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lpcoolgirl's review against another edition
5.0
Such a great book, full of sacrifice, and it was just really great! Loved it!
galaxies's review against another edition
3.0
Oh boy, did she manage to make me loathe the Knight family.
amyvhat's review against another edition
3.0
Alright, so I liked Once A Witch. I thought it was an interesting and unique story of magic. The sequel wasn’t as good, I thought, but was still needed to wind up the series (I’m assuming no more are coming…).
… I feel really lame, but I can’t remember some of the plot (note to self: review books QUICKLY after reading them..). So this review will be a quick skim of the surface, because obviously the little I remember made some kind of impact on me, so that’s the important stuff.
In this one Tamsin goes back in time to try and stop Alistair from ruining the Greene family’s future. She gets a job as a maid in the household of the Knights and it’s there that she does her snooping and waits for Alistair. What she finds out is that Liam Knight (a real creeper) is performing dark magic and the maid before Tamsin was a victim of this magic. Eventually she has to figure out how to stop Alistair and get the Greene family from the past to listen to her warnings about him.
I really enjoyed seeing the past Greene family and how they were contrasted to the current Greene family. Also, Gabriel and Tamsin’s relationship bloomed further. . .although mostly that meant they had “power” struggles and made out. BUT STILL.
Liam was a total CREEPER FACE. First he shows up from the past at the Greene’s house and KISSES Tamsin like only a CREEPER could. Then when Tamsin was back in time at his house, he flirted nonstop with this other maid, who was assisting him with his “experiments.”
However, his sister was a completely different story, she was really struggling with the whole “no, we’re not GOOD witches, we’re EVIL” part. Being forced to break up with the guy you love because your mother forced you to is pretty rough. I still feel like she could have rebelled a bit more if she was truly uncomfortable. However, her mother was pretty intimidating “La Spider” (I keep saying it the MegaMind way….haha).
I probably mentioned this is my review of Once A Witch, but I love how their magic is a “talent” thing. Different people have different “talents” AKA magic skills. It’s a pretty cool concept.
This series is really good if you enjoy stories regarding magic and witches. I enjoyed reading it and distinctly remember getting distracted from my schoolwork because I had to finish reading!
Content Warnings: Making-out (kissing.), creeper-ness, and mind language.
… I feel really lame, but I can’t remember some of the plot (note to self: review books QUICKLY after reading them..). So this review will be a quick skim of the surface, because obviously the little I remember made some kind of impact on me, so that’s the important stuff.
In this one Tamsin goes back in time to try and stop Alistair from ruining the Greene family’s future. She gets a job as a maid in the household of the Knights and it’s there that she does her snooping and waits for Alistair. What she finds out is that Liam Knight (a real creeper) is performing dark magic and the maid before Tamsin was a victim of this magic. Eventually she has to figure out how to stop Alistair and get the Greene family from the past to listen to her warnings about him.
I really enjoyed seeing the past Greene family and how they were contrasted to the current Greene family. Also, Gabriel and Tamsin’s relationship bloomed further. . .although mostly that meant they had “power” struggles and made out. BUT STILL.
Liam was a total CREEPER FACE. First he shows up from the past at the Greene’s house and KISSES Tamsin like only a CREEPER could. Then when Tamsin was back in time at his house, he flirted nonstop with this other maid, who was assisting him with his “experiments.”
However, his sister was a completely different story, she was really struggling with the whole “no, we’re not GOOD witches, we’re EVIL” part. Being forced to break up with the guy you love because your mother forced you to is pretty rough. I still feel like she could have rebelled a bit more if she was truly uncomfortable. However, her mother was pretty intimidating “La Spider” (I keep saying it the MegaMind way….haha).
I probably mentioned this is my review of Once A Witch, but I love how their magic is a “talent” thing. Different people have different “talents” AKA magic skills. It’s a pretty cool concept.
This series is really good if you enjoy stories regarding magic and witches. I enjoyed reading it and distinctly remember getting distracted from my schoolwork because I had to finish reading!
