Review - Born Wicked by Jessica Spotswood

Title: Born Wicked
The Cahill Witch Chronicles #1
Author: Jessica Spotswood
Publisher: Putnam Juvenile
Publish Date: Feb 7, 2012
Hardcover,  330 pages

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Oh my goodness this book was SO GOOD!!! Seriously could not put it down. Every single character in this book was superbly written. Even the ones I didn't like, I still loved. Jessica Spotswood developed each character with such splendid patience without overloading the book with descriptions. I was hooked on every single word. And yes it is part of a series!!! I am so disappointed it took me so long to read this.

Cate is the oldest of three sisters, who are coincidentally witches, as was their mother. But they must keep this a secret because the Brotherhood is constantly on the look out for witches to punish. They like their women insipid, pretty and obliging. A few months before needing to proclaim her interests, Cate's old friend returns to ask her for her hand in marriage. She is surprised and elated, but then along comes a surprise to her heart. A man who is easily overlooked and sadly, below her class. How does she choose? As she is dealing with this heart-felt tragedy, her sisters are being pulled toward their new governess straight from the Sisterhood, who are possibly not just out saving the world from girls who need a mother figure. Cate seems to be on her own fighting to protect her sisters from their own magic nature, keeping their secrets and figuring out whom to be betrothed to. Meanwhile her mother has left her clues in a journal she must locate and then decipher.

Cate is wonderful! So smart, so sweet and yet, she follows her heart as far as it will take her without endangering her sisters. This book didn't end until the last couple pages. Drat!! I cannot wait til the next book in the series. What a wonderfully romantic, fantasy book. Cate does make a few friends along the way, though they are unexpected and surprisingly well placed, but I will not tell who they are because that is a huge giveaway. I absolutely love Finn too! He was so well written that I hardly noticed him til he was already a main character. And Tess, the youngest sister came out of nowhere to light the entire book on fire.

The only character I truly care for was their father. I get that he was sad for his wife's death, but he pissed me off because he let his daughters down so continuously. I really hope he pops up as a stronger character for them in the future books. Maybe he can be a secret Brother who fights for witches on the brain side?

Seriously, go read this book right now!! (Or click the links above and order it.)

Summary -

Everybody knows 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.

Before her mother died, Cate promised to protect her sisters. But with only six months left to choose between marriage and the Sisterhood, she might not be able to keep her word... especially after she finds her mother’s diary, uncovering 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.

If what her mother wrote is true, the Cahill girls aren’t safe. Not from the Brotherhood, the Sisterhood—not even from each other.