Once a Witch Book 1

Once a Witch by Carolyn MacCullough

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I must admit I really struggled to get into this book. It took me at least a week of falling asleep after two pages every night. But seeing as it is listed on so many of my book club challenges I decided I just had to persevere. And I am very glad that I did.

During the first couple of pages of this book, when Gabriel and Tamsin started making eyes at one another I thought I was going to deal with another doomed (teen) love story. Imagine my surprise when the love story is only the smallest part of this first book.

I really enjoyed this book. The writing style of the author is easy and uncomplicated. The writing is not overly descriptive as so many books tend to be as the writer clearly has confidence that the story will set the scene in its own right without the writer having to inform your imagination to paint the picture for you. You therefore have a lot of scope in terms of imagining the characters and their surrounds and how the story unfolds.

Although I have not read anything by Carolyn MacCollough before, I shall definitely look forward to the next book in this series as well as any other books by her in the genres that I read.

******** SPOILER ALERT ********

The story follows Tamsin who was supposed to be one of the most powerful witches in her family of witches and turns out to have no "Talents" at all. She is very bitter about this and resentful of her perfect older sister Rowena, who can compel people with the sound of her voice and can seemingly read the future. Tamsin does not want to spend time with her supernatural family and feels cruelly left on the outside of their Talent filled lives. Enter Gabriel, her very old friend from the past, who she has shunned because of their differences (him having a Talent and she none) and very subtle sparks fly. He is sure to be her love interest in future books.

Trouble brews when Tamsin pretends to be Rowena in helping a seemingly innocent customer in finding a family clock which was lost in the past. She engages the help of Grabriel in travelling to the past to find the clock and unknowingly releases some of the power of an enemy and evil family of witches (the Knights) whose power was trapped by her family more than a hundred years ago to stop them from doing evil. Things start to go horribly wrong when Rowena is enslaved by the the newest Knight on the scene who seeks to release the Knight family power once again.

Tamsin and Garbiel have to make more trips into the past to save Rowena, but in the end, regardless of them saving Rowena, Alistair Knigth still succeeds to travel back in time and seemingly wipe out Tamsin's family.

Will have to wait until the next instalment more of what happens between Tamsin's family and the Knights shall surely be revealed.

A resounding two thumbs up!







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