Let me preface this review by saying that basically, this is not a good book, and I wouldn't recommend it....



The premise is that there has been a centuries long feud between two families of black magic witches in which each seeks the total destruction of the other by any means necessary. Several hundred years ago the families married their heirs - Jean and Isabeau - to try to steal each others secrets. Jean and Isabeau appear to be a sort of magically bound Romeo and Juliet. They die by betraying each other and their ghosts posess their descendents in the hopes of either killing each other or being together forever, it's not entirely clear which. The main characters are from the present time, and Holly (Isabeau's descendent) having been completely unaware of her magical heritage is suddenly forced to fight for her life and the lives of her friends and family when a warlock of the rival family sets out to destroy them.



The positives are that this is a good story, which jumps from the present to the past frequently to make this a sort of centuries long saga. While interesting, it is frustrating however. I am now on book 5 and still have no idea why the rival families are fighting in the first place for example. There are plot holes big enough to drive trucks through, but I am persevering in the hopes that all my questions will be answered eventually.



The negatives are that this is one of the worst written books I have ever read. The characters are completely two dimensional, lacking depth and convincing motivation. The action scences are particularly poor, and read something like 'there was a bang, and a big scaly demon appeared and we all said 'oh no' and threw a fireball at it'. I'm not kidding, it's really that bad. Also, given that the main characters between them are supposed to be some of the most powerful witches/warlocks in the whole of history they seem incapable of doing any sort of useful magic. Their answer to everything seems to be to chuck a fireball at it.



In the words of Magnus Magnusson, 'I've started, so I'll finish' and have moved on to the final installment. To sum up, the story is interesting, but the writing is dire. It's not a series I'll re-read, or would recommend.