Witches of East End (Beauchamp Family)

I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. I was intrigued after Lifetime fervently advertised a series based on the book. Unfortunately, I felt lost attempting to watch the television show, as none of the characters on the show resonated with me. But the premise was intriguing. From what I've read, the book is unlike the show, which is a good thing.

The book was actually good. The story was engaging, interesting and well-crafted. The writing was simple, clear and inviting without ever being prosaic or cliché. I didn't always agree with the book's direction though. I found Joanna's devotion to Tyler maudlin. However, I did like the other characters and their unique subplots.

I like that Freya was so buoyantly alive, very sexual, extremely kind and even smart, and Ingrid was brave and formidable, and not just clever.

The new take on mythology was delicious, and I delighted on the little hints. Not everything was explained, though I hungered for more. The drops given were just enough to whet my curiosity. I also appreciate the fact that there was a resolution to all the mysteries, and the take on Norse mythology was very refreshing.

This is an entertaining, competently written tale, and I want to read the second book. Not once did the book feel tiresome or unfriendly. It was a fantasy all the way through, and I enjoyed it as such. Better than Beautiful Creatures, and certainly as engaging as Twilight and Hunger Games. IMHO of course.

I thought I reviewed this but I reviewed the primer. This book is terrible it is soft core pornographic romance. Not my cup of tea. The tv show while not quite charmed is much better.

"The Witches of the East End" starts out in that slow, down home pace of Alice Hoffman's [[ASIN:0425190374 Practical Magic]] (a book that we loved), and a little over half way into it, with the introduction of Vampires and Zombies morphed into something more akin to Charlene Harris' True Blood books, then toward the end shifted once more into a modern tale of Norse Mythology (are you listening Odin?). It is a tale of three witches, a mother and two daughters who, after centuries of being banned from doing magic in world, find that they simply cannot help themselves anymore; it just feels too good, and they tempt fate and the wrath of the Council and begin, somewhat surreptitiously to practice minor spells once more and everything unfolds, or unravels, from there.

We enjoyed it greatly. It didn't, as so many books do these days, disparage magic nor warn us incessantly that Magic always comes at a price (which isn't quite true, but we won't go into that here). We expect that those who love the True Blood books will enjoy it in the long run more than the fans of Practical Magic, but we loved them both so perhaps you will as well.

The Silver Elves authors of [[ASIN:1490447210 Elven Silver: The Irreverent Faery Tales of Zardoa Silverstar]]

Great book!

I absolutely love this book! I have not watched it on TV yet so I'm not comparing it to the show like a few others have. This is an amazing book and I finished it in just a few days, it would have been sooner if I was not a mom and could just read all day. I was happy that I had ordered the next two books with it because I was dying to dive into them. I'm honestly very sad to have reached the end of Winds of Salem with no more books from this series. I'm now a huge fan of Melissa De La Cruz and I have went on to start reading her blue blood books. She is a wonderful writer and these will will have wanting more the whole time.

good story

LOVE it great book as well as a great show