Three Witches

When Trevor Sanders drove his car off a cliff, Aliya lost her chance to say goodbye, Gillian lost her money, and Miya lost her chance to apologize, but you cannot bring back the dead, not even for a moment,... or can you? Paula Jolin spins a very unusual tale here, by turns fascinating and disturbing, as three emotionally shattered girls turn inward towards their cultural traditions of magic and the occult in order to try and do what cannot be done,... what should not be done. The author does a pretty good job of keeping the reader guessing: is this mere coincidence, or is something beginning to happen? One thing that made the story more believable to me was that all of the main characters are suffering to various degrees from the trauma of broken, dysfunctional families (distant or absent fathers, messed up or overcompensating mothers), which already has them engaging in more ordinary forms of ill-advised and self-destructive behavior so that dabbling in the occult seemed a natural next step. The "surprise" ending was expected, though still a surprise. What was NOT expected was the SECOND surprise ending, which leaves it to the reader to decide which ending to believe. In any event the ending(s) appear to leave our three titular witches somewhat better off, somewhat more capable of coping with their many remaining problems. At the very least it leaves them as friends who won't have to face them alone. Note: Parents who don't like occult themed books won't like this one either, and on the off chance that it needs to be said,... DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME!

Three Witches follows the adventures of three Maine high school girls from very different cultures who are drawn together by the death of a single guy. Each girl knew the dead boy in a different way, Aliya, was his girlfriend, Gillian was his business partner and Miya's mother had an affair with his father, destroying both families and each has unresolved business with him. Sure that they are being haunted by him each reaches out using her ethnic folklore and looks inside herself to grow beyond the loss created by the unfinished business. The best part is that each girl comes form a different culture and starting out I was sure they would each develop the same way but Jolin crafts each girl to be separate, not only in her culture but what she needs to resolve within herself. Aliya, the daughter of Syrian Muslims needs to find a way to reach beyond the cultural limitation of her parents. Gillian recently arrived from Trinidad longs to return to the tropics and get away from the cold of New England and Miya, daughter of a devoted Japanese mother wants to find away to fit in and define her sense of self. Each girl reaches into her own ethnic folk lore for the answers and builds on it with the help of her companions who slowly become her friends. It is less a story about teens with magical powers than it is a story of teens who look to an unexpected part of their culture to help them with a problem and in so doing understand their culture and themselves better. The only thing I didn't like was that it seems like the ethnic character is delivered a little too hard. Especially in Gillian's case as the Carrib' accent gets too thick, she even texts in the Trini' dialect which makes little sense since it sometimes means more key strokes and people don't think they speak with an accent. Other than this though, this is a great book and well worth the aggravation of the occasionally over the top dialogue.

In Paula Jolin`s "Three Witches," bizarre events are happening in the small New England town of Fillmore. Trevor Sanders died when he drove his car off a cliff. Was it an accident, suicide or something far worse? Three strange, but beautiful, girls (an Arab, a Japanese and a Trini) want to use magic to bring Trevor back from the dead in order to resolve unfinished business. Aliya al-Najjar was in love with him, Miya Chonan wishes to apologize for the hurtful words she yelled at him and Gillian Smith needs to know where he stashed her share of their business money or face a prison sentence. And all three girls want to learn the identity of the mysterious redhead who was seen with Trevor at the Crescent. Body fluids, a bon fire and dancing in the woods are used as part of a hilarious séance to resurrect Trevor. In fact, the entire novel is rife with humor. My favorite character is the black girl from Trinidad, Gillian, who has that adorable Caribbean accent and the crass language. Initially, the girls hate each other but then they learn to become part of a team. The reader realizes they are friends before they do. This fast paced, easy to read novel is very intriguing and action packed. It has mystery, romance and, most importantly, friendship. It also has dark secrets, especially those pertaining to Trevor. While reading this novel, I kept asking myself, "What will be the consequences of bringing this dirty boy back from the dead?" "Three Witches" is a must read for those who enjoy occult horror, mystery and suspense. The three girls in this novel are adorable and lovable. You will be cheering for them as they steal, run and hide from neighbors, classmates and relatives. They diligently search for the truth of what really happened the night Trevor died. The truth, they eventually learn, can be quite shocking. The author, Paula Jolin, conducted extensive research into the different nationalities and religions of the three girls. She holds a degree in Islamic Studies and has written numerous articles on Islam and the Arab world. Her first novel, "In the Name of God," was hailed as groundbreaking and very suspenseful. It deals with a disenchanted seventeen-year-old Muslim girl, Nadia; after joining a radical group, she becomes a suicide bomber. I look forward to reading more occult horror novels from Paula Jolin. Let's hear it for the witches!! Joseph B. Hoyos

Paula Jolin did a delightful job of introducing three characters from three different cultural backgrounds. The story begins with the death of Trevor, a teenage boy who has differnt ties to each of these characters. One is a muslim girl who loves him, another is a girl from Trinidad who was a business partner with him, and the third is Japanese-American who had family interactions with his family. In typical teenage fashion, each girl is emotionally distraught over his death and each feels that she needs to talk to him. The story progresses through the meeting and eventual joining of the three girls and their efforts to tap into their particular mystic beliefs to reach Trevor in the spirit world. I won't tell you more because it gets very intersting and there are some twists and turns that are unexpected. Overall, it is a good story, especially for the teens who will empathize with the fears and emotions, as well as the parent problems, that these three girls face.

I'm going to be more generous than the previous two reviews, perhaps because I'm coming at it from a different place. I do not know anything about the magical traditions of Trinidad or Syria or Japan so I am not going to presume to comment on how accurately she has portrayed them, but her portrayal of teenagers messing with magic in haphazard, disjointed and dangerous ways is cross-cultural. All cultures and all religions have their own magical traditions; good, bad and amoral. And many people turn to magic in times of stress and trouble and feelings of powerlessness against the bad hard stuff in life. The details of the specific cultural traditions are not so important as the thinking about the use of magic in itself. Regardless of whether it can work, or not, is also almost beside the point. The point is what reaching for this method of affecting life can do to you, for good or ill. I think Jolin does a pretty good job of exploring this and not shying from the trouble and distorted thinking you can get yourself into all too easily. In that, this is a cautionary tale, but it is also a coming of age story. Each of the girls changes and starts on her road to adulthood, though one is not given any cute pat answers how any of them will turn out. I like that. Life is not a two hour movie. Life keeps evolving and developing. Some of us would say it does so through thousands of lives on thousands of worlds. This is not a trite book nor does it have literary pretensions. It is an interesting and often thought-provoking story, a bit rough around the edges now and then, a bit dragging in spots, but she takes on a subject too often dealt with in silly, dangerous and entirely superficial ways in current book fads and brings some reality and depth to it and I, for one, am glad I read it and I recommend it to anyone interested in Craft and the consequences, for good or ill, of its use.