The Daughters of Temperance Hobbs is my first book by Katherine Howe. Some things were a bit confusing, but some backstory was provided here and there, so I wasn't completely lost. I liked Connie. She's a strong intelligent character. I learned so much about witches from this book. The story is lively and engaging. It's a good read, and it's informative. Thanks to NetGalley for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

Cambridge, Massachusetts 2000- Professor Connie Goodwin is on the last year of her tenure and still has not completed her book. Struggling to juggle her personal and professional life, an unexpected surprise brings the realization that her partners life might be in danger. Connie, the direct descendent of women persecuted during the Salem witch trials, is cursed to lose those she loves. In order to save her partner Sam and break the curse, she must trace her family history and discover the secrets behind the weather magic that binds the women in her lineage.

The Daughters of Temperance Hobbs is a companion novel to The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane. I did not realize this was a companion novel and had not read the first book. Although it is a stand-alone novel I felt that some of the backstory from the first novel that was mentioned had me a bit confused about what was going on. I love reading stories based on witchcraft, including historical references to Salem so the cover and plot immediately peeked my interest. Some of the things I enjoyed about his novel were the historical accounts of the women in her lineage. The chapters in this novel transition between present day, 2000, and the historical accounts of several of the witchy women who make up Connie’s ancestry. Some of the things I didn't care for were the similarities to another popular novel about academic woman who works at a university with a magical book hidden in the stacks and powers that she can't control (I bet you can guess and No, I didn't like that book). The similarities from that book, which I disliked the most, center around the main character whom I felt was boring, lacked common sense despite being an academic, and requiring help from everyone around her because she was incapable of simplest tasks. The book started out a little slow for me with elaborate dialogues about academic studies in which my eyes glazed over. I'm happy to say the book actually picks up and gets interesting about half way through. Although I probably won’t read another book with this main character I still enjoyed this novel.

Although this book had some historical content, it was a very witchy book. I am not a fan of witches and magic. I’m sorry I neglected to read the description before requesting it from netgalley. It’s probably a great book for those interested in this genre.. it’s just not for me. I received this book from NetGalley in return for an honest review.

This was my first Katherine Howe novel. I adored Connie Goodwin and her imperfect life that is rooted in a line of witches dating back to the late 1600s. This is not a light read. It has a great deal of historical information with terminology that can be hard to follow if you do not have exposure to her former works about witchcraft.

If this is a topic the reader enjoys while being intellectually stimulated, this book is perfect.

Enjoyed this page-turner, and was provided a Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This story was my evening escape from sociology textbooks and copywriting for clients.

This rating system doesn't allow for a whole lot of clarity - ideally I'd give this a 3.5, and my standards for ratings change depending on what type of book it actually IS.

My reasons for not giving it a better rating, honestly, are fairly nitpicky, and one of them includes a slight bit of spoiler so I'm hiding this review for folks who'd care for that to not happen.

I would have preferred better closure in regards to Arlo, or at least a little more emotion surrounding it, a bit more fleshing out of his importance in her life, especially since the importance of a witch's familiar is actually mentioned. Sue me, I'm an animal lover.

Matthew's fading out at the end began fairly spectacularly but like Arlo, he sort of just faded into the past as well - with all the weirdness he kept bringing into the plot, I sort of expected a more exciting end to his farewell too.

The meeting with Chilton never felt fully concluded either.

Also, I'm generally turned off by specific references to trendy things like Snapchat in a book; in my mind, it lessens the longevity of a book and makes me feel like I brought home a book from the grocery store magazine aisle. Granted, I realize that things I now take for granted as fond trends of the past were once modern references too - but for some reason this, especially, always cheapens a story for me a little - call it "social media" and be done with it.

Finally - there is a big difference between tincture and broth. Tinctures are made of raw plant material soaked in a solvent; broths have been used to MAKE tinctures, but there is still an extended period of soaking involved, not just dropping a bunch of other materials into a broth and cooking it all together (that's uh, soup, I'm pretty sure).

Regardless of all this, I am a fan of this author and still thoroughly enjoyed this little escapist jaunt, and my local library has The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane. I'll be going to get that here shortly. I AM totally stuck on the story now and although this one is a standalone, I've heard the author mention there are some buried bones in here for those who've read The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane - I'm intrigued, and now I want to find them.

It’s really hard for me to corral all my thoughts into a sensible review this time. I liked some things about this book but hated others. A few parts would get 4 stars from me, but several would get 1 star, so I guess I’ll settle for 2.75 stars, rounded up. Somewhere between it was okay and I liked it.

