Witches of East End by Melissa de la Cruz

Summary/Cover Image from Publisher's Website:

From the author of the highly addictive and bestselling Blue Bloods series, with almost 3 million copies sold, comes a new novel, Melissa de la Cruz’s first for adults, featuring a family of formidable and beguiling witches.

The three Beauchamp women—Joanna and her daughters Freya and Ingrid—live in North Hampton, out on the tip of Long Island. Their beautiful, mist-shrouded town seems almost stuck in time, and all three women lead seemingly quiet, uneventful existences. But they are harboring a mighty secret—they are powerful witches banned from using their magic. Joanna can resurrect people from the dead and heal the most serious of injuries. Ingrid, her bookish daughter, has the ability to predict the future and weave knots that can solve anything from infertility to infidelity. And finally, there’s Freya, the wild child, who has a charm or a potion that can cure most any heartache.

For centuries, all three women have been forced to suppress their abilities. But then Freya, who is about to get married to the wealthy and mysterious Bran Gardiner, finds that her increasingly complicated romantic life makes it more difficult than ever to hide her secret. Soon Ingrid and Joanna confront similar dilemmas, and the Beauchamp women realize they can no longer conceal their true selves. They unearth their wands from the attic, dust off their broomsticks, and begin casting spells on the townspeople. It all seems like a bit of good-natured, innocent magic, but then mysterious, violent attacks begin to plague the town. When a young girl disappears over the Fourth of July weekend, they realize it’s time to uncover who and what dark forces are working against them.

With a brand-new cast of characters, a fascinating and fresh world to discover, and a few surprise appearances from some of the Blue Blood fan favorites, this is a page-turning, deliciously fun, magical summer read fraught with love affairs, witchcraft, and an unforgettable battle between good and evil.

Review:

Prior to Witches of East End, I had read and enjoyed several books by Melissa de la Cruz (including her Au Pairs series, which are perfect summer reads, and Angels on a Sunset Boulevard) so it was no surprise that I liked Witches of East. What was surprising, though, was just how much I liked it, or more accurately loved it. Full of witches, spells, and fantastic world building and writing, Witches of East End truly is one of the best new paranormal reads out there!

For the Beauchamp family life has been merely average for the past few years in their beloved beachside town of North Hampton, New York. Joanna, the mother of the family, lives a quiet life, tending to her old house and entertaining the little boy whose family leaves behind her. Ingrid, Joanna’s eldest daughter, loves her job at the local library, even though its budget keeps being slashed. Freya, the youngest, is the wild child of the family, who bartends at a local bar, and is about to marry one of the hottest bachelors North Hampton has seen…too bad she has a thing for his brother. What you would not know about these three seemingly ordinary women is that they are witches, banned from using their magic ever again, and while they’ve been falling this audacious rule, everything is about to change. Something evil is wreaking havoc on their small town, and the only way to stop it is to bring their magic back to use. However, with their magic, brings new troubles, troubles that seem to be leading to history repeating itself once again. Will they be able to stop it? Or will they lose everything because of the one thing they treasure the most?

Witches of East End brought several amazing things to the table, one of them being complex and memorable characters. There’s always a small chance that I’ll enjoy a book told with separate perspectives, much less one using third person to do this, but with Witches of East End this technique worked perfectly. I loved the switching of narrators between Ingrid, Joanna, and Freya, and without I feel the book would simply not be the same. Because not only did it allow for the reader to get a taste of each of the three main characters, but it also caused for suspense and drama with every switch. My favorite character out of the mix would have to be Ingrid, because we share a love of bookish things. However, I still adored Freya and her wild child ways, even though her life love was always in too many shambles for my taste, and Joanna was a great addition as well- I especially liked her scenes with Tyler, the little boy she helped take care of.

Another high point of this novel was the plot. I never truly knew exactly where it was going, which was a surprising yet highly enjoyable aspect of the novel. I loved the focus on witches, especially, because not was an entertaining part of the plot, but it is also one thing you do not see much of in books these days. I also loved the way in which Melissa de la Cruz told the Beauchamp’s history and past troubles. Slowly told yet in a way that kept intrigue and mystic, when everything was finally spilled, it still managed to surprise me.

Cruz’s writing was also fabulous. She did a great job of bringing the town of North Hampton to life with her vivid descriptions, and her characters and plot events where nothing but complex and memorable. Moreover, the ending? Such a cliffhanger, though it has made even more excited about the sequel!

Fascinating, alluring, and memorable, Witches of East End is sure to bring out a new fantastic series for her old fans to follow as well as introduce new fans to the amazingness that is Melissa de La Cruz!

Grade: A+

Witches of East End is now out!

Source: Publicist at Goldberg McDuffie Communications, Inc.- thanks Megan!

Book Trailer: