In August, I reviewed Book 1 in The Daughters of Dark Root series. I liked the book so much, I threatened to buy the box set of four. Well, I did. And I just finished reading Book 2: The Magick of Dark Root.
This is Maggie Mae’s book. In book 1, Maggie came home to the small Oregon town of Dark Root to join her sisters in caring for their ailing mother. Sasha Shantay, the matriarch of this witchy clan, is aging fast. Now Maggie has officially left Michael, because of his affair with Leah, and is falling for Shane Doler, a handsome cowboy/restaurateur who has a few magick powers of his own. She’s also brought home another surprise.
The quest for a strong wand—hopefully from the Lightning Willow as was her mother’s—and the management of her power are focuses for Magdalene in this book. “The willow cannot only heal people, but extend their lives, indefinitely, perhaps” says Larinda. Though she’s one of the antagonists in this series and not to be trusted, Maggie wants to believe a lightning willow wand will bring her mother back from the dead.
Necromancy is one of the themes in this book. Birth and Life meander through this story in many guises. While Maggie is carrying new life, she discovers she has the power to take life. This deathtouch is something she believes she inherited from her powerful, rebellious father, Armand.
I’ll confess. This was one of the creepiest parts of this story and I had a hard time with it. One night, Eve and Maggie go out to a local bar to make some cash hustling pool. Eve (like her biblical man-wasting counterpart) is dressed in a “tight, black, knit number that sat low in the cleavage and high on the thigh.” She’s also wearing a dash of her mankiller scent. She targets a middle-aged man who’s sitting alone and pours on her charm. Then her pool hustle begins. “Last game. Winner takes all,” Eve says, promising more than cash. All the while, Maggie is watching and managing the shots with her witchcraft. The man, who is now “drunk on alcohol, drunk on desire” starts moving in on Eve and the women get frightened. When Eve tries to leave, he objects and comes after her. Aggressively. Triggered by her own bad experiences with men, Maggie charges at the man, her power running full throttle and kills him. Shades of Thelma and Louise?
“For every spell there was an anti-spell. For every power, an opposing power. If I had the deathtouch, then someone out there had the lifetouch.“
This is not what creeps me out. It’s when they resurrect him and he rises as this giant zombiesque man-baby that they have to care for while they figure things out, that I start feeling yucky. The creepiest part for me is that Maggie suddenly becomes his mother. She treats him like an infant and tells him she loves him. It’s like some strange rehearsal for when her own baby is born. Except he’s not her baby. He’s a creepy guy that would have raped Eve if he had the chance and now he’s not even a guy.
But that’s just me. See what you think.
What will eventually happen to the resurrected Leo? Read to find out.
There are three books left in this series. Will I keep reading? You bet.
