Witch #1

Once A Witch by Carolyn MacCullough

TITLE: Once A Witch
SERIES: Witch #1
AUTHOR: Carolyn MacCullough
PUBLICATION DATE: September 14, 2009
PUBLISHER: Clarion Books, an imprint of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing
PAGES: 292 pages
FORMAT: Hardcover
SOURCE: Purchased
RATING: 5 stars

Tamsin Greene comes from a family of witches who all possess a special Talent. All except her. When she was born, her powerful grandmother prophesized that she was be the one of the most powerful witches her family had ever seen and they had high expectation. But when her eighth birthday rolls around and nothing manifests, everyone starts distancing their selves from the only person in the family to not develop a talent. Her best friend, Gabriel, moves away just before this so there is no one to really comfort her. When a gentleman shows up at her family’s bookstore asking for her sister, Rowena, to help him find something (one of the many services her family offers), things really start to unravel. Everything she knows changes and when her sister’s life is put in danger, she’ll stop at nothing to save her.

I had seen this book at Ollie’s several times and though it caught my attention, I never picked it up because I am sometimes iffy and witch books. It’s only logical to be so since there are so many. They are like the vampire and werewolf novels, every fucking author seems to feel the need to write about them these days. I realize not all of them are bad (in fact most are quite good), but weary of the bad ones, I am hesitant to read them unless I know someone who has enjoyed them. Anyway, stuff happened and this was one of the few books I had on my flash drive last week, so while waiting for my computer class to start, I started reading. And I couldn’t stop. I ended up transferring the pdf to Luna (my kindle) so I could read it any moment I had to spare. This book is one of the great ones. I really loved it.

Things I liked:
– I loved Tamsin. She is quirky, rebellious, sarcastic as hell, and has a decent sense of humor.
-There are no love triangles. There is just Tamsin who is attracted to Gabriel and Gabriel who is attracted to Tamsin. There is no angst over which guy to choose, just those 2 on an adventure to save the day.
-It is written in first person. I love things written in first person because I always get a better feel for the characters.
-It doesn’t shy away from sexual innuendos. Some YA novels do these days and it bugs me. I hate to break it to anyone out there with a teenage daughter 16 and up, but sex does cross their mind and is a topic that will be discussed with their peers. That being said, this book has no sexual content. Tamsin and Gabriel kiss a time or two, but that is it. My point is more that it isn’t an issue that is just completely left out. I love how Gabriel is portrayed as an amazing guy who does think about it a lot, showing that guys don’t have to be either or. It’s something I think YA is lacking these days.
-Gabriel. Yeah, I am so still going through that phase where I love all the main male characters. Hot, sarcastic, and he plays guitar…need I say more?

-I liked the ending. This doesn’t end in a cliffhanger. Tamsin and Gabriel save the day and though they don’t ride off into the sunset, there isn’t a massive cliffhanger there is grade on my nerves. The ending just leaves it open for another book.