The Curse of the Bruel Coven by Sabrina Ramoth
Blurb:
When secrets from the past collide with the present, the consequences may be deadly.
Growing up in a small town in Louisiana, seventeen-year-old Vivienne Davenport's life is that of an ordinary teenager. At least, until the untimely death of her mother reveals a family secret. She's adopted . . . and her real mom is a witch.
The truth of her lineage only complicates Vivienne's life further. Buried deep within her family’s history of magic is a deadly curse that has plagued her family for generations.
When her birth mom disappears, Vivienne must tap into her suppressed powers in order to save her long-lost mother. And herself.
Can Vivienne become the witch she needs to be? Or will her newfound powers prove too much for her to handle? Only one thing is certain, Vivienne will soon learn that all magic has a price.
My Review:
When 17-year-old Vivienne goes through her recently deceased mother's photo albums in search of a photo from her childhood that she needs for school she stumbles across a photograph of her with an unfamiliar woman that she has a strong family resemblance to. Vivienne's grandmother "Nemma" confirms her suspicions that she is in fact, adopted.
With the help of her best friend Savannah, Vivienne tracks her mother down in New Orleans and they set off to see her. When they arrive at Claire (Vivienne's birth mother)'s house in the French Quarter there is an instant connection between Vivienne and Claire, but as Claire lets them in her mood is frosty and dismissive. After not receiving a sufficient answer as to why Claire gave Vivienne up Vivienne gets angry and Claire's coffee table begins to shake. This confirms Claire's worst fears: her firstborn daughter's powers have awakened leaving her in high risk of danger from an "immortal" or vampire that's been trying to feed on the blood of a Bruel family firstborn daughter since his creation during the Civil War.
Vivienne doesn't believe Claire's story about witches and vampire and thinking her crazy she and Savannah get up to leave. They're nearly out of the city limits when Savannah realizes she has forgotten her cell phone so they have to go back. When they return to Claire's house everything has been ransacked and Claire is gone. A girl appears at the top of the stairs - Vivienne's half-sister Mira and realizing what has happened she takes the girls to their aunt's apartment above a magic shop in the Quarter.
Vivienne is suddenly introduced to a whole host of relatives she never knew she had; a sister, cousins, an aunt, and a grandmother. When a location spell for Claire goes wrong Grand'Mere (Vivienne's grandmother) asks for her help to locate Claire before it's too late.
Will Vivienne and the others be able to find Claire and stop whatever witches are aiding the immortal one? Can Vivienne get control over her powers or is she not as strong as everyone expects her to be? Is the immortal one really evil?
At first, I was afraid this book was a little too fast paced. The entire book - from Vivienne finding out she was adopted to traveling to see her birth mother to her birth mother's disappearance and the process of finding Claire - transpires in about a week's time. However, the more I read this book the more I liked it. I love that it's set in New Orleans, my favorite city in the world, and the book is really easy to get into - possibly because of the fast pace. I sat down and read this book in one sitting. I really liked Vivienne's dreams that take her back to the past and I look forward to seeing how Vivienne grows, both as a character and into her powers, in the next book. The Curse of the Bruel Coven is definitely an interesting read.
My Rating: 5 of 5 Stars
