“What is it about a woman in full control of herself that is so utterly frightening?”

Starting my favorite (i.e. the best) time of the year off both early and right with another great Rachel Harrison read!

This novel is perfect for anyone starting over in their late 20’s/early 30’s. The protagonist, Annie Crane, is relatable in both some good and bad ways. She’s got a way of holding up a mirror to the page until you can see yourself looking back from the ink. Sometimes you might not like what you see, but don’t fret! There’s still time to change what you reflect back into the world, and that is, ultimately, the entire point of this story, in my opinion.

Equally atmospheric and spooky, Rachel has crafted a touching tale about the search for personhood and identity outside of our relationship to the people we pour our love and precious time into. And managed to portray an incredibly special form of female companionship at the same time!

Drop in a few heaping spoonfulls of magic, adorable spiders in top hats, and an ancient witch determined to show you the fullest extent of your potential, and you’ve got the perfect autumn read! 🍂🎃 ( )

An entertaining if rather predictable chick-lit tale about a wuss of a protagonist, Annie Crane, who ends up in a small town after breaking up with her boyfriend in New York City. She becomes friends with the mysterious social outcast Sophie, to whom everyone in town seems strangely deferential, even afraid. I had little patience for Annie and her endless pining for her ex-boyfriend. On the other hand, at the end I don’t think the moral of the story was the one I wanted to see either.

Although the genre here on LT is horror, I’d call this rather a cozy witch story, nothing horrific about it unless you find the prospect of being single horrifying. ( )

Good ( )

I wanted to like this book but the lovebombing, controlling, lying, older woman manipulating her vulnerable new friend is disguised as doing what's best for her. What the new friend needs, she just doesn't know it. The fact that the older woman was right just makes the story that much more ick. ( )

Very much liked this lovely, wholesome "horror" book! Perfect book for getting in the Halloween mood!

MC Annie was a bit of a complainer at first, but I am satisfied that her character development, so it made it much easier to deal with. Our witchy friend was great. Haughty and funny! Loved her.

Overall, great story, and I enjoyed the little epilogue to sum everything up! ( )

I went into this blind, thinking it may be a horror story, but it is not. It is a thoughtful, character driven tale of a woman going through a series of life events and her rather mysterious friend. ( )

DNF’d at page 115. I couldn’t do it. I’ll write a more in-depth review later once I’ve recovered from this book disappointment lmao

I was really disappointed. I was told by SOO many people that this book would be a really great read. I was promised spooky and wholesome but I didn’t find it that way. At first I did really like the narrative and the author’s writing was really enjoyable. But as I continued to read, I found the descriptions to be so so repetitive and annoying. Like we did NOT need a grand description every other paragraph!! And that’s seriously saying something from me because normally I am ALL about the sensory imagery. That’s literally exactly why I loved Great Gatsby so much and my favorite poems are the ones chock full of glorious descriptions. But in Cackle, it was very overdone. Moderation is key.
Next, the plot. It took WAY too long to establish the point of the story. 115 pages in and I STILL could not tell you where the plot was going. Wine-obsessed stereotypical 30 year old thinks she’s ancient because she’s just turned 30, moves to a small town and sees a bunch of spiders in her new apartment while getting bullied by obnoxious high schoolers and meets a mysterious woman who’s supposed to be charming but is just plain annoying with like 45 red flags. So that’s the set up and scene but where is it going? It’s not a terrible premise I suppose but it had no direction and the main characters got really annoying really fast. 115 pages into a 305 page book is too far in to not have a point to the plot. That far in to the book and we’re still at the very beginning of the story. That’s messed up.