I was beyond excited to read this when I first got it. I loved The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane when it first came out a decade ago—witches, lots of cool history, a compelling plot with love and murder, all good stuff—and I couldn’t wait to find out what happened to the characters. But this book didn’t do anything new with that format. Much of it felt replicated so it feels more like I’m re-reading Physick than reading a new book.

The Daughters of Temperance Hobbs was okay, I guess, but there were so many little things that kept me from truly enjoying it. First off, the story is super predictable. If you read Physick then sat down and though to yourself, “What would be the most likely plot of a sequel with these characters?” This is the book you would end up with. And that’s not the worst thing in the world. Predictable books can be calming, a retreat from the ever-changing world around us, but I would have liked at least one thing that surprised me in the plot. When I started to get a feel for where story arc was going, I said to my husband that I really hoped it wasn’t going to be what I thought. But that’s exactly what it was. The same predictable sequel plot issue that I had with A Discovery of Witches. It especially feels like the conflict is exactly the same in this book. “Oh remember that thing you thought you fixed at the end of the last book? It’s not fixed, so we need to spend another book fixing it. Sorry for ruining the closure at the ending of Physick.”

Secondly, I ended this book with so many questions. And not important, mind-bending, “meaning of life” type questions. More like, “Um, so was that guy at the end really there or was he . . . like a wraith . . . or literally a piece of cardboard? If he wasn’t corporeal, how did his car get there?” I was confused a lot. When a character is making a potion, and two different times gets splashed in the eye with potent liquid, shouldn’t that mean something? Like that they’re going to go blind or have visions or get some cool super power? Instead, it’s just . . . for no reason. When someone says, “Oh no, did you pick this poisonous flower with your bare hands?” I think to myself, “Cool, something is finally going to happen.” But then . . . it doesn’t. It was all purposeless. If the poisonous plant wasn’t going to burn the glove-less picker, why mention it? Sometimes I wondered if things were actually getting answered and I was just missing them because of how choppy the whole book felt. What was up with there being no one working the register in that antique store? I thought that was going to be Obadiah, still alive but too old to man the till or something interesting, but it just had no purpose, again.

More than anything, I was bothered by the writing. You know how you can write a sentence, like this one, and you can interject things by putting commas, dashes, or conjunctions like “but” or “and”? Well. In this book. She just uses periods. For. Everything. When someone is speaking and they can’t figure out the right words, the dialogue reads like “Well. That’s.” And that’s the whole sentence! Can’t you use an ellipses occasionally to show that someone is trailing off? (I couldn’t help using lots of ellipses in this review.) Something other than ending these sentences so abruptly? I get it. Short sentences are cool. They make the pacing feel faster. But they also read like a homework assignment written by a second grader. The writing should be seamless, it shouldn’t constantly pull you out of the story to wonder why an author would choose to write something in such a distracting way.

Just to be clear, none of these are direct quotes, only examples I have made up. I may add quotes from the book after publication, but I don’t want to post anything as a negative that gets changed before publication. I did read an “uncorrected proof” after all. Maybe the copy I got had all the ellipses removed by accident.

There were a few things to like in this book, with snippets of interesting history and occasional humor. I love the look into the world of academia and the scenes where spells were cast, but I was left, more than anything, with the feeling that this was just Physick, repackaged for a new round of sales. It’s possible this author is going downhill with every novel. Physick was the peak. House of Velvet and Glass was decent, as was Conversion, but The Daughters of Temperance Hobbs and The Appearance of Annie van Sinderen are both not quite mediocre. I’d recommend re-reading Physick instead of reading this, unless you are obsessed with old-fashioned magic and recycled plots.

I received a free copy of this book through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are mine and mine alone.

OH how I loved going back into the world of Connie Goodwin. I missed her. I am not a fan of historical fiction but Howe sucked me in the the Physick Book of Deliverance Dane and have been reading more historical ever since. I love how Howe weaves her story with all it's nuances. So much depth. I get so sucked in I forget I am reading a book and wonder how the characters are getting along when I am not reading. That is the kind of book I absolutely adore! I do hope Howe visits Connie again.

The first book in this series annoyed me for the author's apparent need to mix up both accurate and totally fantastical things about academia and present them as if they somehow represented real life. She does it again here, and in this case it's much more irritating because it plays into her plot, which is, even on its own, totally non-sensical, even in a setting where witchcraft is real and people are magic. In addition, the characters are all cardboard and stereotypical, from the witchy mom who knows her daughter is pregnant before the daughter knows; to the daughter, who is a disorganized academia; and to the daughter's her sassy black friend, er, graduate student. There's also The Man Who Does Not Understand Academia, despite having had an academic partner for a long time, and the Madman/Old Professor. Also, apparently everything the work of this book is pale: people have pal skin, pale eyes, and there are pale stains on a table. Please hire a copyeditor who knows about academia, can read for sensitivity regarding the Black Sassy Friend, and knows synonyms for "pale."

