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 alternative 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.
I really did not think I was going to
like this book, but it just goes to show that my love of witchery reigns true
and forevermore. Why didn’t I think I was going to like this book? Two words:
historical fiction. Granted, it’s actually a historical alternate universe so I
don’t think I’ve conquered my fears and hatred for history just yet. The whole
historical alternate universe thing was incredibly abrupt and jarring. I had no
idea what I was getting into with this one apparently, and I was not let into
the world gently. Once I got through the first few chapters of bad introduction
to alternate history, I was rather hooked.
I’ve never fancied myself a lover of
religious tones or of British historical tones. With Born Wicked, it really worked. And well. What tied everything
together so perfect weren’t so much the witches but what they represented:
feminism. In a book so laden with power solely in the religious sect, there had
to be oppression and a sort of historical dystopian feel.
Interesting? I certainly thought so.
Plus, I’m a sucker for a book with a good level of oppression. Everything in
the world was perfectly cast under the light of this oppressive religious sect.
The more unorthodox places overseas where women wear pants and live with other
women, and the fact that being a lesbian or someone against the Brotherhood is
almost treasonous. This could have just been a historical alternate world where
the women’s suffragette begins before the twentieth century. But then Jessica
Spotswood went and threw in one of my all-time favorite tropes: witches.
Witches are not a bad addition to
this world though. They give sense to the story. This is a time when witches
were already persecuted in real history, so just buffed up that and added some
depth created, literally, a whole world of writing possibilities.
All in all, I can go ahead and just
say that the world of this book is amazingly succinct with the tropes utilized.
I really loved the world even though it was difficult to get in to (but I don’t
think I particularly enjoyed the first chapter and how the book got started).
Another thing I loved were the characters. They were amazing and completely
real.
An important trope in this story is
family, or better yet sisters. The conversations and quarrels between the three
sisters in the book are so real, I could see it happening between my own sister
and I, only with less magic (though I not saying we wouldn’t try). Each sister
was incredibly different in her own way, but you could still tell they were
related. And not just because they all lived in the same house.
I hated whom I was supposed to hate,
and loved who I was supposed to love, which is really what good stories are
supposed to do. Now to the love triangle. I know, love triangles really need to
stop already. They are the most overused trope ever, but we keep reading them.
While this story did have a love triangle, it never really felt like one.
There was Paul, the boy from Cate’s
childhood who understood her past and has recently come home from school in New
England. I just want to throw in that I hated him right when he mentioned he
courted others girls before her. Rude! But he came back to Chatham to ask Cate
to marry him. He didn’t even have the gall to come home after Cate’s mother
died. If anyone was unsuitable for Cate, it was Paul.
Finn, on the other hand, is there
for her. He’s rather like the Darcy to her Elizabeth in a way. Sure, they don’t
seem to get along when first introduced together to us readers, but love and
feelings still develop. Here’s why there’s not really a love triangle and Cate
belongs with Finn:
When Cate and Paul were together,
Cate was young and spirited. She was wild and adventurous. Once her mother
died, Cate had to step into her mother’s shoes in you will. She became less of
an out-spoken spirited and more mentally spirited. Paul wanted to marry the
girl who used to do dares and climb trees recklessly. Cate is no longer that
girl and she knows it even though Paul is too dull. Stepping into her mothers’
shoes, Cate has become a reserved spirited, or rather just incredibly similar
to her mother. Stepping into someone’s shoes has a funny way of turning you
into that person as we’ve learned from Adam Sandler The Cobbler.
Cate’s mother was the spirited and
reckless type, and was a pawn for the Sisterhood. She had to become more
reserved and married a quietly reckless man who fought the Brotherhood
secretly. When Cate stepped into her mother’s shoes, she too needed to follow
in her mothers’ footsteps and fall for a man that was a quiet fighter and that
was not Paul. It was Finn Belastra, the boy whose mother owned a bookstore
(outrageous!) with banned books hidden inside!
So to me, there was never a love
triangle. It was always clear to me at least that Paul was never a contender,
but books will be books and triangles will always be drawn in the sand.
In the end, this book was great. The
feminism, the oppression, the witchcraft, the secrecy, the tea parties, the
forbidden love. It was all for me, and I loved it all. The only issue I had was
the beginning of the book. The first few chapters almost turned this book into
a DF, but I trudged through and thank goodness I did! I was seriously really
worried I was going to hate this one, but the feminism and witches won me over.
XOXO Tia
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