Set in the 1600’s, new wife Abitha and her Puritan husband Edward struggle to make ends meet with a healthy portion of their farm’s crops earmarked to go to Edward’s brother, Wallace, for payment of land that Wallace inherited when their father died.

With only a single payment left until Edward becomes the farm’s deeded owner, there seem to be brighter days ahead, only Wallace has made another deal that put Edward’s ownership at risk.

Abitha urges Edward to speak out against Wallace, but women are not allowed to engage in business, and her boldness endangers her. When Edward dies, Abitha is left alone with a looming debt meant to ruin her. The events that follow leave her at constant odds with a brother-in-law determined to see her fail, which is when Abitha embraces her pagan roots, turning to her ancestors for aid in her time of need.

Enter Slewfoot, a magical being with a bit of an identity crisis who has been awakened to reign terror on the Puritans and instead seeks to understand his true nature while becoming entangled with the bewitching Abitha. Samson, as Abitha calls him, is both provider and protector, but is he also the devil? The Puritans think so, and things go from bad to worse for Abitha.

Will she keep her land? Will she die as a witch? Will Wallace win, or does nature have other plans?

A clever mix of historical fiction and folklore, Slewfoot is an engaging tale of the bond between a riveting cast of characters and the forces of good and evil. Highly recommended. ( )

I obtained this read due to the recommendations of several people both online and offline stating that it was an exceptional read. It wasn't terrible, but I failed to see the big deal with it. I feel obligated to mention that this is not the genre for me and that may have a big part in why I wasn't pulled into this read as much and I hoped it would. Nevertheless, it was an interesting read and it was well-written. Therefore, I feel I need to give this genre the benefit of the doubt and not judge it by a single book. I will be searching in the future for another book in this genre to continue seeking out a new book genre and give my insight into it. I am always game for experiencing new things and book genres is no different. ( )

Such a fun little read.

Merged review:

Such a fun little read.

I wasn't expecting this.

Like so many, I was caught quite a while ago by the cover image and the gorgeous interior art of this book. But to be honest, seeing that it takes place 350 years ago, I gave it a pass. Something has to really grab me for me to dive into something historical. It's okay, but it's not something I really love.

But, working in a bookstore, I kinda kept coming back to this book and looking at it. And finally, I had an opportunity to get it at a discounted price so I figured, why not?

So glad I did. I really enjoyed this. If there is anything I didn't quite enjoy about the novel, it was around the the characters of Forest and Sky, etc, constantly pleading with Father. That got a little old, but I do also understand the part it played in the overall plot.

But there's a bigger thing that kept going through my mind, especially in the climactic final pages. And that was, "This. THIS is the way you do a new version of CARRIE."

So, here's my thing—and yes, I'm going to take yet another swipe at THE WEIGHT OF BLOOD by Tiffany D. Jackson—which is, we all know there's only a limited number of plots, and I know full well that Stephen King was nowhere near the first to write of a character who's beaten down before unleashing a power they likely shouldn't possess.

But CARRIE is obviously one of the better known ones now. There's an entire generation of people who, when you say that name, immediately picture Sissy Spacek with her crown, and her face covered in pig blood.

There's a right way and a wrong way to take that story and try and make it fresh. Stealing the entire plot, almost beat-for-beat from King, and rewriting it from a POC perspective ain't the way. By all means, DO a retelling, but change it the hell up. This "reimagining" BS ain't the way.

Now, along come Brom with this...and it is a CARRIE story, but it's got some really interesting twists along the way (including a doubling of the CARRIE storyline). But Brom also makes a lot of changes, that both serve the story, while also distancing it from its older sister.

I love what Brom did here. He accomplished a few things.

He gave us a story about female empowerment. He showed us what happens when women are treated like chattel, like possessions. He also manages to paint an interesting—and infuriatingly contemporary—portrait of men who claim to work for god when, in fact, they work and worship the almighty dollar. He got some commentary in there on the true nature of evil...

...and he told a fantastic tale of horror as well.

He got damn near everything right. And he even gave us gorgeous pics to go along with it. ( )

You can ask the reverend, I think hell just froze. This was so different and wonderful. It’s an experience I can’t describe all too well, but you should read it! ( )