Welcome to Litsy!

This book is based on the 1621 witch trials in Vardo, a small island in Norway. It fails to evoke sorrow and empathy.

The LGBTQIA+ romance doesn‘t feel like an actual love story; something‘s missing.

The lives of the women, the period of accusations, the witch trials and the consequent hysteria aren‘t explored in depth. The pacing is too slow and there is too much focus on the protagonists‘ inner monologues.

The narration isn‘t very clear.

Could not put this work of historical fiction down! Loved the setting (rural Norway during a witch hunt) and the characters. Parts of it reminded me of The Miniaturist - high praise indeed.

This is definitely much darker than I had expected based on the cover. Set in 1600 Norway, and based on real events this is about grief and love. I felt like I was on the island with Maren and Ursa, willing them to survive. Intimately and powerfully written.

This is a dark and lovely story about grief. A village in Norway loses most all of their men in a storm while fishing. The women must learn to survive, and in so doing bring down the rath of Christian men. Ursala is given to a minister for his wife as he is on his way to the village to reign in these strong willed women.
Gorgeously written and filled with beautiful characters.
I enjoyed this much more than Burial Rites

#scarathlon #wordsearch #TeamWhiYaGonnaCall

I listen to this on audio, but flipped through the physical book while watching Buffy to do word search. I doubt I caught everything (I couldn't access it for free digitally) but if you want to find Bloody, Witch, and Dark in a non-Halloween book Nordic is the way to go!

1831 points

#weeklyforecast
Patricia is my #bookspin of the month
Heart Shaped Box is #TeamWhoYaGonnaCall #Scarathlon #buddyread

Need to get Weight of Blood and Waiting for Ted back to the library

I keep seeing everyone read Pumpkin head so I am feeling the need!

I was supposed to be reading Swan Song all this month it is chunky, but I started it and am not feeling the pull to pick it up. It might be my DNF of the month.

Enjoyed it

Weirdly, this is the 3rd or 4th witch hunt/burnings book I‘ve read this year. This is really well written and interesting, and does a great job of character development and crafting the remote setting. It is also stressful (check content warnings), as witch hunt books usually are! #LGBTQ #LGBTQIA #WitchHunt

If I got tortured to death for no fucking reason except my neighbors' petty beefs, and someone published a book like this about it, I would haunt the shit out of them.

Feelgood bullshit. I'm not reading historical fiction about real-life witch trials to Get Inspired By Tales Of Courage And Sisterhood, because there aren't any of those tales to fucking find in the history of witch trials. Witch trials were about greed and cowardice and spite and power-hunger, and the horrible fragility of both moral principles and truth, under torture.

"Her husband‘s eyes are fixed upon the minister with an intensity he usually reserves for the middle distance."

"He had started calling her Ursula instead of "wife," asking how she was feeling in Norwegian, small gestures at effort, perhaps even affection."

"I have [the king's] ear and you can be sure your name will be poured into it." ?

"When she stands, it is as if there are bubbles between all her bones, and they pop in her ears."

My March Wrap Up. The Mercies was my favorite, but I loved a lot of these. Another great reading month!

I was surprised how much I loved The Mercies! So much it was my best fiction read for March. I definitely want to read more by Hargrave!

Didn‘t know much about this before going in but loved every minute of this historical fiction book. Based on the witch hunts in Norway this follows some strong female characters dealing with the patriarchy.
The end was so sad and had me in tears
A bit of a slow start but once it got going I couldn‘t put it down!

4 ⭐️

I have a book hangover. I went in not knowing much and so this was quite different than I expected.

The writing is wonderful, I fell in love with the setting and characters. The end is devastating. Finding out in the afterword that it was historical fiction, so terrible. I come out of it angry with organized religion and patriarchy, more than usual even.

That said, wow, great book! Bonus: the cover goes with my dishes 😆.

Historical fiction based on a 1600s witch hunt in a remote northern island in Norway. In the opening scenes 40 men from this small community (virtually all the adult men) die in a storm while fishing. This brings the remaining community of women to the attention of the male political leaders with disastrous results.

#weeklyforecast @Cinfhen

This week I‘ve got 3 Buddy reads, a bookclub read, and a hilarious audio chosen just because I heard Neil Patrick Harris narrates it. (Murder Your Employer- great so far!)

I won‘t finish them all, but should get a good way through those I don‘t. 😁📚❤️

Waiting for my windshield to unthaw go I can get to the library before the 1-2 feet of snow dumps on us over the next 2 days. Winter is definitely not over in Minnesota. This book was quite good about the witch hunts in Norway. Someone on here recommended it, but I cannot recall who it was.

Third book completed off my #AuldLangSpine list from @Deblovestoread . It was a bit of a strange read for me—I enjoyed it while I was reading it but was never in a hurry to pick it back up again after I put it down. I did appreciate the historical aspects that drove me to Google to discover what really happened with the witch trials in Finnmark in 1617-1619.

