OK, so most of my students have been wondering when I will tire of vampire fiction. The answer: Uninvited has cured me of vampires for a while. Now, I have moved on to witches and warlocks (I know. There is no helping me)! And I must say that I was pleasantly surprised by Wicked: Witch and Curse. The back of the book sounded interesting enough, but I wrongly assumed I would be disappointed (yet happy I would have only wasted a few bucks, thanks to my trusty Books-A-Million member discount). However, I couldn’t have been more wrong. Wicked is the compelling story of Holly Cathers, who is orphaned and sent to live with an aunt and two cousins she never knew existed. However, upon her arrival to her new home in Seattle, Holly is introduced to world of powerful magic, a dark family history, and a centuries old vendetta against the Devereaux family.
These two novels (in one book) are chocked full of family history, vivid and strange dreams, dangerous magical temptations, and of course, no teen novel is complete without the element of forbidden love. Plus, it is full of French, all of which I understood (even without the use of an online translator), which made me doubly happy. Plus, I have yet to find any hope of a sentimental, happy ending, which is good for now, but I am secretly hoping for one in the fourth book.
I highly recommend this book for anyone 14 and older. It is fairly clean and free of the foul language and explicit sexuality that is the constant source of my complaints with teen novels. Yes, it is a part of teens’ lives and struggles, but condoning it is merely perpetuating a vicious cycle, don’t you think? Also great about this book is that while there is a discussion of witchcraft, wicca, dark magic, and even catholicism and Christianity, none of it is shoved down your throat, as is typical in other series dealing with the supernatural. Anyway, this book was so good and I read it so fast, I felt like I have missed a lot, so I will probably read it again before I go out and buy the second installment, Wicked 2.
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