Review: Born Wicked

Born Wicked by Jessica Spotswood

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



I was lucky enough to receive this beautiful hardback ARC from Goodread's first reads... I absolutely love witch stories and beautiful covers.

The story takes place in the early 1900's I believe. Cate, a young woman who is a witch with the responsibility of taking care of her 2 younger witch sisters, has to carry a heavy burden and keep their secret hidden from the BROTHERHOOD who will arrest them if there is any suspicion of witchery.

Cate has very little time to declare her intent, either to marry a particularlar person or to join the Sisterhood in New London. She has been taking care of her sisters & trying to keep their secret hidden since her mother's death a few years before. Her father, who travels a lot does not even know their secret. The Brotherhood censors books, music, dance, & gives the orders to all families and are not challenged. Women are taught that they are wicked, can hold no position other than wife & mother, or join the Sisterhood. It doesn't sound too far from the truth as far as how women were treated in that time.

Cate's nosy neighbor causes her to have to deal with a governess moving into the house to prepair the girls for society and make them proper ladies to catch them as husband. Cate is running out of time & her younger sister is coming up close behind her. The governess poses a whole set of new, unexpected problems for Cate to deal with as she is trying to find allies and make a decision with only her mother's diary to guide her.

The characters in the book are wonderfully developed to the point you feel you know each of them, but there are quite a few surprises that lead Cate to discover everyone is not who they seem. Cate must be very careful of who she can trust. If she makes one mistake she and her sisters will pay the price with their lives as those accused of being witches are being taken away to an asylum often or sometimes never heard from again.

There are many secrets revealed, unexpected twists in the story, and many discoveries made along the way.

With all of this, it comes time to decide her future. Which young man will she marry, or will she join the Sisterhood, who also have their own agenda. It seems Cate's happiness does not matter at all, and she will have to choose the path that protects those she loves.



View all my reviews