TLDR:

Please note in an exchange for an honest review, I received a copy from NetGalley. Thank you!

Background

The Witch in the Well by Camila Bruce follows Elena, an author and social media influencer, and Catherine, a teacher who is an aspiring author. Both women were childhood friends that lived in the town of F– (the town name was never mentioned just listed as F–) whose relationship eventually soured.

As Elena comes back to the town of F–, she finds inspiration to write the story of Ilsbeth Clark, a woman accused of being a witch by towns people centuries ago. Cathy takes offense to this news as she is in the process of writing her own book about Ilsbeth's wrongful accusation.

Review

(Some spoilers up ahead)

The book really hooks you! I really like how Bruce presented the story with excerpts of Elena's diary, Catherine's blog post and book snippets, and Ilsbeth's recollections.

It was nice to see all the puzzle pieces come together. I caught myself saying "Oh so that's why that happened" whenever something in another persons point of view (that seems so irrelevant) is brought up in another's and personally I like that feeling.

The characters are unlikeable. I can see this being hit or miss with people and I'm no different. Elena is so shallow and strikes me as so privilege, Catherine is just so paranoid and thinks herself above everyone, and Ilsbeth vindictive. Usually if I don't like any characters, I drop the book but in this case I didn't mind them. Did I like any of them? Nope. But I was invested in their stories and how they connected.

Not too spooky.  I never felt creeped out or scared but just interested in the lore of the monster. I really wished the demon was mentioned a bit more.

Final Thoughts

I enjoyed the book and recommend it. If you absolutely have to a character you like then I would probably skip this. I usually am the same way but the plot really had a hook on me and in the end, it felt like a cautionary tale.