Title: Bewitched
Author: Darynda Jones
Series: Betwixt and Between #2
A filler episode, but still entertaining
Thank you so much to Diane Crawford for letting me invite myself on the blog tour, LOL, and thank you to Darynda Jones for allowing me to read an ARC! (I believe she’s also the publisher but in case I have that wrong, thank you also to Feather and Leaf, LLC.)
You know those TV show episodes that don’t have much to do with the overarching plot for the season and just focus on a self-contained mini plot in order to kill time? I believe they’re called filler episodes. That’s totally what this book felt like to me. Or perhaps it’s more accurate to say this book was largely story padding for the trilogy.
The overarching plot of the series, as I understand it, is Defiance finding out she’s a rare charmling and coming into her powers while being hunted by witches and warlocks who want to siphon her power and kill her. That was the big bad threat introduced in book one, and while it’s mentioned here, there’s almost no focus on it. And honestly, it doesn’t feel like much of a threat at this point.
This book continues that main plot by having Defiance decide she’s scared of the evil witches and warlocks who will inevitably come for her, and she tries to preemptively bury her head in the sand. But she realizes she can’t just ignore the fact that she’s a charmling, so instead she begrudgingly embraces it. That’s the main plot of this book—she’s scared, then she gets over it. The book’s stuffed with all kinds of distractions—the Puritan, the secret passages, the attic, the coven, the lost things, mystery #1, mystery #2, mystery #3, Ruthie and her drama, the romance with Roane, Defiance’s relationship with Annette, trouble with the HOA—but if you look past all those details and subplots, you’ll see almost nothing happened to move the main plot forward.
Other issues: At times the writing was too full of itself. The first chapter was rather indulgent; the dream gag went on too long and I remember thinking, “Okay, ha ha, get on with it.” Ruthie and Annette got on my nerves sometimes; Ruthie behaved pretty selfishly and/or childishly—not endearing—and Annette just seemed to orbit Defiance and whine all the time. Their banter was funny, but a time or two it became exasperating like the first chapter—the love song bit, for instance, deserved a big red X.
Another thing that’s irritating but that I’ve unfortunately come to expect with Jones’s writing: we’re always left with more questions than answers. Some answers we never get.
These are more or less the same complaints I have about many of Jones’s books—too much going on and too many questions left at the end. Nevertheless, and at the risk of seeming contradictory, I love her books. Because despite those habitual faults, there’s still a lot to love about Jones’s writing: flawed, charismatic, endearing characters that I love to spend time with; intriguing mysteries and fascinating mythology (until she stops following her own rules or leans too heavily on ex machina*); and a fun and humorous writing style that feels energetic and inviting. Reading one of her books never fails to feel like hanging out with a very good friend—the one who has ADHD.
Overall, I feel this book didn’t move the main plot along and may not have accomplished much in general, but it was a fun read that sucked me in (after the first chapter) and if nothing else, I really enjoyed spending time with the characters. I very much hope the last book in the trilogy, Beguiled, which is due out in February 2021, gets more done than this one.
*A three-year-old who can time travel in her mind and get advice from her witch ancestors? Are you serious? Defiance is fallible and relatable as a person, but as a witch, she’s kind of a Mary Sue. She does no practicing and always claims she doesn’t know what she’s doing, yet in the moment a spell is needed, she can pull anything out of her butt. Jones, she’s a witch, not a celestial being. Don’t get your protagonists crossed.
