This is very highly rated, and seems to be very in demand at the library (but also in Hoopla/audio for immediate availability). While I don't have anything negative to say about the story or the writing, it just wasn't for me. 

One of my favorite books from childhood was The Witch of Blackbird Pond. This has some slight similarities with the setting, a young girl come from out of the community and struggling to fit in, the church and the charges of witchcraft. Here though, there is a supernatural element. It takes a while to even understand, and I'm not sure if I ever really did. There's a Fae feel ... Forest, Creek and Sky, animal's with a child's face. There is the "beast" ... Slewfoot, is he Satan/Lucifer, other names from the Indians, or Father (nature)? Is he evil. I just got a little lost with this part of the storyline.

There was some extreme violence and torture on a more realistic scale ... the "trials" and punishments by the church. It was a little hard to push through. Frustrating in that there is truth to that part, and with any torture ... "just tell us what we want to hear, regardless of the truth" or torture continues. Having some church struggles, I easily see the hypocrisy of some of the situations but then again ... Abitha HAS "made a deal with the devil" and isn't completely innocent and the people aren't completely wrong (although it's so frustrating to see the group mentality and how easily the innocent could be called out). 

I was intrigued by the story at the start, but nearer the end it was more of an ordeal to push through and I couldn't wait for it to be over so I could move on. I've purposely been  attempting to manipulate my "mood map" pie-chart on Storygraph (dark, tense, mysterious) but those are NOT my usual, and for a reason ... it just is too much at times.

One thing I note is when a song is included in a story - in the audiobook, is it "spoken" or sung. Here, it was sung. The narrator had a lovely voice. Not sure if it is a real song or if a melody had to be created for the audio. 

Third person/Past tense.
Cover - the image is very representative of the story.
ProFanity (x7), some sexual stuff (slight) and violence (blood, gore, death, torture).