Mark of the Wicked

Though the human names etched into Matilda Hollowell’s face burn night and day to remind her of the cruel spells she has inflicted, she feels no compunction about using her magic against her Gravewick Academy classmates. A lineage witch with the rare ability to conceal such scars, Matilda shuns her mother’s coven and ignores her largely nonverbal grandmother’s cryptic warnings. But as Halloween approaches and animals in town wind up dead with Matilda’s name scrawled over them, she battles blackouts and hallucinations (and police attention) while seeking the comfort of crush Oliver, a witch in training. And once she turns 17 and receives her family’s grimoire, Matilda learns information about her bloodline’s lore—including more about the legend of Ivy, Matilda’s ancestor who was cast down a well—and questions whom she can trust and whether she can change her ways. In this breathlessly told, consuming portrait of a witch’s relationship with loneliness and power, debut author Bowers crafts an intricate backstory that highlights detailed witchcraft rituals and themes of violence against women. Animal cruelty and gore are prominent, and plot points are easily guessed, but the default-white protagonists are elaborately drawn, and the novel’s eerie atmosphere lingers. Ages 13–up. [em](Aug.) [/em]