Posted by Melanie
Release Date: August 2nd, 2012
Finished Date: July 20th, 2012
Publishers: Constable & Robinson
Source: For Review
Format: Paperback
Jane thought she was living a fairy tale. Now she has to contend with burgeoning magical powers and a soon-to-be mother-in-law who is a witch ... literally Welcome to New York City, where the socialites are witches.
Jane Boyle has been living a fairy tale. When her boyfriend Malcolm proposes, Jane can't believe her luck and decides to leave her Paris-based job as a fledgling architect and make a new start with him in New York. But when Malcolm introduces Jane to the esteemed Doran clan, one of Manhattan's most feared and revered families, Jane's fairy tale takes a darker turn. Now Jane must struggle with newfound magical abilities and the threat of those who will stop at nothing to get them. Welcome to 666 Park Avenue...
The Review: 666 Park Avenue is the start of a new series that could be compared to an adult Gossip Girl with less focus on the gossip and more on Witches. These aren’t your run of the mill tie-dye, earth loving, sisterly coven witches who would rather live in the woods somewhere and commune with the goddess, no – these women are power witches, dressed in designer clothes, an abundance of money at their fingertips and their finger on the New York pulse by way of controlling the socialite scene. These women are feared and revered throughout the scene and woe betide anyone who gets in their way because when you have a socialite with a superiority complex and you give them unrivalled powers with the chance to obtain more – you’ve created a monster who will stop at nothing, and I mean nothing to get what she wants. And they’ve set their sights on Jane Boyle who knows nothing about her powers until the death of her grandmother- who happened to be her last remaining relative. When Jane moves to New York following that and the whirlwind proposal from NYC’s most eligible bachelor- Malcolm Doran – she thinks her fairy tale has come true but she soon discovers there are no closets big enough to hold this particular ‘esteemed’ families skeletons and as she begins to discover them, she begins to fear for her safety and of those she has come to know. Can she save herself from the strongest witch of all? – Malcolm’s mother!
.
I really enjoyed this book, at first I thought it wasn’t my thing – I'm not a fan of women who deem the way others perceive them as paramount importance to their lives, where your thoughts are meaningless because you're expected to act in a certain way, maybe I'm stereo typing 'socialites' but let’s face it the ones we see in the media aren't my kind of role models and not something I would aspire to be therefore not a topic I really want to read about plus it mentions designers & labels a lot – again, not my thing (I’m a jeans & t-shirt kinda girl) I didn’t want to spend a time reading about someone shopping in expensive stores etc. but I got why it was done because she is thrust into this world and a lot of value is placed on appearance so it goes with the territory. When I looked past that and the story got going then the witchy part got introduced, that’s when I got into it, surprising myself with how much I actually did like it.
.
There are a lot of characters to get to know in this and I liked the majority, Jane is nice – I liked her a whole lot more once she wised up to a few things and we see her get some backbone. I don’t want to say a great deal about most of them for fear of spoiling the story, let’s just say that not everyone is who they appear to be – that will be a major thread really because as we begin to get to know people we also find out who can be trusted and who can’t.
.
The storyline is interesting but because its book one, we only really touch on some of the things happening, I think the focus on this is that Jane discovers she has powers and someone else wants them – but that’s not all she wants and it’s a shocker believe me! There are a few complications thrown in because when Jane first arrives she has nothing to lose but then she gains a couple of allies and now they are targets so it changes some of her decisions. There are a lot of twists and turns, you think it’s going one way and it goes another plus as I said there are a LOT of skeletons in the Doran’s closet – we get a couple – but it leaves you with the feeling that there is a whole lot more and Jane is likely to blow the lid off the lot. I really liked the little bit of history we got about the ‘families’ & we also get the hint of a love triangle that I’m not too fussed about – I’m not a fan of infidelity and it could very well go there which would spoil it for me. The pacing was good and everything was kept moving swiftly, throwing discoveries out along the way and I liked that it wasn’t just a big reveal at the end and as I said plenty of twists and turns and a great start to what promises to be a great series and I will be definitely looking out for book two.
.
Things I’m hoping for the sequel are. . . more answers – I want to know about Jane’s heritage and what really happened to her parents, I want to know more about the Dorans and what they’re up to, particularly more about a secret that was exposed in this book, I want more of the history of the witches, I want to meet some of the other ‘families’ & I want Jane to master her powers – I’m not asking for much ;)
.
Now, I was made aware just before I read this that it has been made into a TV series soon to be aired and that is how I visualised it when reading and I have to say it has all of the elements that would make me watch it, there are pivotal moments where you can see an episode ending and the drama of the reveals, so if you want a heads up on it – get reading this and be ahead of the game. I’m curious to see if they do it justice.
.
A big thanks to Constable & Robinson for giving the opportunity to review this book.
8 comments:
The story sounds good. I am not fan of Gossip Girl but Gossip Girl with Witches sounds more more interesting. I have to say I am curious about Jane's life.
Great review!
Artemis
I wanted to read this book because I heard about the tv series as well. But from what I read in the TV Guide Comic-Con issue, the show isn't going to be quite like the books. Soooo, I'm going to try to watch the show, then maybe read the books if I like the show. Kind of like I did with True Blood and the Sookie STackhouse books, although as I read ahead in the books, it's now kind of hard sometimes to watch True Blood and see all the important things they're doing wrong! :-) Good review, I am even more intrigued in reading the book now.
Wow, it seems like a lot of drama here. I like how you presented it. I wonder how the TV world will present it. I hope there isn't infidelity because I don't like that at all, especially with the main characters. I will drop it in a heartbeat! Thanks for that great review.
The infidelity would make it better for ratings for the TV show but it isn't needed, infact it would make more of an impact if it didn't happen & I'm a bit wary of reading book two because of it lol I'm very anti-cheating.
to be fair it's the set up thats the same - you know, rich, priveleged & powerful- not so much bed hopping as GG but ust as much deviousness ;)
It's been a while since I read a Witch book. It might be this one, but I'm kind of nervous about the drama level- if it's about every little thing (like in Gossip Girl), then eh. But I am curious about this book, especially since it'll be made into a show. Might check it out.
Great review!
I got hold of it when this came out last year (my library bought the green and white one) but couldn't get into it. I wasnt that patient with it though. Maybe I should have another go with it-this review has gotten me interested again!
The cover looks gorgeous and an so glad you liked it. After reading your review I did put it on my to read list :)
Post a Comment