Witches of East End
Summary
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.
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.
3 POV's
The book switches between 3 different characters point of view, Joanna the mother, Ingrid the oldest daughter and Freya the youngest daughter. Each chapter was around 7 pages make the book fly by and really hard to put down. Many times the chapter ended with a gasp and you would have to wait a few chapters till it got back to that characters POV.
Joanna: A mother many times over, since she is immortal she will birth the sisters again if and when they are killed. Poor woman is very lonely and regretting a few irrational decisions she made in the past.
Ingrid: She is a strict librarian, always collecting fines and giving harsh lectures about treating book properly and not doggy ear-ing the pages or breaking the spine. I personally like Ingrid the most out of the 3 characters, she is the level headed sensible one.
Freya: A very entertaining character, she loves to love. Love is free flowing and handed out freely, but this does start to get her into trouble.
Mythology of the World
This book actually took me the whole book to figure out this world's setting and parameters. If you have read her other series The Blue Bloods, you will understand some of this world for they are in the same world. A character from the Blue Bloods novel even makes an appearance.
A Few Clarifications
The witches are forbidden to practice any sort of magic
They are immortal and if they die they are reborn
Each witch will specialize in their own type of magic: resurrection, fixing knots, and love potions
They can fly on brooms, forbidden as well
Greek and Norse Mythology and some Witch History
Some Greek mythology is introduced into the book, a bit more Norse (which I know very little of, so I think I now need to read more into it) and even some Salem witch trail history is woven into the story.
Not Another Cliffhanger
The end was fairly well summed up. Most of the loose ends for the story were closed and brought to a conclusion, but at the every end there is an accusing sentence that really threw me for a loop. I don't know what character to trust, who is lying and manipulating and who the innocence character is? I guess I now have to wait again.
Recommendation
Adult paranormal series, if you have read Melissa's other series you should check out this series as well. But if you haven't read it, don't worry it still is separate from the series. Fast paced read, I read it in one sitting.
Releases
June 21, 2011
Information
I have not a clue how long this series will be
If you haven't read the Blue Blood series I suggest you check it out
1) Blue Bloods
2) Masquerade
3) Revelations
4) Van Alen Legacy
4.5) Keys to Repository (short stories)
5) Misguided Angel
5.5) Bloody Valentine (short stories)
6) Lost in Time September 27th
7) Final book Fall 2012
A new spin off series from Blue Bloods
Wolf Pact Fall 2012
Events
She will be at a few different CA locations this month and next month
Check out her Events page
The most exiting thing is I will get to meet her in Seattle in October
She will be at a few locations for the Smart Chicks Kick It 2.0 Tour
2 comments:
Oh yay you got an early copy! I can't wait to check this book out. I love the cover and it might be one I end up buying a print copy of.
I didn't realize the chapters would be so short, but I can imagine that it will make them fly by. I'm such a huge fan of the Blue Bloods series so hopefully I won't have the same issues with the world. And I loved meeting Freya in Bloody Valentine.
Thanks for the tip about lack of cliffhanger. Very good to know as I'm dying in the Blue Bloods series for each book's release.
Great review!
Sounds interesting. I'm curious to read witches. :) And this sounds like a great read. Thank you!
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