| Title | : | The Witches of Echo Park (The Witches of Echo Park, #1) |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 0425268675 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780425268674 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 304 |
| Publication | : | First published January 6, 2015 |
When Lyse MacAllister’s great-aunt Eleanora, the woman who raised her, becomes deathly ill, Lyse puts her comfortable life in Georgia on hold to rush back to Los Angeles. And once she returns to Echo Park, Lyse discovers her great-aunt has been keeping secrets—extraordinary secrets—from her.
Not only is Lyse heir to Eleanora’s Victorian estate; she is also expected to take her great-aunt’s place in the Echo Park coven of witches. But to accept her destiny means to place herself in deadly peril—for the world of magic is under siege, and the battle the witches now fight may be their last…
The Witches of Echo Park (The Witches of Echo Park, #1) Reviews
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Amber Benson means what she writes, and writes what she means!
THE MULTI-FACETED AMBER BENSON
I made a decision a long time ago not to let anything slow me down. So, I just don’t.
If you aren’t familiar with Amber Benson, she is the same actress who played the role “Tara” in the iconic Buffy, the Vampire Slayer TV series, where she even was able to show her very good singing skills in the very popular “Once More, With Feeling” episode. And even later, she recorded some songs inside of a music album by Anthony Stewart-Head (Giles).
She produced, directed and starred two indy films, and also she co-wrote and co-directed others.
She started to write, first in comic books related to Buffy, the Vampire Slayer, centered in the characters of Willow and Tara (who better than her to write stories involving Tara?)
Later, she was able to collaborate with the known writer Christopher Golden, co-creating the book series Ghosts of Albion and co-writing the novels.
And finally on her own, she created the book series Calliope-Reaper Jones, writing there the five novels of it.
Even recently, she narrated the audio book edition of the novel Lock In by John Scalzi.
Now, she is getting back again with another book series of her own creation.
WELCOME BACK TO ECHO PARK
I’d forgotten how glorious this place is.
This is the first novel (also known for the title of Homecoming) of the book series The Witches of Echo Park.
The series is about a coven of witches (but they preferred the term of blood sisters) located in a neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, known as Echo Park.
Those witches are part of an organization with covens in many countries with a leading group (The Great Council) with headquarters in Rome, Italy.
Each coven does its best to have members skilled in the five key disciplines: Clairvoyants, Diviners, Empaths, Herbalists and Dream Keepers (while this last discipline has been heavily reduced in the last 50 years in witches with that kind of gift).
The main character, Lyse MacAllister, while young was taken by the custody of Eleanora Eames, and when Lyse grew up, she went away to make her own life in Athens, Georgia. However, now, Eleanora is very ill and her death is inminent.
So, Eleanora knows that it’s the time to call for Lyse to occupy her place in the coven of Echo Park.
But the tricky part is that Eleanora never told Lyse about being a witch and much less that she was leading a coven in their own neighborhood.
THE COVEN OF ECHO PARK
I have done something good,...
...And there will be hell to pay for it.
The roles as witches is a secret but nevertheless, her members are important public figures in the community of Echo Park.
Eleanora is the current leader of the coven of Echo Park. She is loved by everyone, but she had a past full of bitter experiences.
Arrabelle is the herbalist of the coven, she is tough and ambitious, and she thinks that the logical choice for the next leader of the coven should be her. She lives alone in her house.
Devandra is the diviner of the coven, she is thoughtful and charitable. She lives along with her companion, Fredy, and they have two very young daughters: Marjoram and Ginny.
Daniela is the empath of the coven. She is a young adult and she has been in the coven for a very few time and she knows a lot of secrets, even she posses information about the past of the coven of Echo Park that the current member aren’t aware of. She has two cats: Verity and Veracity, that they are always hungry but also willing to protect her master.
Lizbeth is a young apprentice in the field of herbalist, under the tutorship by Arrabelle. She is mute and she was institutionalized during several years which provoke that now she is having troubles to adapt to common life but her half-brother is doing his best to help her.
Weir isn’t a member of the coven, even it’s possible that he isn’t aware of the existence of it, but he is the half-brother of Lizbeth, and he is starting to get really interested in Lyse.
THE FLOOD IS COMING
Love is a four-letter word that can be as evil as any curse.
Eleanora knows that her time is near and she needs to convince Lyse to formally unite the coven, which involves a ritual that Lyse didn’t know about it, and not only the imminent death of Eleanora is pushing the matter but also the prediction, done many time ago, that the coven of Echo Park, and it seems that all the covens in the world, will have to face deathly mysterious enemies threatening to exterminate the existence of the covens and their members.
Knowing who to trust in this secretive menace is a risky issue.
ECHOES OF WHAT I FOUND ODD IN THE NOVEL
Why did her love have to be so cruel?
Without doing any spoiler, I will explain what I found odd in the novel and that provoked that I wasn’t able to give it a full 5-star rating (while a 4-star rating is still a wonderful score!).
But, before starting, I just want to explain that the selected quote for this section of the review isn’t something that I found odd at all. In fact, it’s one of the strongest quotes that hit me while reading the book.
Okay...
First, there is a moment where the coven is facing one of the villains, they get to verify that indeed it’s one of the villains, AND they just let the villain walk away! Okay, they can’t call the police (it would be hard to explain the witches’ thing to the boys in blue), but how they just let the villain freely leave the place??! They should imprison the villain, while my own instincts tell me that they should look for a shovel and make a trip to the forest.
Second, Devandra is a witch, BUT when she has certain talk with her daughters about a topic with a paranormal angle, she thought first that they were joking??! The typical cliché of the adults that never believe to the kids when they are telling the truth is bad enough to add the odd factor that a witch isn’t conceiving that a paranormal event is possible to be occurring.
Third (and final), I think that the final climax for the book was kinda weak and without enough action, also the final climax isn’t involved the whole coven but only a member of them. The coven is a team and I think that final menace in any book should be faced by the whole coven. Also, it was like an odd moment to insert the final climax, and it hardly did an acceptable sense of closure for the novel in hand.