Now the characters. Annie was relatable and sweet at first. As someone with depression and other mental health struggles myself, I could really relate to her and empathize with her. But then it went on and on and on. And I know this is a me problem but it really did make me think about how other people view me when I’m feeling crappy. Like wow if Annie is really annoying am I that annoying too when I rant about my struggles??😳😳 And will she ever stop with her ex?? I know that people get caught up on their exes and do exactly what Annie did all the time irl. But it was annoying and painful to read. And oh my GOd the drinking. Girl. I know that everyone has different relationships with alcohol but come on man. That is not healthy. It felt like I was watching a friend spiral and spiral and do really unhealthy things and all I could do is sit and watch. At one point she went and started drinking rum and I literally audibly out loud said “no oh my god don’t do that”. And then Sophie just enables Annie’s drinking problem!!! I have so many complaints about Sophie. Like seriously, Sophie is the crazy lady that approaches you at the grocery store and will not shut up when all you wanna do is buy groceries and leave. At first she seems nice but then suddenly after knowing her for 10 min, you know everything about her grandsons soundcloud career and her weird possibly contagious skin condition. I digress.. I felt like the author REALLY wanted the reader to be smitten with her. But I did not find her charming. Clearly lol. I don’t understand why Annie didn’t see all of these red flags about Sophie. If it were me my red flag radars would being going off left and right and I would already be trying to work out a safety plan so that I could avoid Sophie at all costs. And the fact that all of the townsfolk act weird around her isn’t something I would just brush off. I don’t get it. I know people ignore red flags all the time, I’m not exactly innocent of that myself. But ya gotta draw the line at some point.

Even though all of the things I found annoying about Annie are mostly realistic and people do that stuff and act like that all the time irl, it doesn’t make it any more tolerable. That shit is annoying in real life. I read to escape that shit, not to read about it more. If this book was marketed as a contemporary fiction piece set in a small town like it actually is, then fine, I wouldn’t be complaining so much. But it’s supposed to be a cozy spooky witchy fantasy/thriller. Which don’t even get me started on how this book is the farthest thing from a thriller I’ve ever read. I could see the author trying with the spooky stuff. But it didn’t work at all. It kinda felt like getting stuck on Space Mountain at Disneyland and all of the lights come on and suddenly the magic and thrill of it are gone because you see how it all works. Underwhelming as all hell. Except at least the engineering of rollercoasters is actually interesting. This is just as if the lights came on and all you could see was a flat track going in a small circle for like 20 minutes straight.

Who knows, maybe it does get better farther into the book. But I had other books I would rather read. perhaps I’ll revisit it and give it a try another time. But it’s unlikely. life is short, why should I read books that piss me off when there are so many incredible ones waiting to be read? ( )

I"m frustrated that this book is now effecting my book suggestions. >. ( )

A good break-up book, with delicious food, sumptuous dresses, and a very cute spider. ( )

Omg everything about this book annoyed me. ( )

Finally! A supernatural story that isn't ruined by forcing the narrative into a romance. I'm sick of choosing books about witches or magic and finding instead men with ripped chests and obscure coloured eyes who charm the knickers off the heroine but bore me silly. This is the book I've been searching for - chick lit, Hallmark Christmas movies and Stephen King, but in a good way!

After being relegated back to the friend zone by her best friend turned boyfriend, Annie Crane leaves New York on her thirtieth birthday and moves upstate to a new life and new job in Rowan, a small town with a secret. Main Street is like a scene from a Hallmark movie, with coffee shops, bakeries and a farmer's market, and everyone is friendly and welcoming. The only downside seems to be the spiders in her apartment. Annie is battling her own demons, however, feeling depressed and lonely. Until she meets the stunningly beautiful Sophie, the best friend she has always longed for, who takes the newcomer under her wing and invites Annie out to her mansion in the woods. But why is everyone else seemingly afraid of this enigmatic beauty with a kind heart?

I absolutely loved this story, from the characters to the setting - in fact, I wanted to be both Annie and Sophie! And the only man on the scene is Annie's ex, Sam, who is likeable enough but neither an Adonis or a romantic risk. I enjoyed Annie's new start in Rowan, shared her neuroses while teaching a class of obnoxious teens, but was glad that she was allowed to find herself rather than a man. I'm not sure about the message - all single women over 30 are witches? - but I was all for not having to endure another romance. Sophie is also a fabulous character, comfortable in who she is but understandably lonely. The darker scenes - mostly involving spiders and ghosts - were also well written and unnerving.

