Waking The Witch by Rachel Burge

Ivy sees things lurking in the shadows. Things that shouldn’t be there. Things that she doesn’t want to meet in her dreams.

When her estranged mother gets in touch out of the blue with messages of fear and anguish, her life takes on a weird and supernatural twist. An ordinary shift at the Butterfly Farm soon turns into an escape from the shadow’s dark clutches, she flees with her friend Tom and together they drive to the only place she can find answers – Bardsey Island.

The island sits off the west coast of Wales, surrounded by menacing seas. Legend claims that it is the resting place of Merlin and many other brave souls laid under its earth. The holiday homes are empty now that autumn approaches. The only person who stays the winter is her mother, someone she hasn’t seen for too many years – too many foster homes and unloving guardians have separated their lives. What if she isn’t there? What if she doesn’t recognise her? Why are these evil shapes following her, screeching her name and trying their best to seep into her mind?

“I tried to keep you safe, but I see now that I can’t. They won’t stop until they have you…”

After a wild journey across the rough seas, Ivy and Tom make it on to dry land and up to the Lighthouse where the huge beams are red instead of white – as if enticing ships to the rocks rather than warning them to stay away. Although Ivy’s mum is delighted to see her safe and well, there is an urgency in her proclamations of danger. Ivy senses spirits at play, they tell her things she doesn’t want to believe, things she doesn’t understand. It’s not long before the dream trip of reuniting with her mum becomes her worst nightmare.

Unknown to Ivy, she has powers that she cannot comprehend but as each passing moment on the island brings clarity to some of the questions she has had burning inside her for so long, she soon realises that she is not what AND who she thought she was all these years.

In a race against time and the demons that hound her, she must face her fears, accept who she really is or lose everything she has grown to love.

Rachel Burge’s ‘Waking the Witch’ is a spectacularly spooky YA novel that will take the reader on a roller coaster ride of epic proportions, blowing open everything we ever knew about things that go bump in the night. An all-consuming tale of sisterhood, friendship and learning to trust your instincts NO MATTER WHAT! Another fantastic addition to my Burge collection (The Twisted Tree & The Crooked Mask).