Born Wicked

Goodreads Description of Born Wicked (The Cahill Witch Chronicles #1) by Jessica Spotswood:

Everybody thinks Cate Cahill and her sisters are eccentric. Too pretty, too reclusive, and far too educated for their own good. But the truth is even worse: they're witches. And if their secret is discovered by the priests of the Brotherhood, it would mean an asylum, a prison ship--or an early grave. Then Cate finds her mother's diary, and uncovers a secret that could spell her family's destruction. Desperate to find alternatives to their fate, Cate starts scouring banned books and questioning rebellious new friends, all while juggling tea parties, shocking marriage proposals, and a forbidden romance with the completely unsuitable Finn Belastra. But if what her mother wrote is true, the Cahill girls aren't safe--not even from each other.

This one's been out for over a year, but I only finally got around to reading it just recently.  But since it's just been published in softcover and the sequel is coming out in a few months, I thought it would be a good one to start off my book reviews with.

First, let me say that I love the original cover and I'm not a fan of the new "prettier" one. There's something, well, wicked about the model's pose and clothing and the style is far more gothic and in keeping with the setting of the novel.

The second cover looks like Witch Barbie goes to Salem.

Of course, nothing particularly wicked happens in Born Wicked - in fact, not  a lot happens at all. I've read a few other reviews online and one of the main complaints about the book is how passive and whiny about her own abilities the main character is.

It's a valid complaint, but I found that this book had me hooked in for the long haul (it's a trilogy I believe). The world building is strong, the romance is engaging, and I'm willing to go along for the journey.  I'm sure we will see Cate grow and change and I enjoy a trilogy that pulls me into a character's development rather than being episodic and showing little personal change. 

And the setting - kind of a throwing of the Puritan movement into the future after some vague disaster that clamped down on technology and freedom - is a fresh take on the whole fantasy/dystopian genre. 

So buy it. But try to find the original hardback in the discount section - it will look much prettier on your shelf.

I'm still looking for some star icons that will match the look of the blog, so until then, here's how the rating will go:

1 star: don't bother
2 stars: it was just ok
3 stars: it was good, I enjoyed it
4 stars: it was very good and I recommend it
5 stars: you'd be crazy not to read it!

Born Wicked comes in at 3.5 stars - it would have been 4 except for the new cover!