Kimba: Book Review: Born Wicked

I could probably sum up my review for Jessica Spotswood's Born Wicked with this story:

I was supposed to get the book weeks ago, the review was due yesterday actually. For some reason this time, my book was lost in transit and after a few emails back and forth the wonderful women of the Blogher Book Club sent me a copy themselves. It didn't arrive until yesterday, and I promised them I'd finish as quickly as possible. I started reading a few chapters during Wyatt's nap time and found it was going to be a quick read. Nothing I'd go picking up myself, Young Adult and witches don't usually hold anything for me, but enjoyable.

I didn't get to pick it up again until after Wy went to sleep, but then something happened and suddenly I found myself finishing the book at 1 am. I'd been sucked into a vortex of reading! It's the best kind really, the kind of book where you finish, or even just finish a chapter, and look up in a sort of daze and realize that, oh yeah, you're not a witch in the early 1900's. You're sitting in your living room at 1 am, bloated and pregnant, with a three year old in the next room who's bound to wake up in a mere 6 hours. I'd been officially hooked.

Born Wicked is the first in a series called The Cahill Witch Chronicles, it follows a trio of sisters, all witches, in New England in the early 1900's. Cate, the oldest, must look after her two younger sisters since their mother (also a witch) has passed, and keep their secret safe. Witches used the rule the area but have been stifled and forced into hiding by The Brotherhood, an organization of men who've taken it up on themselves to govern the city and rid it of witches. Witches used to be hanged or burned at the stake, but are now sent to asylumns or work camps, never seen again.

Of course there's more to the story, Cate must choose a husband to marry soon or the Brotherhood will do it for her, but I don't want to give too much away. While I wasn't big on The Hunger Games, I did fall prey to the Twilight series (only because a friend gave me the book and told me to read it without looking at the back - she knew I'd not want to if I'd known it was about vampires!) and this series seems to have captured me like Twilight did.

And yes, at 1 am I went to check when the next in the series is due out: February 2013. Cruel and unusual punishment, though I still recommend you check it out!

I participate in the Blogher Book Club & am compensated for my review, however, all opinions are my own!