Review: Witches of East End by Melissa de la Cruz

Witches of East End is Melissa de la Cruz's first novel for adults. I read this book over Memorial Day weekend—reading about a beach town while in a beach town--how meta! 

At least the cover is kinda cool...

The three Beauchamp women--Joanna and her daughters Freya and Ingrid--live in North Hampton, out on the tip of Long Island. Their beautiful, mist-shrouded town seems almost stuck in time, and all three women lead seemingly quiet, uneventful existences. But they are harboring a mighty secret--they are powerful witches banned from using their magic...For centuries, all three women have been forced to suppress their abilities. But then Freya, who is about to get married to the wealthy and mysterious Bran Gardiner, finds that her increasingly complicated romantic life makes it more difficult than ever to hide her secret. Soon Ingrid and Joanna confront similar dilemmas, and the Beauchamp women realize they can no longer conceal their true selves....It all seems like a bit of good-natured, innocent magic, but then mysterious, violent attacks begin to plague the town. When a young girl disappears over the Fourth of July weekend, they realize it's time to uncover who and what dark forces are working against them. (Good Reads)


Disclaimer: I DO NOT like de la Cruz's Blue Blood series.  I don’t mean to yuck anybody’s yum, but I find the twin-incest uber off-putting. I know that they are reincarnated soul mates blah blah….but still!!  Game of Thrones and Blue Bloods taught me that twin incest is my fiction deal breaker.  (It is important to learn new things about yourself, no?) But I did my best to meet with book with an open mind.

• Originality: 4. This builds off the world of Blue Bloods, and I think I would have been a bit confused without having read a couple of those books.
• Absurdity: 7. I liked the witchcraft storyline, but I did not buy into the larger world of reincarnated souls/immortal gods.  Eye rolls were everywhere. Goosie Mama was next to me on the train and kept being all “WHAT is  making you so annoyed?!?"
• Level of Paranormal Romance: 10.  This is a book for adults, kids. Things don’t stop at extended eye contact and feelings.  But rather than building real relationships, we get insta-lust, insta-love’s promiscuous older cousin.  Not to mention immortal, destined lovers = the definition of paranormal romance.
• Level of Harry Potter-ness: 3. These points reflect the wands and magic. But this is not high-brow lit. Or even middle-brow lit. I did not connect to the characters, who I felt rushed into things without justification and felt very boilerplate. Not my favorite read.