Review: Tallow and Bone by Rhiannon Hargadon

October 6, 2026

Synopsis:

If Salem would rather kill witches than let them exist, how much will one witch sacrifice to save it?

After her family flees allegations of treason in Europe, Amity Merriweather hopes Salem will be a fresh start. Instead, she finds a land poisoned: Toxic relationships. Crop failures. Sick children. Deep-seated superstition and irrational fear. With every death, the curse buried beneath Salem’s cobblestone streets grows stronger.

Gifted with rare earth magic, Amity has spent her entire life hiding, suppressing her magic. She has a chance to heal the town before hysteria turns neighbor against neighbor. But Salem doesn’t want saving. Every acre of poison she clears will risk discovery, and she’ll get no thanks from its citizens.

Meanwhile, Amity must choose between two very different men:

A male witch hardened by abuse, who would gladly burn Salem to its poisoned roots… Or a scarred shoemaker with a heart too generous for its own good. Knowing which path to take requires knowing both men, but more importantly, it requires knowing herself.

Amity has worn as mask for so long, she no longer can be sure of who she truly is.

As accusations mount and innocents are dragged to the gallows, Amity faces an impossible choice. Keep sacrificing herself for people who would rather see her burn—or abandon Salem to the curse consuming it.

Review:

A book about witches that is set in the centre of the witch trials? Count me in. Amity and her family are on the run from those hunting them down. How they ended up in Salem, which is exactly where you would not want to go if you were trying to stay hidden and safe, gave the story a sense of urgency and promised to make it not only dangerous but also very interesting.

Learning to adapt, finding people like her, and protecting both herself and her family is no easy feat. Then there is the handsome man who keeps his face hidden and to whom she feels strangely drawn.
Overall, this book tried to deliver on many fronts and, while I enjoyed a lot of its elements, not all of them were equally successful for me. The dangerous situation was the aspect I was looking forward to. Everyone was in danger of being outed as a witch, and it cost many people their lives. The fact that someone could be accused of witchcraft any day, by anyone, made it clear that no one was safe.

Amity never got the chance to fully develop her powers and even felt a bit ashamed of being a witch. Watching her come to terms with that, accept who she is, and try to help improve the situation in Salem was the part of the story I connected with the most. I would have liked to see more actual witchcraft, though. It was a major focus early on, but along the way I felt as though it was largely set aside in favour of other plot developments.
The love triangle, though, was the weakest part for me. I loved George and how caring he was. He was there for Amity whenever she needed him, and I felt like she never fully appreciated everything he had done for her.

Overall, I enjoyed the book. It could have been shorted down quite a bit in my opinion. Some parts felt a bit dragging for me. It also felt like we left the things I really enjoyed the things I was looking forward the most behind and the second half felt like a different book to me in parts.

🌙 Recension: Tallow and Bone by Rhiannon Hargadon
📚 Genre: Dark Paranormal Romance
📅 Release Date: October 6, 2026
📖 Publisher: HRS Books
📗 available in various formats – included in Kindle Unlimited
📱 Read as: Kindle
💸 I received a free copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.
🗣️ Language: English
📆 Pages: 234
⭐️ 3.5/5