from the author of the strange and beautiful sorrows of ava lavender comes a haunting maelstrom of magic and murder in the lush moody pacific northwestwhen rona blackburn landed on anathema island more than a century ago her otherworldly skills might have benefited friendlier neighbors guilt and fear instead led the islands original eight settlers to burn the witch out of her home so rona cursed them fastforward one hundredsome years all nor blackburn wants is to live an unremarkable teenage life she has reason to hope first her supernatural powers if they can be called that are unexceptional second her love life is nonexistent which means she might escape the other perverse side effect of the matriarchs backfiring curse too but then a mysterious book comes out promising to cast any spell for the right price nor senses a storm coming and is pretty sure shell be smack in the eye of it in her second novel leslye walton spins a dark mesmerizing tale of a girl stumbling along the path toward selfacceptance and first love even as the price guides malevolent author nors own mother looms and threatens to strangle any hope for happiness