A gothic story that mixes thriller, magic and history. An atmospheric and gripping novel that kept me turning pages as fast as I could.
The story is told by 3 POV: present time, recent past and past. People disappear and someone suddenly reappears but, even if time passed, she's the same age.
The setting is well described and loved the description of the isle.
Excellent world building and character development, a growing tensione and creepiness that kept me on the edge.
An engrossing and highly entertaining read.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

I loved this book, following Liv and her daughters. It jumps around a bit in time and with different narrators, which gives a full picture of events and emotions. A brilliant read that I thoroughly enjoyed

Witches, history, myths and legends, a lighthouse, and a remote Scottish Island all the ingredients for a perfect book. I was never not going to enjoy this story. The three different timelines for this story work really well and blend together without being confusing to tell one complete story. The story is perfectly creepy, helped by the remote island location, with its tight knit community and strange ways. But perhaps best of all it makes sure we remember that period in history when thousands of women were killed accused of being witches. This is definitely a perfect autumn read.

Upon the cliffs of a remote Scottish island, Lòn Haven, stands a lighthouse.
A lighthouse that weathered more than storms.
Mysterious and terrible events have happened on this island. It started with a witch hunt. Now, centuries later, islanders are vanishing without explanation.
Coincidence? Or curse?
Liv Stay flees to the island with her three daughters, in search of a home. She doesn’t believe in witches, or dark omens, or hauntings. But within months, her daughter Luna will be the only one of them left.
Twenty years later, Luna is drawn back to the place her family vanished. As the last sister left, it’s up to her to find out the truth . . .
But what really happened at the lighthouse all those years ago?

This is one of those stories that I simply had to take my time with because I didn't want it to end. The story is told over three time periods but CJ Cooke has written it seamlessly, I found it really easy to follow and it really added to the mystery. I loved the way the characters are written with such depth, I really grew attached to Liv and the girls.

This book is creepy, mysterious and to be honest a bit bonkers and I loved it!!

Olivia and her three daughters, Sapphire, Luna and Clover go to live in a bothy on a Scottish Island. Liv has gained a commission to paint a mural inside a lighthouse known as The Longing. Liv has her secrets but so does the island.

Whenever I read a book about small Scottish islands I can't help thinking of The Wicker Man. Lon Haven hasn't got a Wicker Man but has it's own secrets and folklore. In this story there is a history of witches and also Wildings.

I love books that are full of superstitions, folklore, witchcraft, old tales and just full on creepy. This story did offer all that. The descriptions are wonderful and the island is moody and has that sense of looking after it's own.

What I did find is that the story was a little long. The book followed three time lines so there was a lot to get in but for me it did go on a bit. Towards the end I felt the story was dragging and I just wanted to see how it was going to end. Everything is explained and it all does come together.

I'm not a fantasy reader but do enjoy creepy books. This book delved into fantasy very lightly so would be a good place to start even for me. I liked a lot about this book but also became bored with some of it too. It's the first time reading books by the author and would read more.

Thank you to the publisher via Netgalley for the chance to read the book.

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to read this book.
I loved this book!
I really liked the three different timelines. I found it so interesting.
This book was creepy in the best way.
I couldn't put it down!
I highly recommend this book especially with the spooky season coming up!

This well-structured, propulsive mystery blends elements of folklore and history through its core exploration of family. Cooke examines the strength of the bonds that tie us to the ones we love and asks us all to consider how far we’d go, how long we’d wait, to mend our fraying tethers.

After reading The Familiars last year and being so completely transported into Halls' meticulously crafted 17th Century narrative, I was so excited to see another novel consider Witch Trials. Having recently read Pine, the remote Scottish setting had me ready for some gorgeous descriptions of a rugged terrain steeped in folklore and ripe for spiritual resonance. I'd also be lying if I said the lighthouse mystery vibe didn't put me in mind of Stonex's The Lamplighters. So, clearly I went into this one with a bundle of brilliant comparisons and high expectations and, sadly, The Lighthouse Witches failed to meet them.

For me, a lot of this story felt over-explained. The same interpersonal fractures were discussed without anything new ever being introduced. We barely see the central characters interact as a family and what we learn about them comes from narrative reflections, rather than anything we observe from their relationships. I always prefer to see for myself and make my own conclusions than to be told what to think and why, and there was a lot of telling here. When I see this in novels, to me it indicates a lack of emotional development in the characters and because of this lack of emotional depth I just wasn’t invested in the family, which should really have been the driving motivation to continue reading! If not for the clever (if occasionally inconsistent) structure, I probably would’ve given up on the largely surface level narrative. Through alternating timelines - including entries in a Grimoire that I guess is just a glorified diary because there are no spells to be found - the reader is propelled, desperate to uncover what really happened and what paths the characters will be led down because of it. I was intrigued enough about how the mystery would be resolved to finish the book but, ultimately, I was disappointed in the explanation offered and the unanimously tepid reactions of those who discover it. I found the resolution to also be unrealistic and, based on what we’re told about the characters, logistically unfeasible.

