SPOILER ALERT!

Reading progress update: I've read 100%.

Once a Witch - Carolyn MacCullough

This was quite a surprise, truly. In some ways it reminded me of the Witching Savannah books, The Line - J.D. Horn, but I liked the MC more here and the mythology around the family.

 

The Good:

  • Tamsin- she's a great main character, not perfect, but not too stupid to live either.
  • Girl on Girl Friendship- Agatha exists throughout the book and not just as a foil to Tam or just as bait for a bad guy.
  • Lurve- There's a little bit of romance, and the romantic interest is charming. No instalove. No stalking. No maudlin "I cannot live without yoooooou" draaaama
  • Magic- (I guess I should say Talent instead of magic.) I really enjoyed the way MacCullough constructed the magic in the story. There were rules and she followed them.

 

The Not as Good:

  • Big Bad- I felt like the first book barely scratched the surface of who and why. While I know there's a sequel (which I'll be getting soon) and you don't want to give everything away right at the start, I didn't feel like we had any real idea of the Big Bad's goal. I mean,
    I know sort of generally that he wants his mag-oops, sorry, Talent back, but we don't have any real idea of what happened.
    (show spoiler)
    It felt more like a set up, like the two books were split into two and this one wasn't the full story.
  • POV- This was told from Tamsin's point of view, which works for me, but it leaves the reader at a disadvantage as she doesn't know the what's of things either. Normally this is an opportunity for the reader to find out as the MC is discovering information, but the matter at hand is so encompassing (as it should be) that there's little time for Tamsin (and so the reader) to really learn about the full mythology and history. 

 

All in all though, as I mentioned in my update yesterday, this is a fun read that I flew through. If you're looking for something fun and witchy this is a great choice, highly recommend. Now, off to buy the sequel Always a Witch