Funny, moving, comforting, spooky, relatable, Rachel Harrison has thrown every emotion into the cauldron bar lust, which is fine by me! Definitely recommended, and I might even buy a printed copy to read annually during spooky season! ( )

Many of my overseas friends read this last year and it was hyped to be very special. When I got a chance to read I, I jumped at it.
Sadly, I found it did not live up to the hype. It started off great and had the potential to be amazing, but I felt that it fell flat. It was more of a cosy mystery than I expected.
It was written well but just did not do it for me. ( )

Annie has been dumped by her boyfriend of ten years and needs to find somewhere new to live because she can't afford NYC. She accepts a teaching post in an upstate school and find an apartment in a small town not far away in a quaint and lovely town, and despite her depression, Annie looks forward to meeting people here because she really doesn't have any close friends.
Meeting Sophie changes everything. Charming, helpful and beautiful, Sophie wants to be friends with Annie because she's lonely too. But Annie gets the feeling that the people here are afraid of Sophie, and after seeing the two women together so much, they seem afraid of Annie too. The more Annie learns about Sophie, the more confused she is about whether Sophie is her kind friend or an evil tyrant.
. ( )

Cackle is a deceptively simple story about a woman searching for meaning and identity after the death knell of her long-term relationship. But there is a lot going on underneath the surface - not the least of which is her mysterious, ageless new friend, Sophie, in the small town she moved to in upstate New York.

The story breezes by at a surprising clip, too. That's due to the narrative's readability and Harrison's prose, which is funny, eerie, and engaging.

A wonderfully readable modern fable. ( )

This was a fun read but I wouldn't really call it horror. There is witchcraft and spells and such but nothing was really scary. It was more romance than I thought but the underlying themes were more important than that - self-awareness, self-determination and self-reliance are all big points here. I enjoyed it more than I thought. 3.5 stars ( )

I did not expect to like this book as much as I did, but I genuinely loved it! It is so different from any other story that I've read before. A woman's long-term relationship has ended, so she leaves the city and moves to a quaint small town. She immediately becomes best friends with a woman named Sophie who wields some kind of power over the town. There's more to Sophie than meets the eye and Annie is learning that there's much more to her than she ever thought as well. ( )

Interesting story for sure. I think the marketing for this book does it a disservice.If I was in the mood for a cute, cozy witch story I would have enjoyed this more. But this was advertised as dark and frightening. Being a mood reader I was left disappointed because this was not what I wanted.

Once I realized the vibe of the book I was able to appreciate the story, some of the characters and the atmosphere. I loved Sophie, she was strong and confident. Annie (the main character) got on my damn nerves. Her belief that happiness hinges on being with a man was exhausting.

My advice for this book, ignore the advertisement. If you're in the mood for a cozy witch story this is a solid one. But if you want dark and frightening, you'll be disappointed. ( )

Story of a woman slowly discovering she is a witch after being taken under the wing of a local scion. Lots of funny moments. One was LOL for me. Easy listen. Downsides: story was thin. I thought the ex-boyfriend learning experience would be for Act I, but it turned out to be the only major plot point for the entire book. So it felt really stretched out. Honestly I think it would have been better if she'd gotten over him in Act I and THEN backslid for Act III. This 250 page book feels like the first third of a longer work.

Not enough happens. Heroine starts relatable, then becomes annoying. There's nothing scary, which is fine, except all the scary things that scare the shit out of the heroine but get basically handwaved away by her witch friend. ( )

"You've always had the power, my dear. You just had to learn it for yourself." Glinda from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz ( )

I love the premise, but I find the use of power by the protagonist disturbing and imbalanced. She seems to have gone from giving all her power to a boyfriend (who is rather spineless in his own way) to overindulging her personal whims. Not that she should be perfect, but I wish she would try to be wise about it. ( )

Cackle by Rachel Harrison is not my usual reading fare, but I enjoyed every minute of it. Ms. Harrison’s story of female empowerment has some spooky moments, but really it is more about breaking societal expectations. After all, what is a witch other than a strong, independent female who doesn’t follow the rules set by others?

Annie starts out as a rather pathetic high school teacher struggling to adjust to life as a newly single woman after her long-time boyfriend decides they are better as friends than dating. For all that, she is equally relatable because of the fact that she always thought her path meant husband, children, and all the rest. Meanwhile, Sophie is quirky and charming even if she is a bit ominous. Watching Annie bloom under her tutelage is satisfying and inspiring.

You would think that a book that uses spiders as personal helpers would be a bit too much for this arachnophobe to handle, but I have to admit that by the end, I even found those damn spiders endearing. Cackle is what I would call a cozy witch story. It might take place in the dead of winter in an old and drafty mansion crawling with secrets, but the whole thing is just too damn cute with a great message about needing no one but yourself. ( )

Cackle is the story of Annie and how she found her own power after being dumped by her boyfriend. They had been together for years and still shared their Manhattan apartment after he decided they should just be friends. It was too painful for her so she found a new teaching job upstate. She also found a furnished apartment in a small, picture-perfect town with a fabulous coffee shop, farmers’ market, and all the trimmings of cozy Americana. Well, except there are an awful lot of spiders.

