Genre: Fantasy Age Range: YA Star Rating: 2.5 stars Series: Yes - second book of trilogy
*SPOILER ALERT: contains SPOILERS for THE WITCH’S KISS*
Blurb:
Can true love’s kiss break your heart…?
It’s not easy being a teenage witch. Just ask Merry. She’s drowning in textbooks and rules set by the coven; drowning in heartbreak after the loss of Jack. But Merry’s not the only one whose fairy tale is over.
Big brother Leo is falling apart and everything Merry does seems to push him further to the brink. And everything that happens to Leo makes her ache for revenge. So when strangers offering friendship show them a different path they’d be mad not to take it…
Some rules were made to be broken, right?
Synopsis taken from Goodreads. Add to your shelves here.
Review:
This is another easy read, which (my friend reminded me) is for an audience five to ten years younger than me. It was a story that I didn’t have to engage with much, which is kinda what I wanted. However, the plot itself really wasn’t that engaging.
The main issue I had with this book, was the lack of a strong central plot. The main plot doesn’t come in until halfway through, and even after the inciting incident for the main plot (at the 200 page mark), there is little focus. It’s lots of angst instead.
Merry is understandably shaken up about the events of the first book – but she’s grieving as if she’s lost her true love, rather than the focus being on the trauma of it all. Which, considering there was little chemistry in the first book, felt out of place and forced. Why wasn’t the focus on the trauma?
Leo was going off the whole time about not having magic and being looked down on. He and Merry were constantly arguing, rather than just talking about it. And even after weeks of this, their mum was still all “he’ll come around”.
On top of the family drama, the coven is picking on Merry for how she uses magic. While it’s probably a reasonable matter to bring her up on, it could have done with more explanation on both sides as to why. It’s a very vague magic system, without clear limitations or rules. I have no idea what anyone can and can’t do – which was complicated – and the addition of wizards and male witches to the world only confused it further. Unfortunately, the lack of clarity made the coven feel like they had no reasons to exclude Merry (beyond stress) and Merry feel like a stroppy teenager who thinks she knows better.
I’m about to start the final book, because the ending has raised the stakes and makes me think the next book will have a much clearer through line. Plus I hate not finishing series.
Read my reviews of other books by Katharine and Elizabeth Corr:
The Witch’s Kiss (this series):
- THE WITCH’S KISS (#1)
- THE WITCH’S BLOOD (#3)
A Throne of Swans:
- A THRONE OF SWANS (#1)
- A CROWN OF TALONS (#2)
House of Shadows:
- DAUGHTER OF DARKNESS (#1)
- QUEEN OF GODS (#2)
Sifa Elizabeth Reads 