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But still, this was a really good reading, where the characters’ development was really rich, the narrative is engaging and very well written. I am truly glad of having read it and certainly I am interested to read the following novel in the book series. -
3 of 5 stars at The BiblioSanctum
http://bibliosanctum.com/2015/01/04/b...
The Witches of Echo Park is an interesting but strange and shifting book. At first glance, I thought I would be going into your usual urban fantasy about witch covens and magic, but the experience turned out to be much more literary, with the novel quite formally and artistically written.
The story follows the lives of a group of witches in the Los Angeles area. At the center of the plot is Lyse MacAllister, who jumps on the next plane to California the moment she learns the devastating news that her great-aunt Eleanora, the woman who raised her, is dying. Lyse hopes to convince her great-aunt to seek a second or even a third medical opinion. What she doesn’t realize is that Eleanora has something to tell her too, a great secret that could change her life forever.
To her shock, Lyse discovers that magic is real, that there’s a reason why the house she grew up in has felt strange to her ever since she was a child. Eleanora isn’t just a kindly old distant relative who took her in after her parents died; in truth, her great-aunt is the leader of the Echo Park witches – though the women much prefer the term blood sisters. And now that Eleanora is ready to pass on to the next life, she wants Lyse to take her place as head of the coven.
As I was saying, The Witches of Echo Park does not read like the typical book you would pull off the shelf in the Urban Fantasy or Paranormal aisle. If you’re expecting the kick-ass Buffy-style heroine or the non-stop action and snarky humor, you won’t really find it here. The style isn’t very light, either. Instead, the story within these pages is more comparable to a family drama, which unfolds gradually through the perspectives of six women, all members of the Echo Park coven. Besides Lyse and Eleanora, there is the indomitable Arrabelle, resident herbalist; the fun-loving Devandra; Daniela the seer who is more than meets the eye; and last but not least, the silent and perspective Lizbeth.
Still, I was not prepared for how restrained the pacing was. Eleanora’s plan to tell Lyse the truth about herself and what she wants for her grand-niece’s future – a plot point that I initially took for a set-up for the bigger picture, simply an introduction and no more – actually turned out to be the bulk of the story, not resolving itself until nearly the halfway mark. Everything given to us up to this point seems to be a mix of character history and background information, told mostly through visions and memories. That’s not to say that all of it was filler, as there’s a good reason the author included all these narratives. However, I can’t deny there were also quite a few times where I found myself questioning where the book was going, because it does take its time establishing a direction.
Simply put, the not-quite-300 pages of this novel felt like one long introduction. That’s not always a bad thing, and in truth, so many series do this nowadays that I don’t even bat an eye anymore. I only regret that this book did not have a more substantial plot, though I have to applaud Amber Benson for ultimately pulling together a main conflict. By the end, most of the mystery is explained, we have several threats identified and a few villains named. But if you would allow me a few moments to chide, I do believe that many of these elements should have made themselves clear by the first third of a novel, not late in the second half. That’s probably my biggest issue with the story, but at least now I have a better understanding of where things are headed.
Just a couple more observations and minor issues before I head off: I found myself liking a lot of the characters in here; a couple of them are especially memorable, like Arrabelle and Lizbeth. I had hoped for a stronger connection to Lyse though, since she’s closest to being the main protagonist. In truth, I actually found her a bit shallow and impetuous. She can be put off by and act brusquely towards an awkward but harmless mute teenage girl, but then is totally all right with flirting and practically throwing herself at a total stranger simply because he is handsome and has cool tattoos. And on that note, there’s also a small romantic side plot here that nonetheless came across slightly rushed and out of place. I was taken aback by a graphic sex scene (it should be noted that it was in the context of a dream), not because that’s something that would bother me, but because it just felt like it came out of nowhere.
In sum, this book is a decent start if you look at it as an introduction, just a taste of something much bigger to come. I didn’t know anything about it before I picked it up, aside from the author’s background in TV and film. Though it didn’t turn out to be the light and peppy read I’d expected, it was fascinating and enjoyable in its own way. I’d like to know what the next book will bring. Something tells me it will be much more focused and fast-paced now that the foundation of the series has been laid down and completed. -
Let's be honest, we all knew I was going to read these books the moment I found out about them because Amber Benson and my massive love for anything Buffy. And hey, I found out that Benson has a unique take on witches that I hadn't really read before - including the big bad. What I had pegged as an urban fantasy telling became more family oriented and self-actualization like.
When Lyse MacAllister is called back to Los Angeles, it's not good news. Her great aunt, Eleanora, is deathly ill. This is the woman who took Lyse in from foster care when Lyse had no one. But Eleanora has been hiding something from Lyse all these years and that's why Lyse was called home. Because, see, Eleanora is a coven leader and she expects Lyse to take her place. Obviously, this doesn't go over extremely well in the beginning.
It took me a few chapters to get used to Benson's writing style, but once I did, I found that this book was driven by the relationships of the characters and not so much the magic aspect. The chapters change POV's, cycling through the entire coven so that we get to not only meet the group, but get to know them on a personal level and I felt that really worked here because each girl was so unique and I feel that would have been lost on just one POV.
There were also a few surprising twists that I didn't really see coming. So bravo, Benson. Just when I thought I had something figured out, a new piece of information would get dropped and I would be left stunned in an almost 'how did I not see that coming' way.
Overall, a good introduction to a series and I'm intrigued to see how this one plays out. -
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Unfortunately this was a miss for me.
My overall impression was eh. I preferred Danielle to Lyse. I would have been interested more in a story about her. And I liked the idea of Weir more than I liked the actuality of him. That whole thing just came together fast and unrealistically. It actually felt uncomfortable for me. All of the relationships and the plot (including the blind promise) felt very contrived.
