Written by bestselling author Rachel Hawkins – writing as Erin Sterling – The Ex Hex has become a viral TikTok sensation. The novel centres around Vivienne Jones, a young witch. While she was nursing her broken heart, drowning her sorrows in bubble baths and vodka, ‘accidentally’ places a curse on her ex-boyfriend with her cousin Gwen. Now, nine years later, Rhys Penhallow has returned to Graves Glen, Georgia to quickly recharge the town’s key lines. However, once multiple calamities befall Rhys, Vivi quickly realises that their may have been something behind that supposedly harmless ‘Ex Hex.’ Whilst trying to unravel the curse and lift it from Rhys and the town, Vivi and Rhys find it nigh impossible to deny their chemistry as they work together.

The Ex Hex by Erin Sterling is a very quick read, but for those expecting something clever from Rachel Hawkins, this is not it. The Ex Hex feels childish at times, not just with the content but the writing itself. Whilst an enjoyable and easy read, the characters feel quite surface level and so the reader is not suckered in in the way they have been in her other works. Honestly, we’d give this one a miss, despite its TikTok viral crown.

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The Prophets has quickly become one of ‘the’ books to pay attention to in 2021, marking Robert Jones Jr. as one of the writer’s of the moment. The most talented writers are one who enable the reader to ‘feel’ something – whether positive or negative. There is no doubt that this is a startling novel that positions Jones Jr. as a masterful wordsmith, making the reader feel incredibly uncomfortable and horrified in equal measure.

The novel is set on the Halifax’s cotton plantation in the Deep South (Empty). Jones Jr. paints a bleak landscape of human suffering – children separated from their parents, mothers dying in childbirth and near unfathomable cruelty. The story centres around the relationship between Samuel and Isaiah – slaves who work in the barn at the plantation. Having grown up together, the two fall for each other and are drawn together by their intense connection. Their relationship is set against a backdrop of varied characters – both slaves and slavers – from Maggie who likes to care for the couple to Paul, the owner of the plantation. 

The novel is difficult to read at times, both in the complicated web of characters that is sometimes difficult to follow, but also in the near unimaginable cruelty that is inflicted by the slavers on the slaves – from the disgusting language used to the visceral depictions of physical violence inflicted. Jones Jr. has painted an incredible picture of fortitude and perseverance in the face of this cruelty that is immensely powerful. There is no denying that he is a talented and masterful writer, but the novel could have done with a more streamlined cast of characters in order to understand the various characters and therefore feel a greater sense of injustice at their plight.

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