ARC received from Penguin
On Shelves Now
Reviewed by: Middle
Sis Jenn
The Sisters Say:
Beautiful, Infuriating, and Chilling
Cate doesn't want to be a weapon, and she doesn't want to involve her friends and Finn in the Sisterhood's schemes. But when Maura and Tess join the Sisterhood, Maura makes it clear that she'll do whatever it takes to lead the witches to victory. Even if it means sacrifices. Even if it means overthrowing Cate. Even if it means all-out war.
In the highly anticipated sequel to Born Wicked, the Cahill Witch Chronicles continue Cate, Maura and Tess's quest to find love, protect family, and explore their magic against all odds in an alternate history of New England.
This is by far my favorite series that centers around
witches. I love how Jessica weaves magic
into a world full of prejudice and fear—a world rife to explode at any
moment. Fans of Born Wicked will find
themselves on the edge of their seats—watching and waiting for the oracle to
come forth, for love to be discovered, and for a war to begin.
My favorite aspect of this series is the setting. I love the picturesque setting of quaint
towns on the brink of a new century coupled with the tension and paranoia that
bubbles through those very streets. I’ve
always been fascinated with historical tragedies such as the witch trials and
Salem, and Jessica does very well in showing how a small spark of fear can
catch hold and become an inferno. The
terror and suspicion is evident in every action, every word, and every
character.
I still love Cate as a main character, and what I love even
more is that Jessica doesn’t hold true to the ya stereotype that the main
character is the most important one. It
makes it so that the story is told from a different point of view in a
sense. I thought this made Cate even
stronger character because everyone has been looking to her for guidance, so
she knows the pressure of what is expected.
SPOILER: We get a very strong
hint as to who the prophesied witch is at the end of Born Wicked, and I got
frustrated that the beginning of this book acted like the final scene in BW
never happened. It was like everyone
(including Cate) didn’t have any clue as to who the prophesied witch actually
was. It kind of made me feel like Cate
was a bit daft in the head.
Maura was just as infuriating as ever, which is a good and
bad thing. It was great because you know
an author has written a character well if you wish that you could grab the girl’s
hair and pull as hard as you can just so she can get a small glimpse of the
pain she causes. But, then it’s a bad
thing because I truly loathe her. She’s
nieve, obnoxious, reckless, prideful, and just plain mean. One might say she suffers from the “quintessential
middle child syndrome” but I think that’s a bunch of quackery because I’m a
middle child and I’m not a crazy, hateful (insert bad word).
Finn was just as delightful as ever, and I found myself
disappointed that he wasn’t in more scenes—especially since his scenes are so
yummy! I loved the protective side of
Finn; and on more than one occasion I just wanted Cate to run away with him and
forget about the rest of the world. But
of course Finn is too honorable for that (I keep wanting to say Flynn because
my son is watching Tangled!).
The pacing of the book was up and down for me. I felt like everyone was constantly on the
edge of a cliff, teetering and almost falling over. The problem was they were there for the
entire book, and it got to the point where I just wanted something big to
happen to start the impending war.
Something big does happen, but it’s not until the last 3 pages. I wanted more action, more magic.
Overall, this was a great sequel, even though it did, at
times, fall into the 2nd book slump.
But the bang of an ending makes up for it, and I am so ready for their
world to implode. Allegiances have been
declared, deceit has been unmasked, and the war has started.
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