Cackle

By: Rachel Harrison

Narrated by: Dylan Moore

A darkly funny, frightening novel about a young woman learning how to take what she wants from a witch who may be too good to be true, from the author of The Return.

All her life, Annie has played it nice and safe. After being unceremoniously dumped by her longtime boyfriend, Annie seeks a fresh start. She accepts a teaching position that moves her from Manhattan to a small village upstate. She’s stunned by how perfect and picturesque the town is. The people are all friendly and warm. Her new apartment is dreamy too, minus the oddly persistent spider infestation.

Then Annie meets Sophie. Beautiful, charming, magnetic Sophie, who takes a special interest in Annie, who wants to be her friend. More importantly, she wants Annie to stop apologizing and start living for herself. That’s how Sophie lives. Annie can’t help but gravitate toward the self-possessed Sophie, wanting to spend more and more time with her, despite the fact that the rest of the townsfolk seem...a little afraid of her. And like, okay. There are some things. Sophie’s appearance is uncanny and ageless, her mansion in the middle of the woods feels a little unearthly, and she does seem to wield a certain power...but she couldn’t be...could she?

©2021 Rachel Harrison (P)2021 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"This witty page-turner put its spell on me! Cackle is a charming and very contemporary story about self-realization — a gal-pal Addams Family, in the best way. Clever and massively enjoyable.” (Zoje Stage, USA Today and internationally best-selling author of Baby Teeth and Getaway)

“Reading Cackle was like stumbling upon a candy cottage in a dark wood: utterly surprising, deceptively delightful, and a little bit scary, too. I gobbled it up in a weekend, cackling all the while.” (Emily M. Danforth, author of Plain Bad Heroines and The Miseducation of Cameron Post)

“Cackle delivers a lesson that every woman needs to hear: embrace your inner witch! Sweet, sinister, and 100 percent delightful.” (Alma Katsu, author of The Hunger and The Deep)

Loved it!

This was a fun story. Annie did drive me a little crazy, but after a ten year relationship that ended that way, she had the right to be messed up for a while. The story was hard to stop listening to. The characters were great. One of my favorite characters was Ralph. I want a little Ralph of my own (that`s all I will say about him so I don`t spoil anything). If you know anyone who loves a story that`s a little spooky, who loves stories about female friendship, and who likes stories about women learning what they really want out of life, then this book is for them. It a great story.

Don’t judge a book by its cover

At first you may think this is a silly story about a girl named Annie who is heartbroken and unable to do anything about it but you’d be wrong. This is a story about a woman realizing you aren’t “the other half” of a person, but a whole person yourself. You don’t need anyone else to make you happy, thats your job. I hope my daughter will read this book one day (quite some time from now) and learn this important lesson. Give this book a chance! Its not quite what it seems, its more!

Interesting story

I liked this story. I did find the main character to be annoying and desperate. Despite that, I still found her likable. I felt that the story could have been
a solid 4 star read. The problem is the big lead ups were anticlimactic and left me wishing for something more. I really thought the foreshadowing and dark hints would lead to a great ending, but instead I found myself a little disappointed.

Enjoyable

I really enjoyed this story. It was whimsical ....about witches, about friendship and cute spiders!

For a younger audience.

A "cute" witchy story .
I think this story is more for a younger or even pre-teen.
I loved the performance.

Cozy and relaxing

I wasn’t a fan of our main character. I found her very hard to root for and rooting for her is pretty much the main plot. The town and Ralph were my favorite parts of the book. It’s a slow read with not too much going on but nice to get lost in. TRIGGER WARNING: undiagnosed alcoholism that is never spoken about. The main character is drinking literally on a daily basis and often until she passes out.

Not Bad

The writing is choppy and uses adjectives to describe surroundings instead of drawing the reader in to feel and see what the FMC feels and sees. The secondary character is underdeveloped. The plot is interesting and takes a few unexpected turns. Over all a feel good book for light reading.

Great story

This story drew me in from the beginning. A must listen. I’ve listened to it twice!

fun

Fun read (listen)! Narrator was great, too! Definitely recommend. Refreshing compared to some of the cookie-cutter BS that is out now.

Wickedly good

I just wanted to listen to a fun, spooky-ish book for Halloween and thought I’d give this one a try. I really enjoyed it! It has a nice twist that I didn’t expect, and I liked the ending.