Content Warnings: Making-out (kissing.), creeper-ness, and mind language.
lil_starz33's review against another edition
4.0
This was even better than the first book. It becomes brutally honest why Tam was raised the way she was and why she made all the decisions that she made. This isn’t just a sequel or a part two. It’s the continuation of an obviously well planned out storyline. I know I said this about the first one, but it was a really fun and unique read. Again!
smlunden's review against another edition
3.0
after reading the first, i could not wait for the next to come out. i was surprised that the story arc was pretty much completed in this book. it also had a different feel to it, like the first was filled with fun danger and this was filled with...well, just tension, or...scary danger? i did not leave this book with the positive impression that i want to read more, just that it was right to be done.
pax's review against another edition
4.0
better than the first but with an anti-climatic ending... almost as if she decided she didn't have anymore time and tired to tie up what ever loose ends she could. she didn't do too good of a job though.
andye_reads's review against another edition
4.0
Let me just say... I REALLY LOVE THIS SERIES! They are quick reads but full of fantasy and magic! I enjoy the time traveling back to the 1800's and I loved all the characters. The book is plenty full of detail and the author does a wonderful job of explaining what 1800's New York looked like. Tamsin is my favorite character. She is smart, witty and a great witch. Gabriel, her boyfriend is protective, funny and very nice lookin'. He is also a great wizard! He wasn't in this book as much as I would have liked, but when Gabriel shows up, he takes over the pages when you are reading, he really steals the show. I don't care too much for Rowena (Tamsin's sister) she kinda drives me crazy. She's snooty, bossy, demanding and manipulative, Rowena is a nice added touch to the storyline, even though I want to punch her!
This book takes Tamsin back to the mid 1800's to warn her family about Alister Knight (families nemesis). She gets a job working for the Knight family as a chamber maid. It gets really intense, since she is left all alone in this home with her families enemy. This book is fun, captivating and thrilling. If you haven't started this series and like romance or books about magic, maybe both... your gonna love this series!
Amy
This book takes Tamsin back to the mid 1800's to warn her family about Alister Knight (families nemesis). She gets a job working for the Knight family as a chamber maid. It gets really intense, since she is left all alone in this home with her families enemy. This book is fun, captivating and thrilling. If you haven't started this series and like romance or books about magic, maybe both... your gonna love this series!
Amy
akire07's review against another edition
5.0
Un final un poco triste,una historia que habla de los sacrificio que se hacen por la familia.
nathanbartos17's review against another edition
4.0
Not as good as the first, but still a good read.
dainybernstein's review against another edition
5.0
Full review on Reader's Dialogue: http://readersdialogue.blogspot.com
*Warning: If you haven't read Once a Witch yet - there are spoilers for that in this summary and review of Always a Witch.*
After discovering that she does indeed have a Talent and that her entire family is in danger, Tamsin Greene is charged with another mission: to follow Alistair Knight, the man who threatens her family, back into the 1880s and either to stop him from getting to the Knight family or to get to her own ancestors and warn them of the impending danger to their descendants. Things are never what they seem, and this is a huge battle that Tamsin alone can fight - and there is a choice that she alone must make by the end of it - a terrible choice, as her grandmother told her.
The second book outdoes the first - and that's saying something! By the time Always a Witch starts, Tamsin has grown a lot from the appealingly juvenile girl she was at the beginning of Once a Witch, and she continues to grow and mature throughout the book. Watching her develop was so satisfying - as her decisions become harder, the obstacles more difficult, as the action escalates, she becomes an adult, but she still retains her vibrant personality. She's more serious at the other end of all this, but she's still herself - which is one of the lessons she has to learn.
And that part is done so beautifully - about coming to terms with who she is. It's not belabored, it just slides naturally into the story - and I love how the titles of the books tie that all together. No more on that or I'll give away parts of the ending, but I really love that.