Emotional realism and strong character development are fundamental to my enjoyment of a novel so, unfortunately, The Lighthouse Witches fell short for me. But for readers looking for a mystery that will keep them guessing, doubting and feverishly devouring each page till the very end, this is a hunt for truth sure to enrapture.

Many thanks to HarperCollins and NetGalley for providing a digital ARC in exchange for this honest review.

Gifted e-arc by Netgalley and Harper Collins.

What a rare gem of a book! Steeped in folklore and runes, this is a haunting, gothic tale of what happens to a mother, Liv, and her three children, Saffy, Luna and Clover, when they spend their summer on a small Scottish island in an old lighthouse.

The island has a history of burning witches, and is rumoured to be cursed. Families whose children went missing have at times in history find their children alive many years later, with a mysterious mark branded on their skin.

Absolutely chilling tale, with one heck of a pay-off. It’s a little bit of a slow burn, but I promise you, the endgame is worth the development early on!

This was a creepy haunting novel that left me turning the pages quickly filled with fear and anticipation at what was next. I loved the different perspectives switching from past to present although, at first it was confusing I quickly got into it and they flowed.

Having never read a book based on the 17th century witch trials I was intrigued to discover more, particularly when the title is marketed as a gothic thriller. Once into this book I found it difficult to put down as I enjoyed a window into three timeframes all based on the remote Scottish island known as Lon Haven. My favourite element was that of Liv's relationships with her daughters' who are housed in the Bothy across from the lighthouse where Liv has been commissioned to paint a mural. The family all feel a sense of dread and are very spooked inside the lighthouse and having drained out a slurry of thick, stagnant water discover a hole in the floor which drops steeply down.
The inhabitants of the island share tales of local folklore with the family and events of the past are revealed to the reader by moving seamlessly back in time to follow the families and lives of the island women who were persecuted and killed having been accused of witchcraft. As the family settle in to island life things take a turn for the worse as they all go missing, except for Luna, on of the daughters.
The third timeframe is present day and Luna is still struggling to understand events from her time on Lon Haven when she gets a phone call saying one of her sisters has been found alive. This is where things get a little bit strange and the genre begins to slip into fantasy/science fiction which was completely unexpected but actually quite an interesting. I finally began to make sense of the story but you will need to read to find this out for yourself as I don't wish to spoil the plot.
Altogether, whilst it would not be my go to choice in respect of the genre, it was very well written and had just the right amount of creepy goings on to make you want to keep reading.

Lighthouses? Witches? Remote Scottish landscape? Count me in!
Liv, an artist, has been commissioned to paint a mural in ‘The Longing’, an old lighthouse with a very grim history on the small Scottish island of Lon Haven.
Liv and her three children move into the bothy, beside The Longing, where life is beautiful, stark, wild, creepy and where the locals are full of stories of the witches of Lon Haven and ancient local folklore.
A story that switches between three different time periods and different narrators - 1662, 1998 and the present day. This can sometimes be confusing in a book, but this was really seamless.
At first, when we learn that Liv and two of her daughters have gone missing, it seems like more-interesting-than-most crime fiction. But as the story continues and we glean more from the different time scales and narrators, the details around their disappearance become more sinister and slightly bonkers! Bonkers is a good thing, but there’s two ways it can go - bonkers enough to make perfect sense and so extremely bonkers that the whole thing slides into a nonsensical sludge.
The Lighthouse Witches, thankfully, was on the side of brilliant bonkers.

* Thanks to Harper Collins and Netgalley for the Arc.

An interesting story but I did get confused early on with the multi story concept, I was much more invested in the story of Liv than the present day Luna.
This tale is set in a remote part of Scotland spanning 3 different time 'zones'. The first is set in the 17 Century telling the tale of witch trials and sets the supernatural theme. It then fast forwards to 1998 and introduces Liv and her daughters Luna, Clover and Sapphire who set up home on the Island of Lon Haven, unfortunately the only member of the family to leave is Luna.
She spends years trying to discover what happened to her family. 21 years later, her sister Clover is found and Luna is ecstatic. However Clover is still 7 years old, the age she was when she went missing. Luna returns to Lon Haven to help Clover adjust and to see if the Island can help explain how this is possible.
A thrilling read.

Liv is an artist and single mother of 3 girls. She moves to a remote Scottish Island for a commission and is told the story of the Lighthouse Witches and the witches cave under the lighthouse and of the wildling children that have plagued the island over the centuries. Children who go missing and return with numbers burned into their skin. The islanders believe they are the harbingers of ill luck and the only way to break the curse is to burn the wildlings😬. Then Liv's daughter goes missing.

