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A review by heather4994
Always a Witch by Carolyn MacCullough
5.0
*****This review may contain spoilers if you didn't do what I told you to previously and read Once a Witch. Continue at your own risk.****
Now, whereas I did not like Tamsin in Once a Witch, I'm loving her in this one. Not only is she looking out for herself, her family and their fate, but she's looking out for the servants in the Knight household and the poor urchins they experiment on. While Once a Witch went back and forth between light and dark, Always a Witch reads like a horror story. The Knight family, is bent on practicing the darker magics. And they don't care about spilling human blood to do it. Humans are considered beneath them and therefore if they kill one or two dozen for the cause, so be it. What do they want? Immortality.
Tamsin travels back in time without Gabriel, time affects those without her powers and he could die if he gets trapped back in time. She has to beat Alistair Knight back in time before he can warn the Knights of what the Greene family did to their powers. Now here, she did go off a little half assed if you ask me because once again, she didn't know where the Greene family lived before she went back in time. That would have been my first place to visit. And I would have known the names of my ancestors so they would believe me. Had some piece of information or heirloom so they could identify me. But there's a big reason she can't ask where they lived or find out names and again in a round about way it has to do with Alistair Knight. So she basically hits the late 1800's blind. Dressed in a working girl's uniform and that's about it. She was smart enough to look in the attic at home for a uniform or dress so she'd look the part and found some money as well.
Tamsin of course, snoops and gets caught, but now with her awesome powers, she thinks she's invincible. Not! Once again, Gabriel comes to her rescue. And her great, great grandfather.
There are lots of mysteries and betrayals in this book and just when you think you've got it figured out, the loophole closes and there's no way out. Gabriel is just as admirable in this book as in the last one and still, my favorite character, but as I said, Tamsin is a lot less whiney and more take charge in this one.
At the end, as things turn around, Tamsin suffers a terrible loss and becomes the ultimate heroine to me! She totally makes up for her mistakes in Once a Witch, and who knows, maybe it was fated for this to all happen this way anyway.
I really enjoyed this novel. I love time travel novels and most of this one takes place in the past. There is a lot of sleuthing and sneaking around, second guessing, a lot of surprising defeats and some very realistic hopelessness. As to whether there is a happy ending, you'll need to read it, but I happily and highly recommend this book and the series.
Now, whereas I did not like Tamsin in Once a Witch, I'm loving her in this one. Not only is she looking out for herself, her family and their fate, but she's looking out for the servants in the Knight household and the poor urchins they experiment on. While Once a Witch went back and forth between light and dark, Always a Witch reads like a horror story. The Knight family, is bent on practicing the darker magics. And they don't care about spilling human blood to do it. Humans are considered beneath them and therefore if they kill one or two dozen for the cause, so be it. What do they want? Immortality.
Tamsin travels back in time without Gabriel, time affects those without her powers and he could die if he gets trapped back in time. She has to beat Alistair Knight back in time before he can warn the Knights of what the Greene family did to their powers. Now here, she did go off a little half assed if you ask me because once again, she didn't know where the Greene family lived before she went back in time. That would have been my first place to visit. And I would have known the names of my ancestors so they would believe me. Had some piece of information or heirloom so they could identify me. But there's a big reason she can't ask where they lived or find out names and again in a round about way it has to do with Alistair Knight. So she basically hits the late 1800's blind. Dressed in a working girl's uniform and that's about it. She was smart enough to look in the attic at home for a uniform or dress so she'd look the part and found some money as well.
Tamsin of course, snoops and gets caught, but now with her awesome powers, she thinks she's invincible. Not! Once again, Gabriel comes to her rescue. And her great, great grandfather.
There are lots of mysteries and betrayals in this book and just when you think you've got it figured out, the loophole closes and there's no way out. Gabriel is just as admirable in this book as in the last one and still, my favorite character, but as I said, Tamsin is a lot less whiney and more take charge in this one.
At the end, as things turn around, Tamsin suffers a terrible loss and becomes the ultimate heroine to me! She totally makes up for her mistakes in Once a Witch, and who knows, maybe it was fated for this to all happen this way anyway.
I really enjoyed this novel. I love time travel novels and most of this one takes place in the past. There is a lot of sleuthing and sneaking around, second guessing, a lot of surprising defeats and some very realistic hopelessness. As to whether there is a happy ending, you'll need to read it, but I happily and highly recommend this book and the series.