White is for Witching by Helen Oyeyemi

From the book’s title, I expected it to be cheesier than it was. I predicted some main character revelation akin to “OMG Mom was a witch and I am too!” and then it turns to a female-centric self-discovery story. Not that I don’t read those from time to time, but I wasn’t necessarily looking forward to another one. That was not at all what happened in this story. It was about a young woman living in England struggling with mental illness and her mother’s death. Miranda has pica, which is the uncontrollable urge to eat inedible things; in Miranda's case, it's chalk. Her father runs a cute bed and breakfast, but the house is a living entity, and wants Miranda for… well, I can’t tell you.

Eat this? No thanks.

         

It was much darker with random turn of events (why the hell was she a *******?!? ahem, sorry spoiler censoring). There were also POV switches between the house (a living entity), Miranda, and occasionally her brother and friend. The POV switches can be confusing at first, especially on an ebook.
           
Aside from the pica and the house, the rest of the story didn’t really make sense. Part of the plot is some immigrants are being murdered. I think she included the immigrant issue because that was what Oyeyemi was familiar with from experience, but readers don’t get enough insight into the problem.

Her father’s passiveness remained an issue throughout, and her twin’s indecisiveness. In addition, the maid was a source of magical knowledge but we never find out where she gets the knowledge from. I won’t tell you what she does or doesn’t do with that knowledge.

Also, I feel all the characters except Miranda are underdeveloped. That might be a plot device to train the focus on the house and Miranda, but I love characters’ stories from all points of view, and I think just having Miranda’s wasn’t enough for me.

Finally, I don’t think anything ever happened with Miranda’s schoolmate. I don’t know why she was there to begin with- to raise my hopes for positivity? Please don’t get me wrong- it could definitely get more depressing than what it is, but to say it’s anything other than a dark book would be lying to you all. 

I feel like I'm being negative about the book, but believe me when I say I still recommend this book for its haunting ending and unusual supernatural elements. Involving modern English issues like immigration and preserving history shows the writer to be aware of cultural elements. Of course, having a not-completely-trustworthy narrator like Miranda keeps readers looking for clues to whether she is crazy, or the house is haunted. And, at least a month later, I still can’t get over the ending.

Goodreads link