This book was devastatingly good.

A dark historical retelling of the Salem witch trials, Tallow and Bone follows Amity Mereweather, a young witch forced to flee England with her family, only to find herself in Salem as fear, accusation and violence begin to consume the town.

But beneath the witchcraft, forbidden love and historical horror, this is a story about women.

Women with voices. Women with knowledge. Women who refuse to quietly accept the lives chosen for them.

And the punishment they receive for it.

Amity’s story is heartbreaking, particularly in its portrayal of motherhood and postpartum depression. It doesn’t romanticise her darkness. It allows her to exist inside it, and I loved the care given to that part of her story.

This book is dark. Brutal at times. Infuriating at others.

Because while it takes place more than 300 years ago, some of its themes feel disturbingly familiar.

Women are still fighting to be heard. Still fighting for autonomy. Still fighting systems that would rather they stayed quiet.

But now, more of us are speaking.

And when women stand together, we are much harder to silence.

A haunting, devastating read that will stay with me.