Winds of Salem by Melissa de la Cruz

Melissa de la Cruz continues her Witches of East End series with her latest novel, Winds of Salem.

Freya Beauchamp is trapped in 1692, in Salem of all places, with no recollection of her past. A powerful enemy spell has sent her spiraling away so that she is separated by centuries from her mother, Joanna, and sister, Ingrid. This is not good news for a twenty-first-century witch. Not to mention the immediate threat she faces from the wealthy and influential Putnam family. When little Annie Putnam is one of the first to make accusations of witchcraft, her landowner father jumps at the opportunity to consolidate his power and expand his holdings in Puritan Salem Town. If Freya is caught using magic, she will be forced to relive the witch trials, and this time, even her immortality is in question. 

Meanwhile, twenty-first-century North Hampton has its own snares. Joanna and Norm consult the Oracle for advice, and Freddie and his pixie allies search for a missing totem that could reopen the passages of time and help bring his sister home. When Ingrid bumps into an old flame, she finds that her new love for Detective Matt Noble is in doubt.

I struggled to give this book an honest 3 stars. The premise behind the Witches of East End is very good. The story centers around a mother and 2 daughter witches living in present day North Hampton. Based on events that predate the series, they have been forbidden from using their magic, and it is starting to tear them apart. The first book was fairly entertaining and kept me engaged, but the series went downhill from there. However, I really wanted to know where the story would go, so I kept going.

Winds of Salem goes back and forth between Freya, who is stuck in 1692 Salem and the rest of Freya's family in the present day who are trying to figure out how to get her back. It is kind of confusing in the beginning, because you can't really figure out what's going on with Freya, plus the fact that she appears to be about 14, not her actually 19-20ish. You eventually begin to understand that she is reliving the Salem witch trials, which she and Ingrid already suffered through. Meanwhile, Joanna and Norm (Freya and Ingrid's mom and dad) are trying to find a way to get Freya back, because for some reason, the fabric of time is all messed up and they can't get back through. Freya's twin, Freddie, is having problems of his own (which is pretty much a pointless side story as it adds nothing to the plot) and Ingrid is, once again, facing doubts about her relationship with the mortal Detective Matt Noble. 

All in all, the story was dull and confusing to follow. I don't think Melissa de la Cruz is a very good writer and the story really suffered. I wouldn't recommend the series, because if you read the first book, you're going to want to  read the others and you'll be disappointed.

Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson

 

Once a century, one person is chosen for greatness. 

Elisa is the chosen one. 

But she is also the younger of two princesses, the one who has never done anything remarkable. She can't see how she ever will. 

Now, on her sixteenth birthday, she has become the secret wife of a handsome and worldly king—a king whose country is in turmoil. A king who needs the chosen one, not a failure of a princess.

And he's not the only one who seeks her. Savage enemies seething with dark magic are hunting her. A daring, determined revolutionary thinks she could be his people's savior. And he looks at her in a way that no man has ever looked at her before. Soon it is not just her life, but her very heart that is at stake.

Elisa could be everything to those who need her most. If the prophecy is fulfilled. If she finds the power deep within herself. If she doesn’t die young.

Most of the chosen do.

I hate books that have a good story line, but are so difficult to read because they are written by poor authors and I felt that The Girl of Fire and Thorns was one of those books.

I was initially intrigued by this book, because I always  like when someone comes up with a new fantastical element to write about. In this book, the main character, Elisa, has a large jewel in her navel called a Godstone. Since nobody has thought to put a priceless gem in anyone's belly before, I thought it might be rather interesting to see what it means. Unfortunately, that was the only interesting part about the story.

Elisa could have been a really fantastic main character, because she is not tall, thin and beautiful. She is short and fat and plain looking. Rae Carson could have done a wonderful thing and made her into a respectable hero that young girls could look up to and say, "Hey. She isn't skinny and popular, but she saved the world, and so can I." Instead, Elisa dwells on her obesity and brings it up, ALL THE DAMN TIME! It got to be so incredibly annoying. Not to mention the fact that the same words and phrases were used to describe how fat she was. She was also annoying because she dwelt upon all the unhealthy and overindulgent things she was eating. I kind of felt that this book was perhaps driven by the author's own struggle with weight (if she has one) and that she used the book to get all her thoughts out. Like I said, I don't know if that's the case, but that's what it felt like. I also felt that she pushed the elements from he title onto the story. When fire and thorns show up in the story, I felt like they were simply put there because they were in the title and she needed to make the title relevant.

Besides Elisa being an annoying character, the book had an interesting plot line and series of events, but it just wasn't presented in anything resembling an enjoyable read. I gave it 3 stars because I did like the story, and I think an actual young adult reader would be able to overlook the poor writing style, but I just couldn't.

Goddess Inheritance by Aimee Carter

Love or life. 

Henry or their child. 

The end of her family or the end of the world. Kate must choose. 

During nine months of captivity, Kate Winters has survived a jealous goddess, a vengeful Titan and a pregnancy she never asked for. Now the Queen of the Gods wants her unborn child, and Kate can’t stop her—until Cronus offers a deal. In exchange for her loyalty and devotion, the King of the Titans will spare humanity and let Kate keep her child. Yet even if Kate agrees, he’ll destroy Henry, her mother and the rest of the council. And if she refuses, Cronus will tear the world apart until every last god and mortal is dead. With the fate of everyone she loves resting on her shoulders, Kate must do the impossible: find a way to defeat the most powerful being in existence, even if it costs her everything. Even if it costs her eternity.

Kate Winters has been through a lot. Her mom got cancer and moved her to a small town. Then her mom died. Then she agreed to perform tests to see if she was worthy of marrying Henry (aka Hades) and become Queen of the Underworld. Then, she won, but she didn't think Henry would ever love her, even though she loves him. Then everything was great there. Then, Kate got pregnant. Then, she was kidnapped by Calliope, aka Hera (who has some real self-absorption issues). And this is where we begin the third installment of the Goddess Test series. 

Kate has been held captive by Calliope for 9 months and it is almost time to have her baby. Calliope plans to keep him for herself and try to make Henry finally love her (which has been her goal since Book 1). Calliope thinks her father, Cronus, is on her side, but he has plans of his own. He promises Kate that if she becomes his queen, she can keep her baby and he won't destroy the world, but he will destroy the Council. But what about Henry? Is it ok to be selfish when the fate of the world is pitted against the love of your forever life?

I was really excited to get this last installment in the Goddess Test series, because I loved the idea of a Greek mythology taking place in the present world. I'm a sucker for mythology and love when it is redone in a new and interesting way. That being said, I was disappointed in the style of this book. I felt that Kate was too wishy-washy in this book and a bit of a damsel in distress, when she wasn't like that in the first two books. I also wanted a lot more Kate and Henry interaction, but we still had all this, "Is Henry pulling away?" "I thought he finally realized he loved me". It was just starting to get a little old. I thought this book should have been a strong pulling together of them and their love for each other and their baby and fighting together, and it wasn't. However, I did enjoy it purely because it was the finale of the series and did manage to have a conclusion that I was happy with. All in all, I gave it 3 out of 5 stars. If Aimee Carter writes more books, I will definitely read them.