A Witch in Winter
A Witch in Winter (Winter Trilogy, #1)by Ruth Warburton
Anna Winterson doesn't know she's a witch and would probably mock you for believing in magic, but after moving to the small town of Winter with her father, she learns more than she ever wanted to about power. When Anna meets Seth, she is smitten, but when she enchants him to love her, she unwittingly amplifies a deadly conflict between two witch clans and splits her own heart in two. She wants to love Seth, to let him love her – but if it is her magic that's controlling his passion, then she is as monstrous as the witch clan who are trying to use her amazing powers for their own gain. (goodreads.com)
Hmm. I wanted to like this book a lot more than I did. First thing I did was try to throw off my jaded view of paranormal literature these days and try to enjoy the story as I would have at 14 when I was head-0ver-heels in love with LJ Smith's Secret Circle series. Once I did that, I had a little less trouble with the story. The concept of moving to a small town, leaving your life behind and not knowing who one of your parents are isn't really original, but I will say that A Witch in Winter doesn't do too shabbily at trying to make this concept its own.There was a very fine line between instalove and not really instalove that I found tricky. Instalove was somewhat explained by a spell, but I wasn't totally buying it. However, in the days of All Instalove All The Time, I let it go. It didn't annoy me nearly as much as many other books, so it gets a pass. ;)I did like Anna a whole bunch. She wasn't a weak character and she was pretty snappy. I like me a sarcastic heroine. Especially one who holds her ground and doesn't change her entire life just because of a boy.While there were a handful of instances that made me roll my eyes, I will admit that had I read this story 20 years ago (oh, gods, I'm OLD!) I would have loved it from start to finish. It's very obviously a book that would tickle my imagination and magical discovery wish. (I'm still waiting for that Big Reveal that I'm an all-powerful witch, too. I'd sort of hoped it would happen by now. Darn.)Secondary characters in this book were also enjoyable and unlike other books I have read, I didn't find any overly unnecessary. Sure, there's the Mean Girl and whatnot, but I found everyone in this book to be well-written into the story. I really liked the curmudgeonly grandfather of Seth, and Seth wasn't all that bad as far as love interest boys are. I also truly enjoyed Emmaline and her dark, gothicy ways.Something that amused me greatly, and likely it'll only amuse ME because I am special like that, was that as I was staring at the cover one day (and thinking, Hey! There's a HOUSE in this photo!) I noticed that the cover girl looks an awful lot like a young Shannen Doherty from Charmed (among other things) and then lo! I read that one of the character's names is Prue - like in Charmed! I happen to really love Shannen Doherty, so this made me happy.Anyhoo... As far as teen witch books go, this one wasn't bad. It didn't blow me away, but I did enjoy it enough to crave the sequel as soon as I finished it. And as long as Book Depository doesn't go blocking my UK edition books again, I should be able to pick up the next one this summer.Three cheers for witchy teen books in trilogies! Hurrah! Huzzah! Wahooo!Winter Trilogy
- A Witch in Winter
- A Witch in Love - July 2012 UK
- A Witch Alone (well, now, this one doesn't sound particularly happy, does it?) - TBA