Review by Hillary: The Line (Witching Savannah, #1) by J.D. Horn

Title: The Line
Series: Witching Savannah #1
Author: J.D. Horn
Publishing Company: 47North
Pages: 305
Released: February 1st 2014
Genre: Fantasy/Paranormal/Mystery

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.

Purchase @ Amazon | B&N | Indiebound | The Book Depository

When I first accepted to read The Line by J.D. Horn, I was determined to stick through the story and read the whole book no matter how long it took. In the end, I was pleasantly surprised when I found myself turning to the last page much sooner than I thought I would and feeling rather desperate to find out more. 

From the moment I first opened up the book and turned to page one I just couldn’t find myself losing interest. Rarely does this happen with other books, but in this case I was hooked from the start. I liked how the author managed to capture my interest from the beginning by introducing his new and main character, Mercy Taylor, to the end where I got to see just how much growth she was forced upon depending on the events.

Mercy was definitely one of those characters I could relate to most of the time and I also found myself connecting to her in ways that hardly happens in other books with other characters I've read before. I found myself laughing and smiling whenever her spunky personality shined through and I liked how she showed her true colors. One thing that did make me mentally cringe a few times was how she could forgive easily towards those who had done wrong to her. This actually happened more than once and I just wanted to shake her and make her see reason. I wished she would have given those moments a little more thought. On the other hand Maisie Taylor, Mercy’s twin sister, almost had me thinking she was just as kind and noble as Mercy until a turn of events happened about halfway through. That was the moment I knew that Mercy was most likely the only rational character in the story. There were so many other characters contributing to the story as well, including Mercy’s aunts, uncles, and possibly two love interests that made this feel truly real.

The pacing was also very well thought out. I found it amazing how the book started out subtle and slow enough to get to learn Mercy and her family a little more, to the start of mysterious events that make you wonder if the antagonist is someone in the family or someone out of it, to ultimately finding out the truths with a quicker pacing and holding your breath from being utterly surprised by turn of events coming at you from left and right. All of these qualities in the story managed to make it that much more distinct, but also very riveting.

The Line by J.D. Horn was an awesome, well-written, and impressively thought out book all wrapped in one. I feel that the connection I had with Mercy made me feel desperate to read the sequel ASAP. I seriously am so glad to know that The Source will be out in a matter of months and hopefully I’ll be just as wowed and amazed as I became with The Line. I cannot wait to continue Mercy’s story and see just how much more growth she will go through as hopefully more obstacles are thrown her way. I also hope that readers take notice of this book as soon as it’s released because it’s definitely not disappointing! It definitely held the two components I love in a story and some; a little bit of romance, action, and paranormal. I definitely recommend this one!

4.5 - Totally Awesome! I loved it, would read again.

Thank you Hillary for the lovely review! 

Be sure to check the author's website & facebook page.