What is it about?
Black Spring is cursed by a 300year old witch, Katherine van Wyler. Residents are bound to certain to rules by the council, who run HEX, which follows the witch’s every move. Bored by being bound by these rules, a group of teenagers start breaking the rules and Katherine is not happy.
Who’s it for?
Adults.
Genre?
Supernatural horror thriller.
Is it any good?
It was the front cover, which drew me into buying this book: so dark. I like a good scary book and Hex does not fail. The main narrative doesn’t really get going till after the story of Black Spring is told. Thomas does this via new residents moving to the picturesque town and not being dissuaded to move into the town. Thus they must be informed about Katherine and the curse she has. This takes a while, but once past it: the story moves at a good pace.
Only Susan Hill’s The Woman in Black has succeeded in giving me nightmares, till I read this book. In my nightmare the witch was going to turn me into a candle. There are no candles in the book and the witch has other motives. In other words my messed up brain was playing with me.
The teenagers led by Tyler at first, but then Jaydon goes too far in mocking the witch. They first make her walk into lamppost, and then Jaydon’s mocks take a more sinister turn by exposing her breast and stoning her. This leads to the town punishing the boys very publicly, apart from Tyler, who brought the boys to justice. Then Jaydon gets his revenge on Tyler, which results in Tyler’s death. This is a trigger for other events, which are brought about by Tyler’s father and Katherine herself.
There is an almost religious moral undertone, within the book in sacrifice, resurrection and penance. Like with The Woman in Black you actually begin to feel for the antagonist, in how she was treated by town and the ramifications of this. The questions being posed by Thomas are ‘would you sacrifice one child for another?’ and ‘if you could resurrect a child would you?’ This takes everything away from the chilling parts of the narrative and how the story got there. Maybe I was being misled by the book and I didn’t see it coming, I don’t know.
Was the end satisfactory?
The climax of all this was a bit manic and I didn’t really know how it got there. Maybe if it was a film, I would have been able to follow the story more. The end reads more visual and filmic, which would translate well onto the big screen.
Rating:
3
Would I recommend the book?
Yes if you want to be scared.
Read it if you like:
The Woman in Black by Susan Hill
The House on Cold Hill by Peter James.
Black Spring is cursed by a 300year old witch, Katherine van Wyler. Residents are bound to certain to rules by the council, who run HEX, which follows the witch’s every move. Bored by being bound by these rules, a group of teenagers start breaking the rules and Katherine is not happy.
Who’s it for?
Adults.
Genre?
Supernatural horror thriller.
Is it any good?
It was the front cover, which drew me into buying this book: so dark. I like a good scary book and Hex does not fail. The main narrative doesn’t really get going till after the story of Black Spring is told. Thomas does this via new residents moving to the picturesque town and not being dissuaded to move into the town. Thus they must be informed about Katherine and the curse she has. This takes a while, but once past it: the story moves at a good pace.
Only Susan Hill’s The Woman in Black has succeeded in giving me nightmares, till I read this book. In my nightmare the witch was going to turn me into a candle. There are no candles in the book and the witch has other motives. In other words my messed up brain was playing with me.
The teenagers led by Tyler at first, but then Jaydon goes too far in mocking the witch. They first make her walk into lamppost, and then Jaydon’s mocks take a more sinister turn by exposing her breast and stoning her. This leads to the town punishing the boys very publicly, apart from Tyler, who brought the boys to justice. Then Jaydon gets his revenge on Tyler, which results in Tyler’s death. This is a trigger for other events, which are brought about by Tyler’s father and Katherine herself.
There is an almost religious moral undertone, within the book in sacrifice, resurrection and penance. Like with The Woman in Black you actually begin to feel for the antagonist, in how she was treated by town and the ramifications of this. The questions being posed by Thomas are ‘would you sacrifice one child for another?’ and ‘if you could resurrect a child would you?’ This takes everything away from the chilling parts of the narrative and how the story got there. Maybe I was being misled by the book and I didn’t see it coming, I don’t know.
Was the end satisfactory?
The climax of all this was a bit manic and I didn’t really know how it got there. Maybe if it was a film, I would have been able to follow the story more. The end reads more visual and filmic, which would translate well onto the big screen.
Rating:
3
Would I recommend the book?
Yes if you want to be scared.
Read it if you like:
The Woman in Black by Susan Hill
The House on Cold Hill by Peter James.
Hm. Maybe when the mood strikes me?
ReplyDeleteI might give this one a go once it gets all dark and chilly outside and I want a good scare..!
ReplyDelete