I received an ARC through NetGalley from SOURCEBOOKS Landmark. This book was such a surprise for me, and I felt like I lived in the town of Sanctuary. In an alternate now where witches can be registered and practice, we visit the one-witch town of Sanctuary. The star high school football player is dead at a party and the non-magical teen daughter of the town’s witch is put to blame. How quickly can an entire town turn cold and heartless in the wake of accusations? Rather quick. Told from 3 perspectives: Sara the witch, Maggie the detective, and Abigail the mother of the deceased teen. Three fabulously drawn characters, protecting their children, looking for truth, and looking for camaraderie. I want there to be a sequel because I want to go back to the world that I lived in. Lots of twists and turns, with good secondary characters that were also well fleshed out. This story realistically portrayed how quickly opinions can turn about an individual or named group.

SANCTUARY is fantastic read. Think PRACTICAL MAGIC crossed with the tale of the monkey's paw. Scary and delicious at the same time. SANCTUARY imagines the present world, but with legalized witchcraft as a part of everyday life. Sara Fenn is the local witch in Sanctuary, CT. The description of her work makes her seem like a homeopath with a serious extra kick to her medicine (who could use that from time to time). But to her dismay, Sara's daughter Hannah inherited none of her powers. But at least Sara has her long time friends Abigail, Julia and Bridget to act as her coven when she needs extra energy to help with her work. But when Abigail's son Dan falls to his death at a port-graduation bash, and Hannah is accused of killing him through witchcraft, all hell breaks loose... Great characters, great writing - I thoroughly enjoyed every compelling page!

Sanctuary by V.V. James is one of the best thriller/mystery novels I have read in quite some time. A key element to this book's magic is in fact...magic. The role of witches in the story is well-developed and feels natural to the story. This is a new world rather than one where it's reality plus witches. It makes for a more enticing read that reminds you time and time again that things are a bit different in the novel than the world around us.

A key element to this book that I enjoyed is the development of each character's intentions, motives, and reasoning. Everyone in this book gets their due diligence, even when you despise them as a reader. It's a wonderful example of how James' character work and development is in a class of its own. Rather than developing the core characters central to the twists and turns of the narrative, everyone is in the mix here. Rightfully so, it makes for a much more interesting read.

Overall, Sanctuary's comparison to "Big Little Lies + Witches" is fair, but undercuts the quality of this novel. I enjoyed Big Little Lies, but I like the characters (good and bad, morally speaking) in this novel more. The witch element is a great little twist in an otherwise wonderful mystery novel. Highly recommend and would love to revisit in a year or so.

When the star quarterback is killed at a high school party, is it an accident or murder? Is his girlfriend a witch like her mother, or not? Is she responsible for his death? Will their mothers, best friends until now, continue their friendship? Will the town, once so supportive of the witch turn on her?

All good questions, which are answered in this intriguing book about mothers, friends and small towns. Told from multiple points of views, it is fast paced with believable characters and is a bewitching blend of mystery and fantasy.

My copy of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. My thanks to the the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review it

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC of Sanctuary by V.V. James.

Sarah is a witch, and in her coven are some of her closest lifelong friends. But when one of her friends' teenage son dies, and her daughter Harper is accused, everything changes. The biggest catch, Harper doesn't have the powers. But in a small town, rumors circulate, and people become convinced that she's guilty, especially after she tries to sully his name.

I wish I was more into magic and fantasy. I really do. I feel like I'm missing out on a lot of good literature because of my disinterest. So as far as books about magic go, this was pretty good. I still enjoyed the mystery and the relationship conflict and drama. It was a bit long, but it was written well and compellingly.

I was so pleasantly surprised by this novel! It reminded me of Big Little Lies meets witches! I was a little skeptical at first but was sold quickly! Plot twists, deep characters I fell in love with, and a fantastic murder mystery. Highly recommend especially for a fun, twisty summer read.
Thankful for the ARC!

Very well written drew me in to a modern day Salem.The author has a wonderful writing style will be recommending his books. #netgalley#sourcebooks

3 stars

The addition of witches and magic to a small town crime mystery made for a unique story. James does a great job with the world building. But, what failed to connect for me was the characters; there were so many unlikeable ones and even the narrators weren't interesting or developed enough. I enjoyed the first half of the book more than the second, where things went over the top and then there wasn't enough resolution with such an abrupt ending.

