Review: Born Wicked

Born Wicked by Jessica Spotwood

Published by Putnam Juvenile

Genre: YA

$17.99 (US hardback)

330 pages

What it's about:

Everybody knows Cate Cahill and her sisters are eccentric. Too pretty, too reclusive, and far too educated for their own good. But the truth is even worse: they're witches. And if their secret is discovered by the priests of the Brotherhood, it would mean an asylum, a prison ship--or an early grave.

Before her mother died, Cate promised to protect her sisters. But with six months to choose between marriage and the Sisterhood, she might not be able to keep her word... especially after she finds her mother's diary, uncovering a secret that could spell her family's destruction. Desperate to find alternatives to their fate, Cate stars scouring banned books and questioning rebellious new friends, all while juggling tea parties, shocking marriage proposals, and a forbidden romance with the completely unsuitable Finn Belastra.

If what her mother wrote is true, the Cahill girls aren't safe. Not from the Brotherhood, the Sisterhood -- not even from each other


My thoughts:
This book had me so angry by the time I got to the end, I just about threw it across the room. Ughhhhhh.

I had heard nothing but fantastic things about this book. All the reviews and ratings I've seen were saying it's top notch, 4 or 5 stars. Always. Then I took a quiz on Breathless Reads on facebook and it said that Finn from this book is my dream guy. So obviously, I was like "woo hoo! Got to read this book!" So I started it, and didn't get very far before I was bored. But everyone said it was good, so I tried to read it again, and yet again I didn't get far. I put it down for a week and then decided that I'm gonna force myself through it. I was curious enough to plow my way to the end.

And it ended up being pretty good. Not fantastic, but good. But this book pissed me off from the beginning till the end. I was so mad at all the characters and all the crap the Brothers said about women. This is why I have a hard time reading historical fiction. I have an extremely hard time reading about how mistreated women used to be. I wanted to reach into the pages of this book and just punch everyone in the face. I wanted to punch Cate for being so stubborn and for constantly making the wrong choices, Maura for being a snobby, selfish brat, the Brotherhood for being sexist pigs, the Sisterhood for being power hunger, everyone. The only characters I didn't want to punch were Tess and Finn. That quiz got it right, Finn is fantastic. He's the adorable nerd who always has his nose in a book. How can you not love a bookish nerd?

By the time I finished the book, I swear my blood pressure was spiked. I was so angry. I'm having a hard time deciding how I really feel about this book. Sure it made me angry and a little violent honestly, but I did get into the book. I can't say that I will read the next book in this series when it comes out. That will be decided when the next book comes out and how I look back on this book and feel.

My rating: 7/10
I'm giving it this rating because it did take me three tries to get into it, but I did end up finishing it and being sucked into the story.