Escape is only one spell away
Courtney and her friends dream of escaping Shady Acres Trailer Park, a place of broken dreams and rusted out cars. Their wishes seem to come true when Courtney meets an older woman who promises to give them their heart’s desires, but as the girls wind up in over their heads, Courtney begins to doubt the older coven’s intentions while she and the girl she loves drift further apart.
But there is a force at work behind the scenes, darker and more dangerous than any of them could have imagined; the Wolf is owed four rabbits, and he’s come to collect.
Dark bleatings, my magical tribe! They Are Cursed Like You is an adult horror novel about witches. FINALLY! I am forever complaining that I can’t find good witch horror for adults. Witches tend to be used in either YA fiction or for more whimsical adults stories, both of which I like, but I crave nasty, scary, violent, adult witches. The human sacrificing kind. You know, the ones that serve our great horned leader. I know they’re out there (e.g. Somer Canon’s You’re Mine – holy shit, that one gets dark) but they’ve been hard to come by.
Enter this novel with its blood sacrifices, deception, murder, and maiming. I sigh in contentment at the mere thought of it. And not only is it full of all these things I crave in my witch horror fiction, but holy crap, it’s a great book too. I read this during my month of madness (May – when I read all 63 of my pending review requests) and though at the time I’m writing this review, I haven’t actually sat down to rank those reads, this one is possibly my number 1 book of that month. If not right at the top, definitely in the Top 3.
We start in a previous century with Belladonna, who is caught in bed with a married man and chased into the woods, where she meets a mystical – and most likely evil – being. Cut to present day where we find ourselves with Loretta, a member of a coven of witches, lead by Belladonna. We join their story right as their “luck runs out”. Belladonna withdraws from them a bit, and all of the magic they’ve used over the years starts undoing itself, with truly terrible consequences.
We also follow Courtney, a teenager with serious family issues, who lives with her Meemaw. Her mum is mostly not present, and a struggling drug addict. Courtney and her friends cross paths with the adult witches, and are drawn into the idea of forming their own coven.
I shall say no more about the plot because it’s better to go in knowing nothing more, I think. And you guys, if this sounds like your cup of tea, you seriously should pick it up, like, yesterday.
The first thing I’ll rave about is how excellent the characters are. They’re all flawed – the teenagers in the typical teenage flaw type of way, e.g. lack of perspective, easily manipulated, etc. The adults make questionable decisions that, truthfully, a lot of people would make, given the option. Some are worse than others, but they’re written in such a way that you can’t outright label anyone a “bad guy”. Well, not at first…
The circumstances for both groups and the way they end up meeting is compelling, and there is this absolutely gorgeous circular aspect of the narrative (which reflects that basic circular concept of magic use in most fiction – equal and opposite reactions, nothing without something, dues that must be paid, etc). Details you thought were only relevant for characterisation, for example, end up being deeply entrenched in the “why” and “how” of much of the story as it unfolds.
I loved how the authors explored the theme of sisterhood. “Sisterhood”, as represented in film, is often presented as this iron-clad, pure bond, borne of mutual respect and understanding. And while, yes, that kinship exists in the real world, it also comes with problems that aren’t depicted as often. Real people don’t always do right by people, even those they love the most, and real people are prone to acting on impulse sometimes, or making bad decisions out of fear, or being selfish if they think it’s for the greater good. This story initially presents sisterhood through rose-tinted glasses, and then slowly takes the glasses off as you follow the journey. All of a sudden, I was like… oh… oh dear.. hang on, what the f…
And lastly, I want to commend this book on its sheer, gruesome, unflinching violence. Holy crap balls, the violence. There are savage scenes in this book that had me tearful but also grinning like an evil little goat because I couldn’t believe the balls of the authors to go there. Much of the time in horror fiction (splatterpunk and extreme horror excluded from this statement), there are certain types of people that are usually safe. Not here, my dudes.
I’m not a series reader most of the time because I prefer standalone novels, but I want a sequel. Do you hear me, Holley Cornetto and S.O. Green? I DEMAND A SEQUEL!
I’d recommend this to general horror fans and particularly people like me who are on the hunt for good witch stories. If you’d like to check out the book or authors, I’ve popped some links below for you:
Bleeeeeat!
Happy Goat Horror 
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