For a debut novel, the book is still pretty decent. Cari Thomas shows promise and I’m sure the rest of the series will take the story ahead well.

Con respecto a los personajes de Rowan, Manda y Attis, he de decir que la primera es una chica parlanchina y con sobrepeso que pondrá el toque divertido a esta historia. Manda, en cambio, vive un poco como Anna, intentando ser perfecta. Por último, qué puedo deciros de Attis. Es un donjuán, pero también trata de ayudar a los demás y no podemos evitar preguntarnos qué es. Ahora, uno de los numerosos aciertos, tanto con la trama como con los personajes, es que os lo cuestionaréis todo porque, ¿acaso son lo que parecen? Thank you, NetGalley and HarperCollins UK Audio, for the audio ARC of the book in exchange for an honest review. This debut novel opens with a brief dark scene in which seven witches are magically murdered by an unseen force. The stakes instantly elevated, the novel moves to a quieter vignette of violence, in which a girl undergoes a brutal spell to deprive her of her ability to feel joy. This girl, we learn, is our heroine Anna. Her magical tormentor is her aunt and caretaker, a dour woman insistent on teaching her charge a central tenet: magic is the first sin.The magic both gleams and threatens. There are riddles and puzzles to be solved and there's a library - trust me, it's a good one. You'll want to give this a try.' - Sunday Times bestselling author Robin Hobb I loved the coven and how they all had their reasons for wanting to be part of it (or to refuse that they wanted to be part of it in one members case haha). The school setting was amazing, it truly made it possible for some of the most wild antics to go down. You just get so attached to the characters, wow. The magic both gleams and threatens. There are riddles and puzzles to be solved and there’s a library – trust me, it’s a good one. You’ll want to give this a try.’ Bueno... ha sido todo un viaje esta lectura: lo empecé con muchísimas ganas, y aunque sí me estaba interesando, y me enganchaba, también sentía que le estaba costando bastante a la historia arrancar, que la introducción se alargaba más, y más. Es verdad que hay mucho que contar acerca del funcionamiento de la magia, de la vida de Anna, su pasado y su relación con su tía, y el resto de personajes... pero es que no es hasta mucho después, pasada la mitad de la novela, cuando al fin empieza a desvelarse algo de todo el misterio y al fin avanza la trama realmente. Cari manages to breathe new life into the genre with a unique take on witchcraft that is inspired by both the traditional as well as something entirely new.

Aunt is terrified of magic and the reasons for this are only fully explained toward the latter end of the book so I’ll not spoil the story by talking about the why of it all. Whether you join us with colleagues, friends or family, we’ve got the perfect ingredients for a perfect Christmas… The ending was almost too convenient in some aspects and a bit ridiculous in others. I am not a fan of how things ended so openly and sadly it hasn't enticed me enough to continue the next book.Anna’s aunt always said magic was a curse and needed to be bound so Anna always thought that was true… until she met Effie and Attis! The nasty girl politics that hit in the late teens are so accurately portrayed that it almost triggered high school PTSD in me. Any girl who has ever stayed in the bathroom stall because you can hear the 'popular' girls combing their hair as they rip you to shreds will know what I mean. To begin, this story is a contemporary urban fantasy. The protagonists are mostly school girls. The magic in the book is witchcraft, and it presumes that the ability to do this magic is something passed on through families. Much of the tale takes place in an ordinary school, what we would call a high school in the US. I was so ready to fall in love with this book after seeing the gorgeous special edition from Goldsboro and that Jay Kristoff had recommended it. Unfortunately, it didn't seem that it was being talked about or even really known at all in the USA. I desperately looked for a library copy, then a bookstore hardcover, to no avail. I was so thrilled when Netgalley sent me a digital copy for review, so thanks to them I was finally able to read one of my most anticipated books of last year! Some details of the school life, especially with respect to bullying and peer pressure, are very well written.