Salem's Fury by Aaron Galvin

Salem's Fury

Author:   Aaron Galvin
Publisher:    Aames & Abernathy
Release Date: April 13th, 2015

Source: Received from the author in exchange for an honest review.

Sarah Kelly fears a father’s sins are revisited upon the children.
Her sister believes different. Adopted by the Miamiak and raised in the wilderness, Rebecca shares no such concerns. For her, memories of their early life and of Hecate’s attack remain dim.
But history condemns those who neglect the past.
When a war party brings news of a neighboring tribe attacked for harboring white folk, they demand the Miamiak aid in avenging their fallen brothers. With rumors the culprits were held in sway to a fearless witch on the rampage, Rebecca must decide whether to guard those she holds dear or seek vengeance upon a forgotten shade of Salem.

There was a lot I enjoyed with the first book in the Vengeance Trilogy,  but that feels overcast by how much I loved this wonderful follow up. Aaron Galvin takes us back into the world of the Salem Witch Trials, but this time, we see through the eyes of the Miamiak. 

Rebecca is a formidable spirit, with a wild nature that is easy to embrace and adore. While Sarah could sometimes be passive, Rebecca is anything but. I love when books have a strong female lead, but especially one that feels believable like this. Rebecca was skilled, but not unbeatable. She was brave, but not without fault. There is something very human and very complex about her personality that made her feel like a kindred soul.

I think Aaron did a good job of linking back to the first novel; it was done in a way readers who jump straight from book 1 to 2 don't get that "when we last left our heroes!" rush, but also left enough clues people who maybe took some space between the books (like me) could easily get back into it. While sometimes I dislike time jumps, this one felt satisfying. I liked seeing this startling growth in Rebecca, and liked seeing a new story taking place within an existing world. The old problems still exist, but it's someone else's turn to solve them. And not to knock Sarah, but I think Rebecca is much better equipped to handle it all. 

This book had plenty of twists and turns, and I won't lie, there were tears in my eyes at a few points. It had some of the dark spookiness from the previous books, but it felt very real. Personally, I like stories like this, where the dangers were things that honestly existed at the times. Yeah, there are terrible things happening here. But sometimes, life gets a little grim. 

Overall, this may be my favorite of Aaron Galvin's work. I just really relate to Rebecca, and like to think maybe there is a piece of her in me. That's the best sort of feeling you can come away from a story with, in my opinion. But how can you not like her? 

I guess my philosophy is something like this: some female characters are helpless, some are fighters, and some are phoenix; when you try to take down a phoenix, they just set the world ablaze. I'd put my bets on Rebecca. She's got her own spark, and I'm excited to see what it does next.