This book by Laure Eve is another one that I found while browsing my kindle library. I have no memory of buying it, but it’s about witches, so of course I believe that I bought it.
I’ve realized the problem with reading books in my kindle library is that I’ve bought a lot of books that are the first in a series because publishers like putting those on sale when the sequels come out. The downside to this is that I am now getting invested in more series when I’m still trying to finish all the series I started reading years ago and never finished. I don’t feel the need to jump into the next book in this series, but I would definitely be interested to see where Eve decides to go with it.
The book is about a teenaged girl who moves to a new town. Because I’m American, I tend to assume everything takes place in America. But there were a few odd things that made me think this might take place somewhere in the U.K. Little things like calling math class “maths,” which my American spellcheck is currently telling me is not a word. Also the author grew up in Cornwall.
Anyway, I forget the main girl’s name. At some point she decides her “true” name is River, so all her friends start calling her that. She moved to this town with her mom after her dad left, and it sure takes Eve long enough to let the reader know the circumstances of his disappearance. Is he dead? Did he leave? Is River blaming herself for his disappearance because she did something, or just because of normal teenage angst? If she did something, what did she do?
While Eve is teasing all that, River is desperately trying to get in with the “cool kids” at her new school. The cool kids happen to be the 3 children of the Grace family, Thalia and Fenrin, who are twins, and Summer, the baby of the family.
All the girls are in love with Fenrin, and he tends to have a new girl hanging on his arm every week. River is also obsessed with him and determined not to be just another notch on his belt. She wants to be “the one” for him and she has a plan to infiltrate the tight circle that makes up the Graces and their in crowd – she’ll pretend she doesn’t care whether they notice her. And it works.
There are rumors that the Grace family is made up of witches and that’s why the parents are so wealthy and the kids are all so popular. Rather than just being incredibly charming (as if being rich and gorgeous weren’t enough on their own), people assume the Graces must have cast some sort of spell over the entire town.
While the rumors of magic are a deterrent for much of the town, they’re the reason River is so attracted to them. Turns out River has some magic of her own and she’s hoping the Graces can help her control her power.
That’s kind of a spoiler, but not entirely. There are some pretty big hints early on that River is not “normal” and that she needs the Graces to help her understand “what she is.” It’s not until the last few chapters that we find out what she’s capable of, but Eve drops enough hints leading up to it that it’s not a complete surprise.
I REALLY liked the way this book ended and would definitely be interested in continuing with the series.