Witches of East End by Melissa de la Cruz

Best known for her YA Blue Bloods series, Witches of East End is de la Cruz's extension into the adult fiction world. The novel centers on three Beauchamp women - Joanna and her daughters Ingrid and Freya. Forbidden to use magic by their governing council since the 17th century, they've all been living together in relative harmony in a small town called North Hampton on Long Island. In exchange for their compliance, they've been given immortality.

Each woman has her own specialty when it comes to magic. But as the novel progresses, the restrictions placed on them begin to fray at the seams. Each woman's magic begins to leak out which prompts all the women to use their magic to assist their fellow townspeople for various purposes - infertility, writer's block and infidelity to name a few.

But while assisting the townspeople in their various problems, they find horrible events starting to occur. Otherworldly creatures start to appear where they shouldn't and some of their fellow townspeople disappear and are then found dead. These problems are then blamed on the Beauchamp women. Joanna, Freya and Ingrid begin to fear the same result the last time they blatantly used their magic on the townsfolk during the Salem witchcraft trials. With some assistance from Freya and Ingrid's estranged father they begin investigating these crimes to try and prove their innocence. Though these crimes and other plot twists are wrapped up, de la Cruz still leaves us with a major cliffhanger at the end to keep readers in suspense.

Reading the first general description on the novel, I decided to give this book a chance. Though I never read the author's Blue Bloods series, I was still intrigued by what this book might have to offer. What I was actually surprised by was where the plot actually ended up going. Mainly the origin of why all the weird things in North Hampton were happening. I'll give you a hint: Norse mythology. For some this might be a dead giveaway if you're at all familiar but I'm not so I had no idea.

I also enjoyed the way the author portrayed each Beauchamp woman. Freya has always been the free spirit. She's 19 and is a bartender at one of the local bars. She also has a magic fake ID that shows her of legal drinking age even through she's not. Man what I would have done to get one of those when I was underage. She's also engaged to the town's most eligible bachelor, Bran Gardiner, though she's having an affair with his brother.

Ingrid is practically the polar opposite of Freya. She's single, hasn't had any real relationship throughout her immortal life and is a librarian at the town library. She's intelligent and reserved. She's also generous and self-less and wants to help people. That's actually how she decides to start using her magic again. One of her friends and co-workers is having issues with infertility and she helps them by using her magic.

Then there is their mother Joanna. Though in this particular installment, I don't feel the author goes into as much detail with Joanna as she does her daughters, you still get a general idea of her as a character. She's definitely not the traditional mother. Obviously. She doesn't really cook or clean. But she does bake quite a bit. Joanna is also still dealing with the separation and estrangement of her son and husband. I won't go into details on both situations but it's a major emotional and mental albatross on her neck. But no matter her issues, she still tries to be the best mother she can be by supporting her daughters whenever and wherever she can. I think that's what any mother strives to do with their children.

It's pretty obvious to say that I really liked this book. Just on the sole basis that I've written so much on it and this is the only book listed on this post. I think it's rare to find a book or a series that really speaks to you these days. And that's always different for every person. The world is such a diverse place so of course each individual is going to enjoy reading different books and genres as a whole. But I honestly feel that this book and later the series (once the author gets around to writing more) has the ability to transcend and connect to readers outside this particular genre. Plus she probably already has at least some of the Blue Bloods audience already. So hats off to Melissa de la Cruz. You thought up and wrote a good one. And you've just earned yourself another fan.
General rating for this book: A+

White Oleander by Janet Fitch and The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

White Oleander tells the story of Ingrid and her daughter Astrid. Ingrid is placed in prison for murder. Astrid is then placed in the foster care system after her mother is imprisoned. The novel focuses more on Astrid and her journey through the various foster homes she's forced to live in until she turns 18.

Her story is a journey of self-discovery. Each home is its own universe with it's own laws where consequences for breaking those rules can be pretty dire. Consequences that range from just getting ignored to being attacked by dogs to being shot at.

The imagery that Janet Fitch uses in this novel is so vivid. She's very descriptive with her writing. I originally decided to read this book because it was on Oprah's book club. Lame I know. But the plot did sound interesting so I read it. I found while I was reading the different environments that Astrid had to immerse herself in, it's extremely sad and heart-breaking.

She has to deal with some really messed up situations and she becomes so much more jaded about life and relationships because of all the different foster homes she lived in during her childhood and teenage years. Because of her mother being in prison, she's learned about life, about humanity and how unkind it can at times. She's learned from the different people she's surrounded herself with throughout her life. Even after gunshot wounds, dog attacks and poverty among other things Astrid can still love and trust. It's almost as if Astrid is a better person because of all the adversity she's had to deal with in her life.

Though not a novel that's very happy-go-lucky, I still felt compelled to keep reading simply just to find out what happens to Astrid and Ingrid. If you're looking for a happy story then I wouldn't read this one. But it's still wonderful nonetheless. For what it's worth, it's a little more depressing than Such a Pretty Face that I blogged about in an earlier post. It's probably got a depression scale factor of about a 7 or 8. 1 being sunshine and rainbows and 10 being the ugly cry and everyone dying at the end. But you should read it anyways. I of course recommend it. Otherwise I wouldn't have put it on my blog.
General rating for this book: A

Esther Greenwood has won a month-long trip to New York City. She's won a contest to be a junior editor for a magazine. But as the time that Esther spends in New York progresses, her relationships become more and more strained due to her increasing mental instability.
Throughout the novel her condition worsens. She begins to not sleep and then attempts suicide several different times. Her mother sends Esther to Dr. Gordon who administers electroconvulsive therapy to her incorrectly. She describes it as being electrocuted and refuses to go back for good reason. After her last suicide attempt, Esther is sent to a mental institution where she meets Dr. Nolan. With a combination of medication, psychotherapy as well as doses of electroconvulsive therapy that are properly administered, Esther's condition gets better and better.

Partially autobiographical, The Bell Jar mirrors Sylvia Plath's own life. She always had issues with depression and used that to write poetry and then later this novel. She ended up committing suicide when she was 30. It saddens me to think of all the other potential prose and poetry Sylvia Plath could have shared with the world if she had lived a full life.

As a novel this really spoke to me. Though the major emphasis is on Esther's mental illness, there's also a focus on her as a woman and the cultural and social issues of the day. Issues with looking a certain way, acting a certain way and the huge pressure to get married - whether that man is the wrong one or not - and to start a family. These and other issues that are discussed are relevant in some way or form today almost 50 years later.

I know The Bell Jar is almost always on some required reading list for a class or project. Plus it's considered an American classic. I had always had this list of "classic" books I wanted to read and this was one of them. I'm actually not one to hardly ever recommend any sort of classic/literature type novel. But I'm glad I read this. This book definitely goes on my list of awesome classic novels. Money and time well spent.
General rating for this book: A