Ana Davenport is a journalist who is tasked by her boss to write an article about the witch coven that exists in the countryside. A trivial piece to make fun of them, so the newspaper "The City Herald" can sell newspapers to people who would not buy otherwise the paper. When she arrives in the town, she's quickly drawn into something else: a quest to find out about the witch box that was found buried on top of a monument (burial ground for witches). It is something that she considers as her 'breakthrough' story to get her career started. Of course, her boss doesn't like the idea. However, before they get far into it, murders start to happen. [And at this point, I DNFed the book because I couldn't take it anymore.]


While the entire story feels much like a rough first draft of the novel, the writing style and the behaviour of the two main characters annoyed me by far more. The author tends to over-write in style. E.g., Ana takes a two-hour train ride from the city to the remote town in the countryside where she arrives at a remote train station, and the author has to highlight even afterwards that she is the only one to disembark. It would have been enough to say that she disembarks as the only passenger at the town's train station since we already learned that she is on a two-hour train ride to the town. Unfortunately, it isn't the only example where the author wrote like this. In addition to the writing style, the author uses slurs (e.g., the g-slur) and makes generally use of questionable vocabulary. Describing pagans as weirdos is something but to write that writing about them to make other people laugh (and realise that they might be less weird) to sell a paper (Yes, that's something that Ana's boss says.) is just icky.

The characters are just ... they are something. Ana is on her way to write about the witch coven and bemoans the entire time that she hates doing it because a) she whines about her career and b) she doesn't believe in the practice. I would expect better from a journalist who wants to be an investigative journalist in the future. Not very surprisingly, she promises she wouldn't write about anything that the witches wouldn't approve of. (I'm sure her boss would love that.) Also, she is not the smartest cookie. She keeps getting surprised by tiny things (e.g., an old woman requiring a cane), tends to miss obvious things (e.g., doors), and has no people reading skill (e.g., trusting Ezra's dad when everything about him makes him rather swarmy). Excellent characteristics to be an investigative journalist. By the point, where I DNFed, she was mad with Ezra because he didn't want to continue researching the witch box after his childhood friend was murdered. Destroying ancient artefacts does not sit well with me but I can understand his reasoning because he's in shock and grieving. Instead of being supportive,  she gets mad at him and acts like he hurt her in any way. (Likely that she will go to Ezra's father, so she can continue with her story because trusts the man, whom she met for five minutes, more than Ezra. I wouldn't be surprised if he turns out to be the villain because it would fit into the stupidity of this plot.)

Ezra is in no way any better though. He's broody and off-standish at first before he becomes suddenly the occult historian with rizz (e.g., boning a lascivious librarian at her workplace which leads to him being banned from the library) who has no regard for rules, himself or anyone with him (e.g., getting fake entrance into the forbidden area of said library and then stealing a priceless book ... classic historian behaviour). Of course, he is utterly obsessed with the witch box and has access to a private research lab but never noticed the slots at the box's bottom. Of course, Ana is considered as a genius for figuring out a puzzle box with a difficulty level for a child.

Aside from these two blatant annoying things: there is no world-building. It starts with the newspaper's name ("The City Herald" -- FROM WHICH FUCKING CITY!?) to not even knowing where the book is happening. I suspect that it might be Ireland because there's a throwaway mention of "mainland Europe" and the author lives in Ireland but that's just my guess. Then, the book dances between 'magical realism' and 'romantasy' and I wish the author would have settled for a genre. Say it is 'romantasy', create a fantasy world based on Ireland (or wherever the book takes place) and you can get away with a lot of magical elements because it is fantasy. Especially when my guess for the book's end is that Ana gets some kind of power through the witch box.

Lovely addition: the underlying stereotypical behaviour of men and women when eating. Of course, Ana orders the grilled chicken with a side salad and cuts everything into tiny pieces to eat with her fork. Of course, Ezra orders the burger with fries and takes large bites. Plus, the beautiful aspect of him kissing her when utterly drunk and she's somehow fine with it? Sweetheart, you have known the man since one day and apparently have some horrible background story with your ex.