Once a witch, Carolyn MacCullough

Name: Once a witch

Author: Carolyn MacCullough

Series: Witch 1
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Format: Paperback
Pages: 292 pages.
Website: http://www.carolynmaccullough.com/
About the author:Carolyn MacCullough received her MFA in creative writing from the New School and lives with her husband in Brooklyn.
Where can you buy it:
Amazon

Barnes and Noble

Book depository

What goodreads says:
Tamsin Greene comes from a long line of witches, and she was supposed to be one of the most Talented among them. But Tamsin's magic never showed up. Now seventeen, Tamsin attends boarding school in Manhattan, far from her family. But when a handsome young professor mistakes her for her very Talented sister, Tamsin agrees to find a lost family heirloom for him. The search—and the stranger—will prove to be more sinister than they first appeared, ultimately sending Tamsin on a treasure hunt through time that will unlock the secret of her true identity, unearth the sins of her family, and unleash a power so vengeful that it could destroy them all. This is a spellbinding display of storytelling that will exhilarate, enthrall, and thoroughly enchant.
My opinion:
I read this book as the Book Nerd Choice of Thanksgiving and I think it was an excellent choice.

I love books about witches and in my opinion there aren't enough, well not good ones anyway.
Tasmin our main character who by the way has an amazing name, is born in a big family of witches, all of who have some kind of talent, except for Tasmin, even though they were expecting big things from her when she was born, and she has to constantly live in the shadow of her sister Rowena, who not only has a talent but she seems to be good at everything she tries, even without trying. So at the age of seventeen Tasmin is studying in a boarding school in Manhattan and lives in the dorms with her friend Agatha. Until one summer day a stranger comes into her family bookstore and thinks Tasmin is Rowena, and asks her to find something for him and she agrees without bothering to correct him about her name.
And from there everything changes, including the way Tasmin sees the world around her, and the people she loves.
I loved the characters, Tasmin is a great heroine she has an attitude and feels like the outsider of her family (I know how that feels) but in the end she'll do anything she can to save them, including her sister Rowena who she doesn't like.
Then you have Gabriel, sigh, Tasmin's best friend from childhood, whom she hasn't seen for years reappears in her life, and he doesn't seem disturbed by her lack of powers like the rest of her family and who has the most amazing power!! So of course we get to see more of him, personally I cheer that part :)
And the person who completes the book is Professor Alistar who is the "bad boy" yes you can guess I totally fell in love with him ^^ He asks Tasmin to find a clock, a family heirloom, that is more than it seems.
The secondary characters liked Rowena (who eventually grew on me), Aunt Beatrice who is a bit loony, grandma and mum are great and give the story that push that every story needs to be good.
The story is fast paced, has witches, time travel and more, check it out you won't be dissapointed.
I give it 5 stars.
Next weekend I'll post the review of Iron King as I can't post it today as I'm running out of time.

Nathiel