Review: Once a Witch

by Carolyn MacCullough
publisher: Clarion Books
date published: September 14, 2009
format: hardcover
pages: 292
source: library
Amazon / Goodreads / B&N
challenges: Goodreads 2011 Reading Challenge; 2011 YA Reading Challenge

From Goodreads:

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.

What I Thought

Once a Witch was a very odd read for me. I wasn't really into the first half of the book, but was enthralled by the second. In fact, it feels almost as if I just read two separate books. There were various factors that left me feeling a bit cold toward the first half of the book, almost all of them to do with Tamsin. Tamsin is the odd girl out in her family of witches. As such, she spends much of the first half of the book doing the stereotypical "My family doesn't understand me. Watch me drink/smoke while underage and act like I'm above it all so I can prove my point," routine. That kind of stuff gets very old very fast and it is so predictable that I could immediately tell where the story was going. I just knew, given that information, that she was going to be put in a position to become both the catalyst and the solution to whatever big problem was going to present itself. This might be a commonality in many YA books these days, but it felt a little too easy this time. Perhaps if there had been other things besides Tamsin's rebellions in the forefront, it might not have been so painfully noticeable.

The second half is a different matter. For me, the second half was this book's saving grace that will have me reading the second book in the series (though I doubt I will be adding this series to my personal collection). I really enjoyed the time travel element in this book, as well as the vast array of Talents held by each member of Tamsin's family. The villain was a nice touch, as well. He really gave me the creeps and I was anxious as I observed Tamsin trying to outsmart him. Rowena, even taking her superiority complex into consideration, really drew my sympathy as she was caught in the clutches of the villain. Watching Tamsin try to save her sister was probably the most compelling part of the book for me.

I don't really know what else to say about this book. I can't exactly call it a love-hate relationship, but I had a lot of trouble really diving into the story. It is probably just one of those things where one reader is going to love it while another hates it. I'm somewhere in the middle, leaning just a little toward loving it. I will be curious to see what direction Always a Witch will go in. I truly hope I enjoy it more. I would love to see it be more like the second half of Once a Witch. That would be a book I could get behind. I give Once a Witch 3 hoots.