Also, not only did I not like the prologue, I also didn't like all the random flashbacks. I understand why they were necessary, just that maybe there was a better way to go about them. In addition to the flashbacks, there were too many POV's. Between both of those problems the story felt really choppy and together was probably the majority of what made me struggle with getting invested in the plot.
Also, as much as I was excited to read a book written by Amber Benson, I was turned off a little by the writing style. In the same sex scene she would flip between words like 'manhood' and 'cock'. It would be traditional romance, or it read like a modern day romance. The flip flopping kept ripping me out of the story to go 'huh?'. The writing just didn't flow the way I like it to.
I thought the kids were cute, but they were in it so little that (I agree) it wasn't enough to keep me reading. Actually, I think the two most interesting characters were Lizbeth and Danielle. I may read something about them. May though, because I actually didn't think that the book was well written. It felt very amateurish.
Thank you Netgalley and Ace Trade for providing an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. -
Caffeinated Aspects:
The Witches of Echo Park has secret covens, a premonition foretold, a dying great-aunt and a protagonist who knows none of their secrets. Death, secrets, evil and more are weaved into the story. The tale takes place in Echo Park. It is one of many places on Earth where magic flows. The premise is interesting with secret societies and a great evil referred to as the Flood.
The characters particular the witches are quite interesting and each unique. Lyse MacAllister was saved by her great-aunt Eleanora. She is gravely ill and Lyse leaves Georgia to be with her. She learns her aunt is a witch when she is asked to take part in a ritual to join the coven. One member named Dev, is a card reader and something more. Weir, is a young man Lyse is drawn too. I am curious to see how his role develops. Lizbeth, is a young woman damaged by the past who does not speak but may hold the key. Daniela is an empathy, who wears gloves even in the middle of summer. She loves her children and takes pride in a strange wreath. Arrabelle is an herbalist who mixes all sorts of concoctions. Hessika was the woman who saved Eleanora but is no more. There are villains and more throughout the novel.
Blood spells, horned Gods and other interesting tid-bits like flashbacks from Eleanora’s life were interesting and kept me engaged. The plot moves slowly as Benson fleshes out the world and gives us some background regarding the characters.
There is a romance albeit a weird one and I am expecting a little witchy reasoning behind it all. No insta-love or triangles but I would call this insta-lust. The romance stayed firmly in the background without much movement.
Decaffeinated Aspects:
We know an evil is coming but we do not learn very much about the Flood, despite many references to it. Lyse is very new to the coven and aside from vivid dreams we do not yet know her role.
The Witches of Echo Park despite a unique cast of characters, and premise did not move forward and felt more like an introduction.
As unique, as each character was I learned nothing about them. I am hoping we see more development in the next book.
Cast in the adult genre, the story had a young adult vibe to it. Aside from a sexual ritual and the occasional swear word the main protagonist felt like a teen, as did Lizbeth.
I was never bored while reading this but I never became completely lost in it either. I will try the next book in the series before deciding whether to continue.
Copy provided by publisher, full review on blog.
This review was originally posted at Caffeinated Book Reviewer -
Review courtesy of
All Things Urban Fantasy.
In THE WITCHES OF ECHO PARK, Amber Benson introduces us to the Southern California "blood sisters" who, along with other covens across the globe, keep the world in balance. When coven leader Eleanora informs her great-niece that she's dying, Lyse abandons her life in Georgia to fly to Los Angeles - and, unknowingly, to take her great-aunt's place as an Echo Park witch. Benson channels Alice Hoffman in this novel, painting the Echo Park neighborhood in a way that should delight locals, and inform strangers. Though I found the first half of the book a little overly descriptive, the narrative overall reflects the dreams that are central to the story - including that feeling that the dream never quite reaches its conclusion.
This is clearly the first book in a series, but even knowing more's to come doesn't quite change the fact that I felt something was missing. The characters are charming individuals - from perky mother-of-two and Tarot reader Dev to headstrong Daniela, the gloved-at-all-times empath. Eleanora, struggling with the cancer that has spread to her blood, is still formidable and stubborn, and occasionally gets high in her kitchen. I enjoy the way Benson weaves the story of Eleanora's past into Lyse's present, but it doesn't feel like this particular novel has an actual arc. Lyse's evolution isn't as dramatic as it might be. Though skeptical of witches and magic, she spends much of her first day back home reflecting on the strangeness of the neighborhood, and even discovers the place of her recurring childhood nightmare is a real location. Her transformation from non-believer into coven 'blood sister' is hurried due to Eleanora's intervention, but though Lyse comes around on her own by the end, it's still not much of a shift.
Benson introduces the reader to the Echo Park coven with great personal details, but the threat that looms over the first half of the novel is barely a whisper, and when it finally does resolve itself into an antagonist, it seems hurried, and ultimately anti-climactic. The character who strikes against the coven is there and gone, and only a piece of the larger conflict, which itself remains vague. The magic of the coven seems particularly focused on dreams, which might be why the story feels like a series of them. Though incredibly detailed, and obviously done with love, the first half - Lyse readjusting to life in Echo Park - is so impressionistic, so meandering, that when the plot that's intended to launch a series does come into play, it doesn't have enough space to complete its arc. -
I received this Early Copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review, I was in no way compensated for this review.
Like any Buffy fan, I jumped at the chance to read Amber Benson's newest series debut, The Witches of Echo Park, but unfortunately, this read was just not for me. I don't know why really, but the story never really grabbed me. And I first thought that this was a YA read since the cover model looks really young, but nope, totally adult.
Lyse's life gets turned upside down when her great aunt calls her to come home, for she's dying. Lyse complies since it was Eleanora who raised her and rescued her from a life of foster care, but Lyse is about to learn some well kept family secrets, such as Eleanora is a witch and she wants to pass the "family line" down to her.
I kind of struggled with this one almost from the getgo but kept reading on, granted a few times I skimmed pages because I couldn't quite get into it. And that just kept happening for the course of the novel unfortunately. Lyse gets inducted into the coven rather quickly once she arrives in California and the days move forward pretty fast after that.
