Book Review of The Burning of Isobel Key by Jen McConnel
The Burning of Isobel Key by Jen McConnel is a Scottish romp through the past with a small cast of characters and clever moments that really bring the story to life. Though the pacing occasionally dragged and motivations sometimes left me wanting, this book is a fun way to explore the Scottish history of witch hunting.
The Details
The Burning of Isobel Key starts off with a bang. Right from the first page, you see the accused witch in question—Isobel Key—being burned at the stake. You hear whispers of the people she supposedly murdered, and you wonder if this woman really is a witch of the evil sort after all.
Then you jump into the modern day. Our MC, Lou (a girl), quits her job in a flurry. She stomps out into the street and has a slew of “why the hell did I just do that” regrets, which I think anyone can relate to.
These two high-energy scenes are a magnificent way to start out. What’s more, the dual story arc continues—the narrative constantly shifts between two stories: Isobel’s, and Lou’s. This past-and-present movement is really neat and well done. Only one moment in this balance seemed out of synch to me: when Lou discovered a key plot point after we had already seen it in Isobel’s story. I wanted Lou to discover it, and then Isobel’s story to confirm it, but I guess that’s really just personal preference.
Spoiler (click to expand)
Another great aspect about this book was actually a moment later in the novel. In a surprise chapter after Isobel is tried and convicted in her story arc, we actually see her ghost hovering over her grave. This was so awesome that I perked up in my chair. I wasn’t expecting it, and I loved the idea that McConnel would come out and say, “yeah, she’s still there.” It made the ritual at the crossroads all the more significant knowing that it needed to happen. I only wish we’d seen her rest in peace, too…that would have been a powerful—and, frankly, awesome—scene.
As you can read from the synopsis, Lou travels to Scotland with her friend over the winter holiday. While there, she discovers a Scottish fling—and as short as this romance is (two weeks), it’s believable. I was kind of amazed. The instant attraction is there, of course, but they don’t stare at each other longingly upon first sight until one caves and asks the other out. This romance is slower, and I liked where it went.
The motivations in this novel sometimes irked me because on occasion, Lou was led to do things without any real reason besides “she wanted to do it and didn’t know why.” While I get that she’s on a path to self-discovery and has a unique sixth sense of sorts, this wasn’t enough for me to fully buy in. This isn’t a constant thing, but it did happen more than once.
A major conflict that crops up in the novel is accepting others’ religions: Lou is Wiccan, while her family and best friend Tammy are very Christian. Lou hasn’t even told anyone about her new religion, which she discovered in college—her family is that conservative. The religious conflict pops up about halfway through the book, and honestly, I just didn’t relate to it. That might just be me, though. I don’t buy into religious debates. There’s no right answer, and I just don’t give those debates attention. So I think that’s why I couldn’t relate to this conflict or the emotional moments that followed.
The characters were pretty realistic. I could relate to Lou, the quiet book nerd, and I think most introverts can. In the novel, she finds her voice and learns to stand up for herself, and that’s admirable. In multiple ways, she discovers who she is.
Tammy, her best friend, pissed me off. I think it’s because I had a selfish and loud best friend exactly like her, once, and that ended badly. So I’m probably biased. Tammy starts redeeming herself about halfway through, but then the religion conflict crops up. Once she started debating religion with Lou, I just lost all respect for Tammy. Even though there is resolution to this debate in the end, she sounded too narrow-minded to me and didn’t really bounce back from it in my eyes.
There are a few minor characters through the novel, and they were all well done. The love interest—I’ll keep his name secret so he’s a surprise—is dreamy and adorable in every way. The Scots the girls come across are fun and lively, and I enjoyed reading these side characters a lot.
All in all, I think fans of both historical fiction and contemporary fiction will enjoy this novel. There isn’t much in the way of paranormal, so this might not appeal to paranormal romance fans as much as I thought it would originally. However, you should give it a go. At a minimum, read the first few chapters and see what you think.
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