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The Witch by Freida McFadden | Review, Summary, Tropes and Quotes
As someone who has read EVERY Freida McFadden book, this book was done so differently. And I am here for every second of it.
When the blurb first came out, I knew I would be devouring it. It had all the elements to make a banger thriller - an old, OLD house, inhabited by three super old people and believed to be haunted.
And I did devour it.
As I have said previously, Freida could use the same formula to write a hundred different books, and I would happily read them all. But I didn't want to be biased. So, I waited a whole twenty-four hours to sit down and write this review. Believe me, that's a lot for me.
Let's dive in.
Book Overview
Title: The Witch
Author: Freida McFadden
Genre: Supernatural thriller and mystery
Rating: 4/5
Tropes of The Witch by Freida McFadden
Creepy old mansion
Haunting, ghosts, and a stopped clock at 3:41
Two different timelines - present and 1600s
Supernatural and mystery
Generational secrets
Vengeful and wronged women
Blurb of The Witch by Freida McFadden
Some secrets don't die―they wait.
When Julia Barlow loses her job and her apartment, she has nowhere left to go but Pemberton, her family's sprawling seventeenth-century estate in rural Massachusetts. Officially, she's there to check in on her aging grandmother. Unofficially, she's hoping the old house will give her a place to disappear.
Instead, Pemberton begins to unravel her.
Every night, the grandfather clock stops at exactly 3:41 a.m. The lights flicker without warning. And a disembodied voice cries for help outside Julia's bedroom door.
As Julia digs into the house's dark history, she uncovers the story of a woman executed for witchcraft in 1692―and realizes the past may not be finished with Pemberton yet. When decades of family lies begin to surface, Julia must confront a terrifying truth: Pemberton may be haunted by women whose voices refuse to stay silent.
My Review of The Witch by Freida McFadden
Here's what really worked for me:
The haunted old mansion with creepy noises, moaning, crying, and all sorts of noises in the middle of the night is one of my favourite tropes. This was one of the primary reasons I picked up this book.
The dual timeline with a peek into the 1600s, the sheer injustice of women being accused of witchcraft and being put to death with shitty evidence, made my blood boil. It has made me study more about the subject. And it still enrages me.
Julia having the balls to actually unlock her bedroom door in the middle of the night and walk out to see what's happening. I mean, I would have passed out the second I heard that moaning. I would have been dead at the whimpers. And I would have been out of the house at the sight of that damned noose.
What didn't work for me:
The language from the 1600s timeline seemed a bit cringe to me. Maybe people spoke that way, sure. Not judging there. But here, it seemed, well, cringe. Like my friend learning the bare minimum words of Urdu to wish me a happy birthday.
I was expecting one last, final, signature Freida McFadden twist. I absolutely live for those. Maybe something involving Henry. I just couldn't trust him. Even when they had a happy ending, I know in my heart the dude only went after Julia for his mission to acquire Pemberton, and that he also had some personal vendetta, like he was the great-great-great etc grandson of Molly or Archie or someone.
We all know I rate books according to how they made me feel. So, let me recapt those for you - I loved the whole concept and the elements, but maybe the reveal didn't exactly land for me. Hated Ethel right off the bat. Micky was shady too. Henry will never win my trust. EVER. Molly was a bitch. Like, she should have been down there in that damned cellar. Archie should have been right there too. But he got shot in the face, so I am cool.
Overall, I liked the book. And let's just say, this one succeeded in spooking the shit out of me. Even though I knew the haunting was coming, I was still clutching on to my tablet for dear life when I read about Julia's first night in Pemberton. It is also the reason I was scared to go pee when I woke up at 3 in the morning.
If you're looking to curl up this Halloween with a slightly spooky book to read, I would definitely recommend The Witch by Freida McFadden.
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