Young Adult Paranormal
Paperback, 332 pgs
Published Sept. 8th, 2011 by Flux
Source: Purchased
Braden was born with witch eyes: the ability to see the world as it truly is: a blinding explosion of memories, darkness, and magic. The power enables Braden to see through spells and lies, but at the cost of horrible pain.
After a terrifying vision reveals imminent danger for the uncle who raised and instructed him, Braden retreats to Belle Dam, an old city divided by two feuding witch dynasties. As rival family heads Catherine Lansing and Jason Thorpe desperately try to use Braden's powers to unlock Belle Dam's secrets, Braden vows never to become their sacrificial pawn. But everything changes when Braden learns that Jason is his father--and Trey, the enigmatic guy he's falling for, is Catherine's son.
To stop an insidious dark magic from consuming the town, Braden must master his gift—and risk losing the one he loves.
Witch Eyes proved to be an intriguing start to a new series. While the book had it's faults I did really enjoy it and look forward to seeing where things go in the next book.
Braden was a pretty likable character but it took me awhile to warm up to him. I never disliked him, I just felt like I really didn't know him at all. His personality had a hard time coming through for me. But as the story progressed I enjoyed seeing him strive to find what was right and then to do what was right. I also liked that he was gay but it wasn't really an issue for him. There wasn't any angst or anything. He has a fear at first for what others may think but his fears fade as others find out. His being gay wasn't an issue in the book, it just was and I liked that.
The other characters played their roles well but I think I had a few issues with the love interest. He seemed kind of weak to me but I think that's how he's suppose to be. I'm hoping that in the next book he finds more strength.
I already mentioned that the romantic interest felt a little weak to me. But he was a sweetie, especially in the beginning. And even though he felt a little clueless he knew when he had feelings for Braden and they both just went for it. I did feel like it happened a little fast, but they had hung out a few times and when trapped in a life or death situation hidden feelings tend to come to the surface and that's definitely what happened here. I think it worked okay but like I mentioned before, I really hope that he finds some strength so their relationship can really work. It's definitely a forbidden romance though so we'll see how it works out.
I kind of feel that a town like this being the setting is kind of "been there, done that" but I kind of get it at the same time. And I think it works okay for the story. See, the town is split between two figures that kind of dominate it. And everyone has their 'side'. There's lots of history behind it all and as more was revealed it became better for me to see how and why it came to be how it came to be.
It took me a bit to get into the book. It wasn't slow exactly, it was more along the lines of confusing. I'm not sure if I needed more background to understand what was going on or what. As soon as Braden got to Belle Dam I still had moments of confusion. But I really liked the unique abilities that Braden has and the whole witch thing is pretty awesome. Once Braden got to to Belle Dam (it was very near the beginning) the book went at a slower but steady pace. I was never bored and was able to read straight through but never felt any real urgency to keep reading either. Then I hit the last quarter of the book and things were coming together. At that point I really didn't want to put the book down. I had to make breakfast for the kids and I kept coming up with ways to read just a little more. I was very anxious to see what Braden uncovered because he didn't really share everything with us. It was very intense and pretty action packed for a couple chapters. There are still lots of questions to be answered but the author finished it up on a pretty decent note. Lots to find out yet but not a real cliffhanger either.
While it wasn't perfect for me it was a very enjoyable read. I went in with way high expectations and it wasn't really what I was expecting. But it was full of some unique concepts and the paranormal aspects were very interesting. I'm definitely going to continue the series and actually plan to continue buying them because I think that there's lots I would pick up on a reread that I missed on the first read through.
3/5 stars
