The fact is, I don’t like this book because I see all the same problems in it that my own book has. Except, Fox actually got hers published. Does that mean there’s hope for mine?

I will digress by saying that yes, I do want to fix these problems in my story, but no I can’t. There are two reasons why. One, I don’t have the skill yet. Two, the story is too far gone to be saved.

Back to The Witch of Willow Hall.

This book is definitely filled with some crazy ideas. Fox did not hold back. Where the issues arise is her ability to execute the ideas successfully. You can really feel her limitations… the debutness of it all. Essentially, her seams are showing enough for readers to tear the individual pieces apart.

The Witch of Willow Hall is advertised as a paranormal, spooky witch read perfect for any fall reading list. But it’s none of those things. You can’t blame this on Fox though. This could easily be the work of her publishing house, which I feel really bad about. Fox has only a small say in title, cover, or even advertising (most of which she still might have had to do herself). I’m not even sure if she’s the one that gets to write her synopsis. Just like The Village, the book was slated to be one thing but it was far from it. It’s really a jacked up Historical Romance, bordering on YA, that has some paranormal elements - most of which were so sparse, I forgot about them.

We know that Lydia is different - it’s alluded to from the very first page. The entire first chapter is dedicated to an event when she was little and then, ten years later, the family is rushed out of Boston on a scandal. For a short time, the reader thinks it’s something to do with Lydia and that fateful day. When you add on the title and synopsis, you sit back and prepare for a read about her witchy powers. Nope. Not even close. There’s a 180 degree turn when you find out they left for a completely different reason that has no paranormal influence.  

And then readers meet Mr. Barrett. If anything saves this book, it’s Mr. Barrett. A swoon worthy character with all the hunky, knight in shiny armor that readers will love. He takes center stage early on as the fascination of Lydia’s attention, and probably the real reason that the paranormal side was shoved away. He’s just so strong a character nothing stands a chance to steal the show. I won’t say that Fox did a perfect job here. He’s gone for a large chunk of the story, they fall in love quickly, and the misunderstanding at the end, a little overdone I think, wasn’t pulled off. This is a perfect example of the debutness shining through.

Fox had too many great pieces to fit together that she didn’t have the time to give each one the attention they deserved. I think the story would have been more successful if she had taken a few out and expanded on the ones she left. But she would need to leave Barrett. Have I said how much I love Mr. Barrett.

I think Fox has great potential because there are beautiful moments where I turned the page in haste. It was just that, overall, the story left a bad taste in my mouth. The dialogue between Lydia and Mr. Barrett was great. It was real. Dynamic. Flowed without effort. Lydia also spoke her mind at moments. Something that I especially love in stories. I hate when a writer creates tension by not having a character share how they feel or what they’re thinking. That’s just a cheap way to put in tension. Maybe that’s how it is in real life, but I will speak my own mind.

Finally, I’m not the biggest fan of Lydia. I really wanted to like her. She was just too…. too…. too… where are the words when you need them. She didn’t spark for me. I wouldn’t say she let things happen to her, but for an adult book, she read so young. She never seemed to make up her mind, jumping from a strong independent woman in her family, to one that let others manipulate her.

All in all, I’m giving the story 2.5 stars out of 5. When I have to struggle to pick it up each night, there is no way I can push it up to 3 stars. I wish Fox all the luck in the world though because I think she has something really special in her. It just needs a little more work.

Happy Reading

Love Kait

Reading Challenge: 18/100