Book of the Moment: Once a Witch

Title: Once a Witch
Author: Carolyn MacCullough
Hardcover: 304 pages
Publisher: Clarion Books
Release Date: September 14, 2009
Source: Library
Intrest: Synopsis





Sysnopsis:

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.
~Goodreads

My Thoughts:

When I was looking at this book in the library, I was fascinated by the cover but even more of the synopsis. I hadn't read a good urban fantasy book since reading Balefire   by Cate Tiernan. I also read the first few pages and it intrigued me so I went with it.

The character of Tamsin is not that different from average 17 year old. Except what makes her different is she lives with a family of witches with incredible Talents and she's the odd one out that doesn't wield any magic, what so ever. She's annoyed and hurt by this fact and she's jealous of her sister, who has all the charm and magic of a powerful witch. Tamsin's a type of girl that delivers smart ass one liners and smokes cigarettes when thoroughly stressed. She's what would seem a normal girl, in a very UN normal family. She also has that cool, downtown sort of girl,  spunk, that downtown New York girls always seem to obtain.

The romance however, was just a bit lacking. It didn't even really heat up till the end. It was there, but it definitely wasn't one of the more prominent situations! Gabriel, the guy she was into was very cute, but flat in my opinion. He was like any other cardboard cutout of a dream guy in YA novels. Cute...but no personality really except for a few clever jokes here and there. He's definitely not a "Dimitri from the Vampire Academy series swoon worthy" type of guy.

I thought the action was fun to read about though. It was fun seeing them go back to the past and the whole past, present, future time travel thing was so interestingly orchestrated by the author. Everything fit perfectly, although a little dangerously, together! The action was very well one of the more finer points in this book.

Ultimately, this book was a fun read but not one of the most amazing books I've read. The book was original and different but lacked the spell binding effect. It was action filled and definitely a engaging story!

I give it a 3 out of 5 CHEWS!

Does this sound good? Buy it from your local bookstore!