How do you get over the past?
Especially the grim one with a history of abuse
from the person you call mother.
A mother whom you hated to the bone.
Byrd Nash shows how three siblings got over their troubled past in her book, A Spell of Rowans, a mystic, magical realism about family, dark magic, and murder.
The author brings us to a small town unknowingly gripped by the surreptitious, evil business run by Rachel Rowan. When she died, the Rowan siblings returned, and this made the authorities questioned not only her death but also harked back to the issue of the old cold case murder of their father, Victor. It had been going around town that the three siblings had something to do with it. This aggravated the emotional turmoil in the family.
These many challenges that the Rowan siblings faced stirred a lot of emotions in me; anger at how their mother treated them when they were still young; sympathy for the siblings who had to deal with difficult situations because of the death of their parents; fear that the justice would not be on their side; fascination about the power of an empath; curiosity about their neighbors' reaction and reception to the siblings' power; and hope that everything would end up well for the family and for the town. With all these emotions that I felt while reading, I could say that the book is difficult to forget.
Another thing that I liked which surprised me was the romantic part of the story. We have this word in Filipino that describes romantic excitement or the feeling of butterflies in your stomach when you see your crush or someone being romantically sweet to another person. The word is "kilig". The romantic story definitely has a kilig factor for me. The author was able to fuse this part into the main story well.
Also, the twist in the story was unexpected. I didn't see it coming until the author revealed the person who started all the chaos in Rowans' lives.
On the other hand, there's one thing that I wished to know, the history of their mother. I wanted to understand why she became wicked not only towards her children but also to their neighbors.
I thoroughly enjoyed my time reading this book. If you are into magical realism, this book is for you.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. Thank you Byrd Nash and Book Siren.
