The Lighthouse Witches by C.J. Cooke – a Review

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Description:
When single mother Liv is commissioned to paint a mural in a 100-year-old lighthouse on a remote Scottish island, it’s an opportunity to start over with her three daughters–Luna, Sapphire, and Clover. When two of her daughters go missing, she’s frantic. She learns that the cave beneath the lighthouse was once a prison for women accused of witchcraft. The locals warn her about wildlings, supernatural beings who mimic human children, created by witches for revenge. Liv is told wildlings are dangerous and must be killed.Twenty-two years later, Luna has been searching for her missing sisters and mother. When she receives a call about her youngest sister, Clover, she’s initially ecstatic. Clover is the sister she remembers–except she’s still seven years old, the age she was when she vanished. Luna is worried Clover is a wildling. Luna has few memories of her time on the island, but she’ll have to return to find the truth of what happened to her family. But she doesn’t realize just how much the truth will change her.

Review:

The Lighthouse Witches by C.J. Cooke is a standalone gothic novel.  The story starts with Liv in 1998, when she accepts a commission to paint a mural in a 100-year-old lighthouse on a Scottish Island.  Liv arrives in Lon Haven, with her three daughters, Sapphire (Saffy), Luna and Clover. While learning more about the strange mural that she needs to paint, Liv learns that underneath the lighthouse is a cave that imprisoned and burned to death women accused of witchcraft.  The local people tell her about the wildings (created by the fae) that is the curse from back in the 1600’s hundreds. Though we learn about what happened to the witches burned to death, the story centers around two timelines; 1998 and 2021; with Liv in 1998 and a grown-up Luna, in 2021.

Though Liv doesn’t believe in the local rumors about wildings, and young children who return after time, but are not the real child, but a wilding.  In a short time, Saffy and Clover are missing, and Liv is desperate to find them, especially when the rumors are wild and crazy; and soon thereafter, Liv too is missing.  The story does go back and forth between the two time periods.

The story moves to 2021, when Luna (the only survivor), gets a phone call that her sister, Clover has been found, after 20 years. Ecstatic, Luna rushes to get to her sister, as she has searched all these years for her mother, Saffy and Clover.  To her shock, when they bring out Clover, Luna sees the sister she lost 20 years ago, and is still a 7-year-old child.

Luna, despite her shock, does not reveal that her sister is different, and takes her home to try and ravel what is happening.  She will discover numbers on Clover, which have some kind of meaning.  With Clover being erratic, Luna decides she must return to Lon Haven to find the truth. Is her sister a wilding or a witch? Are all those residents’ rumor real or myths?

The Lighthouse Witches was a dark gothic paranormal haunting thriller that managed to creep me out a few times.  It was a wild story, filled with witchcraft (magic, curses, etc), which did keep me glued to the book (taking a few breaks along the way).  To say too much more would be spoilers, as you need to read this from start to finish.  The last ¼ of the book revealed some amazing twists that put the pieces together, though totally mind boggling.   If you enjoy gothic, creepy books, I suggest you read The Lighthouse Witches, which is very well written by C.J. Cooke.

Reviewed by Barb

Copy provided by Publisher