Born Wicked (The Cahill Witch Chronicles, #1) in YA and Beyond

Jan 20, 2013 Jenny rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites, favorites-in-2013, tucson-festival-of-books

I absolutely LOVED this book! I really wasn't expecting to love it that much, but the story was beautiful! The setting is New England in the 1890s. In the small town of Chatham, the Brotherhood exists as a governing body on religion. Their main mission is to find any hidden witches and arrest them. Women are meant to be obedient, chaste, and meek. If anything at all seems outside the norm, they are accused of witchery.

The three Cahill sisters are most definitely witches. They hide it as best the I absolutely LOVED this book! I really wasn't expecting to love it that much, but the story was beautiful! The setting is New England in the 1890s. In the small town of Chatham, the Brotherhood exists as a governing body on religion. Their main mission is to find any hidden witches and arrest them. Women are meant to be obedient, chaste, and meek. If anything at all seems outside the norm, they are accused of witchery.

The three Cahill sisters are most definitely witches. They hide it as best they can from everyone, but Cate is worried. When a young woman turns 17, she must either marry or join the Sisterhood. Time is running out for Cate. She is terrified of being separated from her sisters. If she decides to marry, she must find her own suitor, or the Brotherhood will appoint one for her--and he will probably be one of the few old widows in town with lots of children. Yuck!

So at first in the story, it seems her love interest will be Paul. He's lived next door to her since they were children, and they were always good friends. Paul has just come home from university, and he's definitely pursuing Cate. But Cate doesn't feel butterflies around him...she feels them around her gardener, Finn Belastra!

The story is great! Not only do we have this turbulent romantic problem, but Cate is trying desperately to dispel any notions of her sisters and herself being witches. The Brotherhood is going crazy, arresting young girls left and right, and it seems to be focusing on sisters! I loved the magic, suspense, and romantic angst in this book!

I loved Cate. She was a wonderful, stubborn, strong-willed herione! I also fell in love with Finn. He doesn't seem like much at the start of the book, but he is also very strong, and incredibly smart. I also loved the youngest sister, Tess, she was so cute! I really didn't like the other sister, Maura all that much. She seemed pretty immature and selfish to me.

The ending had me screaming in my head, "NOOOOO!!!" I knew things probably were not going to turn out to favorably for Cate, but I had really hoped for it! But the ending did set it up nicely for the sequel! The next book in the series, Star Cursed, comes out in June and I can't wait to read it! ...more

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Dec 24, 2011 Cassi aka Snow White Haggard rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy, arc-tour, read-in-2011, galleys

3.75/5 stars (I'm really indecisive on this, twas a hard book to rate)

Born Wicked is a story of 3 sisters who are witches set in an alternative past where witches rose to power only to be overtaken and subsequently slaughtered or imprisoned by The Brotherhood, a religious group that is both anti-witch and anti-woman.

It's set in a fascinatingly rich alternative past where girls educations and dreams are squashed by strict behavior rules, mandatory Sunday School and having to choose a husband (or 3.75/5 stars (I'm really indecisive on this, twas a hard book to rate)

Born Wicked is a story of 3 sisters who are witches set in an alternative past where witches rose to power only to be overtaken and subsequently slaughtered or imprisoned by The Brotherhood, a religious group that is both anti-witch and anti-woman.

It's set in a fascinatingly rich alternative past where girls educations and dreams are squashed by strict behavior rules, mandatory Sunday School and having to choose a husband (or the Sisterhood) before their seventeenth birthday lest it be chosen for then.

Cate is the oldest of the three sisters, she's kept her wildchild self under control to keep a promise she made to dying mother to protect her younger sisters. But with her seventeenth birthday looming she's not going to be able to protect them much longer. We meet Cate when she's at the crux point of deciding her future.

My biggest problem with this book was the love triangle. Lately it's an issue I have trouble getting past. It's becoming the go-to plot device of YA. But at least in Born Wicked it serves a purpose. She's not just flitting unnecessarily between two men. She's being forced to decide her future and has only six weeks to make her choice. I'm willing to be more forgiving because that premise.

I think this book is still worth reading, despite the love triangle. (Me saying that is kinda a big deal) Because at least if it's going to have some romance it does it well. Some books don't understand first love. This book gives us the butterflies, the way you're too aware of the details of your crush and the heart thumping. I've read some books where people kiss without any real chemistry. Born Wicked has plenty of chemistry. It helps that I find one of the boys very swoon-worthy with his freckles, out of control hair, nose in the book and incompetent gardening skills.

This book has plenty of secrets to give it twists and turns and a prophecy to push to the plot forward. I really think the love triangle is DONE by the end of book one which makes me say WOOHOO because I like the worldbuilding. I'm a bit of a sucker for books about structured repressive societies and the women who overcome them. This is a world where every knock on the door, every sideways glance, every time you speak out of turn is a potential danger. As a reader that keeps my heart pounding and the page turning.

Even though I have somewhat mixed feelings about this book (oh Love Triangle why did you strike again?) I enjoyed Born Wicked, found it to be a fast read and very atmospheric. In the end the setting, society and overall premise outweighed my concerns about the love triangle. The ending leaves me excited and anticipating book 2 (which I intend to read).

Thanks to Mindy from Magical Urban Fantasy Reads for letting me participating in this ARC tour!
You can check out Mindy's blog here: http://www.magicalurbanfantasyreads.com/
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Jan 20, 2012 Berenice rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites, first-reads

In a world where women where stripped of their status as equals and fear that one faithful day the brothers will take them away from their friend and family for being suspected to be witches, three sister try to leave they're life's as normal as they can.
In town they are known to be a little eccentric, and reclusive since their mother left this world. The eldest, Cate, was left with the responsibility of taking care of her two little sisters, guide them the best she can and keep the brothers fro ...more

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Mar 02, 2012 Rachael rated it really liked it

Review originally posted at Building A Library

I'm not a huge fan of historical fiction, I'll admit that freely. However- I absolutely loved Born Wicked. The Premise amazed me. It had a very Salem feel to it and you could imagine things so clearly.

Everything about this book seemed almost fairytaleish but that isn't a bad thing. I loved Finn he was amazing right through. I also loved Paul for a short time and I felt slightly bad for him however Cate was amazing. I'm not so sure about Maura but I l ...more

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