and "wildings" taking their places.
Then Liv's two daughters go missing.

The story also has a present day version where Luna (one of the daughters) has grown up and is contacted that one of her sisters has been found. The thing is...she has not aged.

I loved the setting and back history of this book! And for a horror book the ending did not tick me off horribly. (At first it did and then I remembered if I can forgive Stephen King a million times for shitting the bed on an ending that I can get over stuff.)

Booksource: Netgalley in exchange for review

[Rosh ~catching up slowly~ · Rating 4 out of 5]

In a Nutshell: An interesting gothic mystery with some outstanding twists.

Story:

This tale comes to us from distinct perspectives and multiple timelines.

1998: Single mother Liv has been commissioned to paint a mural in the lighthouse of a remote Scottish island. Liv takes it as a golden opportunity to make a fresh start with her three daughters. She soon discovers that the island harbours dark secrets. But who in this modern day can believe in those old ladies tales and superstitions? Not Liv, for sure. Until things take a dark turn.

2021: Luna has been searching for her missing sisters and mothers for more than two decades. When she receives a call that her youngest sister has finally been located, she is on cloud nine. But imagine her shock when she discovers that Clover is still seven years old, the age she was when she vanished twenty two years earlier. With Luna’s hazy memory about the past, will she be able to figure out this bizarre situation?

The other two perspectives are that of Sapphire (Liv’s eldest daughter) and a mysterious grimoire that contains a man’s narration of the witch hunts in Scotland during the 1660s.

This is one of those books where I can’t write anything much without going into spoilers. And as I hate spoilers with a vehemence, I’ll try to keep the feedback specific and brief.

• The plot is fairly twisted and quite convoluted. There are some loopholes in the flow but nothing too major that will take away from your enjoyment. I enjoyed the constant surprises that the author kept throwing time and again. There are many creepy moments too. At the same time, some parts were very farfetched and there were too many coincidences towards the end.

• The grimoire’s story was my favourite, though it was the most horrifying at times. The idiotic thinking behind the witch hunts were written very well.

• Many of the characters are quite intriguing, even though I couldn’t connect with the decisions of a few of them. To pinpoint one, Liv’s reason for wanting to escape London and go to an unknown island seemed utterly illogical to me. Then there is this big hullabaloo about some mysterious numbers. Tell me honestly: if you see the numerals “2 0 2 1” appear somewhere, will you think “Oh, what a mysterious number!?” or will you think “Why is the current year mentioned here?”

• Though there were multiple timelines and character perspectives to follow, the narrative felt pretty smooth to me. The writing keeps you hooked.

• A couple of reader friends found the plot dragging in the middle but I couldn’t detect any major dip in pace. Probably because I was listening to it than reading it.

For me, the biggest pro points of this book were its plot idea and its ability to spring surprises almost till the end. Where it could have worked a little better for me was in making the characters, especially Liv, seem more realistic. Luna was the best etched character, but even her arc contained some wild stretches at times.

I heard the audio version of this book and I think that made my experience much better. The four perspectives are voiced by four different narrators and this brings a nice individuality to their narratives. I loved all the narrators as they rendered the characters perfectly. The audiobook is 10 hrs 13 min long, and that’s 10 hrs 13 minutes of a captivating hearing experience. Of course, you’ve already seen that the plot is fairly complicated. If you find your mind boggled by too much of a to and fro in the timelines, better go for reading. But to experienced audiobook listeners, I’ll recommend the audiobook wholeheartedly.

4 stars from me to this engrossing story. (It might have been 3.75 had I read the book. The bonus is for the narrators.)


Thank you, HarperCollins UK Audio and NetGalley, for the audio ARC of the book in exchange for an honest review.



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[₊ ˚ ale ࿓ ♡ ⋆｡˚ · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.75 stars.

"The only boundary between desire and obsession is time: if you crave someone long enough, it becomes a need. It becomes your ever-waking thought. The only thing you live for."

here's my full review

This was a hell of a ride. Holy fuck. I found a new comfort book and a new favorite.

