The Witch of Belladonna Bay by Suzanne Palmieri {Summer Reading Challenge Review}

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4th annual Summer Reading Challenge. Check out all the details here.

Title : The Witch of Belladonna Bay

Author: Suzanne Palmieri Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin Release Date: May 13, 2014

Summary from GoodReads:

It’s the trouble you aren’t expecting that gets you. And it’s all around you, Bronwyn, it’s all around you like the air.…

Bronwyn "BitsyWyn" Whalen hasn’t set eyes on the red dirt of Magnolia Creek, Alabama, for fourteen years—not since her mama died. But with her brother, Patrick, imprisoned for the murder of her childhood best friend, and her eccentric father, Jackson, at his wits’ end while her eleven-year-old niece, Byrd, runs wild, Bronwyn finds herself once again surrounded by ancient magnolia trees and the troubled family she left behind. She becomes immersed in a whirlwind of mystery and magic as she tries to figure out what really happened that fateful night her friend died. And as her bond with Byrd deepens, Bronwyn must face the demons of her past in order to unravel her family’s uncertain future.In Suzanne Palmieri's thrilling new novel, The Witch of Belladonna Bay, readers will learn if love and magic are enough to bring a broken family back together

Quotes:

"Why do you suppose we do that push ourselves away from those we love right when we need them the most." - Wyn

My Take: First, let me say that although I'm a scary cat on the surface, deep, reallly really deep down I love everything about witches, spells, magic, all the mysterious things. And this book had that and more. 
This book was magical. It pulled me in every time I read it. I felt the magic that the characters had. But the book was more than just magic, it was about finding forgiveness, finding oneself, it was about not hiding who you really were. 
The book was told in the perspective of three very powerful and unique "witches." The story started when Naomi was outcasted by her family for having powerful "strange ways." Out of fear they put Naomi in an asylum, until her aunt and a handsome man saved her from it all. But while in there, Naomi decided to run away from her strange ways, she hid her powers and turned to drugs to block them. 
While on opium, Naomi pushed everyone away including her children. Her daughter Bronwyn, needed her mother the most, and when Naomi pushed them away she was hurt the most. When Naomi overdosed, thinking it was her fault, Bronwyn ran away and never looked back. Until now.
The town is struck with a murder. And Patrick, Bronwyn's brother is in prison. Bronwyn's goes back home and is surrounded with magic and mystery and an eleven-year-old niece, Byrd, who has "strange ways" like her mother. 
While at home, Bronwyn's learns and uncovers a lot of her past that she kept buried for the fourteen years she was away. But with the help of the immense love she has for her niece Byrd, she was able to forgive her mom, and herself, and her father for everything that happened in the past. 
If you like mystery and magic, I highly recommend it. 

Rating: 4 out of 5

My other Summer Reading Challenge reviews: Love and Other Foreign Words by Erin McCahan Cure for the Common Breakup by Beth Kendrick The One and Only by Emily Giffin
Find my other reviews here: Book Thoughts

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