4.5 of 5 stars My Five Word TL:DR Review: I absolutely loved this book I’ve had A Witch in Time waiting to be read for a little while, a review book to boot – which makes me feel very bad for not reviewing it much sooner – but this year has been a tad strange for me and you know what they say about the best laid plans? Anyhow, one of my blogger buddies recently left me a comment basically asking what I was waiting for so I thought – ‘what the heck, I’ll pick this up next’, and I’m pleased to say that this book bewitched me. Of course I’d read and loved The Ladies of the Secret Circus so I had an inkling this might work it’s magic and I’m happy to say I was totally gripped. I’m not going to elaborate on the plot too much here. The story revolves around a young girl in Belle Epoque France who embarks on a disastrous romance with an artist and is mistakenly cursed by her own mother. The curse itself involves the two characters being reborn throughout eternity, fated to meet and fall in love over and over again but never to find happiness together. The winning elements of this story are threefold. I loved the time periods that the author chooses to bring each different iteration to life in, I really enjoyed the character’s individual stories and I thought the writing was beautiful. So, firstly, the settings. We start the story with a modern setting where we meet Helen, a successful journalist, recently divorced and about to embark on a blind date. Helen plays a main role throughout the course of the story, in fact she starts and concludes the book. Helen is soon to discover that this is not her first time round, in fact she has three previous ‘versions’ of herself to catch up with – and this is where the fascinating settings come into play. The youngest version is the young girl called Juliet, muse to artist Marchant. Living in rural France, Juliet’s future has been mapped out already and it’s not one she likes the idea of. Ultimately Juliet wants to see Paris and strangely enough her doomed relationship sets off a string of events that will eventually take her there. I loved this setting, the descriptions of the apartment, the different areas and the way Sayers, almost casually, manages to capture the essence of the place and time. From there we find ourselves travelling to New York, onwards to Hollywood, over to Los Angeles and New Mexico. I loved all these settings and was totally caught up with each story. This brings us to the characters. Effectively there are three central characters. The original artist Marchant, Juliet (his muse) and a character known as Luke Varner who is a demon roped into administrating the ‘curse’ (which basically means he helps bring the characters together and facilitates their different lifestyles). Juliet is reborn a further three times. Nora, an aspiring actress in Hollywood during the 1920/30s. Sandra, a talented musician on the brink of success with her newly formed band and finally Helen who we met at the start. Each time Juliet is reincarnated it takes time for her to become aware of her former life or lives and so we follow Helen’s story as she gradually becomes familiar with the three previous versions of herself. Marchant is similarly reborn into each different period and the two are relentlessly drawn together (although he is more an unwitting player in each thread and never reminds his previous roles). Luke, well, he waits around until he’s needed, never really changing, just ticking along waiting for his next gig. What I really enjoyed about this aspect is that each version of Juliet becomes stronger than the last. she eventually shares all their memories and experiences and with each rebirth learns something new about herself. Interestingly each character seems to find a way of making their own mark – Juliet is forever immortalised in paint, Nora is a short lived but successful movie star permanently caught on camera, Sandra enjoys a brief moment of ‘almost’ fame when the band she plays with are given the opportunity to make an album which brings us to Helen. She’s slightly different in that her talents lie more in the magic she is able to wield, the history of which will all be revealed during the read. What I really admire here is that the author brings to us a very unusual love story which made for great reading. I would point out though that this isn’t what I would typically define as the ‘romance genre. What I also hadn’t really thought about until writing this review is that Sayers has included a love triangle. So, here am I, I don’t like love stories and love triangles are one of my pet hates – and yet I loved this. I raise my hat to the author and confess myself gobsmacked. In terms of criticisms. Well, I mentioned above that this is unusual by which I mean it doesn’t follow the traditional course for a love story. I would also point out that all of Juliet’s reincarnations suffer in some very dark ways and certain aspects will definitely be triggers so think about that before picking this up. I certainly wouldn’t discourage anyone based on those aspects but just wanted to be clear that this is sometimes a spattering of grim rather than a sprinkling of fairy dust. Also, the actually, ‘witchy’ elements to the story are written with a very light touch. The magic here is more the rebirths of the characters over and over and the way their stories collide and interlink. There is a little magic but it’s more the power of suggestion (thank Obi Wan ‘these are not the droids…’ as oppose to broomsticks, wands and ‘hubble bubble’). Slight criticisms aside, I thoroughly enjoyed this. The writing is excellent, I loved the historical elements and the way that so many other aspects tied into each story. It was compelling, interesting and incredibly entertaining. I received a copy through Netgalley, courtesy of the publisher, for which my thanks. The above is my own opinion.