A really intriguing book. I loved it although it was sad at times but it’s definitely worth a read. A brilliant debut for fans of Luanne Moriarity x

High expectations due to the Big Little Lies/Practical Magic comparison, but this felt a little silly to me.

This book started off a little slow for me, but the more I read the better it got. I couldn’t put it down! This is a modern day Salem..very good!

I ended up being pleasantly surprised by this read. It definitely lives up to the ‘Big Little Lies meets Practical Magic’ description! Set in a small New England town, this mystery follows the death of a high school athlete, the young girl who is accused of killing him using witchcraft, and the town that grows in fear and hysteria. What comes next is a more crime, more mysteries, and more witchcraft.
My favorite aspect of this novel was how in depth the author went on the world of magic and witchcraft. Witches are known to exist in this world and live amongst everyone in Sanctuary. There are specific laws set for witches and even an organization that exists solely to protect witches. This is needed because witches are still considered untrustworthy and persecuted against. I love the way the lore was seamlessly inserted and felt that it truly propelled the story forward. I’m not too familiar with common witch-lore or with religious practices like Wicca or paganism, but I felt like the magical system described in this novel was different enough to be unique, but also felt realistic (or...as realistic as witchcraft can be!).
Overall, this novel really felt like a story of friendship and family - and the lengths people will go to protect and care for those they love. The evolution of the friendship between those apart of the Coven in this novel was very powerful. Seeing how that friendship and dynamic changed through the course of the novel felt authentic and true-to-life.
I will say, however, that my favorite chapter was the very last one — so keep reading until the end!!

I would like to thank NetGalley, SOURCEBOOKS Landmark and author V.V. James for providing me with an ARC of this novel.

I loved that this novel was written from multiple perspectives. I find that this really keeps the story going at a good pace, and it also keeps it interesting. I love anything witchy, so this pulled me in. This kept my interest the whole way through, and I had a really hard time putting it down. I wanted to stay in the story so I could find out what happened. Definitely an awesome read that I will be recommending to a lot of people!

Thank you to those named above for the opportunity to read and review this ARC!

I read A LOT of books and have I read and never really enjoyed another type of book with this type of plot but I loved this book!! It's told from multiple characters perspective and I love when a book is written that way. I would highly recommend reading this book!!

This book hooked me right from the very beginning and left me on the edge of my seat the majority of the read. I finished it late last night because I kept telling myself one more chapter, with just one more chapter. It has a dark Gothic atmosphere to it which only seems to intensify while the story develops. It's scary to see how this mimics what must have happened back during the Salem witch trials and how normally rational people can spin out of control.

The book is focused on the lives of two friends, both members of a coven. Sarah, who is magical witch, and Abigail, who is not. We read the story from their points of view. We also hear from Maggie, the detective that's attached to the case of Abigail's son Daniel death. Although Abigail is one of Sarah's closest friends she turns on her and begins to slowly unravel due to her son's death at a teen party. Over the course of the investigation Daniel's death, friendships and alliances are really put to the test and nothing will ever be the same in this town again.

It was really quite frightening how quickly things escalated and begun to unravel and how normally sane people began calling for a Witch Hunt. The whole premise of the storyline seems to be life is not black or white but definitely shades of grey. Everyone has secrets and everyone's secrets have the ability to turn someone's life upside down. The author did a fantastic job with the complexity of her characters and the development of both them and the plot line. She dealt with real issues like love, friendship, betrayal and self-interest and how grief can affect people in their decision-making. The mass hysteria and mob mentality which seems to develop from hate crimes is frightening and as we see them from Sarah's point of view, is utterly heartbreaking. We also hear from Harper, Sarah's and how the effects of the party and the aftermath affect her life. There's much in the story about the interaction of the teenage children of the main characters and there is some strong subject matter concerning sexual assaults, which some readers might find off-putting, but is integral to the story.

I really really love this book. It called me in a way that I didn't think it would and made me really think about what if situations like this happened today.

I would like to thank V.V. James, Sourcebooks Landmark and Netgalley for the ability to read this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.