Cackle by Rachel Harrison

*Possible Spoilers, Read with Care.

5/5 ⭐

Fresh starts, new friends, and friendly spiders? This speculative fiction from Rachel Harrison gives new meaning to taking back your magic.

Play it safe Annie has just moved to a new town to start a new job all in an attempt to move on from from her longtime boyfriend who recently dumped her. And at first all is well. Better than well as the townspeople are kind and welcoming and the town itself quaint and picturesque. What could be better.

She even makes a new friend that helps her move on and start living for herself. Sophie, the elegant, strange, and intimidating woman who happens to live in a mansion in the woods. She recognizes something in Annie and takes her under her wing. The two form a bond that continues to grow as Annie learns what it means to truly live for herself.

I devoured this story in one day. In just a few hours while I was at work and in between helping patrons. It was so good that I recommended it to a patron who noticed how entranced I was about it. Now this book came out last year and I remember when it came in because the cover was so drastically different to this one. And I feel regret for not picking it up sooner. But also, I feel like I read it at a perfect time for fall and close to spooky season.

Cause let me tell you... there were definitely some spooky elements to this. I really had no idea what kind of story this was going to be. And there was something so fascinating about it to me. I had no idea what elements may come up. It wasn't like I was reading a mystery and I had some idea of how it would go. With Cackle I was completely in the dark of where it would go.

And I loved every second of it.

Chelsea

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