We get many points of view in this one, not just Lyse, but Eleanora and other coven members as well. That's what made it so daunting at times to follow, because unless I was reading wrong, I could never tell if the "negative" thoughts were more sinister ones. And there are some bad guys roaming around town as well. Ones, we learn that are from Eleanora's past.
There is also a sort of hidden prophecy of sorts going on as well and it Lyse may very well be at the center of it...or is she? It's got a nice mystery vibe going for it with the hidden secrets, but alas, I just couldn't immerse myself in the novel like I had so hoped.
There was also some romance with a guy named Weir. He was pretty mysterious and I never really got a grasp on his character fully. But there were a few intense moments between him and Lyse that made the novel more intriguing, but just not enough to hold me captivated.
To sum up, while an interesting premise, this novel just wasn't for me.
Overall Rating 1.5/5 stars
The Witches of Echo Park releases January 6, 2015 -
2.25-2.5
Lyse abandons her entire life when her great aunt Eleanora calls to say she has cancer and does not have too long to live. However, she does not realize that Eleanora has ulterior motives for why she desperately needs Lyse to come back to Echo Park, namely to take over her place in the coven of the Echo Park witches.
This book dragged, it consistently switches between different characters perspectives while also containing random flashbacks. With all of this jumping around you would think there would be a purpose and a really substantial plot...that was not the case. I did not care about 90% of the characters, and basically nothing happened in the plot until the last 15%. If you want a book with a lot of descriptions that really paint a picture you may like this book, I found that I did not care and skimmed through the descriptions in the last 100 pages of the book until there was dialogue. This book just did not end up being for me. -
Got a copy of "Witches of Echo Park" at NYCC, and I devoured it in the week that followed. What a beautiful coven story, with a fully developed set of women characters who are rich and real. I know these women; I need these women in my life. The magical world of these witches was perhaps secondary to the relationships of these women, both of which tied together in beautifully written prose that kept me holding my breath and turning the page. I'm captivated by Lyse, by her story and the story of the witches of the Echo Park coven, and I eagerly await reading and discovering more about them to come.
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This was such a disappointing read. The premise had potential but the execution was so not there.
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DNF
I'm sorry, I can't. It's just endless useless descriptions and explanations. I really wanted to like this. I love Amber Benson as an actress and from as much as I can know from Twitter. But I really did not enjoy this book. Flashbacks, dream sequences, every detail of how the wind moves, she tells you everything about every character you meet, every detail, right away. This is the worst case of telling instead of showing I've ever encountered. I think she's trying to set the scene, but what's actually happening is that the pacing is endlessly ruined, endlessly endlessly did I mention endlessly.
Every line of dialogue is followed by some long ramble, ie:
"yes", she said, while doing this, thinking this, which related to this. This character is this this and this. She's always like that. The wind moves, I think of yesterday. Flashback flashback. This is how I met her. This is how she looked. This is what I thought then. While the rain dripped down the blablablabla. More deep thinking. I once had a dream, let me tell you about it. "Are you sure?" she replied, while moving her left hand slightly to the right, the powder on her face pale and creamy almost breaking in the movement of her face, the sound a slap in my face breaking me away from my thoughts. Description of facial expression. More flashbacks to who these people are. The kitchen smells like this. Reminds me of this. When I was 17, blablabla.
Page after page of this. It's impossible to keep track of a conversation. She thinks about her friend "whom she'd forgotten to phone". A page later, she thinks something along the lines of "that's like, totally my thing". That's so off. Those two things are not the same person's thoughts. Calls said friend, has extremely awkward "WE'RE BEST FRIENDS" conversation. I've seen awful book-to-movie adaptations do a better job of shoving every piece of information into one scene. The lady is as follows, btw: best friend, mom to ubercliche child. End of personality.
Two ladies talk and cry about how great their friendship is. I think she's trying to imply that they're great friends.
Then she turns around while walking in the rainy rain on a rainy afternoon that's very grey and there's a guy. WOW HOT. Epic "NOBODY TALKS LIKE THAT" scene. They literally spot each other on the street, say "hi", he throws his head back to laugh a deep belly laugh that shows his perfect row of perfectly white teeth and then he takes his shirt off.
I think there's supposed to be a cool plot, but I keep forgetting it exists. -
So, this month I have been reading a lot of books about witches. I started with The Witches of Echo Park, which I picked up over the summer, and I was excited to start this book. It was pretty good, but I'm going to be honest and say that I didn't really enjoy the novel. I don't know why exactly, it's well written with engaging characters and is actually quite promising. But still about it sat ill with me. It felt...odd. Not odd as in outside my comfort zone, but just a little too quirky maybe, a little too sinister. That was the feeling I got anyway, an odd sense of the sinister meshed into an otherwise quirky-ish outer worldly tale.
Lyse is one of many of the coven of witches at Echo Park. She returns home when she realizes that her aunt is dying, and is inducted into the coven. Lyse doesn't really believe in the coven or anything the other blood sisters are telling her, but she's willing to go along to appease her aunt Elenora.
Elenora's story is a dark one. It's actually disturbing, and what makes it more disturbing is that her past suddenly asserts itself into the present and is suddenly very dangerous. Her dark past, and the people from it, are all apart (I believe) of The Flood.
What is The Flood? I don't know, but it's coming. That's all that we really get from this novel. Something huge and awful akin to the Salem witch hunts is coming and the coven members need to be ready. I think this is one of the things that bothered me about this book. Nothing much happens. Houses are broken into, people are attacked, killed, and yet, I can't say why other than it's connected to The Flood. Everything about it is a little too vague, and though I'm sure more will be revealed in later books, I'm left with this odd disconnected feeling from the story. The first half of the book dragged anyway, introducing one blood sister after another, and the second half picked up in pace, but didn't really give us much in the way of plot. As a reader, I need a little more.
