Review: The Lighthouse Witches

The Lighthouse Witches by C.J. Cooke
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I received an ARC of this book.
I am giving this book 4 stars, but I am rounding up. There were parts of the book that I really enjoyed, parts of the book that felt disjointed, and parts of the book that I did not like at all.
The main story begins when Liv shows up at a remote lighthouse, apparently to take a commission to paint a mural on its wall. The lighthouse is decrepit, the sketches of the proposed mural are strange, and an eerie feeling permeates the landscape. Nevertheless, Liv is determined to do her job, despite the strangeness of some of her new neighbors and the growing hostility of her oldest daughter Saffy. Meanwhile Saffy has discovered a grimoire, written by a man named Daniel in the 17th century, detailing the witch hunts that went on in the area. When hints of their new home's dark past begin to be revealed, Liv is not sure who or what to trust.
Twenty-two years in the future, Luna, Liv's middle daughter has carried on the search for her missing mother and two sisters, and feels called to return to the island lighthouse when Clover, her youngest sister, suddenly reappears. But Clover looks just the same as she did 22 years ago--she is still seven years old. Luna, just as her mother all those years earlier, is not sure who or what to trust.
I enjoyed Liv's storyline, even though at times I didn't agree with her reasoning or decisions, I also really enjoyed Luna's storyline; once she "reunited" with Clover it was quite creepy.
I had the biggest issue with Daniel and his storyline. It really didn't feel like it flowed with the rest of the threads of the story. I realize it was supposed to explain some of what was going on in the present-day, and add some background information as well as motivations for what was happening to Liv and her girls, but it just didn't weave into the other threads of the story in a logical or organic way. And--without giving away any spoilers--at the end, when Daniel's fate was revealed, I just got mad. After all the things he had been through, and all the things he had witnessed, for him to make the decision he did regarding what to do with the rest of his life was, to me, not only disappointing, but also cowardly. In the light of Daniel's actions at the end, the whole "wildling" aspect was truly horrifying--and not in the fun "I am reading a scary book" way, but in a truly repugnant way that really bothered me. That really left me with a bad taste in my mouth about the whole book.
I'm not sure if I would recommend this book. I know I would NOT recommend it to anyone who has lost a young child. I think if Daniel's storyline had been reworked, or if he'd been left out completely and all the reader had from that time was the grimoire, the book would have been much better.

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