Customer Reviews

Witch Hill

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Ages 10-14 will relish this story of witchcraft and legends as Jamie goes to life with an aunt and cousin and finds his nightmares turning into reality. An old chalk drawing on a hill and increasing confusion of town members involves Jamie in a well-hidden secret in this story of witchcraft and danger.

I read and enjoyed Sedgwick's "Floodland," and "Witch Hill" does not disappoint. Filled with more suspense and intensity than the previous book, this one is a more breathless read, making me think that Sedgwick is only improving.

Jamie is traumatized when he fails to save his sister from a destructive house fire. To help the haunted young boy, his parents send him to Crownhill, where he assists in cleaning an ancient carving by a hill. But dreams are haunting him -- not dreams of the fire, but dreams of an ghastly old woman, whom he is pursuing. The worst part is that it is affecting reality -- he wakes with chalk on his feet.

Crownhill has a mysterious background -- of strange deaths. And as the carving on the hill is revealed, Jamie finds that the word is not "crown," but "crone." Dreams and flashbacks, past and present mesh together to throw Jamie into a spine-tingling adventure. When he has unraveled the truth about a witch trial centuries before, he must confront the ghostly old woman on "Walpurgis Night" -- and the strange truth of what happened to his sister.

Sedgwick's story feels earthier and more sinister than "Floodland," perhaps because this is not a what-if story, but a supernatural one. He also skillfully weaves together the two stories, of the old witch burning and the present one about Jamie.

Atmosphere is well-handled, conveying the full creepiness of the old crone and of the discovery about the carving. The climax is breathtaking; the handling of Jamie's trauma is better than the twerpy handling of children's trauma in most books, given the revelation at the end and his present preoccupations. The writing is pretty good, though I felt that sometimes the sentences were a little too choppy.

Teens looking for a spooky thriller will enjoy this book -- it might be a little too intense for younger kids, given the subject matter of homes burning, witch burnings in the past, and spectral witches haunting a boy's dreams. I'm looking forward to Sedgwick's next novel.

My 11-years old was scared and mesmerized at the same time. He read the book in one evening and recommended it to his friends the next day. The age group is 11-13 years old, but I enjoyed reading it myself, since it is masterfully written. Note to parents: this book is too scary for children under 11.