A murderess becomes the guardian of two teenage witches!

This book reads like a fairytale, but instead of a greedy, selfish step-mother we have Aunt Clara the greedy aunt with her own set of ulterior motives. Clara Woods jumps at the chance to adopt her two nieces when her brother and sister-in-law die in a tragic mountain climbing accident. Clara has never cared for her brother or his family, but she quickly puts on a false front as she tries to figure out a way around her dead brother’s will. She eagerly agrees to bring the girls into her home at Crescent Hill to keep the money flowing her way. Clara is obsessed with diamonds and she’ll do anything to get her hands on her nieces newly inherited fortune. She has already cooked up a money-making scheme to allow her to create her own legacy, Clarabelle Diamonds. Full steam ahead, she’s so sure she can get this money she hires a designer to start working on the diamond designs!

But her nieces see through her deception. Lily and Violet are young witches. Both with special powers recently enhanced when their mother passed away. Violet can see the dead. Ghost of dead animals and even people call out to her for help. Which is rather unfortunate for Aunt Clara as Violet has seen a man pacing the garden in one of the flowerbeds at Crescent Hill.

As the older sister, Lily feels the burden to keep her younger sister safe. She has four more years until she can claim guardianship of Violet and Aunt Clara’s home offers the only guarantee to keep the girls together and stay out of foster care. Lily has a secret witchy skill of her own. She can see a person’s true emotion revealed in vibrant color on a person’s skin. So, when Aunt Clara is telling the girls she’s sorry she missed the funeral due to surgery, all while her skin is shimmering lime green, Lily knows Aunt Clara is lying.

As Aunt Clara’s buried secrets begin to reach out to Violet for help, the girls no longer feel safe in her home. The house at Crescent Hill has become a battleground.

I enjoyed reading this book. The author crafted a modern-day fairytale with likeable characters and a sinister counterpart.

Thank you Netgalley, publishers, and author for giving me the chance to read this wonderful book.

I liked this story a lot. There was a bit of a "Practical Magic" vibe happening, but only if the story remained when they were children. Oh, and if you like a complicated, awful woman. I'm a little amazed with the author making me able to feel bad for Clara, our antagonist. No where does she come off as sympathetic and yet, when I read her childhood, I got a glimpse of why someone might turn out like that.

There were only two things that I think take away from the story; the pacing (which slows down in the middle), and the sisters voices. I got their character chapters mixed up a lot, because it was a bit difficult at times to distinguish from which viewpoint I was reading, they just both sounded the same (even though the chapters were named after them, it was just difficult).

I'm a little embarrassed by this, but I always thought the saying was, "If you thought (this), you have another thing coming." I learned thanks to this book that it's "think"..."If you thought (this), you have another think coming." And it really does make way more sense. SMH

Clara finds herself thrust into a new life as guardian to her nieces, Lily and Violet, after a tragic accident claims the lives of her brother and sister-in-law. She sees her nieces as keys to increasing her wealth, and ultimately helping her start her diamond business. Lily has an extraordinary gift, she can see colors and smoke around people, revealing their emotions or true nature. Violet, on the other hand, has the unsettling ability to encounter the dead. Among the spirits are the ghost of Timmy, Clara’s deceased husband, and his mistress, Ellie and Miss Lawrence. Clara recognizes Violet's unique ability to communicate with the dead and begins to market her niece as a medium. The girls know the situation with the ghosts and their aunt will only get worse. Will they be able to escape?

Interesting premise. I however struggled to connect and get invested in the writing style and overall story. It fell a bit flat for me. I would still recommend it if you find the premise interesting. Had a lot of merit but unfortunately not for me.

This book was okay. I just really think the overall flow was not there, and I could not get truly into the book.

When Lily and Violet's parents die in an anniversary mountain climb, they are sent to their aunt's home in the country. Aunt Clara doesn't care for people, much less children and an uneasy truce between the family members is set. What Clara doesn't know, is that Lily and Violet have powers - they can see feelings and spirits. Before long Clara needs to hide what happened at the bottom of the garden! Fun horror story from the talented Camilla Bruce!
#camillabruce #atthebottomofthegarden
#randomhouse #delray #ballantine