When I read the blurb for this I knew it would be right up my street. It did not disappoint! I was hooked from the beginning, a beautifully written story of some incredible women. What more could you want?
#pick #themercies #love

And that‘s a wrap for my 2022 reading year! It was a great year of reading with The Mercies being the standout. Looking forward to more great reads in 2023!
(December 31, 2022)

#12Booksof2022. Loved this book about a small village and the women who became integral to its survival. After reading her newest The Dance Tree she is an auto buy author for me. #12daysofChristmas

For February‘s #12BooksOf2022 , this is a definite standout - atmospheric historical fiction that really reminded me of Hannah Kent‘s Burial Rites, which is one of my favorite books. Witch hunts and superstitions and religion and the patriarchy…what could be better? Based on a true story too.

Very lyrical writing but it was a little too slow for me. I may not have been able to get through it if it was not my option for #aboutanonpatriarchalsociety for #booked2022

1600s remote Norway where inhabitants rely on the sea. The men of the village are shipwrecked and the women are left to carry on without husbands, brothers, fathers. They are doing fine until an outsider comes to their shores and begins accusing women of witchcraft. I liked the story but I listened to the audiobook which matched the tone of the book, but a bit flat.
completes my 1st #booked reading challenge! #booked2023 #nonpatriarchalsociety

This is an interesting novel, but I didn‘t enjoy the #audiobook narration. It was too monotone for me. However, this finishes both #pop22 and #booked2022! 🎉🎉

In the 1600s, a ship carrying all the men in a small northern Norwegian village capsizes, leaving the women to build a #NonPatriarchalSociety. But trouble comes when King James I sends a minister to oversee the women and they don‘t want him there.

This was quite an interesting read about the which hunting taking place in 17th century Norway. Set on the small island of Varsø, where a sudden storm has wiped out the entire male population, women rule. One day a new Commissioner arrives with his wife. While she takes to the women of the island, his mission is to find out what caused that storm that took all the men.
Thanks for sending this one to me Cindy ??

#pop22 #aboutwitches

This book is based off in Norway in 1617. I thought this book had great and detailed descriptions. It was hard to understand for me what exactly was going on but I think I made my own inferences while reading.

I thought this book has great descriptions that were easy to understand.

“The boats are loosely pegged out against it by their two small lights, bow and aft, barely flickering”

“as she watches, a final flash of lighting illuminates the hatefully still sea, and from its blackness rise oars and rudders and a full mast with gently stowed sails, like underwater forests uprooted.”

The Mercies is a great book that takes the reader on a journey of love, obsession, and evil. I think this is a must read for older grades.

The Mercies by Koran Millwood Hargrave( 2020) is a book about a twenty year old who lost her brother and father in storm, along with many others. Three years later someone arrives who she becomes drawn too. This book was also inspired by real events. This book is about love, evil, and obsession.

And then maybe both of them are screaming but there is no sound save the sea and the sky and all the boat lights swallowed and the boats flashing and the boats spinning, the boats flying, turning, gone

Powerful

This book is about a devastating storm that wipes out Maren‘s father and brother out at sea. Maren stands on the coast and watches it all happen before her eyes. Maren and the rest of the widowed women become independent and strong. The commissioner does not like what he sees

“Maren‘a ears ring with silence.”

I really like how this story takes the true events of Norway and paints an imaginative story to captivate readers of all ages.

This book was published in 2019 and is a book about 20 year old Maren. The details of this story captivate you and place you in Finnmark, Norway in 1617. The words describe the setting with such detail. This is a story about tragedy and how people may come together to stand for themselves in a time of need.

How lucky have I been thank you so much @Cupcake12 this is a perfect package for me! I also wanted to thank and @Avanders for setting this up. It was my first swap in ages.

Also #Booked2022 ~ Non-Patriarchal society

I was super excited to read this story based on the historical events of the Vardo storm and the 1620 witch trials. Unfortunately, I found it somewhat dull. I loved that it was set in Norway on an island where the men were killed at sea during a storm and the women were living on their own until a witch hunter is sent. I‘m using it for #pop22 ~ a book set in a no patriarchal society.

I can't...I just can't. This books moves slow like molasses in January and I just don't want to read anymore of it. I'm at the point where I'm reading maybe 20 pages over lunch and don't want to pick it up after hours.
This was for a Booked2022 prompt and the third book I've attempted for “non-patriarchal society“. So I put a hold on Stephen King's “Night Shift“ and going to count “Children of the Corn“ as a fulfillment of that prompt.

“The Mercies“ is taking longer than expected to finish. I didn't read this weekend cause I couldn't get into it. Which is funny because I want to know what happens. So this will be my lunch book this week and hopefully I'll get it done in time to dip into “Ramona Blue.“
#WeeklyForecast #BookReport

Thank you so much @sprainedbrain for this fantastic #spookysummerswap package! This book sounds so interesting! I love the holographic moon phase bookmark and always love anything related to my astrological sign ♒️

April, as usual, had to inspect #catsoflitsy