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paradoxically's review against another edition
3.0
Not going to lie, books with a premise like this one where the main character is some sort of down trodden, talentless person compared to everyone else are really up my alley. Then couple that with magical powers, finding out that she's really not all that ordinary after all--well. I'm not sure if it's because of my love for (well done) cliches or what-have-you, but there you go. That said, I was pretty on the fence about Once a Witch.
The main character, Tamsin, is envious of her sister and longs to get away from her family and be someone 'normal' because she thinks she doesn't have any powers. She pities herself (a lot) and her complaining leaves a lot to be desired, but it's all understandable. Commence my expecting great amounts of character development because at the moment she makes me want to roll my eyes a lot. Did I get great amounts of character development? Eh. She gets better at the end, but I suspect that's mainly due to the fact that she's shown to and the fact that there's a lot more stuff going on (and so she doesn't get so bogged down in her self pity).
Then you have Gabriel, who has very convenient timing in coming back after being gone for years. Not only convenient timing, but the convenient ability of finding things just as Tamsin needs something found. It's a a little--well, 'cheesey' is not quite the word, but something similar to it. Granted, he doesn't insta-find the item, but it's a little too neat. You wonder why he seems to like Tamsin as much as he does when he hasn't seen her for years and the fact that she hasn't even been writing him for just as long. He also has another useful (and convenient) power of time travel. You can probably figure out my feelings about him, haha.
The plot speeds by quickly, which isn't bad, but I'd have liked a little more depth to the world and the other characters. It's not a great book. It's not a terrible book. It was almost painfully mediocre, in fact. 3 stars.
The main character, Tamsin, is envious of her sister and longs to get away from her family and be someone 'normal' because she thinks she doesn't have any powers. She pities herself (a lot) and her complaining leaves a lot to be desired, but it's all understandable. Commence my expecting great amounts of character development because at the moment she makes me want to roll my eyes a lot. Did I get great amounts of character development? Eh. She gets better at the end, but I suspect that's mainly due to the fact that she's shown to
Spoiler
to have great magical talentThen you have Gabriel, who has very convenient timing in coming back after being gone for years. Not only convenient timing, but the convenient ability of finding things just as Tamsin needs something found. It's a a little--well, 'cheesey' is not quite the word, but something similar to it. Granted, he doesn't insta-find the item, but it's a little too neat. You wonder why he seems to like Tamsin as much as he does when he hasn't seen her for years and the fact that she hasn't even been writing him for just as long. He also has another useful (and convenient) power of time travel. You can probably figure out my feelings about him, haha.
The plot speeds by quickly, which isn't bad, but I'd have liked a little more depth to the world and the other characters. It's not a great book. It's not a terrible book. It was almost painfully mediocre, in fact. 3 stars.
inwonderland49's review against another edition
4.0
What's so great about this book is the fact that Tamsin is a witch that's not a witch. She was born into this powerful and talented witch family and she is talentless and not powerful. It was awesome connecting with a character that had struggles fitting in with her family because I think a lot of us come into that problem at least once in their lifetime.
I really loved the essence I got from when reading this novel. MacCullough does a wonderful job and giving us a little bit of everything a teenager would go through and weaving in a beautiful essence of magic and time travel. The dialogue I felt was mature enough for young adults and adults to understand and relate to, yet at the same time it wasn't too mature that you didn't think it was coming from a teenager. If that makes any sense at all.
The characters are all great. I mean for the story. Obviously I like others more than some within the book. I just mean that MacCullough does a great job and giving the characters depth and personality. I loved Tamsin and Alistair. Gabriel wasn't a big hit for me. At times I just wanted to punch him.
I'm really looking forward to reading the sequel. I've always been a fan of witchcraft and sorcery and I am so happy I have finally read this story! It's a definite interesting and quick read that can easily be done within one sitting if you have the time to. This novel seriously has a little bit of everything and is weaved in with magic and fantasy. I think parts of it could have been edited or rewritten a bit but all-in-all it is a great first book in a series!
I really loved the essence I got from when reading this novel. MacCullough does a wonderful job and giving us a little bit of everything a teenager would go through and weaving in a beautiful essence of magic and time travel. The dialogue I felt was mature enough for young adults and adults to understand and relate to, yet at the same time it wasn't too mature that you didn't think it was coming from a teenager. If that makes any sense at all.