The pacing that I loved in the first book carries through to the second as well. Carolyn MacCullough really knows how to hook you right away and keep your attention and interest throughout the entire book. Never a dull moment, the action building and building as you hold your breath up to the scene where everything falls apart and comes together, and then the perfect ending, as you quietly let out all that breath you've been holding in a contented sigh. The resolution, by the way, is totally surprising. When Tamsin is faced with that "terrible choice," I had no idea what she'd do. It looks like it's going one way, then the other, then... The situation felt like a real decision, where no option seems right and you're looking for another way out. So I was feeling right along with Tamsin as she agonized over what to do.
I like that the choices all the characters have to make are never clear-cut. Well, except for the evil characters, whose choices are easy because they do whatever they want to do, without bothering about what's right. But the good characters' choices seem so difficult - and I love the way Carolyn gets them out of what sounds like a horrible situation to be in. It's so clever, so unexpected, and just so right.
The time traveling features a lot more in this book than the first, but I like it that the book still doesn't turn into an exploration of how time travel works. There are lots of twists to the story that play with the idea, and it introduces just enough of a mystery to intrigue you about time travel but not take your focus away from the story.
It's unfortunate that I never heard of Carolyn MacCullough before, but I'm rushing to pick up her previous books, Drawing the Ocean, Stealing Henry, and Falling Through Darkness. Her writing style is so clear and compelling, her characters so believable, her plots so natural. She's going right onto my favorites list now!
*Warning: If you haven't read Once a Witch yet - there are spoilers for that in this summary and review of Always a Witch.*
After discovering that she does indeed have a Talent and that her entire family is in danger, Tamsin Greene is charged with another mission: to follow Alistair Knight, the man who threatens her family, back into the 1880s and either to stop him from getting to the Knight family or to get to her own ancestors and warn them of the impending danger to their descendants. Things are never what they seem, and this is a huge battle that Tamsin alone can fight - and there is a choice that she alone must make by the end of it - a terrible choice, as her grandmother told her.
The second book outdoes the first - and that's saying something! By the time Always a Witch starts, Tamsin has grown a lot from the appealingly juvenile girl she was at the beginning of Once a Witch, and she continues to grow and mature throughout the book. Watching her develop was so satisfying - as her decisions become harder, the obstacles more difficult, as the action escalates, she becomes an adult, but she still retains her vibrant personality. She's more serious at the other end of all this, but she's still herself - which is one of the lessons she has to learn.
And that part is done so beautifully - about coming to terms with who she is. It's not belabored, it just slides naturally into the story - and I love how the titles of the books tie that all together. No more on that or I'll give away parts of the ending, but I really love that.
The pacing that I loved in the first book carries through to the second as well. Carolyn MacCullough really knows how to hook you right away and keep your attention and interest throughout the entire book. Never a dull moment, the action building and building as you hold your breath up to the scene where everything falls apart and comes together, and then the perfect ending, as you quietly let out all that breath you've been holding in a contented sigh. The resolution, by the way, is totally surprising. When Tamsin is faced with that "terrible choice," I had no idea what she'd do. It looks like it's going one way, then the other, then... The situation felt like a real decision, where no option seems right and you're looking for another way out. So I was feeling right along with Tamsin as she agonized over what to do.
I like that the choices all the characters have to make are never clear-cut. Well, except for the evil characters, whose choices are easy because they do whatever they want to do, without bothering about what's right. But the good characters' choices seem so difficult - and I love the way Carolyn gets them out of what sounds like a horrible situation to be in. It's so clever, so unexpected, and just so right.
The time traveling features a lot more in this book than the first, but I like it that the book still doesn't turn into an exploration of how time travel works. There are lots of twists to the story that play with the idea, and it introduces just enough of a mystery to intrigue you about time travel but not take your focus away from the story.
It's unfortunate that I never heard of Carolyn MacCullough before, but I'm rushing to pick up her previous books, Drawing the Ocean, Stealing Henry, and Falling Through Darkness. Her writing style is so clear and compelling, her characters so believable, her plots so natural. She's going right onto my favorites list now!