Jess is no ordinary vampire. Protected by the Manchester vampire clan, and
initiated by her family’s east coast American coven, she is sought after by
every dark witch and warring vampire faction. Jess must fight if she wants
to keep hold of her friends, her sanity and finally her existence.
As the dead bodies of human girls begin to stack up, and her recently
accepted vampire boyfriend, Daniel, finds himself in prison, Jess goes on a
crazy, forbidden trip to London, racing against time to save an old friend
and solve the mystery behind Daniel’s incarceration. In battling new enemies
and finding new friends, Jess’s confidence finds room to grow, but who will
she lose along the way?
Review
witchcraft follows on from the first in the series witch blood which really took me by surprise because i do get asked to read self published books from time to time and this one was rather good. It was rough around the edges in place but had some nice original ideas and characters and the relationship between the main characters were complex and kept me going. When Emma offered me a chance to be on the blog tour and review the second in the series I was interested to see where the story went and how the characters had developed. PLus it was set in Manchester which not only is that a big tick for my UKYA loving heart but a welcome change to London or "mysterious English countryside".
Witchcraft continues pretty much at the same point as we left in Witchblood and Jess is still dealing with being a vampire and now in the second book we get to see more of her witch side and how the two balance or don't as the case sometimes is. The story was once again interesting but I found it still had the roughness that I felt in Witchblood. It didn't put me off reading it at all but I felt like I wanted to tweak some bits or wonder how it would be if there were an extra scene or two and some pieces cut. I won't lie when I tell you that my skin crawled a bit when the words Justin and Bieber appeared. They weren't used to cheer him on but I have a weird emotion reflect and just cringe seeing his name.
My favourite relationship once again was that between the vampires because time has made their lives so tied up with each other and Jess is VERY new and a game changer for them really. I really didn't get on with Luke as her ex and that was mainly because I couldn't see his appeal. It seemed a bit moody and judgemental but not always in a good way. I wished they'd been more exploration of the relationship between Jess and her BFF from her former human life, Alex because she becomes part of the story and yet you don't quite understand how much a part of Jess' life she was. I could have also seen more of the building relationship with Daniel and how her contact with her ex Luke affected him. There are hints at it but a scene with jess and Daniel having a heart to heart or Jess getting a frank talk from Eva about Daniel would have made the story feel more whole.
I love to see new talent coming out of the UK and giving self published books a try once in a while and I'm glad I took a risk with Emma Mills because you can see she has an interesting way or telling a story and characters that you gradually get to know and want to see more of. It wasn't perfect but I think it speaks well of UK writers out there that aren't with big publishing houses but still create worlds well and with intrigue.
Rating: 6/10
Witchblood (the 1st in the series) is available here and Witchcraft is available to buy here on Amazon UK and Smashwords right NOW
For more information on Emma and the series check out her website
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