Witches of Ash and Ruin

I will admit, it’s been a while since I read E. Latimer’s ‘Witches of Ash and Ruin’. It sits on my bookcase, taunting me. I have read it so many times, and I still find myself wanting to read it again, and again, and again. Scenes from the story invade my mind at least once a week, and I think I’m definitely due for a reread.

Set in a small town in Ireland, we follow the protagonist, Dayna, as she struggles with her OCD, and recently being outed as bisexual, which is doubly uncomfortable due to the fact that her father is the reverend of the local church. Another thing: She’s a witch. Dayna and her coven have enough on their plate to deal with even before the arrival of another coven, who warns them of a killer on the loose and dire consequences for them all.

The arrival of the new coven, which includes Meiner, Cora, and Grandma King, coincides with the reappearance of the Butcher of Manchester – a serial killer who is prolific all over the United Kingdom, and it soon becomes apparent to the characters that this serial killer knows about witchcraft. His victims are all witches, and the two covens find themselves struggling to find his identity and put a stop to his spree. But how will they react when they realise that the serial killer is actually a team – three brothers who want nothing more than to destroy the witches and bring about a terrible evil.

The romantic subplot of the book focuses on Dayna and Meiner. Despite the fact that they come from two separate covens – and their initial dislike of each other – they soon find themselves growing closer, even with the murders and the discord within their covens. Their obvious attraction to each other is sullied by Cora, the only other girl in Meiner’s coven of three, and the reader quickly learns that the two had a brief, doomed relationship before being torn apart by Meiner’s grandmother, the leader of the coven. The two are still forced into a close proximity, and we learn that Meiner hates this, while Cora will seemingly do anything to get Meiner back. This adds another level of struggle to the story, and I often found myself joyfully rolling my eyes at Cora’s antics and Meiner and Dayna’s apparent inability to make a move.

If I’m being honest, the familial relationships in ‘Witches of Ash and Ruin’ was probably one of my favourite parts. On the one hand, we have Dayna’s strict, religious father, who would send Dayna away to the formidable Camp Blood of the Lamb if he knew anything about her, just as he’d sent her mother, Fiona, years before. The thought of being sent away scares Dayna, and causes her to keep her secret, witchy life from him.
On the other hand, however, we have Dayna’s coven, the Callighans. These witches have taken Dayna under their wing, cherishing her and loving her in a way that quickly cements their place as Dayna’s found family. It is immediately clear that the women will do anything for each other, and I loved the relationships between them.

Meiner, however, has had a far darker upbringing than Dayna. Her grandmother, the dangerous leader of the coven, has a past of using dark magic and abuse to control her witchlings. Meiner wants nothing more than to get away from her, and sees an opportunity to do so fairly quickly in the book. She hates her grandmother and the way she was raised. My heart went out to Meiner, and I was glad that, at the end of the book, she joins Dayna’s coven and seems to thrive away from the questionable practices of her grandmother.

The book focuses a lot on Celtic mythology, with the names of Gods and Goddesses littered throughout, and I found this very enjoyable. I didn’t know much about Celtic mythology before reading ‘Witches of Ash and Ruin’, but it inspired me to read more about it. The roles of the Gods are easy to understand, although the pronunciations tripped me up a bit (I still need to work on this). The Gods, although they don’t appear in the book, play a pivotal role, but I won’t go too deep into it here.
The closest we do get to meeting a God is during some of Cora’s chapters. With Meiner refusing to step up and allow her grandmother to groom her to take over the coven, Cora fills the space, taking private lessons from the old woman. But she soon realises that she didn’t know what she was getting herself into. The dark goddess Caorthannach – the Mother of demons – shows herself to Cora, imploring her to do her will, and Cora is powerless to refuse. These chapters kept me reading, eagerly wanting to see what happened, and I was shocked when I reached the end and realised how this was going to end.

The climax of the book – which I won’t spoil – kept me reading late into the night the first time I read it. I forgot everything else I had to do, and I refused to stop reading. While the serial killer subplot and the witch subplot had always been entwined, this is where they become fully immersed, both storylines coming together to culminate in a climax I could easily see in my mind. I found myself scared for the characters, and I am not ashamed to say that at parts, I teared up as the witches battle the serial killers. The prose E. Latimer uses is gripping, thrilling, and brings life to the story.

I have loved this book since I found it. I even bought a copy for my best friend and annotated it for her (she also loved it, and has even messaged the author to beg for a sequel). The story flows expertly, the characters are lovable, and the premise is intriguing. I honestly think that this is one of my favourite books of all time, and I cannot wait to see what E. Latimer does next.