3 out of 5 stars.

Bewitching by Alex Flinn wasn’t nearly as bewitching as I had hoped. I had high hopes for this book because I had read many of Flinn’s other novels and enjoyed them. So when I saw this book on the store shelf, I immediately wanted to read it.

Bewitching is the first book in The Kendra Chronicles, mainly following two young step sisters, Emma and Lisette, but starting out with a section in Kendra Hilferty’s point of view. Kendra is a witch, and the beginning of the book follows her as she attempts to save her little brother from the plague, in 1666. In her attempts she learns that she is a witch. Her tale isn’t a happy one, however, as witches were hunted in that time.

After the end of her backstory, we skip ahead to modern day, with Emma telling the story. Her father isn’t actually her father – he’s her stepfather, but they’re very close and she’s never known her real father. She learns that her stepfather has a real daughter, Lisette, who’s coming to live with Emma’s family because her mother died recently from cancer. Emma’s mother is wary of Lisette, and warns Emma to be careful around her, that she might seek to steal Emma’s stepfather (who is Lisette’s real father – she might feel entitled to steal him, Emma’s mother thinks) or other things. Emma’s mother doesn’t trust Lisette.

But Emma is happy to accept her. She hopes that they might be sisters, and when Lisette acts like she wants to be sisters, Emma drops all suspicion.

But things are not always what they seem, and sometimes the prettiest things are the most deceptive, as Emma soon learns.

The story skips ahead two years, after a short tale about Kendra’s previous witchy failures. Emma’s now sixteen, her father is dead, and the love of her life, Warner, has been stolen by Lisette. After her father’s death, Emma’s mother put Lisette in the place of Cinderella, taking away all her expensive clothes, her car, and making her do all the chores. Emma did nothing to stop it, although she begins to feel by doing nothing she pushed Warner into Lisette’s hands.

Emma seeks to regain Warner’s trust, with the help of her best friend Kendra.

As with all fairy tales (or at least their modern retellings) there is a happy ending. Everything is resolved, and Emma is happy.

Bewitching caught my attention, but the interludes told by Kendra and the other tales thrown in confused me, and somewhat interrupted the flow of the book. Generally, though, Bewitching was a good read, and I would recommend it to any fans of fairy tales or paranormal romance.