The author, herself a descendant of the famous witch trial judge, Cotton Mather, has written a novel about a Mather descendant who moves back to her ancestral home of Salem, MA and is faced with the descendants of the witches who were hanged. This book was a really fun, quick read. I liked the descriptions of Salem. The characters were likeable. The plot has romance, graveyards, a secret library, old grimoires, mean girls, a ghost, good witches and bad witches and a believable main character... all the ingredients for a supernatural teen romance. It is a very enjoyable way to pass a weekend. My one critique is that the plot involving the ghost's fiancee becomes a bit muddled by the end, which I really can't discuss more in depth without ruining it for you. Suffice to say, I still don't really understand the mechanics of how that plot line ultimately worked. Yes, I get that witchcraft was involved, but I think the jump from the past to the present could have been more clearly explained. ( )

This book is way underhyped. I really enjoyed it, especially Jaxon's character. I loved him. If you like mystery and witches, you'll probably like this. ( )

I wanted very much to finish this book but I didn't. I enjoyed the parts I did read and made it to about page 140 but I lost interest in the story. It just wasn't for me I guess. I am going to suggest it to my 14 year old daughter who is really into learning about the Salem Witch Trials. ( )

Paranormal YA is not really my kind of book so if you do like that sort of thing, you would probably give this a higher rating. I did find the parallels between the historic Salem witch trials and present day high school bullying compelling if rather heavy handed.

Adriana Mather, the author, did the narration and did a fine job (not always the case of author-narrated books). ( )

DNF at page 150

Why I DNF'd--The writing, the ghost, the M/C.

I was SO excited to get this book at BEA. It was a top priority going in because WITCHES!!! And SALEM!!! But ughhh this one was so hard to read. The writing, I felt, was not up to par. The main character was constantly in her own head and telling us every little stupid snarky thing she was thinking. I don't need to know that you thought "Yeah right" and then all the reasons you can't say "Yeah right" to a whoever. I KNOW why you don't want to or can't say certain things to certain people because I am not stupid. So please Samantha, stop treating me like I'm stupid.

Let's talk about the love interest(s)-- First off, the neighbor boy (who she meets in the first 2 pages) was a combo of 2 tropes I am so bored of. 1-- Sam instantly acts like she hates him, but it's totally obvious she thinks he's dreamy. 2-- he comes on super strong and tells her he likes within the first 2 conversations he has with her. UGHHHH- stop telling the girl you like her right after you meet her. The whole kissing thing was another disaster that added to my frustration. THEN a ghost romance started happening and I was like ????? I was fully prepared for maybe witches, but not witches and ghosts. Just no.

This had the potential to be a favorite book for me. The setting is awesome, the story has potential, but the writing needs a lot of work. A lot.

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