Born Wicked by Jessica Spotswood - ADVISABLE

Spotswood, Jessica  Born Wicked, 326 pgs.  G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 2012. $17.99 Content: Language: PG (8 swears); Mature Content: PG-13; Violence: PG.  

Cate Cahill and her two sisters live with their scholarly father in a country house during the late 1800s.  Ever since Cate’s mother passed away Cate has been in charge of teaching her younger sisters how to contain their magic and hide their true witch identities from the town.  The Priests of the Brotherhood are a council of strict men who are constantly on the lookout for witches and they are not afraid to put to trial anyone remotely suspicious.  Regardless of Cate’s efforts, Cate and her sisters are labeled eccentric and her father hires a governess to teach them how to fit in better, but the governess is more than she seems and is searching for three sisters from a prophecy and the Cahill sisters fit the bill.  On top of her witch trouble, Cate’s best childhood friend has returned from college and wants Cate to marry him, but she is beginning to have feelings for the gardener.  Cate has sisters to protect and she will sacrifice anything for their safety, even her own heart.  

The characters in this book draw you in and you can’t put the book down until you find out what happens to them.  However, the ending is open to a sequel and all the answers you quickly read the book to find cannot be found in this book.  I can’t wait for the sequel, but I was frustrated at the lack of an ending.  The character development and setting make this an intriguing series that I will follow to the end though.  

MS, HS-ADVISABLE.  Reviewer, C. Peterson.