Review: How To Hang A Witch by Adriana Mather

Title: How To Hang a Witch 

Author:  Adriana Mather
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers

Publishing Date: July 26th, 2016

Pages: 358
Genre: YA Paranormal Mystery

Series:  How To Hang a Witch #1
Source: Audio

 

It's the Salem Witch Trials meets Mean Girls in a debut novel from one of the descendants of Cotton Mather, where the trials of high school start to feel like a modern day witch hunt for a teen with all the wrong connections to Salem’s past.

Salem, Massachusetts is the site of the infamous witch trials and the new home of Samantha Mather. Recently transplanted from New York City, Sam and her stepmother are not exactly welcomed with open arms. Sam is the descendant of Cotton Mather, one of the men responsible for those trials and almost immediately, she becomes the enemy of a group of girls who call themselves The Descendants. And guess who their ancestors were?

If dealing with that weren't enough, Sam also comes face to face with a real live (well technically dead) ghost. A handsome, angry ghost who wants Sam to stop touching his stuff. But soon Sam discovers she is at the center of a centuries old curse affecting anyone with ties to the trials. Sam must come to terms with the ghost and find a way to work with The Descendants to stop a deadly cycle that has been going on since the first accused witch was hanged. If any town should have learned its lesson, it's Salem. But history may be about to repeat itself.

I was really excited for this book. I received the ARC at BEA and even bought the audio when it came out. For some reason, I just never got around to reading it. Well, I finally found the right time to pick this up on my audio and I liked it. I feel I was a little disappointed after all the hype around this book but there were some things that stood out for me. The story was good, the reasons for the witch trials, the ghosts, the bullying, the witchcraft. I felt it all fit in well together.  

Sam Mather moves to Salem into her grandmother's old house. Her father has recently become ill and is in a coma in the hospital. She moves with her stepmother. She starts a new school. She is a descendant of Cotton Mather, he was instrumental in the Salem Witch Trials. There are a group of kids descendants of the originally hung witches. They pretty much run the school. They are cruel and most are scared of them. They are extremely cruel to Sam because of her ancestor. Sam finds a friend in a ghost... although not at first. Even the ghost doesn't like her. Well, they become partners first in solving the mystery of the witch trials then they become friends and soon they have to rely on each other to help Sam and the descendants out of a generations-long curse. 

I thought this book was pretty good. I loved the story. I loved everything about the story, the mean girls, the descendants, the ghost, the mystery of the Salem Witch Trials, the history of the house. It was pretty great. I love stories about the Salem Witch Trials, they always intrigue me. I find it hard to believe something this horrible could have happened then I remember how many horrible things have happened in history. I also remember that bullying still happens today. In schools, in workplaces, in neighborhoods. It happens and this book reminded me of it. 

The characters were okay. I had a hard time with Sam at first. She is kind of cold and hard to get to know. I mean it was her personality and I didn't find it easy to like her at first.  Towards the ending, I started to like her and she started to let the walls down. I didn't much like the ghost either. Not a fan. He was just rude. Of course, I didn't like the descendants. I did like Jackson and his mother. They were my favorite. 

Jackson's mother was really good friends with Sam's father and close to Sam's grandmother. Jackson's mother had a lot of understanding, a lot of love, and a lot of knowledge. She was a key part of figuring things out for sure. Jackson was sweet and patient... too sweet and patient at times. 

The romance wasn't great I didn't like the romance at all. I didn't connect to it. I just didn't see it at all. I wanted Sam's sweet romance with someone else. I think this was something that almost had me rating the book lower. 

The writing and the imagination and creativity was good. Really good. I enjoyed the mystery and the history lessons... even though the author took liberties with the real history, there isn't a lot to go on with the real history... it was fun seeing how the author put it all together. I enjoyed watching things unravel and make a mess. I enjoyed seeing how Sam was going to fix it all. 

I am hoping the next book is better for the characters and the romance. I am really looking forward to the next book knowing it is about the Titanic. 

It was a good read. I am stoked about the next book. The rating would be more a 3.5 but I bumped it up to 4 since I don't do half stars. 

Adriana Mather is the 12th generation of Mathers in America, and as such her family has their fingers in many of its historical pies – the Mayflower, the Salem Witch Trials, the Titanic, the Revolutionary War, and the wearing of curly white wigs. Also, Adriana co-owns a production company, Zombot Pictures, in LA that has made three feature films in three years. Her first acting scene in a film ever was with Danny Glover, and she was terrified she would mess it up. In addition, her favorite food is pizza and she has too many cats.