by Scott Tracey
published by Flux
expected release date: April 8, 2013
genre: YA, Paranormal, Supernatural
*received from publisher through netGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Summary (Goodreads): Justin Daggett, his trouble-making sister, and their three orphan-witch friends have gotten themselves kicked out of high school. Again. Now they've ended up in Carrow Mills, New York, the town where their parents—members of the terrorist witch organization known as Moonset—began their evil experiments with the dark arts one generation ago.
When the siblings are accused of unleashing black magic on the town, Justin fights to prove their innocence. But tracking down the true culprit leads him to a terrifying discovery about Moonset’s past . . . and its deadly future.
My Thoughts: Where to begin. I liked the sound of this story. I even liked most of the story. The problem I had was more with the influx of characters. It reached the point that there were too many and most were not needed. I think if the focus had stayed on the siblings and their handlers plus the "bad guy" warlock it would have been a smoother read and not quite so messy.
I liked where the story could have gone (or where it had been) rather than where it was. The little blurbs from the journals, history, and trials of Moonset were the most interesting parts of the book. I liked how by the end you were questioning who the real bad guys were, Moonset or the witches who defeated them. It made me want to have a book from the parents POV rather than children's. Since this is only told from Justin's POV the rest of the characters end up being kind of flat. There was a lot that could have been done with Jenna and her need to lash out and cause destruction where ever she goes. There was also a glimpse of promise to Bailey being an interesting character. I'm hoping this is explored in future books.
Overall, while this sounds like a book to pass on there is enough uniqueness and possibility to the story that I can see myself continuing with the series.
Rating: 3.5
