Really liked the story and the concept but not the writing.

Updated Review (as of May 29, 2017):
I liked this so much more the second time around. I forgot how fast paced it is. Right from the beginning you get thrown in Nadia's world and are learning about magic and this new town she's in and the history and magic behind the town. There's a lot you find out in this book and one thing I think helped me to enjoy it a lot more this time around is I listened to the audiobook. I would definitely recommend listening to the audiobook if you get a chance. Also the ending is a major cliffhanger so be prepared. I've read the first 2 books in this series before but haven't read the last yet, I decided to reread the first 2 before reading the last one since it's been a while since I've read them. Rereading the first one definitely got me excited to continue with the series, though I'm going to try to listen to the audiobooks for this series cause it seems to get me more interested. ( )

As with almost every other book I've read by Claudia Gray, I absolutely adored this book and series. The characters were likable and relatable. The plot did seem rushed at times, but for the most part it kept a steady pace. Even so, it never got boring, and it captivated me from the very first page. This is one of my favorite versions of witches, as it's simple, yet also complex. If you enjoy fantasy and magical books, I would definitely give this one a try! ( )

A tad disappointing.
Review coming soon. ( )

Read my overall review of the whole series here! Spoiler Free!

Witches are not normally my "thing" when it comes to reading. I'm not sure why, but I've never enjoyed witch books as much as I should. The only exception being [b:Beautiful Creatures|6304335|Beautiful Creatures (Caster Chronicles, #1)|Kami Garcia|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327873282s/6304335.jpg|6488966] by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl, one of my all time favourite series. However, I did like the CW TV Series "The Secret Circle" (based on books of the same name) and this book was pitched for fans of that so I decided to give it a shot. I also enjoyed Gray's [b:Evernight|2722413|Evernight (Evernight, #1)|Claudia Gray|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1306376600s/2722413.jpg|2748013] Series and like her style so I decided to pick this book up.

I'm glad I did! It's been a long time since I enjoyed a young adult book and once I got into this one, it was hard to put it down.

I think one thing that I liked about this book was the writing style Gray uses. One is that it was very mature. Nadia and group are very mature for high school students and I really appreciated it. They weren't focused on who was dating who (though it does come up of course) but the main point is that it wasn't the ONLY plot of the book. They were all very smart and I really liked all the characters we meet.

Another thing I really liked was the third person POV and how it switched between multiple people. I like books like this because you get more plot development and you get a better understanding of the characters. I think it worked really well for this book and I'm glad this was the route she took.

The plot development in this was great. I like how it unfolded as you read it but there were still a few twists that really add to the story. As I said before, it isn't primarily a romance novel but there is that element. It is more a mystery/suspense plot that keeps you hooked. I don't want to dive into it, but the plot really builds as you read.

The series reminded me a lot of Beautiful Creatures in it's delivery (they have similar starts I think with the main characters) but there is enough in this book to make it unique and different.

Overall: If you like witches and magic with a dash of romance, pick this up!

Check out more spoiler-free book and series reviews on my blog SERIESousBookReviews.com as well as read book series recaps!

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Whew! This is definitely a page turner book for me. So glad I bought this book from the Dollar store. I can't wait to read the next installment. And looking forward to what will happen to Nadia, Mateo and Verlaine. ( )