Review: The Witches Lottery

The Witches Lottery by Krystal McLaughlin
Genre: YA, Fantasy
Pages: 146 (Ereader)
Source: Author

From Goodreads:

When Sophia and Drew McKibben's parents are killed in a tragic car accident, they are shipped off to live with an aunt they never even knew existed. Believing that they are moving to a privately owned island just off of the coast of Mystic, CT to live alone with her, they are surprised to find a sort of under-aged bed and breakfast.
Sophia draws the attention of one of the locals, Falen, immediately. He always seems to know exactly what she is thinking, and to her frustration, everything she does seems to amuse him. When a newcomer to the island brings with him a sense of deja vu, she begins to ask herself the ultimate question: Am I going crazy?
Sophia's world starts to unravel when she notices her own brother acting just as abnormal as the rest of them. When she begins to realize that the life she left behind looks even more bizarre then the one she was forced to leave it for, she's faced with a decision to make: embrace the new life that has been given to her, or drown in the past. Either choice brings with it more secrets and deceptions to unearth. The problem now is that the two worlds may actually be more intertwined than she thought.

My Rating:

My Review:

You are going to have to trust the Goodreads summary because anything more would have to include spoilers.  So...to be completely honest, I really struggled with the rating for this book.  Ultimately, I chose this rating because any problem I had with this story had to do with me just wanting more.  I started reading the book and I just couldn't put it down.  Every time I found myself skeptical of a character's action--as being out of character--it would be explained later and make complete sense.

I think the book was just too short.  I felt like I started it and then it was done.  I would break the story into 3 major sections (in my mind) based on events in the book and I think the transitions between these major sections were a little jerky.  It's hard to explain without reading, but I found myself having to back-track a couple of pages to remind myself what happened so that I could understand where we were.  When you start this story, you might be a tad confused in places but you are supposed to and it all makes sense in the end.  I was taken by complete surprise by the ending and I LOVE LOVE when an author manages to take me by surprise.  I was constantly surprised at how engrossed I was in the story and I truly cared about Sophia and Drew.  They were very well developed.  I just wish it hadn't had to end so soon.  I will definitely be reading the sequel.