I received an advanced readers copy of this book from the publisher via net galley

This book did not live up to its blurb. I was expecting magic, instead I got a story about abused foster kids being used for farm labor, with the background of something magical. This book made me feel dirty and depressed.

First, the use of "foster" kids. We know they aren't fosters--they are payments to the family from leaches who want the medicine that Mama Joseph hawks. They are brought up in what can only be squalor conditions, as at least 7 of them live in a trailer together. With adult figures who use them to farm the land for the family business and are beaten when they step out of line. One of them gets sent to the main house to marry the matriarch's son. And conditions there are no better than in the trailer--maybe even worse manipulations and abuse.

Second, the incestual lust of Cello for Joanie is disgusting. Yes, they are not really related, but they function as a family and eww, just eww.

I would have enjoyed this more if they went more into rituals that the women used, and Helen and Joanie's discovery of their (craft/spirtualism/withcraft) and the history behind the vine. But we just got a she did this and then her mind went a little nuts.