Starting this on my commute this morning. I think I’m going to get everything for The Pop Culture Homework Assignment but the second half of the first book I started before Labor Day.

Who’s ready for the flood of reviews from everything I’ve read this summer?

Well, this starts off quite dark. And, it’s a little timely since I just read about the memorial plaque for Okjökull, the Icelandic glacier that is no more.

Hopefully I remember enough of what happened in the first one that I’m not completely lost. (Where did the time go? I swear we just listened to the first one…)

I already absolutely hate one character and love another one (which, according to my book math means he’s the one that’s going to die) and am already in my head preparing the, “I know he’s pretty but here’s why he sucks and you should DTMFA” speech I would give the main character if she ever came over to my house for tea. (Am I the only one that does this? Please tell me I’m not the only one who does this…)

There is so much to love about this book. A beautiful friendship between two teenage girls. Hannah and Gemma’s are true partners as they support each other even after secrets reveal. A new lesbian romance between Hannah and new girl in town Morgan. It comes with all the butterflies and insecurities that comes with all new loves and to juxtapose that. The sting of the end of your first relationship. Hannah and her family leave in Salem and yes are witches but have to keep their identity a secret because you know they are witches. Hannah is still nursing the heartbreak of ending her first relationship with her ex Veronica, who is also a witch. When things start to happen that could expose them, Hannah is determined to figure out what is going on before anyone else gets hurt. Hannah’s family are elemental witches, who can control the elements. Not all witches are good because there are blood witches too and Hannah and Veronica had a run in with one on a class trip to New York. There are also witch hunters too. The aren’t any of the former in Salem and apparently the latter was thought to be extinct. Well both maybe both are not true. Hannah is a good person. She loves her family and her friends. She is your typical normal teenager. I enjoyed reading her POV. She’s not trying to save the world, just her own. You can’t help but find some of her dubious choices justified even when you know it’s not a good idea. There are a few loose ends that I do hope will be tied up in the next book. All and all this was a good way to start off my Pop Culture Homework Assignment.