Book Review: Witches of East End

I was HUGELY excited when I read the synopsis of this book. With mythology, science fiction, witches, gothic writing, and some romance, I thought that it was right up my alley! It seemed like the perfect antidote for those forced to read Twilight against their will (like myself). The first thing I thought of when I read the back of the book was "this is going to be a modern day The Witches of Eastwick"! I was so wrong. The mythology, gothic writing, and even science fiction were thin while the romance was straight from a steamy harlequin novel.

The novel revolves around sisters Freya and Ingrid and their mother Joanna who live in a small town on Long Island. They are all witches but were forced to give up their powers centuries ago. When Freya falls in love with the handsome millionaire of the town, her heightened emotions set fire to a bunch of flowers. When her sister, Ingrid sees this witchery she feels that she can no longer deny her powers either. She begins treating lonely hearts and fulfilling unrequited love during her lunch break at the library. Inspired by her daughters, Joanna brushes up her magic by entertaining a little boy that brings back sad memories from her past. When violent events begin to occur in the small town, the residents start to turn against the family of witches.

I have to say that I devoured the first hundred pages or so without even coming up for air. I was completely enthralled. However, after about page 137 I started to lose interest as the story began to become more and more bizarre. As a frequent reader of science fiction, even I found the plot far-fetched. The characters went from being intriguing with a great deal of potential to two dimensional character sketches. The epilogue made it clear that this novel is meant to be the introduction to a series which made me excuse some of its flaws. Still, I can't deny that it got to a point where I just wanted it to be over. For fans of the Blue Blood Series, this seems to be a hit but for those who are not, I would said to proceed with caution.

-DLP