As I said, this series seems very promising. It has great potential for story and character development, and I will admit to being curious about many of the characters I think the books might become quite spooky, so if you like books that are a little unusual from the average urban fantasy novel, you might want to try this one.
Read this and other reviews at
My Devastating Reads. -
**I received this book for free from Ace Trade via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!! This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.**
*Genre* Urban Fantasy
*Rating* 3.5
*My Review*
Amber Benson, author of the Calliope Reaper-Jones series, returns with The Witches of Echo Park. Set in California, Witches is an urban fantasy novel with a romantic element. Witches begins with a dire warning that something calamitous is likely to happen soon, and the coven will need to stand strong against the coming evil.
Benson intertwines her story between (6) main characters who have a variety of magical skills from clairvoyance, tarot card reader, herbalist, empathy and Dream weaver. I would definitely say that Eleanora and Lyse are the most prominent in this, part 1. But, I would not discount or ignore the rest of the coven for fear of missing out on something important.
*Full Review Posted @ Gizmos Reviews*
http://gizmosreviews.blogspot.com/201...
*Recvd 11/17/2014 via Edelweiss* Expected publication: January 6th 2015 by Ace Trade -
So many things to like about this one -- female friendships, witches coven, an ever-present and ominous threat on the horizon. I even didn't mind the constantly shifting POVs between all the characters. My biggest complaint is that this entire book felt like a set-up for the series with no real plot happening. I also hate how important information that needs to be communicated ASAP is continuously put off until later. Even when a major character who needs to share that information could die at any moment! The pace really picks up at the end but when the villains emerge, one in particular feels very "eveel!" and not very fleshed out. I was also annoyed how an attacker is unmasked and there's a sense of surprise at his identity when, as a reader, you know who it is all along. I know I'm waxing negative about this one but I feel like there is enough here that I liked. I can't emphasize enough how much I appreciated reading about a group of female characters at the center of an UF novel. I've even purchased the second in the series. 3 stars for the promise Witches of Echo Park offers for a new series. Don't let me down book 2!
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While there were some interesting parts in the book, there was no clear plot and there were parts that just didn't make sense to me.
If I hadn't been part of a buddy read for this book, it would have been a DNF for me. There was no pressure from my buddies to finish, but I hate to leave someone hanging.
Wendy, Christal and I did a group review for this book on
Badass Book Reviews. -
Met Amber Benson @ Comic Con and got a signed limited unedited copy of this book.
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Rating: 4.5/5 Stars
Lizbeth knew Lyse was wrong: Time might heal a body's wounds, but it could do nothing for the misshapen scars those wounds left behind.
-The Witches of Echo Park
The Witches of Echo Park is an urban fantasy like no other, which can only be experienced first-hand. Witches, magic, and covens have never been so real! The writing was lyrically beautiful at points, and the story was deeply enthralling. Amber Benson has worn many hats thus far in her life, and I think that "Author" is one of my favorites on her!
This novel introduces a unique take on the spells and wand-wielding supernatural beings that we call witches. However, those in Echo Park prefer to be referenced as blood sisters. I felt as though the magic system in the book was extremely practical with an undertone for possible, deeper magic in the books to come. A coven is typically made up of five women, each with a particular talent. These five labels include an herbalist who manipulates plants, a diviner who reads cards to predict fate, an empath who can see into a person's soul through physical touch, a Dream Keeper who can walk the dreamland, and someone who can enter the past. The world of covens is then headed by the Great Council in Rome. Eleanora, Devandra, Arrabelle, Daniela, and Lizbeth all take up coven positions, except there is not an announced Dream Keeper among them.
In my opinion, The Witches of Echo Park is a special novel. While I was originally under the impression the entire story was from Lyse's point of view, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that it actually takes into account all of the women and their lives. Benson crafted six strong females and showcases their strengths and their weaknesses all at once. Strong, graceful, vigilant, loving, understanding, intelligent, powerful, strong-willed, and one-of-a-kind, the qualities go on and on. However, we are all human, including Benson's characters who were sometimes frightened, insecure, jealous, frustrated, lost, and angry. In the end, though, they always kept fighting and never gave up. I truly admire the author and her creations. It is easy to paint someone in just a glorified or only a darkened light, but showing that someone is human means highlighting the good and the bad while keeping the underlying meaning of humanity and honesty in sight, which Benson accomplished with ease. Not every author can do this. Also, I feel as though she did a fabulous job empowering women along the journey of this book. Girls can be strong, too, and this book showcases that statement perfectly.
Looking back, I realize that The Witches of Echo Park took place during the course of only several days, but this was hardly noticed due to the multiple perspectives and fast-paced setup. One thing happens after another to each character in turn, creating a spiral that a reader cannot help but fall into, consuming them completely, even after they surpass the last page! That's not all, though! Benson crafted an enticing, mesmerizing read through flashbacks, which also made the pages fly by one after the other.
While many first installments in a series, urban fantasy or otherwise, provide readers with an immense amount of information to properly set up the story, it can be extremely frustrating at times to keep up or stay engaged. I do find these so-called "information dumps" important, though, despite the occasional frustration. With that being said, Benson did an incredible job setting up The Witches of Echo Park. While there was quite a bit to learn about and dive into regarding the characters and their circumstances, I find that it was the perfect beginning book. The backstories were actually mesmeric to read, and it didn't feel like a burden. I realize that not all readers will feel this way, but it is, of course, a personal preference.
The antagonistic horror known as the Flood is by far one of my favorite parts of the book. The mystery and secrecy surrounding the Flood sucked me in and created the need to read the second installment to the series right away. This riddling enigma keeps nagging at me, and I won't stop reading these books until I find out exactly what it is!!!
The Witches of Echo Park is a solid fantasy read that I thoroughly enjoyed. It is a story that is both empowering and thrilling with a plot that thickens with each chapter, so by the end of it all, you'll need The Last Dream Keeper right away! Benson is undeniably talented with small details and sudden twists, crafting the perfect story to read by the fireplace at night. I for one, will be coming back for more!
