The Line by J.D. Horn Book Review

Overview: The Line is an emotionally-provoking book with well-driven plot but rough-edged character creation. Plot twists are delivered blow by blow across the pages. Revelations are stacked one after another that if the previous one has not sunk in to you yet, you'd face the others like a hurricane. It's a good read has the narration not felt so detached from the readers. Urban Fantasy readers would love this book of a story involving witches set in Savannah.

Genre: Urban Fantasy, Young Adult
Author: J.D. Horn
Series: Witching Savannah #1
Date Published: February 1, 2014
Publisher: 47North
Size: 296
Edition: ebook (ARC)
ISBN: 1477809732

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Synopsis:

Move over, Sookie Stackhouse—the witches of Savannah are the new talk of the South. Bold, flirty, and with a touch of darkness, debut author J.D. Horn spins a mesmerizing tale of a family of witches . . . and the problem that can arise from being so powerful. As Charlaine Harris’ series winds down—and as Deborah Harkness’ series heats up—Witching Savannah is new contemporary fantasy that will be sure to enchant new readers.

Mercy Taylor, the youngest member of Savannah’s preeminent witching family, was born without the gift of magic. She is accustomed to coming in a distant second to the minutes older, exquisite and gifted twin she adores. Hopelessly in love with her sister’s boyfriend, she goes to a Hoodoo root doctor for a love spell. A spell that will turn her heart to another man, the best friend who has loved her since childhood.
Aunt Ginny, the family’s matriarch, would not approve. But Mercy has more to worry about than a love triangle when Aunt Ginny is brutally murdered. Ginny was the Taylor family’s high commander in the defense of the bewitched line that separates humankind from the demons who once ruled our realm.
A demon invasion looms now that the line is compromised. Worse yet, some within the witching world stand to gain from a demon takeover. Mercy, entangled in the dark magic of her love spell, fighting for her sister’s trust, and hopelessly without magic, must tap the strength born from being an outcast to protect the line she doesn’t feel a part of...
In this riveting contemporary fantasy, Horn delivers the full betrayal, blood, and familial discord of the best of Southern gothic.

Review:
This book might be emotionally-provoking to me due to the circumstances presented in it but the narration is just very stoic in nature. The story might have played out well has it been written in the first-person perspective.

To see a clear picture why it's emotionally provoking, let's talk about the family in this story first. At the first half of the book, this is the impression that I get: The Taylors prefer family members who are born from magic. Mercy was least-favored because she is what we could call a squib (from Harry Potter), a non-magical person born from a magical family, an eminent one at that in Savannah. She is not the least-favored to say the least but still, she was made to feel that way because of her grandaunt's maltreatment of her.

Ginny is not just a normal grandaunt in the witching world, she was an anchor for the line that protects our world from the malevolent things on the other dimension. Ginny favored her fraternal twin, Maisie and was grooming her to be her replacement as the next anchor. All Mercy's life she was made to feel in being the disappointment in the Taylor family. Her uncle Connor made sure for her to hear the words.

Her lack of self-worth is not the only issue she's facing. She's torn with her untoward affection for her sister's boyfriend, Jackson. So one day, she decided that for her to end such indecency, she'd redirect her feelings toward her male best friend, Peter who has been in love with her since childhood. With no way to tell her own folks about her predicament, she sought out the help of a root doctor, Mother Jilo for a self-induced love spell.

The morning after Mercy's visit with Jilo, Ginny was brutally murdered in her own house. And that's when all hell break lose.

Jilo is an infamous root doctor. She's a hoodoo practitioner but not a witch, a witch being a person born of magic. The Taylors have always steered clear of her. With Mercy's involvement to Jilo, her life's about to take turn for the worse.

I think that both Maisie and Mercy are dumb. They were both shaped into two people who couldn't think for themselves. The book begins with Mercy about to celebrate her 21st birthday in two-weeks time. And yet, her train of thought is way too immature for my taste. I couldn't handle her insecurities and I find her issues too shallow. But who am I to judge when I have my own baggage to handle? This is the very reason why I say that the character creation is rough-edged because it is not well-polished. I could not connect well with the kid that Mercy is being.

That's all folks I don't think I have to continue. Oh btw, the series of plot twists is what kept me.