The Witch of Painted Sorrows, 1 (Daughters of La Lune, #1)

by M.J. Rose

[Whitney @ First Impressions Reviews]

Fond Of

A fantastical plot that grabs you from the get go and made for a very quick read.

It reminded me a little of The Wizard of Oz. The Ruby necklace Sandrine constantly wore attached itself to her like Dorthy's rubber slippers, with sparks flying whenever there was a risk of separating. I thought this added apprehension to the plot and worked well.

Besides being magical The Witch of Painted Sorrows had many Gothic undertones to it. An example being Sandrine's lover Julien having a complication in his romantic position that was very reminiscent of the wives of Mr. Rochester or Maximillian de Winter. Whether that was intentional I'm not sure but enjoyed the comparison.

While at times it was a little provocative (which was the point) I really liked the details that were given to art as it added a new dimension to the novel.

Sandrine's double persona led to a creepy, suspenseful plot and just had to learn more especially with a ending that screams sequel.

Not Fond Of

I'm not going to lie, it was a bit trashy but not one you would be embarrassed to say you were reading.

This is more of a generalized critique but I really don't understand why men and women can't just be friends in novels as half the time the book could end with the same result. I do think Sandrine being in a relationship reflected the whole "finding herself" thing but there may have been other ways to go about that.

Final Thoughts

The plot was a little odd and when I described it to someone they didn't know what to make of it. Yet somehow it works, while The Witch of Painted Sorrows could be seen as a bit of lite reading it has a spellbinding plot that hooks you in. I look forward to the rest of The Daughters of La Lune Trilogy.