I devoured this book and honestly couldn't put it down. 

A story with a cult-like religious village rooted in patriarchal ideals, a spooky forest with ancient witches raging for retribution and intertwined elements of horror and fantasy? Amazing. 

I enjoyed the message and the anti-sexism and anti-racism undertones. There is a constant eerie atmospheric quality to the storytelling and some unsettling horror elements throughout. Henderson paints a vivid picture with her descriptive prose and gives us a book that feels almost like a more extreme version - in ways - of The Handmaid's Tale. 

I'm a huge fan of female rage and stories with outcasts that rise to the top. This story delivers on both fronts. I'm also fascinated by cults and extreme religion, which are prevalent in this story. The cult-like village of Bethel paints a very authentic image of how people can abuse others under the pretense of sacrifice, love, and the "greater good" in their quest for power. I also liked how this story portrayed how some can be blinded in their quest for retribution and lose their morality in the process.  

There are some pretty dark themes, but it's very well done (I'd look up triggers if you're squeamish). I do wish we had a bit more closure on some of the characters and storylines. This story could've been longer because I was so interested in all of the "why," but it is quite detailed as is. I'm hoping that one day we will get a sequel. 

"𝓣𝓻𝓾𝓮 𝓮𝓿𝓲𝓵, 𝓘𝓶𝓶𝓪𝓷𝓾𝓮𝓵𝓵𝓮 𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓵𝓲𝔃𝓮𝓭 𝓷𝓸𝔀, 𝔀𝓸𝓻𝓮 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓼𝓴𝓲𝓷 𝓸𝓯 𝓰𝓸𝓸𝓭 𝓶𝓮𝓷. 𝓘𝓽 𝓾𝓽𝓽𝓮𝓻𝓮𝓭 𝓹𝓻𝓪𝔂𝓮𝓻𝓼, 𝓷𝓸𝓽 𝓬𝓾𝓻𝓼𝓮𝓼. 𝓘𝓽 𝓯𝓮𝓲𝓰𝓷𝓮𝓭 𝓶𝓮𝓻𝓬𝔂 𝔀𝓱𝓮𝓻𝓮 𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓻𝓮 𝔀𝓪𝓼 𝓸𝓷𝓵𝔂 𝓶𝓪𝓵𝓲𝓬𝓮. 𝓘𝓽 𝓼𝓽𝓾𝓭𝓲𝓮𝓭 𝓢𝓬𝓻𝓲𝓹𝓽𝓾𝓻𝓮𝓼 𝓸𝓷𝓵𝔂 𝓽𝓸 𝓼𝓹𝓲𝓽 𝓸𝓾𝓽 𝓵𝓲𝓮𝓼."