One of the great things about the Easter holidays is having the opportunity to spend a large proportion of day catching up with some of the new titles you’ve been sent to review. As soon as ‘Witch Light’ arrived, it jumped to the top of my pile as I loved its predecessor, ‘Deep Dark’ (you don’t need to have read it first in order to enjoy ‘Witch Light’ but I’d recommend that you do!)

“Cassia Thorne uncovered a conspiracy in the deep dark underbelly of London involving a mythical beast, but has been whisked away by her uncle to Ravening Hall, a bleak boarding school on the moors of Lancashire. Far away from everything she has known, Cassia struggles to find a place amongst the girls of the school – torn between fitting in with the perfect prefects and the rebellious and wild Martha Torrent.

And something sinister happening at the school. At night there is a strange presence in Cassia’s room, growing stronger with each day. She spies older girls wandering out onto the moors at night. And the local children are terrified of a child-eating witch that haunts Pendle Hill. Suspecting another supernatural mystery, Cassia begins to investigate. Are the stories about the witches of Pendle Hill true? And what do they want with the girls of Ravening Hall?”

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Nabi writes so wonderfully that I was very quickly sucked right back into the brooding and mysterious world of Cassia Thorne as she travelled by carriage to her uncle’s mansion in the moors. Things became even more spooky and atmospheric when Cassia arrived at the foreboding Ravening Hall.

There are so many elements which make this story truly chilling: the noises and whispering at night, the all-seeing magpies, wraithlike prefects, and of course the child-eating witches rumoured to be stalking the moors! Readers who love a genuinely creepy, incredibly well-researched read are going to love this!

Cassia herself is a complex character who readers will be able to relate to – on one hand she’s confident, bold, and self-sufficient. On the other hand, she’s unsure of her position with her family, keenly aware of her cultural differences and torn between wanting to be true to herself and to please others. Her journey as the story progresses is very evident.

Possibly the most exciting thing, is that the ending leaves to door open for another Cassia Thorne mystery in the not too distant future.

Jo.

*Many thanks to Simon & Schuster for sending me this title to review*