Random Things Tours - The Crow Folk

 

TITLE: The Crow Folk (The Witches of Woodville 1)

AUTHOR: Mark Stay

PUBLISHER: Simon and Schuster UK

PUBLISHING DATE: February 4, 2021

PAGES: 400

SOURCE: ARC

FROM GOODREADS: 

As Spitfires roar overhead and a dark figure stalks the village of Woodville, a young woman will discover her destiny… 

Faye Bright always felt a little bit different. And today she’s found out why. She’s just stumbled across her late mother’s diary which includes not only a spiffing recipe for jam roly-poly, but spells, incantations, runes and recitations… a witch's notebook. 

And Faye has inherited her mother’s abilities. 

Just in time, too. The Crow Folk are coming. Led by the charismatic Pumpkinhead, their strange magic threatens Faye and the villagers. Armed with little more than her mum's words, her trusty bicycle, the grudging help of two bickering old ladies, and some aggressive church bellringing, Faye will find herself on the front lines of a war nobody expected.

NY THOUGHTS: This young adult fantasy had me with witches and Pumkinhead. Do I need to say more.  Set in a small area of Kent during the war.  Faye is a teenager whose mother has passed.  While looking though some of her mother's stuff, she finds a mysterious book and discovers she is actually a witch.  She tries to learn how to use her mother's abilities against a backdrop of strange magic threatening Faye and the villagers.

I really liked the historical fiction aspects of this book and felt it provided an interesting juxtaposition with the whimsical and magical elements.  Faye was a great character and I immediately felt a connection with her.  I also cannot say enough about the relationship between her and her father.  It was during their scenes that Stay was able to weave in some humor and lighter moments.  I also really liked the two elderly women who work with Faye because I feel that any YA book can benefit from some elderly wisdom.

This book pretty much has something for everyone and I recommend it to anyone who enjoys magic, whimsy, historical fiction and demons.  I can't wait for the sequel!

RATING: 4 PAWS

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Mark Stay co-wrote the screenplay for Robot Overlords which became a movie with Sir Ben Kingsley and Gillian Anderson, and premiered at the 58th London Film Festival. He is co-presenter of the Bestseller Experiment podcast and has worked in bookselling and publishing for over twenty-five years. He lives in Kent, England, with his family and a trio of retired chickens. He blogs and humblebrags over at markstaywrites.com.