Twenty two years later, one of Liv's daughters, Luna, is now grown up and gets a call that her missing sister, Clover, has been found. But her sister is the same age as when she disappeared. Does she have a mark and why are children vanishing and reappearing years later with no apparent ageing? Luna is determined to find out.

4⭐- This is a richly gothic tinged story of witches, superstitions and motherhood. I really liked the parallels of the wildlings to what we know as 'changelings' in Irish folklore, which essentially was the excuse people gave for babies who didn't thrive, that their own healthy babies were stolen by fairies and supplanted by an identical looking but sickly Fae interloper.

It took me a few pages to get in into the changing POV's but then I was hooked! I really did like the twist at the end, I thought it was very good (can't say more without spoiling it!)!

i cant wait for more people to be able to read this! super interesting and i was gripped straight away

A tale of folklore, witches, time slipping and murder. Oh and a lighthouse. What could be more intriguing. Based on a remote island in Scotland it tells the story of a mother and her three daughters who come to the island so the mother can paint a mural in the lighthouse. BUT where did the mother and two daughters disappear to. Gripping from page 1!

The Lighthouse Witches by CJ Cooke.

The Lighthouse Witches is an engaging gothic thriller. In 1998 Liv and her 3 daughters move to a Scottish Island Lòn Haven where she accepted a commission to paint a mural inside a lighthouse.
While they’re staying there her eldest daughter finds a grimoire (part diary / part spell book) that goes back to 1662 to a witches trial on Lòn Haven and the curse put on the island. The island's folklore, fairies and wildings begin to infiltrate their lives and leads to the disappearance of Liv and 2 of her daughters.
I really enjoyed this! The story seamlessly flits between narrators and time periods; 1662, 1998 and present day.The lighthouse and island setting was really unnerving yet mystical. Great characters and the underlying creepiness make it a terrific engrossing read. It is labelled as adult fiction but I feel it is geared towards YA.

All begins with witch hunt, trial and a curse.

In 1998 the artist Liv comes with three daughters to Lon Haven, Scottish island full of legends and secrets. It is well known that children on the island disappear and come back with strange numbers on their skin. After strange events, Liv and two girls vanish without the trace.

The narrative jumps in time, from 17. to 21. century. Folkloric, dark and creepy. The story about fear, ignorance, hope and love.

Fantastic read for all fantasy and sci-fi lovers.

Olivia, artist and a struggling single mother of three girls; Saffy, Luna and Clover. It’s 1998 and she moves her family up to the Scottish Highlands to work on a mural inside the Longing, a lighthouse. Flash forward 22 years and the only the only member of the family that survived is Luna. What happened to the family back in 1998?

I really enjoyed this story. It is a fantasy thriller and unlike anything I’ve read before. The story is narrated by Liv, Saffy and Luna in 1998 and 2021. As well as snippets from a grimoire written by Patrick Roberts in 1620, recounting the witch trials. These changes in narrator worked well and helped the pace of the story. There’s themes of witchcraft and wildlings, runes and curses as well as family and fear. I would definitely recommend this book and will look out for more from the author.

I did want to enjoy this book but it just didn't grab me.

Olivia and her family are sent to a remote island for her to paint a mural in an old lighthouse. Then children on the island start disappearing and coming back with strange numbers on their skin. Will Olivia and the girls be safe.

Most of this story is quite slow but relatively believable. Don't get me wrong, I am a fan of magical realism and fantasy so I don't mind at all if it isn't. What I don't like is when there feels like there will be a good explanation and then there just isn't. Unfortunately, this is one of those stories. I am sorry to say, I just didn't see the point of the ending, nor really why it was all happening.

Not one I would be looking to recommend, I am afraid.

Thank you to the author, publishers HarperCollins and NetGalley UK for access to this as an advance reader’s ebook. This is an honest and voluntary review.

Spooky sci-fi fantasy, this genre blending journey into the fantastical is a lot of fun.

When Liv flees bad news in York in 1998 with her three daughters (Sapphire, Luna and Clover to take on a mural commission in a former lighthouse on a Scottish island she has no idea what to think. The locals seem welcoming, but it’s soon clear that there are local superstitions of children going missing and being replaced by evil doppelgängers. Meanwhile in 2021, Luna lives in hope of finding her missing mother and two sisters, who abandoned her in 1998 and haven’t been seen since.

I didn’t know what to expect when I started this. I was entirely drawn to it by the book cover design. That made the contents a pleasant surprise.

The author has taken what could be a very complex concept and delivered a clever, but not overly convoluted plot populated by believable and sympathetic characters. The result is a gripping tale which I raced through in one day.