The Lighthouse Witches tells the story of Liv and her daughters. How they move to a lonely Scottish island, a remote place, because she receives the offer of a job to paint a mural inside of a lighthouse, The Longing. Liv says yes, she needs a new star, from zero. We learn about her life, her struggles raising 3 kids on her own —one of them a rebel teenager— and with life in general.

Liv doesn't believe in fairy tales, but when two of her daughters disappear, she begins to question if the stories that her friend, Isla, told her might be true.

The vibes. The fucking vibes of this book made me fall in love with it very quick. The atmosphere was dark, eery and gloomy. Hell, I don't even know how to describe it. The vibes and atmosphere were the reason this book was fast paced to me.

I've always been interested on witches, especially on the "trials" held against thousands of women in Europe, acussing them of practicing witchcraft, torturing them and killing them in awful ways.

This book has many layers and it becomes interesting as you're getting through. I must admit that I had a hard time at the beginning trying to differentiate the mcs perspectives, because sometimes they were mixed. Gladly, I made my way through it.

It was like the tv show, Dark featuring witches and eery vibes. We learn how a rational and logic-minded person can lost their shit when weird or emotional things happen, how that thin line between reality and tales can be crossed in one single step.

I liked Liv and her daughters' story. It was an emotional journey and I shed some tears towards the end of the book —on the last 3 chapters. You can feel her struggles with her illness, raising 3 kids on her own —one of them being a rebel teenager— and trying to protect her family. I liked Saffy, Luna and Clover as well. I felt bad for Saffy after Brodie played with her. Luna grow up as a broken kid, haunted by the ghost of her past and what happened with her mother and sisters and how she tried so bad to get her family again. I wanted to protect Clover at all cost.

In overall, this book was fast paced, had really good eery/paranormal/terror elements that transported me to Lon Haven with Liv and her daughters, and with Patrick and Amy, and made me feel very very very sorry for all those women who were hunted and killed for being "witches". It's a story about family, love and folklore and myth that is very well written.

previous review:
okay, this was even better than i expected!

if u see me crying, no, you don't

rtc

[Rachels_booknook_ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, I tried. I am definitely in the minority here..

For me this is an issue of personal preference: I don’t want to read a book that feels like anarchy is reigning and there are no actual rules for the world we are visiting. To clarify: if I’m reading a thriller, I want it to be a thriller, that logically resolves itself in the end. Or if it is magical realism, be committed to truly having a magic system that is enforced in the story, or with sci-fi it should have some sort of explanation for how whatever implausible bit functions earlier than the climax of the story. I don’t want a thriller that talks about magic and folklore like everyone believes in them but we as readers know better, but then have the reveal be an entirely different animal that we weren’t even introduced to like…sci-fi. It didn’t feel like a twist, it felt like a trick. If you’re going to have a sci-fi element, set that up better so it doesn’t feel like something you didn’t actually put effort into building and you just didn’t know where to take the plot, dropped into everyone’s laps.
A bunch of loose ends with characters also got tied up pretty sloppily and hastily, considering how much time we spent in the past getting to know everyone’s dynamic when a bunch of people disappeared. What was the point?
I just felt like I didn’t trust the narrator this whole book, and it made me disconnected and irritated. This writer just isn’t for me, I had a similar issue with the other one I read.
Sorry!

[Brenda ~The Sisters~Book Witch · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

A gothic thriller with a lighthouse on a remote Scottish island, witches, and tales of disappearing children coming back as wildings !! I am all in!

So did it evoke feelings of suspense, danger, fear and creeped me out with the supernatural elements to the story?.... Yes and no!!!

Yes, 3 things I loved

The isolated lighthouse and the rumors it was built on a cave where witches were tortured centuries ago gave me a creepy uneasy feeling of danger I loved

The suspense created with the children coming back and figuring out where that was going.

The feminist undertones to the story

No, 3 things I didn’t love as much.

