A Spell For Drowning

Overall Rating: 3/5

A Spell for Drowning had such an alluringly dark promise of dark legends, magic, and an exploration of Celtic folklore at the same time. It whispered to me as if it were a siren, quietly calling me to pick it up and read it...like some forbidden tome of dark magic or forbidden knowledge...

For so much whispered promise, this falls so flat to what I had expected it to be.

Let's start off with the things that I really liked for this book. For one thing, the cover is beautifully complex, and a total masterpiece of artwork... the tiny little details on it had me staring at it for hours, reveling in its beauty.

As a whole, A Spell for Drowning has a somber and chilling sort of atmosphere to it, one that is also steeped in its own secrets and its own history... it is set in a fishing town in Cornwall, and definitely also gives off the vibes of having its own secrets or reasons why you don't want to wander astray at night.... promising stories of the sea gods like a long, teasing tide trying to snatch you out to sea...There is an obvious excellence to the way that Rebecca Ferrier has built this tale... of how she has crafted a sense of unease...

I have to admit it took me a bit myself to gather my thoughts and be able to come up with a rating that I felt comfortable with and that I felt confidently fit this book.

No, this isn't mean to be discouraging to anyone who wants to read this book, but this honestly reads more as historical fiction and seems to lack a lot of the fantasy elements that are promised in the description of this book.

A major issue I had was the pacing for this book. We are following the life of the main character through her eyes...but I felt at times that there was so much going on that my brain just found it hard to follow. The front half (or perhaps a little more?) was a little way too slow for my liking ... then it seemed to peak in the middle and then fell off at the end again...there are times where this character seems to depart and then they would be back in the story again...and moments where it appears as though there's a flashback but there is no apparent sign of one in writing, or no clear transition.

The characters... didn't particularly feel as alive to me... There's nothing that stands out as a major flaw with any of them, and nothing that I would point out as a major issue... there's just nothing that will ensure I remember them long after I've read the book... or nothing that made me feel as though this was some part of me written into this fantasy world...

This may have not been the book for me, but this doesn't mean that it wasn't something I enjoyed. I did.... but it didn't quite have that "wow" factor for me. There is a lot of potential here for this book, and I am sure that this book has its audience out there, ready and waiting to swoop this short, if chilling read into their arms.