Wednesday, March 18, 2015

Southern Fried Wiccan by S.P. Sipal Review


"Cilla Swaney is thrilled to return stateside, where she can hang up her military-brat boots for good. Finally, she’ll be free to explore her own interests—magick and Wicca. But when she arrives at her grandma’s farm, Cilla discovers that life in the South isn’t quite what she expected. At least while country hopping, she never had to drink G-ma’s crazy fermented concoctions, attend church youth group, make co-op deliveries...or share her locker with a snake-loving, fire-lighting, grimoire-stealing Goth girl…

…Who later invites her to a coven that Cilla’s not sure she has the guts to attend. But then Emilio, the dark-haired hottie from her charter school, shows up and awakens her inner goddess. Finally, Cilla starts believing in her ability to conjure magick. Until…

…All Hades breaks loose. A prank goes wrong during their high school production of Macbeth, and although it seems Emilio is to blame, Cilla and Goth pay the price. Will Cilla be able to keep the boy, her coven, and the trust of her family? Or will this Southern Wiccan get battered and fried?"

NetGalley. Thanks for the copy.

Let's talk about Southern Fried Wiccan. Now, I don't know much about the southern dialect (because I'm born and raised in California and still living in California), but I'm pretty sure that they have an interesting way of wording certain topics. (I have no idea what I'm trying to say there. Please ignore me for the rest of this paragraph.) (I'm not even going to count this in the book's final grading.)

Even though there is "Wiccan" in the title, it does not mean there is magic. (There is no magic.) I'd been waiting for magic to appear, and when it doesn't, I was a bit disappointed. (Maybe a bit more than disappointed.) Basically, this book probably falls around YA Contemporary with a touch of the dark side (and no, there is no dark magic involved). 

Throughout reading the entire book, I couldn't help but just nod off at some points. Sure, it is 162 pages, but it felt like I was reading a 500-paged book that has a pace of a snail. The plot is really slow, and it is definitely not my piece of cake. I couldn't really get into it, and I just ended up skimming through 1/5 of the book. Sure, there are some interesting allusions to Shakespeare's play, Macbeth, but it didn't feel like it fitted in very well.

After all, there are a few dozens of other plays that could work really well into the book. Witchy plays, I must add.

I try not to react against Goth Girl, but I did. I can't but feel like she is a stereotype (yes, I did think that), and her character is absolutely weird. Mean girl turned friend... The change is awkward. Cilla, on the other hand, is a military brat. She has a crush on Emilio, who returns the feelings. Honestly, there isn't a whole lot of chemistry in that relationship. (But still a better love story than Twilight though.)

Overall, Southern Fried Wiccan is a very slow, short book. It is most certainly not my type, and the beginning starts off fairly slowly (and continues on to be very slow for the rest of the book). The best character is G-ma (Cilla's grandmother) and the worst is probably Emilio (because he pretty much acts like a typical teenage boy and I have no idea what good qualities does he possess). The book has potential to be better. To be truthful, I have to say that the book should go through a couple of major revisions. Some parts are just... I won't touch it with a ten-foot pole (and yes, that is a reference). A lot of kinks to work out here.

Rating: Two out of Five

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