Strange Folk

Lee seeks comfort and safety after the life she worked hard to create falls apart. This means heading back to Craw Valley. Back to her family that she has complicated feelings about. Having no where else to go she heads back taking her two children with her. Townspeople say Lee's family are magic until a man dies in the woods near the family house. Then they wonder if the town healer created something darker.

A big thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest opinion. 

The blurb sounded interesting and I always love reading debut fiction. Plus, who doesn’t need magic in their lives, right? Underneath the magic is a story about family, addiction, and coming to terms with yourself. Lee resents the way she grew up and the people that failed her. Yet, Lee ends up repeating the same mistakes that her mother did. Being confronted with emotional baggage you thought you buried is never easy.

Why didn’t I give this five stars? The thing that caused me to score this lower is the murder mystery plot. I feel the murder wasn’t necessary and took away from Lee working through her past. Lee has a lot of emotional baggage to deal with because she moved back. She is drinking more and walking around acting like she is better than everyone because she left. Her hypocrisy gets put on the back-burner because Lee has to figure out the murder mystery. I think the story would have been better if Dyer had focused on Lee coming to terms with and dealing with her past. The romance subplot felt like wasted potential. The guy Lee starts dating is someone she knew when she was young. He stayed in town while Lee took off as soon as she had the chance. There are a few different times he says that the town isn’t that bad and Lee scoffs. There is so much to explore there but, for me at least, it felt like a box to check off for plot points.

Still, I did enjoy this book and I recommend anyone that likes witchy stories and folksy magic to check it out. I’m going to be keeping an eye on Alli Dyer's career and look forward to seeing how she refines her craft.