I loved the way the direction was going with the wilding storyline however it felt like it was taken too far to be resolved convincingly. I was a tad disappointed with the supernatural element of the story.

The timelines and characters’ narrators jumping around and things got a bit confusing at times, and I had to wonder if that was to throw us off a bit to make things seem more convincing.

The storyline felt familiar and not all that original.

Overall it’s a fun, entertaining gothic suspense to curl up on a dark winter night.

I received a copy from the publisher

[nettebuecherkiste · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stellenweise ein bisschen unglaubwürdig. Neatly wrapped up, aber vielleicht ein bisschen zuuu viel Zufälliges.

Update: Having now listened to 4 of the author's books, this is my favourite to date, because of its complexity, followed by The Ghost Woods.

[Denise · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you're looking for a witchy, spooky October read, look no further! This book had all of the elements I love in my Halloween reads - a little haunted history, a little magic, a little supernatural, and a whole lot of creepy.

Liv and her 3 daughters, Sapphire, Luna and Clover, move to a small island in Scotland where Liv has been commissioned to paint a mural in a deserted lighthouse. You know Liv seems to be running from something or someone, and thinks the island of Lon Haven is the perfect place to hide out. Things seems fine in the beginning, but they quickly learn of the local folklore related to the witches executed on the island centuries ago, who cursed the islanders on their death. After the curse, deaths of children were rampant, and wildlings were commonplace. Liv doesn't believe it until she experiences a wilding herself, and things start to go downhill in a hurry. More than 20 years later, Luna is the only remaining member of her family. Her mother and sisters are missing, and her memory is hazy as to how she made it off the island and they didn't. Then she gets a call that one of the missing sisters, Clover, is found, but she doesn't seem to have aged a day in twenty years. Luna is ecstatic to have her sister back, but as she tries to piece together what happened to the rest of her family and as odd events unfold, she begins to wonder if Clover is really who she appears to be.

I liked the three POVs here and thought they worked beautifully to weave the plot together - Liv in 1998, Sapphire in 1998, and Luna in 2021. There were also brief snippets of a book Sapphire found in the lighthouse that was written during the time of the witch trials, The Grimoire of Patrick Roberts, and which I thought were the most compelling, creepy parts of the book. There were just enough twists and turns that I couldn’t quite figure out where the story was going and how things would tie together in the end. While things are wrapped up in a fairly satisfying way in the end, there were a few unanswered questions (especially related to Clover) that kept this from being a 5-star read for me. Obviously, you have to suspend belief in these types of reads, as there is no "real world" explanation, but unfortunately the execution just fell a bit short toward the end.

Overall, I enjoyed this book way more than I expected. Magical realism, supernatural, etc., are not usually my thing, but this one had just the right amount of suspense, twists, Scottish folklore and history to keep me hooked! 3.5 stars rounded up to 4.

[JaymeO · Rating 4 out of 5]

“We form stories about our lives to create meaning out of them-without meaning, they feel shapeless and without purpose.”

The Lighthouse Witches is a totally engrossing fast-paced thriller that explores the deeper meaning behind ancient folklore and history. This is not your typical witch tale, as it is multi-layered and transcends time and generations. The story is told in multiple timelines, ultimately catching up to the present day.

1998 - Liv Stay accepts a commission to paint a mural in an old lighthouse on the small Scottish island of Lon Haven. This is her opportunity to make a new life for herself and her three daughters, Sapphire, Luna, and Clover.

2021 - Luna Stay is pregnant with her first child and has been searching for her mother and two sisters for twenty-two years. When she receives a call that her younger sister Clover has finally been found, she is ecstatic. However, Clover is still seven years old! Why hasn’t she aged? Luna must return to the island in order to figure out what happened to her family all of those years ago.

