Once a Witch

Good YA book about a girl born to a family of witches who are all talented but it doesn't seem like she has a talent of her own. 5 stars from me simply for the fact that it blew my mind a little with the time travel.

This book was really good and I loved seeing how Tamsin Greene discovers her Talent and place within her family as well as seeing the adventures she goes on while trying to save her sister from an evil man by traveling through time with the help of her childhood friend and romantic interest Gabriel. I look forward to seeing what happens next in the sequel Always a Witch.

After all the vampire hype, this is a nice change. Tamsin is a witch coming from a long line of witches. She was supposed to be the "one". But she never found her powers. So, now she is working in her grandmother's store during her summer break from school. A good-looking professor comes in and mistakes her for her older sister Rowena. This is were her life changes and she goes from one unknown to the next. She reunites with her friend and sparks fly. She finds her power, but not really. It is a very interesting book, with many twist and turns. The book kept me captivated and I had to finish it in one sitting. Loved it! Recommend it for teens and older.

Tasmin is a young woman born into a family of witches. While the rest of her family has grown up learning to develop their talent Tasmin has grown up without a talent. When a strange man mistaking Tasmin for her sister asks for some help in finding a lost clock Tasmin discovers that her world is nothing like she thought it was. Once a read is a great story for teens. The writing is complex enough and the characters and plot line interesting enough for older teens (and adults who like YA lit) but the content is mild enough that it would be appropriate for younger readers who enjoy stories about older teens. There is no sexual content and the romance is secondary to the action. I suspect that this is the first in a series as the author spent a long time setting up the background of the character and the ending though satisfying left room for more. I'm looking forward to more in this series.

I was really excited when I read the description for Once a Witch. Three of our kids are really into the YA paranormal fiction which has come out within the past 10 years. I was hoping Once a Witch would be just different enough that it would appeal to our 16 year old daughter, who has loved these types of books - starting with Harry Potter, and more recently the Twilight series. She wasn't much of a reader until she read the first Harry Potter book. Now she devours books. Our 12 year old son, who's in 7th grade, loved Harry Potter, and now is into the Vladimir Tod series by Heather Brewer. I suspect Once a Witch will appeal to him, because the theme of time travel is introduced. Also, the adventures of Tamsin is the main plot - as opposed to romance - which isn't his main priority right now. I was so excited by the description of the book that I called "dibbs" on it once it came. After I started reading, I didn't want to put it down - which is what our 16 year old also said. It was a very fast read, with all the elements she looks for in fiction. She will read just about any type of book if the description appeals to her, but she has really enjoyed fast paced books with a bit of the paranormal element. She enjoys some romance, but it's not a requirement in the books she reads - which wasn't a major theme in this novel. Our daughter and I both felt the ending left us with a real possibility for a sequel. We'll be watching for it!

Born into a long-established family of variously Talented witches, 17-year-old Tamsin Greene was supposed to be the most Talented of them all, but her magic, which should have shown up on her eighth birthday, has never appeared. She spends most of her time at a boarding school in New York City, but helps out in her grandmother's bookstore/magic shop at home in the summer. One day, while tending her grandmother's shop, a mysterious Scotsman, a professor at NYU, comes in, and, mistaking Tamsin for her extremely Talented older sister, asks her to find a lost family heirloom for him. Tamsin accepts the job, and it turns out that finding the valuable artifact will entail a journey back in time. This marvelously complex story of romance, mystery, intrigue, conflict, magic and time travel is exceptionally well-written, and it's filled with fascinating, lifelike characters. I especially enjoyed the portrayal of Tamsin's large extended family, all with their own quirks and individual magical Talents. And I liked the author's playful treatment of time travel, with its paradoxes and complications, and its danger of catastrophic consequences. The tale comes to a satisfying conclusion, but it's clear that very soon Tamsin will have more challenges to deal with, which gives us the hope and expectation that we have at least one sequel to look forward to.

With the market being flooded by teen paranormal fiction and paranormal romance, it becomes really easy for books to feel like they are all the same. However, in Once a Witch, author Carolyn MacCullough brings a new view of the traditional witch into the teen world and the result is a fast-paced, compelling new novel about a likable heroine that will keep you flipping pages. Once a Witch follows the unique life and adventures of Tamsin Greene, the daughter of an ancient family of witches. When Tamsin was born, her grandmother prophesied that she would be the most powerful witch in the family. Everyone waited for Tamsin to manifest her magical Talent....and waited and waited....until nothing happened. Stuck in a family of witches without any magical Talent, Tamsin tries to find her own way in the world and attends a boarding school in New York City. One day, while working at the family book store, a customer mistakes Tamsin for her older, and much more Talented sister, Rowena. When Tamsin can't resist the young professor's charms, she agrees to find a mysterious clock for him. Little does she know that this simple excursion will open the door to new adventures and reawaken an ancient family feud. MacCullough's writing in Once a Witch is spot-on and leaves no additional fat to weigh the story down. The novel is very easy to get into and enjoyable to read. There's even a small romance element, but it was nice that the romance was more of an additional subplot, rather than the main plot of the novel. While I have nothing against teen paranormal romance, there's just so much of it these days that it's nice to read something that focuses more on the adventures of the heroine than the heroine's dramatic love life. The story does start out a tiny bit slow -honestly, for a little while I thought it wasn't really going anywhere -but Once a Witch quickly threw me for a surprise. The story picked up, started making sense and became so enthralling that I couldn't put the book down. The urban fantasy world here is very rich and not too complex, but has just enough unique rules and mechanics to bring an air of freshness to a seemingly overdone topic. The climax of this novel is especially satisfying, and written in a highly visual and easy to read style. While the ending may feel a little incomplete, it leaves ample room for a sequel. I'm not sure if this is the beginning of a new series, but it definitely should be.