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Janna Aguilar on 23 Sep 2016
“The African culture is one of the cultures that I honestly know nothing about. After reading this novel, I discovered a lot about it and I seriously want to know more! According to Wikipedia, this culture is well-known for its arts and crafts, folklore, and religion, clothing, cuisine, music and languages. And I couldn't agree more. All these elements are present in this book, and I like how I got to have a glimpse of the African's beliefs, traditions and preferences. This book is the first installment of The Witch's List trilogy by Andrew Cairns and the author's debut novel at the same time. I honestly did not expect this to be so good! I was amazed by how totally hooked I was! On the day that I received my copy, I immediately started reading it and found myself already halfway through it after two hours. It is a combination of magic, love, life and series of horrifying events. To say that this book is good is an understatement; this is definitely one of my best reads this year!

Setting

This book brought me to three different countries, and I was fascinated by that ecstatic experience. First is in Scotland, this is where the male protagonist grew up and spent most of his childhood and adolescent years. Second is in Europe, the country where he studied for a year and eventually became the place where he settled and decided to build a family. Third is Africa, where the ancestors of his wife reside. My journey is breathtaking! I love how I was able to travel in three different places and explore everything that's great and not-so-great about them.

Characters

Sandy Beech. I must admit that Sandy's name is really funny! Anyway, I like the idea that the author presented his life in a manner that started when he was a child until the moment of his middle adult years. It's like reading a biography, but at the same time I get to find out and unravel all the mysteries that Sandy is experiencing. As a child, he is good. Sandy as a high school student transformed from being a good boy to a naughty-ish young adult. And then from that, he became a successful man with an almost-perfect relationship. After that, well, you have to start reading this book to find out what happens next. Seriously.

Rocky. She is the sweet, gorgeous and ever-loving wife of Sandy. I was surprised, and at the same time impressed by how the author made me like her character and despise her afterwards.

Writing Style and Plot

I will definitely recommend this book to all of my bookish friends! I am undeniably astounded with the author's writing style. It is fast-paced. You will never get bored once you started reading it. All the mysteries that you have to unfold will have you totally hooked. I cringed over and over because of all the creepy scenes. I was mind-blown with the twist! I haven't seen that one coming! I actually had goose bumps because I did not expect those turn out of events. I want to commend the author for three things. First, I am always into stories with the first person narration so this one nailed it! It felt as if I'm with Sandy all throughout the story because I was able to see things in his perspective. Second, the title in every chapter is really appealing! I get the chance to contemplate before proceeding with the chapters, and I was able to analyse why that specific part has that specific title. Third, I love how multicultural the story was! Discussing different cultures of people from different origin is actually new to me. As a reader who likes historical fiction as well, this is a first! Diving in a story which tackled different backgrounds is very informative and interesting. For me, that is the best part of this book. Furthermore, I kind of had a hard time with some of the words. I find them deep and unusual and looking up in the dictionary really took up my time. But overall, this is a highly recommended book!

Conclusion

I have three realizations:

It may sound cliché or funny, but I think there's nothing bad if once in a while we take into consideration or believe in on some mysterious stuff in this world. I know its 2016 already but respecting other culture's traditional beliefs still and will always matter.

Fun is good. Fun is tempting. Fun is definitely needed in a person's life. But sometimes too much fun will lead a person to do stupid and wreck less things which in the end might cause trouble or regret.

Just because we have known someone for eternity doesn't mean we know everything about them. People are sometimes good at hiding secrets especially if they are dark and twisted.”

Rachel Simons on 02 Oct 2016
“The Witch's List is the first part of a trilogy, the main character is Sandy Beech (great name) and he tells of his time at school and what happens with a certain book him and his friend come across at the library at school. It then describes his fun times before college, the love of his life and how poorly that ended up. Then when he is at university he meets a nun called Bernadette who warns him and basically tells him to stick with good Scottish lass as African women are dangerous. There is a twist on what happens when he visits Bernadette though and it quite spooky. Anyway while at Uni he has the option to do an exchange and do a year in France. He has fun as all young lads do but having fun lands him in trouble a few times along the way. He is still drawn to African women and eventually meets and marries Rocky (another great name especially once married Rocky Beech).

Their actual wedding was quite a funny thing to read but after a few years the strains were showing and they decide to visit the Ivory Coast to visit Rocky's family.

Strange things start happening at every location they visit which I didn't really put two and two together at first. Not until the very end where I was left open mouthed, hoping that the next book would be available sooner rather than later so I can read what happens next.

Let's put it this way, apart from a few mentions of a Witch's List I thought I was reading the wrong book as nothing really happened with it, it was just mentioned. But it wasn't until the end that I actually got it and presume that more will be learnt about it in the subsequent books.

Overall I really enjoyed this book, for someone that grew up in the 80's although younger than Sandy, I could relate to many things he was talking about. I also like anything to do with witches, witchcraft and the supernatural.

The book was paced well and it was an enjoyable read, which was full of action, humour and emotion and spooky moments. The characters were described very well and I felt like I knew them personally.

The details of the different places Sandy lived or visited were remarkable and you can tell that Andrew Cairns, the author, had visited them all.

I can't wait for the next instalment.”