The author definitely has potential and I’d be curious to see what else she does but I’d say the novel is a solid 3 – really interesting ideas but there were plot points that could have been fleshed out more to make it stronger. Other themes and plot were very much conventional (mother-daughter conflicts, the old ways vs the new ways, and I don’t think anyone is going to be surprised by the twist) but within that, there are some very emotional and moving scenes.
The novel really could have been more accurately titled Resistance of Witch – this won’t be a surprise from the book blurb but the majority of the novel focuses on the events after the witches decide to stop supporting the war effort and Lydia goes on a one-witch mission to France. The problem with this is that I really don’t think Ryan did a good enough job here convincing us why the witches wouldn’t want to support the fight against Fascism (especially when the reader has 21st century hindsight). It’s basically the idea of, “we have been persecuted for our powers and had to hide, why should we help the people that oppressed us” but when the coven/academy has Seers that both have seen the horrors being committed and potential future evils in case of a loss, it really doesn’t seem like a strong argument – after all, the witches still live in the UK and have their homes there.
I liked the side characters that Lydia meets in France and end up aiding her: Haitian-American Henry, an art historian and curator who sees the dead, and Rebecca, member of the French Resistance. Henry wasn’t quite as developed as I would have liked, and Rebecca was a bit of a stock character for novels set in this time period – tough as nails, with survivor’s guilt because she alone escaped the round ups that got her parents and sister. While a quick read, there was also a little bit of drag in the middle where the pacing seemed a little off.
As I said, I generally liked this novel but it’s also an idea that could have gone in so many different directions and had so much done with it. I would have loved to see more politics, more of the witches working as part of the war effort (rather than only Lydia on her one woman effort going against the academy’s decision), and also how different magic traditions might interact. We have a little bit with Lydia representing the establishment and structure of the academy while her mother follows the old traditions, but that’s only a part of it. There are hints about different approaches within the German witch community and a short reference to brujas. However the novel is primarily set in 1943 so while I don’t need more of Lydia’s story, I also wouldn’t be opposed to another novel set in this universe.