Review by Booklist Review
Witchy Eye, Butler's debut novel, is a unique alternative-history tale that is heavily influenced by urban and traditional fantasy and steeped in the folklore of the Appalachians. Sarah Calhoun, a young woman whose father is a powerful leader of the Appalachees, has a special gift for hexesand a physically deformed eye that helps her see power and auras. Sarah faces a myriad of foes and suitors from the beastkind to the Heron King and zombie-like creatures,as she pursues her birthright. Throughout the book, and right up to the end, Sarah continues to learn and discover her powers and what they mean as she finds and gathers new and interesting allies to her side. Fans of urban fantasy looking to take a chance on something with a twist on a historical setting may find this novel worth their time.--Kuczwara, Dawn Copyright 2017 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
In an alternate North America where magic is pervasive and the Appalachians are under the boot of Emperor Thomas Penn, 15-year-old Sarah Calhoun, youngest daughter of imperial war hero Iron Andy Calhoun, is content with her rural Tennessee tobacco-farming life, in which she gets to cast the occasional small spell. She's mostly come to terms with having a "witchy eye" that's been swollen shut since birth. When the priest Thalanes, an acquaintance of Andy's, arrives and helps to reveal that Sarah is not a Calhoun daughter but carries royal blood-and is being hunted by humans and magical entities in the service of the emperor-she flees with the priest and her smitten, protective cousin, Calvin, to find help in low and exalted places, reclaim her heritage, and discover what she's capable of when her eye finally opens. Butler's fantasy is by turns sardonic and lighthearted; ghoulish shadows claw into the most remote areas and heroism bursts out of the most unlikely people. Sarah is the epitome of the downtrodden hero who refuses to give up until she gets what she needs, and her story will appeal to fantasy readers of all stripes. Agent: Deborah Warren, East West Literary. (Mar.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
