Book Review: Born Wicked

Book: Born Wicked
Author: Jessica Spotswood
Genre: Historical Fantasy (YA)
Rating: 5/5
Page Count: 330 (Hardcover)
Favorite Character: Cate. I just really liked her.

Plot: (From Goodreads)
Everybody knows Cate Cahill and her sisters are eccentric. Too pretty, too reclusive, and far too educated for their own good. But the truth is even worse: they're witches. And if their secret is discovered by the priests of the Brotherhood, it would mean an asylum, a prison ship--or an early grave.

Before her mother died, Cate promised to protect her sisters. But with six months to choose between marriage and the Sisterhood, she might not be able to keep her word... especially after she finds her mother's diary, uncovering a secret that could spell her family's destruction. Desperate to find alternatives to their fate, Cate stars scouring banned books and questioning rebellious new friends, all while juggling tea parties, shocking marriage proposals, and a forbidden romance with the completely unsuitable Finn Belastra.

If what her mother wrote is true, the Cahill girls aren't safe. Not from the Brotherhood, the Sisterhood -- not even from each other.

Review:

Witches. I love witches, so I might be a tad biased in that area. However, this was a very good book. I liked the writing, how their powers worked, and that this book went ways that surprised me. It's been a while since a book surprised me as many times as this one did and it made me excited. The characters, also, were all so different and, I thought, likable. And they surprised you, which is what people do. Their powers, though, were interesting to read about. How the spells were derived from Latin and how they could be spoken out loud or done nonverbally. And, of course, how they were related to their emotions. They were written well, though, and in a consistant manor, they were fun to read about.

And the historical aspect was done well. And the history of witches, the burnings, was interesting. I live in New England and that made me a little more interested in how the author would incorporate the witch trails, if at all. Overall, I'd recommend this book to people who like witches or historical fiction with a bit of a paranormal twist. There's even some romance sprinkled throughout, which was just perfectly done.