Book: Under the Spellbound Sky by Michael Matthew
Reviewed by Weird | weird.reads.books
Rating: 4/5
This book made me feel like I needed to read it with a smoke pipe in a velvet robe on a leather chesterfield chair. Evoking the cadences of Dickens and Poe, the novel captures its era so authentically that reading it in the internal voice of an older English gentleman feels almost mandatory. Once you adapt to the period-accurate vernacular, a truly unique story unfolds.
Under the Spellbound Sky juggles three storylines on different timelines which comes together in the end. We start with Jacob and his littles (younger siblings) who have been left as orphans and are adopted by wealthy sisters in the town of Clark Noir. They face harrowing abuse, making me reminiscent of a far darker, adult version of A Series of Unfortunate Events . Rooting for their survival and happiness anchors the emotional heart of the book.
Part of the way through, we switch to the sisters’ origin story of how they came to be witches and morally reprehensible people. Of the parts, this was my favorite honestly because of how depraved some portions were. Their story had so much to unpack and has a courtroom trial portion that made me kind of giggle due to the dramatics.
The third story is of Brash Stone, tracing the journey of the original witch, this thread highlights her naively pure motivations and illustrates how women bared the weight of being treated as property while quietly subverting a patriarchal society.
While the atmospheric prose and obvious research elevate the story into an unsettling, grim fairytale, the execution of its religious themes was a notable drawback. Despite content warnings listing only "Very Brief Religious Undertones/References," the faith-driven segments felt heavy-handed. A scene where a character preaches to Brash gave me childhood religion classes flashbacks. They read more like a sermon on what to believe rather than an organic journey of a character finding faith. Forced alongside the established witchcraft, these elements struggled to mesh smoothly.
Overall, Under the Spellbound Sky is a compelling read, even if it won't be for everyone. If you love dark, gothic historical fiction delivered in immersive, old-world prose, this is well worth picking up.
Thank you to The Author Indie Insider and Michael Matthew for the eARC. All opinions are my own.