Review: Witches of East End by Melissa de la Cruz

Witches of East End by Melissa de la Cruz

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Hyperion (June 21, 2011)

Goodreads Description:

From the author of the highly addictive and bestselling Blue Bloods series, with almost 3 million copies sold, comes a new novel, Melissa de la Cruz's first for adults, featuring a family of formidable and beguiling witches. The three Beauchamp women--Joanna and her daughters Freya and Ingrid--live in North Hampton, out on the tip of Long Island. Their beautiful, mist-shrouded town seems almost stuck in time, and all three women lead seemingly quiet, uneventful existences. But they are harboring a mighty secret--they are powerful witches banned from using their magic. Joanna can resurrect people from the dead and heal the most serious of injuries. Ingrid, her bookish daughter, has the ability to predict the future and weave knots that can solve anything from infertility to infidelity. And finally, there's Freya, the wild child, who has a charm or a potion that can cure most any heartache. For centuries, all three women have been forced to suppress their abilities. But then Freya, who is about to get married to the wealthy and mysterious Bran Gardiner, finds that her increasingly complicated romantic life makes it more difficult than ever to hide her secret. Soon Ingrid and Joanna confront similar dilemmas, and the Beauchamp women realize they can no longer conceal their true selves. They unearth their wands from the attic, dust off their broomsticks, and begin casting spells on the townspeople. It all seems like a bit of good-natured, innocent magic, but then mysterious, violent attacks begin to plague the town. When a young girl disappears over the Fourth of July weekend, they realize it's time to uncover who and what dark forces are 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 summer read fraught with love affairs, witchcraft, and an unforgettable battle between good and evil.

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I was really interested in reading Witches of East Ends after reading the blurb and it certainly didn't hurt that it is written by Melissa de la Cruz. Although the story starts off just a tad slowly it really picks up after a bit. This is actually an adult novel but I am sure teens would enjoy this book if they enjoyed the Blue Bloods series by Melissa de la Cruz ( there are some sex scenes -not really graphic in my opinion-though so keep that in mind). For the author's first foray into adult novels I think she did an excellent job. The characters were so interesting (Ingrid is my favorite!) and I enjoyed watching events unfold.

The Beauchamps history is intriguing. There were enough descriptions in the story to give a good idea of who they are, but I would love to go even deeper into that. The sisters Freya and Ingrid are like day and night with Freya being the party girl wild child and Ingrid being the more serious and conservative straight-laced one. Their mother Joanna is a little less easily defined. Obviously, Freya provides a lot of the entertainment in the story but Ingrid is the character that really caught my attention the most (probably because I can identify with her more). After not being able to use their magic for so long once they started they just didn't want to stop, and who could blame them when magic is a part of them? You could almost feel a weight being lifted off their shoulders once they decided to continue to use their magic. It was then that I was able to get a really good idea of their character.

There was only one thing in the book that just didn't make sense to me and it involved knowledge of someone's identity. I won't say anything more about that but if you read the book you will probably understand what I mean...or maybe it is just me. Oh well, I was able to get past my confusion and still enjoy the book. There were quite a few surprising turns. I like that I wasn't able to figure everything out from the beginning and I actually didn't see most of it coming at all. I can't wait to read more of this series in the future!

4/5

*I received a copy of this book from the publisher. Any opinions expressed are my own