The Witch of Tin Mountain by Paulette Kennedy

A Spoiler Free Review

So, I was pleasantly surprised by The Witch of Tin Mountain. I was definitely expecting a more grounded story, zero actual magic, but that’s not what I got. I was also expecting a less queer story. Which is to say, I wasn’t expecting queer characters at all, and both main characters are queer, so yay. The Witch of Tin Mountain was actually really good. Not perfect, but a lot better than I was expecting.

The Witch of Tin Mountain takes place over a split narrative across 50 years. I thought it was fairly well done. I never had issue remembering whose POV I was reading from. The intertwining of the narratives was also done well, both progressing essentially toward each other with the main climax on Gracie’s end.

I ended up liking the realistic parts of the narrative and how the magic was woven in. Having family grimoires is something I think our current generations are lacking. I mean, I have a few recipes that have been passed down through the family, but nothing like the grimoire the Werners have. I’d be interested in that kind of family history/journal/recipe book.

The generational curse thing was interesting. My first thought when Bellflower showed up was that he might be a vampire of some kind, but nope, different monster. I liked how that whole thing played out. Overall, Bellflower wasn’t super interesting as an antagonist — I think the townsfolk did a better job in that regard — but he was serviceable and we did get a good look at what powers he actually had.

The only real issue I had with The Witch of Tin Mountain was how neatly the ending was wrapped up. Now, I enjoy a neat ending, but this was a little sickly sweet at the end. Everyone got their beaus and apparently managed to intertwine the families as well… because fate or something. I dunno. It was nice but at the same time seemed to go on longer than it needed to in order to tie everything with that bow.

The Witch of Tin Mountain was a pretty good read overall. I was definitely sucked into the story whenever I had a chance to read it.