{Book Review + Giveaway} Always a Witch

Always A Witch (Witch #2)
Author: Carolyn MacCullough
Pages: 288
Published: August 1, 2011
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Format: The {Teen} Book Scene Blog Tour
Rating: 4 1/2 Birds

The adventures of Tam and Gabriel continue with more time travel, Talents, spy work, and of course, the evil Knights.

Since the gripping conclusion of Once A Witch, Tamsin Greene has been haunted by her grandmother's prophecy that she will soon be forced to make a crucial decision—one so terrible that it could harm her family forever. When she discovers that her enemy, Alistair Knight, went back in time to Victorian-era New York in order to destroy her family, Tamsin is forced to follow him into the past. Stranded all alone in the nineteenth century, Tamsin soon finds herself disguised as a lady's maid in the terrifying mansion of the evil Knight family, avoiding the watchful eye of the vicious matron, La Spider, and fending off the advances of Liam Knight. As time runs out, both families square off in a thrilling display of magic. And to her horror, Tamsin finally understands the nature of her fateful choice.

As you may remember, we had the great pleasure of having Carolyn MacCullough on our blog a bit ago.  You can check that out HERE.  Thanks to The {Teen} Book Scene – we now bring you a review for Always a Witch.  Don’t forget to check out everyone else that’s on this great tour!

My take: Oh. My. Goodness!  Now, though I didn’t give it AS high of a rating as Once a Witch, Always a Witch was definitely fantastic in it’s own right.  Following on with the next step in Tamsin’s life was like following a harrowing tale that no teenager should ever have to endure.

The way Carolyn plays out the growing relationship between Tamsin and Gabriel is cute, but not overly so.  And the better part of it, is that the relationship grows even in the alternate era they’ve traveled back to.

Tamsin is such a strong-minded character, and at times I’ll admit I wished I could reach into the book and smack her for not just listening to people.  I think though, that her strong-mindedness gave her more depth.  She followed intuition, even if it looked like it was going to get her in trouble.  And then with Gabriel just popping in, it gave more to her just going after things.

I liked the addition of different family members from the Knights.  Each one held onto different parts of my mind and made me keep thinking back to them at different moments throughout the story. 

Everything about this book was captivating to me.  Even the little things that some people might not notice.  The actions people took, the way things were sometimes worded, it all just fell into place and ended the story on a good note.  It’s definitely worth your time to read it!

We’re giving away the first book in this series: Once a Witch. To enter, simply leave a comment below and I will draw out of a hat who won! No really, I will! Contest ends Nov. 7th.

Find Carolyn MacCullough on:

• Goodreads
• Twitter
• Website
• Once a Witch website