Omens Bite continues the witchy exploits of Mercy and Hunter Goodeville, twin sisters separated by grief and anger.

Mercy…

Okay, if you read my review of Spells Trouble, then you already know I did not like Mercy at all. So when I picked up Omens Bite, I had been hoping for some character development on her part.

I think my hatred of her grew.

Mercy is oblivious to her sister’s pain. Her problem is that she does not listen to anyone and thinks she is right. She forced her sister to forsake her god on some old riddle, one she misinterpreted. And in doing so, she hurt her sister significantly.

But does she care? No. Not once does she seek to try to understand her sisters’ pain. Instead, she continues to brush it away. It would be easy for her to understand her sisters’ pain, to acknowledge that she was wrong and made a mistake! But no, she does not do that once.

Then, probably most annoying, is her usage of British colloquialisms like “bugger me.” Half the time, I want to smack her and tell her she’s not British. But, unfortunately, it only serves to make her more superficial as a character and, in some ways, highlight how self-involved she is.

Her voice and attitude create a superficial tone that makes reading her POV in the struggle annoying.

Hunter!

Hunter, on the other hand. She was amazing. This character is experiencing grief on multiple levels, and the reader becomes invested in her. It also helps that she is coming into her skin here.

In the previous novel, she had her own POV, but because of the narrative and structure of the story, she felt like more of a sidekick to Mercy. That was until the end of Spells Trouble when she invokes a powerful goddess and ends the life of the cyclops who terrorized their town.

Hunter tries to figure out who she is without her sister and mother. She is trying to navigate her world without the god she has always known, with a new goddess that sometimes frightens her.

Final Thoughts

Overall, I liked Omens Bite. It delves more into the Wiccan lifestyle with realistic and respectful detail. And while half the book, Mercy’s half, annoys me, I still enjoyed the whole story.