Sunday, December 30, 2012

Review: Witches of The East End by Melissa de la Cruz

THE DETAILS:
 Pages: 272
Genre: Adult Fiction, Fantasy
Release Date: 21/06/2011
Publisher: Disney Hyperion
Purchased Online.

THE BLURB:
"Move over, zombies, vampires, and werewolves, and make way for witches. Melissa de la Cruz, author of the best-selling Blue Bloods series, ably sets the stage for a juicy new franchise."
--Entertainment Weekly


The three Beauchamp women--Joanna and her daughters, Freya and Ingrid--live ordinary lives in mist-shrouded North Hampton, out on the tip of Long Island. All three are harboring a centuries-old secret: They are powerful witches forbidden to practice magic. But right before Freya's planned wedding to wealthy Bran Gardiner, a mysterious and attractive man arrives in town and makes Freya question everything. When a young woman turns up dead, it soon becomes clear to all three that it's time to dust off their wands and fight the dark forces working against them.



With a brand-new cast of characters, a fascinating and fresh world to discover, and a few surprise appearances from some of the Blue Blood fan favorites, this is a page-turning, deliciously fun, magical read fraught with love affairs, witchcraft, mythology, and an unforgettable battle between good and evil.
"A bubbling cauldron of mystery and romance." --People
"In her first novel for adults, the author . . . lets her repressed sorceresses rip." --The New York Times

THE REVIEW:
Before I had even read anything by this author 'The Witches of East End' was being released. There were  rave reviews everywhere about how good it was, but how you really need to understand how the world of Melissa de la Cruz works for it to make more sense. After reading just one 'Blue Bloods' novel I decided to give this book a try.

I was a little unsure of this book thanks to all of the references that they were using in other reviews and advertisements for it. I don't know how many times I had heard that it was like a mixture of 'The Witches of Eastwick' (movie) and 'Sex and The City' (show). This did not comfort me. I didn't really like either, and was glad to find that the book didn't really resemble THAT.

'The Witches of East End' follows the lives of three witches. Like the stories and the plays before it, there are three, they are related, And, they all resemble different aspects of the female life, at least at the beginning. As much as I like the idea of the three witches, rather than just one or two, I didn't appreciate that we had to follow the story of each one. I understand that at the end of the book nothing would have made sense without those other two stories, but out of the three Beauchamp women Ingrid was the only one I liked (at the beginning at least). Freya and Joanna both took a bit of warming up to.

One thing I loved about this book was it's small town-ness. I loved the idea of a small coastal town that was hidden away, hard for tourists to find. I liked that everyone new everyone. I guess anyone can half win me over with a small-town setting...

I wasn't into the sex aspect of the book, I don't know if it's just me (I generally don't appreciate sex scenes in novels; I prefer everything to be behind doors that the author doesn't let me into), but it was one of those things that could have ruined the novel for me.  I guess it was to be expected, because 'Blue Bloods' could be a little suggestive for a YA novel. The first part of the novel seemed to be all about the sex lives of some of the characters (including the mayor), but thankfully the novel is more about the actual story line as we get further into the story. This is also one of the reasons, I would have preferred for the story to be just about Ingrid.

The mythology of it all was very original. Like the vampires in 'Blue Bloods' books the witches are reborn again and again as different people, but they have memories of their past lives. The big mystery/problem in the novel and the mythology behind that too, was very well done. It was the sort of thing, where I couldn't actually guess what was going to happen next.

The story-line was very enthralling. I wanted to know what was going on, I wanted to know, I wanted to know... And, I wasn't sure that I was going to find out everything before the book ended, but I did, And, I still got an interesting ending. Not exactly a cliff-hanger, but a new discovery, a new problem. And, guess what? I want to know, I want to know, I want to Know....

Overall, I think this book is definitely a 4.5/5 star book. If it wasn't for the sex, I'd probably give it 5 stars, but that's probably just me and my personal taste. If you like the 'Blue bloods' books or books about witches than I think you will enjoy this. Can't wait to find out what happens in the sequel!

Your Favourite Blogger,
Natalie

1 comment:

Katja Weinert said...

I like the sound of this, I might try out the earlier series first.