Tears. This book brought me to tears. I had to take a moment once I finished reading it to assemble my feelings. It helps that I got the perfect soundtrack - Show You by Baby Rose. Juliette is a beautiful 16 year old in rural France who starts a doomed love affair with Marchante a married painter. She falls victim to a curse which binds them together for eternity. They are forced to come back and each time and repeat the cycle of falling in love and having a disastrous relationship, which always ends tragically. Juliette comes back as Nora an actress in the 1930s, Sandra a musician in the 70s and Is currently Helen a magazine editor. The curse they are under is administered/maintained by a demon called Luke Varner who always shows up when Juliette/Nora/Sandra/Helen starts to awaken the curse and her powers. Burdened by the memories and knowledge of the curse, can Helen break the cycle so she doesn’t have repeat this tragic cycle? To say I loved this book is an understatement. I was gripped from the start and fought sleep to keep reading it. This book might mention witches and demons and magic but it is really about reincarnation. I’ve always had an obsession with reincarnation so maybe this is why this story appealed to me so much. Exploring the lives of these woman and the patterns they are forced to repeat was enthralling. They are the same but also different. There’s always differences each time she comes back and she grows in strength and character. Marchand also comes back slightly different each time but retains that core element of creativity. Luke is the only constant who sees and knows everything. It’s hard to describe without giving spoilers but in summary this is a beautifully sad love story about reincarnation. I loved every version of the characters - even when I didn’t like them. Juliette in all her guises has annoying sides but shows growth. Marchante in all his guises is an obsessive creative but isn’t always bad or selfish and has moments of love. Luke the all seeing demon has moments of human foibles. Love comes in unexpected ways and deepens throughout the book. The end destroyed me and gave me hope at the same time. I loved it, This is a strong contender for book of the year for me and I won’t forget it in a hurry.

I loved this book so much. I think it may just be my favourite book of 2020. This is my favourite kind of book, witchcraft and magic, history, and different life’s through time with a little bit of romance. This book is beautifully written and manages to capture and portray so much between its pages leaving you feeling quite emotional at the end. This story is about one woman and four lives. Starting in France in 1895 a sixteen year old Juliet enters into a doomed romance with a famous artist that sees her being bound to him for the rest of eternity. We follow her to 1930s Hollywood and 1970s California. On her fourth reincarnation as Helen in 2012 she may at last have a chance to finally break the cycle.

This book took me completely by surprise. I picked this up after reading the synopsis and seeing it around a bit on social media but have to admit I wasn’t expecting to enjoy it as much as I did! The main character, Helen as we are first introduced to her, has lived many lives due a curse placed on her and is doomed to repeat a disastrous love affair. By her side through these lives is the “administrator” of the curse, a man who knows details of all her previous incarnations and those of the curse itself. Helen learns of each of her previous lives gradually over the course of the book and the way the story moves back and forth between her current life and those of the women that came before her makes for compulsive reading. Each story has something unique and we see how Juliet/Nora/Sandra/Helen’s relationship with Auguste/Billy/Rick/Roger, and of course Luke, unfolds. This book reminded me a lot of the work of Taylor Jenkins Reid, though I’m not sure if that’s because the life of Nora reminded me of Evelyn Hugo and the life (or at least the setting) reminded me of Daisy Jones. I’d hope that people wouldn’t dismiss this book as fantasy/paranormal because it has such a wider appeal. The repeated lives, use of witches and demons may be tools from the fantasy genre but the story that this book tells is one of star crossed lovers, doomed romance and the search for redemption. I’ll be looking out for more from Constance Sayers.

A Witch in Time is a beautiful book in the way someone who is has been incredibly ill for so long welcomes death; by that I mean it is sweet, sad, beautiful pain. Constance has a fantastic ability of telling a story through time; the writing made this story like a several headed child - all the same person, with slight differences. I will say I wasn’t hooked from the start, I had to give myself a while to get into it but can honestly say I’m very glad I did! This mix of time and magic; the creatures that come with both those things was really just like looking at this vintage photograph of something pretty but unsettling in the best kind of ways! I think of so many things when it comes to this book; Outlander, A Secret History of Witches and it may be because it’s several times but a little of Cloud Atlas on a more personal scale! Thank you to netgalley for this wonderful arc!