Book Review: Life's A Witch

Author: Brittany Geragotelis

Publication Date: July 9, 2013

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

Series: Life’s a Witch # 2

Hadley Bishop is a witch. As a descendant of the first woman executed in the Salem witch trials, Hadley understands the consequences if her secret gets out. But witchcraft has come a long way since Salem, and as far Hadley is concerned the past is past. Beauty spells, designer outfits and being in with the popular social crowd is much more her thing! But when the adults from Hadley's coven suddenly vanish, it seems that the past is catching up with the present. All the evidence points to an age-old rival coven as the culprits, and Hadley must lead the young witches of her coven in a fight to avenge their elders and rescue their missing parents. At the same time Hadley is distracted by the mysterious and gorgeous Asher, who seems to have plenty of secrets of his own, not to mention a bit of magic. But whose side is he on? With everything at stake, can Hadley trust her own magic - and her heart - to guide her coven to victory?

“To all the twitches out there who believed in me when no one else did” – This was a message in the front of the book from the author! How awesome!

“Well, if the broom fits,” I muttered.

“Woman,” I corrected. “An intelligent woman is wise enough to expect the unexpected.”

“You can do this, Hadley. In fact, you’re the only one who can do this. And you won’t be alone. You’ll have the power of your ancestors behind you,” she said.

“Then you wait for them to find you, and you fight like hell.”

I could not contain my excitement when I saw this book and its cover on Goodreads! I absolutely adored the first book in this series, What the Spell?, and I could not wait to get my hands on a copy of this! Needless to say I was not disappointed when I opened this book. In this book we see charmed witch and popular high school student, Hadley Bishop. Yep, you guessed it! She is a direct descendant from the first witch that was murdered in the Salem Witch Trials, Bridget Bishop. Hadley leads a pretty charmed life and pretty much everything goes her way. She doesn’t take heed to any warnings, fear, or cares that other witches seem to harbor. Until one day when the parents, also witches, of a boy who she knows goes missing and then soon after her mom goes missing also. Hadley may be forced to face her worst fears. The people that sentenced Bridget to death may be ready to do the same to her.

Brittany Geragotelis has such a talent for writing supernatural stories. I loved the tie-in with the Salem Witch Trials and how they appeared in Hadley’s dreams. I have always loved to read about the witch trials and I believe that including some of these characters in the prologue of this book was a huge boost to me. It gave me a sense of where Hadley came from and what she was capable of. Hadley does not take her heritage seriously at first, but after awhile she realizes what an asset it really is. She embraces what she is and where she comes from, and certainly does not want to let her mother and the other witches down. Hadley may be conceited at times, but she stepped up to the plate in this book when it mattered most.

I loved the cabin where Hadley evacuates the young witches to in this book, and I really do not want to say anymore about it than that at this point. She knows that she must train and prepare to fight because something is incredibly fishy around their quaint, little town. Her mother gives her a fair warning, and Hadley begins training and preparing to protect herself as a witch. She may be conceited, as I mentioned earlier, but she is a born leader. I loved seeing the other witches feed off of her energy and watching her come out of some of her petty immaturity.

This book was a wonderful rollercoaster ride with tons of action and excitement…of the witchy kind!!

***A copy of this book was graciously provided to me by the publishers at Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers in exchange for my honest review***