Happy release day to this beauty!
Thanks to Berkley Pub for the gifted copy in exchange for my honest review and blog tour spot
ISLAND WITCH – Amanda Jayatissa (Released February 20th, 2024)
My Thoughts: 4/5 stars
More horror and more folklore – I’m a happy reader! I’m unfamiliar with Sri Lankan folklore, so I was anxious to dive in, because I’m always excited to see the legends and tales from other cultures and parts of the world. There tends to a similar underlying theme, but they can be so different and fascinating and sometimes terrifying. Our main character, Amara, is the daughter of the village’s Capuwa, or demon-priest, and we get a firsthand look into the struggles they faces with the British Colonizers that have now turned on her family. However, more sinister things begin to happen and Amara is determined to get to the bottom of it.
Not only is this my favorite subgenre of horror, but there’s also the historical fiction elements and some supernatural bits sprinkled throughout. If you’re a fan of horror, then this will be a real treat. That being said, this book is a slow burn. Like, really slow moving. So if you don’t that kind of creeping, crawling pacing that leads to a culmination of dread and horror, then this won’t be for you. If you’re a fan of Silvia Moreno-Garcia, then I think you’ll enjoy this one. As if all of these weren’t enough, there are even some 80’s horror vibes to this novel. Overall, definitely recommend and I’ll be looking for more from Jayatissa in the future.
Book Description:
Inspired by Sri Lankan folklore, award-winning author Amanda Jayatissa turns her feverish, Gothic-tinged talents to late 19th century Sri Lanka where the daughter of a traditional demon-priest—relentlessly bullied by peers and accused of witchcraft herself—tries to solve the mysterious attacks that have been terrorizing her coastal village.
Being the daughter of the village Capuwa, or demon-priest, Amara is used to keeping mostly to herself. Influenced by the new religious practices brought in by the British Colonizers, the villagers who once respected her father’s craft have turned on the family. Yet, they all still seem to call on him whenever supernatural disturbances arise.
Now someone—or something —is viciously seizing upon men in the jungle. But instead of enlisting Amara’s father’s help, the villages have accused him of carrying out the attacks himself.
As she tries to clear her father’s name, Amara finds herself haunted by dreams that eerily predict the dark forces on her island. And she can’t shake the feeling that it’s all connected to the night she was recovering from a strange illness, and woke up, scared and confused, to hear her mother’s frantic No one can find out what happened .
Lush, otherworldly, and recalling horror classics like Carrie and The Exorcist , Island Witch is a deliciously creepy and darkly feminist tale about the horrors of moral panic, the violent space between girlhood and adulthood, and what happens when female rage is finally unleashed.
Jessicamap Reviews 