Review: Something Witchy This Way Comes by Veronica Blade

Something Witchy This Way Comes (Something Witchy, Book #1)
by Veronica Blade
Release Date: November 30th, 2011
2011 Crush Publishing
Softcover Edition; 394 Pages
ISBN: 978-0979886942
Genre: Young Adult / Paranormal
Source: Review Copy from Pump Up Your Book

4.5 / 5 Stars

Summary
Brainiac Tessa McClean’s newly discovered magical powers give her an escape from her self-absorbed parents. But the thrill of being a witch fades when she learns of a rival coven and begins to suspect her own coven’s motives. Evidence tells Tessa to trust one side, but instinct drives her toward the other. When the school’s scrumptious delinquent, Hayden Anders, offers Tessa self-defense lessons in exchange for tutoring, his timing couldn’t be better. Although hanging out with him is a necessary evil in Tessa’s fight to stay alive, resisting a bad-boy she secretly yearns for might be more than she can manage. Together, Tessa and Hayden work to unravel the mysteries behind the two covens to discover why they’ll stop at nothing to lure Tessa to their side. She must form an alliance with one of the covens before it’s too late. But the wrong decision could cost Tessa the lives of all who she holds dear — including Hayden.

My Thoughts
Something Witchy This Way Comes is a fascinating look at two young adults, who also happen to be inbedded full of supernatural talent, deal with mainstream issues such as neglect, abuse, peer pressure, relationship issues, future-plan issues, and bullying, as well as supernatural issues such as power, control, trust, abuse of power, and making right choices.  A novel that is fun and engaging, with a lot of romance thrown into the mixture for those with a romantic soul, Something Witchy This Way Comes has that wonderful blend of everything that makes a novel so intriguing to read.

The spark between Tessa and Hayden is evident almost from the beginning and I really enjoyed watching the fireworks play out between them as the contest of wills was fun to read about. Opposites in personality and every other way possible, Hayden is rich and gorgeous, and girls just throw themselves at him; known as a bully and often in trouble, he carries a huge weight on his shoulders, a weight he will never share with anyone.  Tess is the clean-cut quiet girl who has an enviable GPA, a beauty who is not quite invited to all of the glittering parties and doesn't quite fit in the with the 'in' crowd.  Having Hayden as her protector completely changed her life as she was introduced to a world completely different from her own quiet one, a world she prefers to the wild party life that Hayden lives.  And yet, watching the scenes develop and seeing that element of trust grow was interesting and I've often wondered why the element of opposites attracting always exists in these novels.  While there were some steamy scenes between them, I liked how Tessa held her ground and held to her morals and was very insistent that Hayden follow the ground rules that were laid out.  While not a fan of novels where characters are blindly in love right from the beginning, I'm glad the novel didn't exactly follow that route, and the principal characters had their difficulties and their problems or I wouldn't have bought into their relationship.  As the two worked through their problems however, family secrets that had long been hidden came to light and both Tessa and Hayden discovered things about themselves and their families that have been kept hidden.  I love secrets and finding out hidden things is something I enjoy reading; woven deftly throughout the novel, it grabbed my attention and didn't let go until the end.

One of the things I really enjoyed in this novel were the many themes interwoven among the plot.  Themes such as neglect and abuse flowed throughout the pages and I watched as Tessa had to struggle to make grown-ups decisions, decisions such as staying home rather than going away to college and checking on the babysitter to make sure she was doing her job, in order to give her little sister a semblance of a happy home as her parents didn't shower either of them with love or affection or pay attention to them.  While I was reading these scenes, all I wanted to do was go hug my own children and sit down with them and tell them how much I loved them; it was quite sad at times.  I found myself quite connected to both of the main characters, and the differing POV's certainly helped, as the author switched back and forth between Tessa and Hayden and I enjoyed reading about the two viewpoints.  It also showed the reader how complicated both of these main characters were and how easily things can be misconstrued in a situation if people are not completely honest with each other.   Some of the other themes dealt with in this novel included bullying, peer pressure, sexual relationships, future decisions, and responsibility.

Verdict
Something Witchy This Way Comes is a novel full of twists and turns, and blends the paranormal with suspense and high school angst in such a way that makes it a real page turner.  While some parts can be somewhat predictable, there is so much to enjoy in this novel that it really doesn't matter, and the secondary characters are as fun and interesting as the main characters.  And because I still have some unanswered questions, I am really hoping (please, Ms. Blade!!!) that a sequel is coming soon. 

Check out my giveaway for Something Witchy This Way Comes HERE.

I also apologize for this post not appearing yesterday when it was supposed to post.  I really don't know what went wrong, but my pre-scheduled posting did not work (yet again) and this post, which should have appeared yesterday, did not show up.  Again, my sincerest apologies to Dorothy and her team.