I read this in one day because I was so intrigued to find out what happened to Connie in the present and all of her relatives in the past. I read the Deliverance Dane book years ago and passed it around to everyone I knew. I look forward to the publication of this book so I can recommend it to all my friends! I enjoy Ms. Howe's writing style because it flows along so nicely. Takes you into the world of the characters without overkill on the adjectives. I especially liked the way the characters from the past were woven into the story and that the ending was not just added on, it built up through the final chapters and had a very satisfying conclusion. Yes, there were times when I wanted to shake Connie for not just confiding in those around her but of course that would have ruined the story. I will definitely recommend this book.

I absolutely loved this book. I have never been disappointed in a book by Katherine Howe and this was right up there with some of my faves. She is a fantastic writer and I am so lucky to have been able to read this one a bit early. Now to wait for the hard copies to be on sale to add to my collection!

Katherine Howe is back with The Daughters of Temperance Hobbs and returns to the world of The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane with an intriguing continuation story. A great read!!

I really enjoyed the writer's first book about Connie and was excited to read this follow-up. A satisfying read, although not as spooky as I recall the previous novel to have been.

I was overjoyed to see a sequel to The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane, one of my favorite books (can't believe it's been 10 years since it was published!)

I loved this sequel - I liked following Connie's new adventures 9 years after the events of the first book, along with a more inclusive view of witchcraft (bringing in traditions of enslaved communities and people of color).

I also think this is the best portrayal of academic life than any other book I've read - so many authors get the reality of it wrong (hello, Dan Brown); as an academic myself, I found that really refreshing.

Oh, it was grand to get back to the world of The Physick Book! And once again Katherine Howe delivers a novel rich with spells and alive with fully crafted characters whose fate will enthrall the reader. Highly recommended.

In the beginning this book seemed complicated, with the historical context, details of the workings of academia, and the references to past events that I was completely in the dark about. When it comes together, however, it is a simple story. Family, love, and loss mixed in with supernatural and a little bit of history.

Connie is a professor of colonial history in Boston, a good place for it. She has a history of her own, which I now know I must read. Not having read the first book made some parts a little more vague than they would be for those who had, but it didn't stop the understanding or enjoyment of the story. And story is always the most important part of any novel. While both Connie and her ancestors work to save the loved men in their lives through a jumping timeline, we see the treatment of those who are different and of women through the lens of both history and contemporary opinion. The patriarchy is more subtle now. It's still there.

I am reluctant to put in more of the plot than that. Let it unfold for you and enjoy it. As a bonus, look into some of the events described. The witch trials are widely known and I thought I was pretty well versed in them.
I do love to learn something I never knew before, and I got a chance to learn about the year without summer. How did I miss this in my studies of colonial history?

I was somewhat disappointed in this sequel, so much so that I almost stopped reading it. The writing was very collegiate as I would expect in a book set in academia and I felt it took away from the story. The ending did redeem the tale and if you have an interest in adventures devoted to witchcraft and a missing spell you won’t be disappointed.

I enjoy this series, and Daughter of Temperence Hobbs is a great addition.
I enjoy this series., and Daughter of Temperence Hobbs is a great addition.

A wonderful follow-up to The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane. A great mix of history, the world of research, and good ol’ spells and cunning women. If you havent read the Physick Book, I recommend reading it in the next few months to prepare yourself for this, although it does kind of stand on its own. Still, would highly recommend you read the first one. Congrats, Katherine Howe, on another fantastic read. Sorry, no spoliers or clues on the plot in this review.

I loved the Physick Book of Deliverance Dane, but I’ve been somewhat disappointed by Howe’s follow-ups. Here, she returns to her “roots”, writing about a modern-day woman who discovers her connection to one of the original Salem witches. Connie Goodwin has always been fascinated with the history of supposed witchcraft in the United States, perhaps in large part because she is descended from a Salem witch who may have actually had some of the powers her Salem neighbors were so terrified of. In her quest to uncover the truth about her ancestor and all the Hobbs women who came before her, Connie begins the research that will bring the women of her family to life, giving them a chance to finally have their voices heard. Traveling between past and present, this was a novel I could really sink my teeth into, and since I stayed up most the night to read it, I think it’s fair to say that Howe has got her groove back.