The Line (Witching Savannah book 1)

Synopsis      

Mercy Taylor, the youngest member of Savannah’s preeminent witching family, was born without the gift of magic. She is accustomed to coming in a distant second to the minutes older, exquisite and gifted twin she adores. Hopelessly in love with her sister’s boyfriend, she goes to a Hoodoo root doctor for a love spell. A spell that will turn her heart to another man, the best friend who has loved her since childhood.

Aunt Ginny, the family’s matriarch, would not approve. But Mercy has more to worry about than a love triangle when Aunt Ginny is brutally murdered. Ginny was the Taylor family’s high commander in the defense of the bewitched line that separates humankind from the demons who once ruled our realm.

A demon invasion looms now that the line is compromised. Worse yet, some within the witching world stand to gain from a demon takeover. Mercy, entangled in the dark magic of her love spell, fighting for her sister’s trust, and hopelessly without magic, must tap the strength born from being an outcast to protect the line she doesn’t feel a part of...

In this riveting contemporary fantasy, Horn delivers the full betrayal, blood, and familial discord of the best of Southern gothic.

Review

The Line is a tail of a young women born to a family of witches, where her twin sister is the golden child with strong magic within in her, and Mercy has non. She has been rejected by her family & Great Aunt Ginny (who is the matriarch of the family ) as being ‘the disappointment’. After the murder of her great aunt, a web of lies tumbles as the story enfolds.

There are a number of small twists within the story line, but they are in a different league to some authors who’s twists and turns in their books keep you riveted to the end. Another issue I had with the book, is how Mercy came across as young, erratic and questioning, but in parts was made out to be a strong mature adult. I know the author probably wanted the character to have depth with many layers, but in parts these layers were conflicting.

I also wasn’t sold on the romantic element either the supposed love triangle between Mercy, Peter & Jackson, lacked any depth or substance. Jackson was a minor character with little substance, yet Mercy was supposed to have all these feelings for him. Yet towards the end of the book  the romantic element had a major impact on Mercy’s life (Spoiler so I won’t spoil it for you).

I was also annoyed with the end of the book that after all Maisy (Mercy’s twin sister) had done to her sister, Mercy was very ooohhh she didn’t really mean to hurt me – err yes she did, I’ve forgiven her so everything will be ok – err no it won’t that hurt and anger doesn’t disappear just because you ‘forgive’ her

On a more positive note , the story building was ok, and I really liked the Mother Jilo character who was one of those deep south black magic workers. Also the other 4 main characters were good, Aunt Ellen the lush who drank too much, Aunt Iris who put up with a bullying, cheating husband, Conner the bullying husband to Iris and Uncle Oliver who led a charmed unconventional lifestyle. The plot flowed nicely but the twists lacked depth and explanation, but did add to the story.

Unlike other series of books, this one didn’t leave me with a sense of wanting to read the next book to find out what happens next. I guess this may be, because the story ended neatly with no real cliff hanger. The book was a very easy read requiring little concentration to follow the plot, and could be read as a single book with no need to read the rest.

I rate this book