NetGalley: Island Witch by Amanda Jayatissa

Publisher: Berkley

Published: 2/20/2024

Pages: 400

Genre: horror/gothic

Review: NetGalley

Amazon

Inspired by Sri Lankan folklore, award-winning author Amanda Jayatissa turns her feverish, Gothic-tinged talents to late 19th century Sri Lanka where the daughter of a traditional demon-priest—relentlessly bullied by peers and accused of witchcraft herself—tries to solve the mysterious attacks that have been terrorizing her coastal village.

Being the daughter of the village Capuwa, or demon-priest, Amara is used to keeping mostly to herself. Influenced by the new religious practices brought in by the British Colonizers, the villagers who once respected her father’s craft have turned on the family. Yet, they all still seem to call on him whenever supernatural disturbances arise.

Now someone—or something —is viciously seizing upon men in the jungle. But instead of enlisting Amara’s father’s help, the villages have accused him of carrying out the attacks himself.

As she tries to clear her father’s name, Amara finds herself haunted by dreams that eerily predict the dark forces on her island. And she can’t shake the feeling that it’s all connected to the night she was recovering from a strange illness, and woke up, scared and confused, to hear her mother’s frantic No one can find out what happened.

Lush, otherworldly, and recalling horror classics like Carrie and The Exorcist , Island Witch is a deliciously creepy and darkly feminist tale about the horrors of moral panic, the violent space between girlhood and adulthood, and what happens when female rage is finally unleashed.

“I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.”

I loved this take on an old folklore. I love it when authors do this because we are getting to listen to a story that not a lot of people get to hear. I know it sounds corny, and I am cool with that. Amara, the daughter of a demon priest, knows to keep to herself and learn from her father. That is until things start becoming weird and unexplained. The men are starting to get attacked, and normally, they would turn to Amara's father for help. Instead, they turn on him, which isn't good in this small village where you rely on one another to help each other out. Amara sets out to help clear her father's name, but there is something that even Amara may not be able to find the answers to.  It all makes sense once she starts piecing together everything from the dreams to the forest to the men missing. 

I was a bit upset with her mother, though not going to lie; I didn't like how she treated Amara, even if she suspected anything weird. 

The darkness surrounding this town and the forest was great. The book started slowly, but I felt it picked up pace as we dug deeper into the story. The ending I enjoyed!