Review: Once a Witch by Carolyn MacCullough

No more vampires! Witches? Witches I can handle.

Tamsin Greene comes from a family full of powerful witches, who all received their powers on their eight birthday - all, except her. Tamsin is seventeen and has not experienced a drop of magic. Even her family is careful not to use their own magic around her. An outcast in her own family, she goes to boarding school in New York City, far enough away from her magical family to find a place where she belongs.

While home on summer break, she meets an NYU professor who mistakes her for her older, and very powerful, sister, Rowena. He asks for her assistance in finding a lost family heirloom. She accepts the challenge, which takes her through space and time, and brings her face to face with a truth that could cause a war between two witching families. Once she opens the door, it can not be closed again.

Well written. Engaging. Interesting. Exciting. Once a Witch is a coming of age story, a romance, and a thriller all wrapped up into a tight, fast-paced novel.

The Young Adult shelves are becoming awfully crowded with supernatural books. I found Carolyn MacCullough's to be a stand-out among so many. It's not the best YA supernatural book I've read, as it was slightly predictable, but it has likable characters, great dialogue, and a strong basis for a sequel, without leaving too many loose ends.



Watch the Trailer:



Visit the Once a Witch website to read an excerpt, and learn more about the author, sequel, and more!
Visit the author's website:  Carolyn MacCullough

FTC Statement:  I borrowed a copy of this book from my local library.

About the Book:
Once a Witch by Carolyn MacCullough
Reading level: Young Adult
Hardcover: 304 pages
Publisher: Clarion Books (September 14, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0547223994
ISBN-13: 978-0547223995

What Are You Reading?

This is only my second week of participating in What Are You Reading? and I am already welcoming a new hostess.  Welcome and thank you to Sheila at One Persons Journey Through a World of Books.  

Since I am still new to What Are You Reading, let me explain:

This is a weekly event where I will post the books I read last week, the book I'm reading currently, and the books I plan on reading this coming week.  It not only satisfies your curiosity of what is going on with my bookshelf, I'm also hoping it will keep me focused. (Not so focused this week)

Books Completed Last Week:

Book I am Currently Reading:

Books I Plan to Read This Week:

Book GIveaway: Congratulations!

Today is giveaway day!!

Thank you to all who entered, and thank you, especially, to Hachette Book Group for providing TWO of my lucky readers with a copy of The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks.

Go to Review:  The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks for my full review.

Now, without further ado, here are the winners, chosen by random.org:

1.  Elizabeth
2. Sister Honey Bunch (Judi)


I will contact the winners via e-mail.  If I do not hear back from them by Friday, I will draw another name.

Thanks again to everyone!

(Now, who is coming with me to see the movie??)

Review: The 13th Hour by Richard Doetsch

Brilliant!

Before the story begins, there is an author's note:
You are not mistaken as you turn to the next page and find Chapter 12.  The chapters of this book are in reverse order and ar to be read that way for reasons that will become evident upon your journey.

Yes.  I was sucked into this story before it even began.

The 13th Hour by Richard Doetsch begins with a murder. Julia Quinn is found dead on the floor of her home, and her husband, Nick, learns he is the only suspect. Emotional and angry over the death of the love of his life, Nick is not sure what to think when a mysterious man enters the interrogation room and offers him a solution in the form of a watch and a letter, which states:

"You've been given a gift, Nick. A gift to live twelve hours of your life over again."

The watch allows Nick to go back in time, one hour at a time, until he can find the man responsible, and save his wife's life. Desperate to bring his wife back, Nick accepts this quest. Each hour he goes back, he returns to the hour prior to the one he just left. Every instance Nick goes back in time, he learns something or meets someone that complicates everything else he had previously known.

Time travel is tricky in any story - whether it be a movie, television show, novel or short story. Why? Because there are always particulars that could drive you mad. Also, because when a story is written poorly, it becomes an utter mess.

On the other hand, when a story is written well, and a reader is able to accept the time traveling for what it is, without dissecting its flaws, the story as a whole becomes a great ride. Richard Doetsch is brilliant at not allowing the story to become bogged down in the time travel, rather he uses it as the tool in which he unwraps the mystery, layer by layer, clue by clue, hour by hour.

I am afraid I'll give something away by saying too much, so allow me to share one last thought.  I have read murder-mysteries before.  I have read novels about time travel.  I have read my share of thrillers as well.  All of that being said, The 13 Hour was unlike any book I have ever read before.

Well written, exciting, and very hard to put down!  Brilliant.

About the Book:
The 13th Hour: A Thriller by Richard Doetsch
Hardcover: 352 pages
Publisher: Atria (December 29, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1439147914
ISBN-13: 978-1439147917



FTC Statement: I borrowed a copy of this book from my local library. (I am addicted now that I know how to reserve books online!!!)

Book Giveaway: Only 3 Days Left to Enter!!

Tick tock.  Tick tock.  Tick tock. 

Time is running out!  Enter to win!

Click here to be directed to the post where you can enter to win a copy of The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks.

All you have to do is comment on the original post.  Be sure to include your e-mail address.  Contest ends at midnight, Sunday, February 7th and winners will be posted here at Alison's Book Marks on Monday, February 8, 2010.