Annie meets Sophie, a mesmerizing woman of extraordinary beauty. She is warm, effusive, and charming. She builds up Annie’s self-esteem and introduces her to the town. Oddly, the people seem uncomfortable around Sophie. Annie goes to Sophie’s house, reached by a creepy walk through the woods past some graves but arriving at this fabulous mansion where Sophie lived alone. Well, except there are an awful lot of ghosts.

Are the townspeople right to fear Sophie? Should Annie be warier of her new friend? What about when Annie’s ex comes to ask her to come back?

Well, I loved Cackle. It is not the usual sort of feminist consciousness-raising but that is what makes it fun. Annie does grow from the passive beaten-down woman who left Manhattan brooding constantly about her lost love to a confident woman who can stand on her own. How she does it may not work for you or me, but I am happy to see her cackle.

I received an e-galley of Cackle from the publisher through NetGalley.

Cackle at Berkley | Penguin Random House
Rachel Harrison author site
https://tonstantweaderreviews.wordpress.com/2021/10/16/9780593202029/ ( )

I loved this book! I was hooked by the story from the very start and I liked it more and more as I worked my way through the book. I couldn’t wait to see what would happen to Annie next and hated to set the book aside. I thought that this book was smartly written and I loved the sense of humor throughout the book. I am so glad that I decided to pick up this book.

Annie and her boyfriend of almost 10 years just broke up and she is needing to start over. She is not happy about the break-up and would do anything to get him back. Her new life takes her to a small town upstate where she has a nice apartment and a job at the school the next town over. It isn’t long before she meets Sophie and Annie is thrilled to finally have a friend even if that friend is a little different.

I really liked the characters. Annie showed a lot of growth throughout the story. She had a lot of insecurities to work through but I think that helped to feel more authentic. Sophie was mysterious and rather glamorous. She knew what she wanted and what she liked and wouldn’t let anyone get in her way. I really loved the interaction between these two women. Ralph doesn’t make an appearance until the later parts of the book but once he showed up he stole the show.

I would recommend this book to others. I found this book an absolute joy to read and I loved the message of doing what brings you joy and standing up for yourself when necessary. I will definitely be reading more of this author’s work in the future.

I received a digital review copy of this book from Berkley Publishing Group via NetGalley. ( )

After a bad breakup Annie moves to small town Rowan where she meets Sophie who seems a little too perfect. Twilight Zone like this is a fun, light horror novel with just a touch of darkness. ( )

I struggled with the rating for this book because the beginning was rough (underlined & italicized). I'll give you a synopsis. Sam, Sam, Sam, Sam, I can't believe I'm alone, Sam, Sam. I almost put the book down and DNF. I was waiting for Pet (this is what I called Annie whenever I thought about her when not reading because she was such a forgettable character I couldn't remember her name) to break out into Olivia Newton John's song "Sam.' Then she met Sophie. I'm 150% head over heels in love with Sophie; she is the saving grace of this book. Oh, and Ralph too. His little clothes!!

Sophie is sophisticated, 400 years old, knows what she wants in life and can be your best friend or worst enemy; just what I like in a person. I want to be her friend, I want her to make me clothes and tea and roast chicken, lol. I'm sad the book is over because I don't get to see if exacts revenge on anyone like she says she loves to do.

I'm not sure why they put frightening in the synopsis, besides a few ghosts popping up, nothing scary happens. There is some humor, Sophie is very sarcastic and Ralph is very cute, but its not really belly laugh/laugh out loud funny.

I'm wondering if there is going to be a second book because of the way the author left things. Two of the townsfolk are still very much skeptical of magic and Sophie. She kind of eludes to the fact that their families have been there for generations, and she has been a victim of attempted murder by the villagers hundreds of times throughout the centuries so maybe those two try to take things 'into their own hands.' Pet also comes into contact with an old acquaintance and she wants to help her and meet Sophie but never gets the opportunity. So that could be a possible story arc.

Anyways, maybe this review will help you see why I had a hard time rating this book. Rough beginning, too much Sam, all throughout the book really not just the beginning, Pet is annoying and forgettable, but Sophie is one of the best characters I have come across in a really long time. And I need Ralph in my life. ( )