Slewfoot: A Tale of Bewitchery - Brom

A spirited young Englishwoman, Abitha, arrives at a Puritan colony betrothed to a stranger – only to become quickly widowed when her husband dies under mysterious circumstances. All alone in this pious and patriarchal society, Abitha fights for what little freedom she can grasp onto, while trying to stay true to herself and her past.

Enter Slewfoot, a powerful spirit of antiquity newly woken ... and trying to find his own role in the world. Healer or destroyer? Protector or predator? But as the shadows walk and villagers start dying, a new rumor is whispered: Witch.

Both Abitha and Slewfoot must swiftly decide who they are, and what they must do to survive in a world intent on hanging any who meddle in the dark arts. (link)

Review: 2/5

I hate to say that this review will be relatively short since I had a hard time getting through this book… If I had a hard time reading it, you better believe I’m having a hard time writing for it.

Let me start off with saying that normally I am all for women’s books where the main character is doing evil and causing harm, all because they’ve been fucked over. I’m always rooting for a girlboss moment, but there was something off putting about this book. I’m not sure if it was the time period that threw me off or if it was just the writing… Hell, it was probably a combination.

I also had a really hard time imagining and keeping score of the different demons. There was a fish that floated/flew, a little rat guy, and of course, Samson, the devil in goat/human. Samson, to my understanding, is this brooding, lonely devil who wants to do well and help people, but is overcome with hatred and vengeance. Also, why did I get the vibe he’s sexy? Maybe I need to stop reading romance books!! Or maybe he is sexy. I mean, just look up some fanart. I don’t know if that’s typically how demons are pictured in some spiritual practice, but I had no knowledge of Slewfoot going into this book. The little henchmen were so creepy and weird, yet strongly developed. It was really hard for me to play this book out in my mind with such unsettling and confusing characters, but maybe that's the fault of my lack of imagination.

It seems to me that this author was trying to do another Salem witch trials thing, with the theme of sexism and colonialism, but it just fell flat for me. And I LOVE the Salem Witch Trials, as I should to rightfully represent my fellow feminists and witches (yes yes, I know the women in the witch trials most likely weren't witches, and were just single women who were hated for their independence.) I was in it for the first half, but once our main protagonist died and soon became a demon too I just fell out with it. Our main protagonist just wanted to prove the town wrong and prove that she could provide for herself and her land, and she had to turn to evil magic to do so. I thought “whatever” but I didn’t really vibe with the end when all the demons (Abitha now involved) they go on a massive killing spree. Initially, I would have liked the idea of vengeance of people who wronged her, but then it turned into trying to destroy the entire town. Is this technically genocide? I feel like yes. Maybe it's because I’m always on my ethical-high-horse, but I just don’t think it's realistic to see that kind of change in a person after everything she went through. I mean, maybe this was a horror and I was shocked at the switch-up at the end? I’m not sure why I’m so against this book, but I am… At least the playlist is good! I have all my best witchy music in store for you.

Spotify: LINK