Please note that I received a free copy of this novel from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. My thoughts and opinions are strictly my own and were in no way influenced.
You can see reviews like this one and more at:
http://knightingalereviews.blogspot.com/.
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Not my cuppa.
At 59% of the book, I realized just one day had passed plot-wise. Frustrated, I skipped to end. Nothing I saw there kept my interest.
Benson has some skill as a writer, but she needed more feedback from others. There are far too many adjectives in this book, and the pacing is something of a mess. I want to see what Benson writes next, whatever that may be. -
This disappointed me. There’s a lot of background info and vivid description of you like that sort of thing, the action arrived too late, and very little information is revealed in this book. It feels like a setup for an excellent book. One that needs editing to cut words.
I am interested in the story though, I may read on. -
3.5 Stars. Full review to come.
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I have many thoughts but am covered in sleeping cat and two-finger typing. brb
Edit: Ok, now that I am able to operate properly (cat gravity!! *fistshake* why must you be so wonderfully unproductive?!) I wanted to say that I did indeed finish this book, though there was a bit around the middle that made me doubt I needed to. Nevertheless I gave this book three stars. Why? It's complicated. I have so much general Amber Benson love that I wanted to love this book as well, especially since I'm going to a signing shortly and hadn't read any of her novels (comics, yes). Alas.
The premise is good, most of the minor characters are pretty great, but oddly enough I took issue with the main characters and their motivations. I also had some serious issue with the supernatural lore here, so that was pretty distracting.
To begin, elderly, cancer!aunt Eleanora is our Dumbledore here. She is generally a really great, richly-drawn character, but then we get to the idea that Lyse is supposed to take her place and Eleanora has never, ever spoken to her about it until she's about ready to keel over. What the actual hell? She later says that she did it so Lyse can have a "normal life" before she has to get down to business, but come on now. She's really kind of dumping a lot of crazy on someone who we see has built a pretty good life on her own. EDIT: I actually asked Amber Benson herself about this and she said, "yeah, Eleanora is just not nice; but she just didn't want to dump it on Lyse and then she had to", so fair enough.
There's also a bit about
So how do we keep a seemingly successful adult Lyse with a life and friends and a business in town then? We introduce smokin' hot manly man love interest, Weir. He's about the only guy who doesn't have much of a personality on his own other than being awesome rock solid inside and out. Why would I call him a "manly man"? Because Lyse literally considers how different he is from the "wishy washy metrosexuals" she usually dates. Plz stop. She can't seem to stop the innuendo from happening while she's in his company because insta-connection! I was half-expecting him to be the bad guy because he's just too good.
At any rate, we were doing ok with the slow creep of badness until the end reveals (which are pretty interesting actually) and the action there at the end (not actually that great). Of course, the bad guy is so bad. So, so bad. Sigh. I also am not sure I like the organization of the Council of Witches, but then again I probably am not supposed to, so that's something.
Anyway, a lot of good ideas here, a lot of good characters, but we threw many in the blender in the middle of the book, and they splattered all over the beginning and end. If you find that metaphor awkward, now you can feel a little closer to that with which I just contended for 300 pages. I have volume two, though and I'll give it a try since it does seem to be a little more highly rated than this one on the whole, and frankly talking it out with Ms. Benson made me want to revisit it. -
Originally posted at
http://kimheniadis.com
I would have given this book five stars, but the ending was just a bit too unbelievable for me. I know, I know, with witches and other supernatural things it shouldn’t be too far for me to stretch, but it was.
I’ll go into why it was too much for me at the end of the review, so you don’t get any spoilers if you don’t want them.
I came across The Witches of Echo Park about three months ago when I was looking at who was coming to the 2016 ComicCon in Madison. While Amber Benson isn’t scheduled to be there (but it would be awesome if she was), I started thinking about people I would like to see, and the cast of Buffy the Vampire Slayer instantly sprang to mind.
So I decided to see what they were up to, and found out the Benson has been expanding her career as an author. And when I saw she had written a series about witches, I knew I would be reading it. If you’ve read my past reviews you know my catnip is stories about witches. Especially witches just coming into their powers.
This book takes place over a few days, maybe a week at most, and there are so many secrets that come out. The biggest one is that Lyse’s family is full of witches, or blood sisters, and her Great-Aunt is the leader of the coven. Lyse came back to Echo Park because her great-aunt doesn’t have much time left because she is dying of cancer. Lyse, understandably, is taking this really hard… and then she learns about the witches. While she does freak out a bit, I thought she actually took the news pretty well.
There is also a great danger called, The Flood, coming. Not much is known about it, but it’s been foretold. The other danger is that each coven use to have a Dream Walker, but no new ones are being born, and no one knows why.
Benson does a wonderful job describing the scenery, often lingering on it. Sometimes this is too much for me, but I really think they added to the story. It helped to show the serenity of Echo Park, and to make the reader aware of how magical and important this place is to the witches.
Each chapter of the book is told in the point of view of one of the coven members. Most of the chapters being dedicated to Eleanora and Lyse. I am looking forward to upcoming books when Lizbeth gets more chapters (I think she got two in this book), because I think she could be a fascinating character with her back story, and well as her current one.
There was a lot of character development, often times using flashbacks. I was fine with this because I enjoyed getting to know them, and Benson left little clues in the flashbacks as to what was/is coming, not only in this book but the next ones.
Now for the ending that was just too much for me. Spoilers ahead!
The ending happened very fast, which having read a lot of Urban Fiction, this happens more times than not. So this was not what put me off so badly.
It was an obviously violent, and probably crazy, character showing up at the end of the book. While the characters do something to get rid of him, they take no precautions afterwards. They do not contact the police. They do not stay together and watch out for each other. If they thought he was dangerous enough to get rid of, why would you not doing something more.
