Once a Witch by Carolyn MacCullough

Title: Once a Witch
Author: Carolyn MacCullough
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Genre: YA Fantasy
Pages: 292ISBN:  9780547223995
How I Read It: Paperback purchased by me.
My Rating: 3 Crowns

Synopsis: Tamsin Greene comes from a long line of witches, and she was supposed to be one of the most Talented among them. But Tamsin's magic never showed up. Now seventeen, Tamsin attends boarding school in Manhattan, far from her family.

But when a handsome young professor mistakes her for her very Talented sister, Tamsin agrees to find a lost family heirloom for him. The search—and the stranger—will prove to be more sinister than they first appeared, ultimately sending Tamsin on a treasure hunt through time that will unlock the secret of her true identity, unearth the sins of her family, and unleash a power so vengeful that it could destroy them all.

This is a spellbinding display of storytelling that will exhilarate, enthrall, and thoroughly enchant.

My Review: I had no expectations coming into this book, which I find usually makes me enjoy a book quite a bit.  It took some adjusting for me to get accustomed to the idea of Talent in this story – this isn’t a typical witch tale with nothing but spells and healing.  It was a little difficult for me to get used to the idea that the members of this family can do all kinds of wondrous things.

We get a lot of background info during most of the book, which I enjoyed because once I got past my initial frustrations, this was a pretty fascinating story.  It’s a witch story, romance, and mystery all wrapped into one!

Tamsin is an enjoyable character, a departure from a lot of the heroine’s you normally see in young adult novels.  She’s a typical teenager, going through frustrations with her family and trying to stand out from them, while not having any Talent and therefore already standing out.  But instead of just dying to have a boyfriend, she actually has other interests and aspirations, as much as you can at seventeen.

This is the start of a series, one that I will be happy to continue because I’m definitely interested in seeing what will happen next.  The mystery of Tamsin’s destiny is just starting, and I think it’s a journey that a lot of readers will want to take with her!

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