Born Wicked by Jessica Spotswood

Goodreads
330 pages, YA Paranormal (Witches)
The Cahill Witch Chronicles #1
My rating: 5 stars

Synopsis

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.

My 2 cents

I absolutely LOVED this book!  I really wasn't expecting to love it that much, but the story was beautiful! The setting is New England in the 1890s.  In the small town of Chatham, the Brotherhood exists as a governing body on religion.  Their main mission is to find any hidden witches and arrest them.  Women are meant to be obedient, chaste, and meek.  If anything at all seems outside the norm, they are accused of witchery.

The three Cahill sisters are most definitely witches.  They hide it as best they can from everyone, but Cate is worried.  When a young woman turns 17, she must either marry or join the Sisterhood.  Time is running out for Cate.  She is terrified of being separated from her sisters.  If she decides to marry, she must find her own suitor, or the Brotherhood will appoint one for her--and he will probably be one of the few old widows in town with lots of children.  Yuck!

So at first in the story, it seems her love interest will be Paul.  He's lived next door to her since they were children, and they were always good friends.  Paul has just come home from university, and he's definitely pursuing Cate.    But Cate doesn't feel butterflies around him...she feels them around her gardener, Finn Belastra!

The story is great!  Not only do we have this turbulent romantic problem, but Cate is trying desperately to dispel any notions of her sisters and herself being witches.  The Brotherhood is going crazy, arresting young girls left and right, and it seems to be focusing on sisters!  I loved the magic, suspense, and romantic angst in this book!

I loved Cate.  She was a wonderful, stubborn, strong-willed herione!  I also fell in love with Finn.  He doesn't seem like much at the start of the book, but he is also very strong, and incredibly smart.  I also loved the youngest sister, Tess, she was so cute!  I really didn't like the other sister, Maura all that much.  She seemed pretty immature and selfish to me.  

The ending had me screaming in my head, "NOOOOO!!!"  I knew things probably were not going to turn out to favorably for Cate, but I had really hoped for it!  But the ending did set it up nicely for the sequel!  The next book in the series, Star Cursed, comes out in June and I can't wait to read it!