The characters are all great. I mean for the story. Obviously I like others more than some within the book. I just mean that MacCullough does a great job and giving the characters depth and personality. I loved Tamsin and Alistair. Gabriel wasn't a big hit for me. At times I just wanted to punch him.
I'm really looking forward to reading the sequel. I've always been a fan of witchcraft and sorcery and I am so happy I have finally read this story! It's a definite interesting and quick read that can easily be done within one sitting if you have the time to. This novel seriously has a little bit of everything and is weaved in with magic and fantasy. I think parts of it could have been edited or rewritten a bit but all-in-all it is a great first book in a series!
sjtouqan's review against another edition
4.0
I actually really liked this book. A lot more than I thought I would. It all worked out a bit differently, but once I got the hang of the plot, I knew what would happen.
I liked the subtle romance, and sometimes the dry humor she would put into the writing. I guess I kind of just didn't get the ending. It was really open, so anything could happen really, which frustrates me.
I guess the only problem is that this book is kind of...bland. There was something missing. I don't really have the word I am looking for right now in my brain, so I am just going to have to settle for bland...
I overall liked this book very much. I didn't really see anything really wrong with it, but it wasn't super amazing. I guess I'd give it four stars, but it barely hits that mark.
I would definitely recommend this book to anyone whose looking for a fast-laid back read.
I liked the subtle romance, and sometimes the dry humor she would put into the writing. I guess I kind of just didn't get the ending. It was really open, so anything could happen really, which frustrates me.
I guess the only problem is that this book is kind of...bland. There was something missing. I don't really have the word I am looking for right now in my brain, so I am just going to have to settle for bland...
I overall liked this book very much. I didn't really see anything really wrong with it, but it wasn't super amazing. I guess I'd give it four stars, but it barely hits that mark.
I would definitely recommend this book to anyone whose looking for a fast-laid back read.
mrose21's review against another edition
4.0
I was dead excited to read this, its been on my TBR for a while so when I was going through it I just decided to take the plunge and ignore any of the bad reviews previous to this.
I'm pretty glad I did. I am going to say this isn't the best book I have read, in my life but I still enjoyed it. I did get a bit miffed with the book seems a bit more 'large print' and not normal size however the cover and the quality and feel of the book was so nice and I really like that in a paperback. It just felt like it went really fast. I think I read 80% of the book in an hour and finished the 20% in half an hour while eating my tea. So I was a little disappointed with that as well. It could have been because it was so large print or because I was so enthralled in it!
I will so be reading the next in the series it would be rude not to.
I'm pretty glad I did. I am going to say this isn't the best book I have read, in my life but I still enjoyed it. I did get a bit miffed with the book seems a bit more 'large print' and not normal size however the cover and the quality and feel of the book was so nice and I really like that in a paperback. It just felt like it went really fast. I think I read 80% of the book in an hour and finished the 20% in half an hour while eating my tea. So I was a little disappointed with that as well. It could have been because it was so large print or because I was so enthralled in it!
I will so be reading the next in the series it would be rude not to.
the_sassy_bookworm's review against another edition
4.0
This was a quick, but very good read! I am a sucker for a good witch story and this didn't disappoint. My only complaint is that the book was to short and left a lot of loose ends, but I assume there will be a sequel, maybe a series(?) coming out in the future.
lucy_qhuay's review against another edition
I swear for the life of me I don't know how my queen Cassandra Clare has read and loved this book!
I guess she read it and pictured in her head what it would be like if she was the author. In that case, the book would be freaking awesome, because she is CASSANDRA effin' CLARE and I admit Once A Witch has potential.
Potential that in the hands of a great author would turn into an awesome adventure with witches and a great love story between childhood friends.
Unfortunately, I can't say MacCullough is a good author.
The plot was underdeveloped, the characters flat and the writing poorly executed. It felt like I was reading a children's book, because everything gave a childish vibe.
I eventually gave up. There are way too many great books for me to be wasting my time with this one.
jsmith3's review against another edition
2.0
I liked the adventure in this book, the time-travel and witchcraft aspects, but I never connected with the characters. I felt disconnected to what happened to them, and I think that's what makes this book a 'good not great' book. The story was awesome, but the way the characters were written wasn't. I never cared for them or what they were like.
argintina11's review against another edition
3.0
An alright read. Finished it pretty quickly. It had an interesting plot and i have no immediate complaints, but for some reason i didn't LOVE this book.