I have read Cooke’s two previous thrillers and loved I Know My Name, but found The Nesting somewhat clunky. The Lighthouse Witches attempts to follow a similar formula as The Nesting, but it is much more successful. While I felt that The Nesting was overwrought with folklore which bogged the story down at times, The Lighthouse Witches seamlessly weaves folklore into a fascinating original tale that immediately captivated my interest. The tension and suspense kept me on the edge of my seat and didn’t let up until the final page. I also learned a lot about the Scottish witch trials, which I hadn’t heard of before. However, I felt like a few elements wrapped up too conveniently in the end and I still had a few lingering questions.

Overall, I truly enjoyed going on this journey into another land filled with myths, folklore, and superstition. C.J. Cooke has now won me over as a fan, as this book topped the scales!

4.5/5 stars rounded down

[Lori Elliott · Rating 4 out of 5]

‘As you’ll see, cause and effect in this tale do not fit easily together. The pieces are odd and misshaped because truth is messy and porous’. ― C.J. Cooke, The Lighthouse Witches

Perfect Halloween story!

Darkly atmospheric this reminded me of a Stephen King novel. At no point did I feel like I knew how it all would end, which kept me looking forward to reading on. Warning that this does bounce around a lot between people and years, but I felt invested enough in the story to let it play out. The ending was well done and I thought everything wrapped up satisfyingly. 4 stars.

ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Marci carol · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great novel based on the history of witches in Scotland. I really enjoyed this book! The book is about how events shaped the lives of a family: luv , sapphire, and Luna. It’s the first time I’ve read this author. I seen it recommended on a friends review on goodreads and thought that sounds just like something I’m wanting to read right now! A little bit of magic, fantasy, mystery and spirit!

[Kara (Books.and.salt) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Do you ever finish a book and immediately wish you could wipe your memory and read it for the first time again? 😂 I was so engrossed in watching this mystery unfold.

On a secluded Scottish island in 1998 a mother and her three daughters are separated. 20 years later, Luna is still searching for her mom and two sisters while trying to rise above her own trauma. When Luna receives a call from the police saying one of her sisters has been found, she is ecstatic... Until she realizes Clover is seven years old - the same age she was when she disappeared. The mystery pulls Luna back to the Scottish island where she unravels her trapped memories & discovers the truth about her family.

The Lighthouse Witches tells an intense, spooky tale through the eyes of mama Liv in 1998, sister Luna in 2021, and the words of a grimoire from 1620. I thought the different perspectives brought such an exciting pace to the novels, allowing the reader to try to connect the dots as they go. I found it so easy to become attached to Liv and her girls - I still ache to give Saffy a hug. 🥲

I have a major soft spot for Gaelic myths and absolutely loved Cooke's take on wildlings. I think the mixing of fae lore and witchy magic was so incredibly clever. It was also the PERFECT amount of creepy, just enough to make me nervous without forcing me to put down the book 🤣

Super excited to see what the author does next - I love when a book gives me someone new to follow! 😍 Special thanks to Netgalley for providing a digital copy in exchange for my honest review!

[Celestina1210 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ce livre a été un énorme coup de cœur pour moi. J’ai tout de suite était séduite. L’histoire parle de magie premier bon point ensuite il suit les aventures d’une mère et de ses trois filles deuxième bon point et enfin troisième bon point l’histoire se passe sur une île et enfin Écosse là c’est bon bon j’ai clairement tous les feux au vert.
liv Olivia part en Écosse enfin de réaliser une fresque dans le phare de lon haven. Cet endroit est maudit il y a plusieurs siècles en arrière il a été victime d’une tragédie des femmes accusées à tord de sorcellerie ont été brûlées et avant de mourir elles ont jeté un sort maudissant les habitants de l’île.
De nos jours, Luna la seule rescapée de sa famille va tenter de se débattre entre les superstitions et la vérité pour savoir ce qui est arrivé à sa mère Olivia mais aussi à ses sœurs Clover et Saffy.
Si vous aimez les ambiances mystérieuses les légendes foncez !!!

[Virginie Roy · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 🌟

Very interesting! Loved the ending!

I'm just disappointed about one element of the plot that was never explained...🤔