So, I wrote half of this review, then went to work, then came home and the review was just gone. WordPress ate it. My feelings of this review will now be tinted with bitterness and tiredness and strife. Just because I like the word strife. Here’s what goodreads says the book is about:

Everybody knows Cate Cahill and her sisters are eccentric. Too pretty, too reclusive, and far too educated for their own good. But the truth is even worse: they’re witches. And if their secret is discovered by the priests of the Brotherhood, it would mean an asylum, a prison ship – or an early grave.

Before her mother died, Cate promised to protect her sisters. But with only six months left to choose between marriage and the Sisterhood, she might not be able to keep her word . . . especially after she finds her mother’s diary, uncovering a secret that could spell her family’s destruction. Desperate to find alternatives to their fate, Cate starts scouring banned books and questioning rebellious new friends, all while juggling tea parties, shocking marriage proposals, and a forbidden romance with the completely unsuitable Finn Belastra.

If what her mother wrote is true, the Cahill girls aren’t safe. Not from the Brotherhood, the Sisterhood – not even from each other.

*clicks save….a million times*

Before I say a single thing about the content of this book I’m going to say that you need to buy it for the cover alone. I’m one of those people that likes buying lots of pretty hardcovers (especially pretty MATCHING hardcovers which is getting harder and harder to do…I’m looking YOU Curse Workers series.) and this one is just beautiful. And it has this smooth texture. When I first got the ARC, I may have just held it and stroked it for awhile…then immediately demanded of twitter whether the final copy would feel the same. I was assured it was.

*clicks save*

Alrighty, so there’s magic, but it is looked down upon. There’s women but they are looked down upon. There’s women who can do magic but they are basically the scum beneath the gum on the bottom of your shoe. So, it is kept a secret. And as you read you see that the entire town this story takes place in is pretty much built on secrets and lies and subterfuge and spying. It’s amazing the married couples are having children at all because the two genders do not seem to communicate…ever.

With the society of female oppression going on you’d think all the females would band together in solidarity and be WOMEN together and understand one another and totally give each other those secret smiles we have when we let the men think they are running the world. But no. Let us just say that there are good people and bad people on both sides of the gender line. In fact I think the character I hated the most was a woman. I cannot tell you who it is because of (a) spoilers and (b) I do not remember her name. I read this book awhile ago.

As Cate, our main character, tries to keep her sisters and their power hidden, even from their father, she is distracted by two guys. One who’s name I don’t remember…he’s not important anyways. And the other one, Finn. I really enjoyed Finn AND I enjoyed that Cate had to learn that maybe, just maybe she could trust him. I liked that she made some mistakes in her relationship with him (I’m thinking of the feathers incident here) and didn’t immediately trust him with all of her secrets just because he was the main love interest. They both had to get to know one another and one another’s families and desires and passions. I really, really liked that.

*oh my god, I haven’t saved in awhile.*

The ending was hearth wrenching! But it was also just right for a the first in a series. All the main plot was tied up, but it left a perfect beginning for the second book and it just completely messed with my head and heart at the end. I need the next one to put it all right but it’s not going to because, traditionally, things just MORE WRONG in the second installment of a trilogy.

I had more to say, mostly about Cate’s family, but I’m really angry about the whole review gone missing thing, so I’m just to end it here. Needless to say, I really liked it and would very much like the next one…nowish.

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