Disclaimer: I received an e-arc from the publisher. Thanks! All opinions are my own.

Book: Witches of Ash and Ruin

Author: E. Latimer

Book Series: Standalone

Rating: 3/5

Diversity: LGBT friendly! Bi main character!

Publication Date: March 3, 2020

Genre: YA Fantasy

Recommended Age: 15+ (murder, being outed, family issues, violence, some gore)

Publisher: Freeform

Pages: 384

Amazon Link

Synopsis: Seventeen-year-old Dayna Walsh is struggling to cope with her somatic OCD; the aftermath of being outed as bisexual in her conservative Irish town; and the return of her long-absent mother, who barely seems like a parent. But all that really matters to her is ascending and finally, finally becoming a full witch-plans that are complicated when another coven, rumored to have a sordid history with black magic, arrives in town with premonitions of death. Dayna immediately finds herself at odds with the bewitchingly frustrating Meiner King, the granddaughter of their coven leader.

And then a witch turns up murdered at a local sacred site, along with the blood symbol of the Butcher of Manchester-an infamous serial killer whose trail has long gone cold. The killer's motives are enmeshed in a complex web of witches and gods, and Dayna and Meiner soon find themselves at the center of it all. If they don't stop the Butcher, one of them will be next.

With razor-sharp prose and achingly real characters, E. Latimer crafts a sweeping, mesmerizing story of dark magic and brutal mythology set against a backdrop of contemporary Ireland that's impossible to put down.

Review: I really liked this book for the most part. The book did well to have excellent LGBT representation, and it was based on Celtic folklore. The setting was well detailed and the family dynamics were amazing!

However, there are 5 POVs and it was a lot to take in. The book was hard to get into and it was hard to connect with the characters. The book almost felt forced to tell a story.

Verdict: It was a good book, but not for me.