Jilo

Witching Savannah, Book 4

By: J. D. Horn

Narrated by: Mia Ellis

Length: 12 hrs and 42 mins

Publisher's summary

Aged Mother Jilo is wise in the ways of magic...but once upon a time, she was just a girl.

1950s Georgia: King Cotton has fallen. Savannah is known as the "beautiful woman with a dirty face," its stately elegance faded by neglect, its soul withering from racial injustice and political corruption.

Young Jilo - fiercely independent, intelligent, and ambitious, but thwarted by Savannah's maddeningly genteel version of bigotry - finds herself forced to embrace a dark power that has pursued her family for generations, an ancient magic that may prove her salvation...or her undoing.

Explore the fascinating history of one of the Witching Savannah series' most vivid and beloved characters, as the resourceful and determined Jilo comes of age, strives to master formidable magical skills in the face of overwhelming adversity, and forges her strange destiny against the turbulent backdrop of the civil rights struggle in the American South.

©2016 J. D. Horn (P)2016 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.

My favorite!

Engaging characters and original plot. Narrator is easy to listen to and makes characters distinctive.

Perfect addition to the series

Mia Ellis is the perfect compliment to JD Horn's book; together they bring Jilo's story to vivid life. Jilo is my favorite character in the Witching Savannah series and it was wonderful to see her explored in depth, from Mother Wills' loving protection to Jilo coming into her own. First we follow May, her grandmother, and her relationship with magic and raising her granddaughters. A villain is introduced and we see him again in Jilo's life. (Not sharing more than that - spoilers, sweetie!) The second half is Jilo's story, her ambition to become a doctor, meeting Guy and the Taylors, and her powers.

Took off half a star: My only complaint is the villain's death is almost anticlimactic, but taken in context, it works.

While this is just a companion book, I would recommend this first and then the series. The Line and the source of the magic she and Mercy Taylor share may make more sense in how it's introduced in this book than in the series. This book could also be read alone, but I don't think you'll be able to resist reading the others.

Should've been book 1

What did you like best about this story?

Learning Jilo's story after listening to the other 3 books.

Any additional comments?

The rest of the books would've been better understandable had this book been listed as book 1, because the rest of the books makes references to the story of Jilo that would've connected the books together. This book was still a good book and I enjoyed it immensely.

STIRRED MY SOUL!

I never write reviews... but this! This is a work of art! I have never experienced such sou-shaking details from ALL of the characters! The history, the pain, the anguish, the true times of how things were, everything within the book makes me want to sob that it is over!

The narrator did the best job I've ever heard! The writer, oh my word... I read the previous three books involving some of these characters along with Mercy, which I enjoyed, but this book takes the cake. This is a true work of art, I am rocked to the core.

I cannot say enough good things about J.D. Horn's talent. I wish the story continued....

It might not start off super-fast, but when it takes off, it zooms. Hold on and listen carefully b/c there is a reason for all of the details. Don't miss out.

JD horn does it again!

I was having withdrawals from this series, now I intend on re-reading the series so that I can see it with more perspective on Jilo. I may or may not have used a sick day to finish this book. (if my boss reads this I was absolutely sick *cough*).

This story should have ended with the last book

Way too long and scatty. Too much jumping back and forth through time and really hard to follow in general compared to the last 3. The series was respectable till this book. It was like scraping the bottom of the bowl to get this story out. The performance of Mia Ellis was as usual great.

I hope this will be a stand alone series.

Mother Jilo was my favorite character from The Savannah Witching Series. I loved how this book started with Jilo's great Grandmom on down to her with how they got involved in hoodoo.

My only issue was I was finding it really hard to reconcile this Jilo with the Mother Jilo in the series. They didn't connect. Also, in the series, Mother Jilo is always being accused by the witches of "stealing magic" but in this book, that is not how I perceived it. She didn't "steal" the magic. If anything her and countless women in her family before her were always manipulated to take in the magic even though they really didn't want to. Just because they weren't born witches didn't mean they had no rights to magic.

The ending felt a tad rushed. I feel like Jilo could've been part of a stand alone series and then the ending could've reconciled better in a second book.

Overall I still loved it. I loved the historical accuracies, the culture and the details. I could imagine everything in my mind with no problem. The audible reader was pretty good too. I would definitely recommend you read this book if Mother Jilo interested you at all from the series.

I put a spell on you.

this book like the others scared me it's spooky just everything that's mentioned in it but it's so interesting addicting and I can never get enough of them I love these books and I hope there's more to come

Great back story

I had a hard time getting into the story, but once I did, I was totally engaged. I loved learning Jilo's back story and getting a glimpse into the machinations yet to come. While this story precedes the Witching Savannah Trilogy, I agree it's best to listen to this story last, as its more like getting the AH-HA moment later. If you listen to this first, you'll lose some of the anticipation and mystery in the Trilogy.

Good story, but lacked it being complete

I really liked the story and the background of jilo;however, I was expecting to fill in some of the gaps of how the taylor/wills families harbored more of their strife. Also, how Jilo started using her magic again to the point we started the series. I think it's a good stand alone book, but not a continuation or extension, really, of the series.