Then Lyse gets kidnapped, and ends up killing the man. Once again no police are contacted, and as far as I can tell, the body is still in the park. Um….
Also Devandra, another blood sister, has two children. Towards the end, when they start talking about seeing ghosts, no one thinks to investigate further. They are female children of witches. Witches whose powers seems to transfer down through their children. Why is no one talking to them, trying to find out if they really are seeing ghosts, and perhaps, these ghosts can help the witches with the upcoming Flood. Their mother is even ignoring them, until the very end.
But these two major plot flaws won’t stop me from reading the next book in the series, The Last Dream Keeper, coming out the beginning of January 2016. -
I have to be honest and say here that I read this book solely because I was going to meet Amber Benson face-to-face. One of my friends and fellow alums from UCRPD’s MFA program, Xach Fromson, started a fabulous reading series called Shades & Shadows. S&S brings together genre writers to read from their recently published and forthcoming works. Lovers of horror, sci fi, fantasy, weird, paranormal, and mystery stories get together to celebrate genre writing, in a reading series that truly seems to be one of a kind.
Amber Benson, now friend of the UCRPDMFA program, was going to appear at the grad school residency and at S&S. While I would have preferred to meet her at residency, where you get the opportunity for one-on-one conversations and deeper conversations about craft, I couldn’t attend this time. So, Shades & Shadows it was.
When I started The Witches of Echo Park, I was fair confused. Here’s a writer whose last works were middle grade and Young Adult novels, who is writing an at least New Adult novel here. Yet we open with Eleanora, a character who we aren’t sure whether we’re supposed to care about, yet.
As the novel unfolds, the story turns into equal parts Eleanora and Lyse, old woman dying of cancer and young, fumbling woman trying to find out who and what she is, and what that means in the greater scheme of things. For a time, the prose was too dense, the present-day happenings not interesting enough, because I didn’t know enough about the characters yet to care about them. Around 50% (as I was reading on my Kindle), we hit a steamy sex scene that effectively jump-started my interest. It never faltered completely after that, though I was a little annoyed at the too-convenient romance with a guy who just happens to be a complete gentleman, not wanting the woman to enter into a relationship unless she’s sure she’s serious. Because we all have that sort of resolve and forethought as adults, right?
Still, the book is intriguing, and feels like the first part of an exploration of an ensemble cast. It actually made me more eager to read Benson’s middle grade novels, as I have a feeling she might be like JK Rowling, more comfortable writing in her first chosen genre, still finding her legs in her second.
As far as the Pagan references go, there was a lot of emphasis on spirits and blood-bonds, which to me isn’t the most fascinating thing about magick, but which serves a useful purpose in fiction no doubt. The villains’ motives are religious, it seems, which rings true. Who better to pit against a witch than a priest?
Seeing Amber Benson at Shades & Shadows, and taking an awkward selfie with her because I promised a fellow Buffy fan that I would, was wonderful. Her acting is beautiful, and her stage-voice during the reading was theatric but not overdone, which I appreciated. I think her writing is still developing, but makes me excited for what is to come. I’ll check back in after reading some of her other books, and leave more full impressions then.
This and other reviews by me can be found at
www.annaimber.com -
I wish I could give this -10 in rating. Honestly, it's one of the worst books I've ever read, I regret suggesting it for a bookclub.
The problem:
1. Far too many similies. The overabundance of descriptions, which also have an incongrous style, not only drags down the flow of the text but initially made me think Benson had a word count she had to hit but didn't have enough story to get there, so she just padded the text. However... as the story progressed there are actually interesting moments and plotpoints that could've been... well written about. Instead things are just oddly glossed over. Oh, almost drowned? Not interesting. Character deaths? Not interesting. Let's instead meander endlessly over pointless thoughts and future worries.
2. The worst dialogue. Has Benson ever talked to people because... ehm, doesn't seem like it? It was just the most stilted and awkward conversations I've ever read.
3. The worst sex scenes. Terrible, just terrible.
4. The dumbest characters. "The police can't do anything, it's much better if we just do - NOTHING! Everybody go home and put yourselves in danger." Lyse deserved to die. Kind of wish she had. Sorry spoiler, the lead character will carry on to the next installment in the series. Big shocker. Why was Lyse, and the rest so dumb about the David thing btw, it's like
5. Uneven storytelling. Inconsistent formatting (A. sections all in italics should be a crime. B. do NOT give me the "Flashbacks/memories" are in all italics, but then don't even consistently enforce that through the book!). Too many characters. Trying too hard to be "myserious and vague".
6. Telling, not showing. Applies for the entire book.
7. Over 100 pages of introduction and breadcrumbs that go nowhere, a finale that wraps up far too quickly to even really register with me as a reader. So basically, a pacing problem.
8. A weird and awkward romance that's also all telling not showing, hence not credible.
9. This whole book is just a set up, the problem is, if you don't give the reader something during the set up, they won't come back for more. I certainly will not. In fact, I plan to dispose of this book in the nearest thrash can where it belongs.
10. I wish I could say there was one redeemable thing about this mess and I guess tht would be the cover. The cover is really pretty. -
Well crap.
In September, I decided to make it a #girlsrule month and only read female authors. It was a great reading month for me with a lot of winners and many 5-stars given. My plan was to read this one early last week and then finish off the month with an NK Jemisin (I started with her Hugo winner early in the month.) Unfortunately I got sick and didn't read as much as I hoped. So, this was the final book of the month and, whomp whomp, it was my least favorite of the batch. This really stinks because Amber Benson seems like a very cool person and I was hoping to love her writing. I'll try to keep it brief but I had several issues with The Witches of Echo Park.
First, it's an urban fantasy. I read tons of UF and most have a similar feel to the writing styles. Of course, each writer has their own voice but it should fit the genre. TWOEP had the feel of a cozy mystery which completely threw me off. It was way too cliche and the characters and their relationships were not fleshed out properly. We expect that with a cozy but not an UF.
