Friday, April 10, 2020

Review - Sanctuary by V.V. James





Title: Sanctuary
Author: V.V. James
Pages: 464
Publisher: Gollancz
Release Date: 2nd April 2020


Blurb from Goodreads:


Sanctuary. It’s the perfect town. . . 


Dan’s death was a tragic accident. 


The rumours about his ex-girlfriend are just local gossip.


That mystery illness is no concern.


Detective Maggie Knight has it all figured out.


She’s wrong.











My Review:
 

*I received an ecopy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thanks to Orion Publishing Group and NetGalley*







Sanctuary is a small town with a history linked to witches.

Sanctuary's own witch, Sarah Fenn, is someone that the inhabitants of the town turn to for help, but when the popular quarterback Daniel dies, Sarah's own daughter, Hazel, is accused of murdering him.

Then Hazel makes an accusation of her own against Daniel and things go from bad to worse as life in Sanctuary starts to unravel and spin out of control.

Was Daniel's death an accident or murder?

What secrets will be revealed during the investigation?

Will the town of Sanctuary ever be the same again?




The premise for Sanctuary really intrigued me - a book about a potential murder committed in a small town with some magic thrown in? Yes, please!

There were several protagonists, the main ones being Detective Maggie Knight, Abigail (who was Daniel's mother), and Sarah (Sanctuary's resident witch and the mother of Hazel, the girl accused of using witchcraft to murder Daniel). It was interesting to see events from these different points of view, but I did at times wish that there was more from Maggie's perspective seeing as she was the one trying to solve what had happened.

I liked most of the characters, but no one in particular stood out for me.

The setting was interesting, as were the relationships between the people of Sanctuary.

I really liked the diversity in this book.

I found the first half of Sanctuary more enjoyable than the second half, preferring the set-up of beginning to learn about the town and characters. At times during the second half of the book some things did feel very over the top for me, but I'm pretty sure that was intended.

I guessed some of the twists early on, but there were some that I didn't see coming.

The writing style was easy to follow and understand.

The magic/witchcraft was interesting.

I am a bit disappointed that I didn't enjoy this more as I was really looking forward to it.




Overall, this was an enjoyable read.







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