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Cackle

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About this listen

Winner of the Ladies of Horror Fiction Award for Best Novel, this is a deliciously dark feminist tale of witches, bad ex-boyfriends, good coffee and friendly spiders.

All her life, Annie has played it nice and safe. After being unceremoniously dumped by her long-time boyfriend, Annie seeks a fresh start. She accepts a teaching job that moves her from Manhattan to a small village upstate. Her new home is picturesque and perfect. The people are all friendly and warm. Her new apartment is lovely too, minus the oddly persistent spider infestation.

Then Annie meets Sophie. Beautiful, charming, magnetic Sophie, who takes a special interest in Annie, who wants to be her friend. More importantly, she wants Annie to stop apologizing and start living for herself. That's how Sophie lives. Annie can't help but gravitate toward the self-possessed Sophie, wanting to spend more and more time with her, despite the fact that the rest of the town seems… a little afraid of her. And, okay. Sophie's appearance is uncanny and ageless, her mansion in the middle of the woods feels a little unearthly, and she does seem to wield a certain power… but she couldn't be… could she?

©2022 Rachel Harrison (P)2023 W. F. Howes Ltd Fantasy Fiction Friendship Genre Fiction Horror Scary Paranormal
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this is a nice easy listen with an interesting story. perfect for the commute and a feminist inspiration

light hearted but enjoyable

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It’s hard to summarise the best points without spoilers, but I’ll give it a good try…

Cackle is a grounded, highly relatable story about a recently dumped woman who’s on a journey to explore her own self worth, finding her place in a world she’s not used to navigating alone.

There’s a witch, as you probably figured out from the title. The themes of female empowerment and the villainisation of it run throughout and without being overly preachy, it’s an interesting modern take on old tropes.

Beyond all that though, the story gripped me. At no point was I bored, or hoping things would get going. The pacing was great. The characters interesting and believable. I’d go as far as to say this is one of my favourite books and I’ll probably read it again at some point.

Loved it. A new favourite. We could all benefit from reading it

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I was recommended this after saying I hated fantasy books! I agreed to give it a go (convinced i’d hate it) and I became completely absorbed in the story and really enjoyed it! So much so that I've moved onto another fantasy book to try (The Adventures of Amina Al-Sharif by S.A Chakraborty). New reading Genre unlocked aged 50……!

Fun entry level fantasy

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I loved this book. I was actually quite sad when I finished it. Would recommend!

Perfect!

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Really enjoyed it, got me back into reading again ! Lovely story and a nice read.

Fast pace and cozy read.

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