Speaking of the characters, my second issue was that Lyse is either a train wreck, Mary Sue or idiot. I honestly can't decide which. It was so hard to care for or about her. She was all over the place and her reactions didn't make sense.
One of those 'reactions' is my third issue - the "love" story. What the holy heck? She meets a guy outside a coffee house, he invites her in and she decides not to go. A few days later, he finds her in the middle of the night after she's fallen on the sidewalk and cut herself. She is speaking incoherently due to blood loss and then in the next paragraph, they are making out (HEAVILY) and she goes home with him so he can "bandage her leg". She and her aunt are all of a sudden talking about this being a real relationship with real feelings. HUH?
Lastly, this doesn't feel like a fully plotted story. It's more like the prequel for the real book which is to come. Almost nothing happens plot wise.
Sorry to say not very good. 2/5 stars for an interesting idea that wasn't executed very well. -
This book is a powerful start to a series that mixes feminist literature and urban fantasy. It is a must read for anyone who likes magical realism and feminist witches. This is a departure from Benson's last series that was cozy mystery/chick-lit/urban fantasy. For this series she has kept the wry humor, erotica and intrigue and gone into a deeper and sometimes darker space. She channels the likes of Margaret Atwood and Jane Smiley while respecting the tropes of urban fantasy and making them her own. You can see how Benson has grown as a writer with the complex history of the characters and their settings. Echo Park, the suburb of LA, is like a character in the story and one gets a sense of what it's like to live there.
Benson is very brave to take on witches and make them her own considering her history of playing one of the most famous witches on TV in the 90s-00s. I'm sure reviews will be filled with statements like "This wasn't Buffy..." and endless memes from people who don't like to use words for reviewing a book. In my humble opinion this will be misleading for people who really want to read a strong book.
I will disclose that I am truly one of the biggest Buffy fans on the planet. This book is very different from Buffy and that is a good thing.
These aren't Buffy witches. They aren't there just to add to the story. They are the story.
This isn't Buffy magic. It is much more complex.
These are adult witches with adult challenges.
If you HAD to compare it to Buffy i imagine that these characters would be interesting guest stars that showed up to help Buffy and the gang to save the world once. While they were there you would realize that these characters are fighting a harder and quieter save-the-world war underneath looking like everyday women. The Buffy gang would be too distracted with their own stuff to realize how interesting and important they are.
Probably the only thing frustrating about this book is that it is a series and it leaves you waiting for the second book. -
I'm kind of on the fence about this one. It didn't really thrill me, but then I liked some of what Benson did with this work. I liked it well enough that I finished it, but then I know that I also ended up finishing it because I'd purchased it and felt sort of obligated to do so.
There will be some mild spoilers here and there, but no huge ones.
First, the parts I liked: As you'd expect, there is a love interest for our main character Elyse and yes, there is a form of insta-attraction between the two of them. However at the same time Benson does try to give a reason for this and she also tries to have Elyse be a little bewildered before starting to give in to everything. I liked that this was there, although I'd have preferred to have a little more development between the two of them. Benson also tries to keep from making Elyse the star of everything, the end and be all of the book, a common trope in most UF type series. This last trope is one that a lot of us are used to forgiving, but it is nice to see someone try to buck the trend a little.
However at the same time I just couldn't really sink into this book as much as I wanted to. It all felt a little too rushed at times. While you can obviously tell that this book was a set up for a series, I kind of disliked that we had too many things and people introduced in this first book. There's so much going on here that you never get a good feel for any one specific person or topic before we're rushed on to the next plot point. It makes me a little worried that the further novels might get a little too complicated for their own good, that all of this needed to be hurriedly introduced so early on.
Still, this is a nice entry book and one that would make for a good beach read or a nice afternoon read. -
The Witches of Echo Park was a character driven story about a coven in Los Angeles.
Elyse MacAllister is a witch without even knowing it. When the aunt that raised her is fighting cancer, Elyse returns home only to discover a complex coven lies under the life she's always known. An evil threatens to destroy all Elyse loves and unless she embraces her magical side all will be lost.
The story is written with multiple view points with many characters that it follows. The world of magic actually seems to take a back seat to the relationships between the characters with its main focus on the coven.
THe Witches of Echo Park didn't ultimately click with me, from time to time this happens. There is truly no critism from me about the storytelling. I did find it interesting and entertaining but never discovered that full connection to grip me completely. I give The Witches of Echo Park 3.5 Stars.
I received this ARC copy of The Witches of Echo Park from Penguin Group (USA)- Ace Trade in exchange for a honest review. This book is set for publication January 6, 2015.
Written by: Amber Benson
Series: The Witches of Echo Park
Sequence in Series: Book 1
Page Count: 304 pages
Publisher: Ace Trade
Publication Date: January 6, 2015
Rating: 3.5 Stars
ISBN-10: 0425268675
ISBN-13: 978-0425268674
Genre: Urban Fantasy | Paranormal
Find this book on:
Amazon |
Barnes & Noble -
I gave it 3.5/5 stars
Elyse heads home when she finds out her great-aunt is dying. She has no idea, but she is about to inherit the coven of witches her aunt has been the head of for years. As she's thrust into a new world, she also is forced to figure out what's stalking her new friends.
I really enjoyed the mystery surrounding THE WITCHES OF ECHO PARK. I was really surprised when some big secrets were revealed. I had a few things totally wrong in my head. I would have liked to see more revealed between Elyse and Weir. It was made clear that they are meant for each other and then things were kind of pushed to the background for them. Hopefully we will get more in book 2. There are some interesting characters in the coven and I look forward to learning more about them.
WITCHES OF ECHO PARK is the first book I have read from author Amber Benson and I enjoyed it. I found the beginning to be a little slow while they were setting up the characters, but once it passed that point I enjoyed the pace, storyline and mystery that was presented. It was an interesting start to her new series and I will be reading more.
* This book was provided free of charge from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
