Then The Witches Multiplied

Then The Witches Multiplied by Edita Birschbach

Blurb (from goodreads.com):

"I didn't know what heartbreak meant until he decided to make me one of his girlfriends. He introduced me to such agony that I thought I would never laugh again. I never should have gotten close to somebody like him.

I was too naive, too sheltered by my family, my friends and the regime. The Communist Party wouldn't acknowledge the existence of anything paranormal, and so for decades the witches were allowed to breed without restriction. Even if our leaders had known that the witch males had been coming out of hiding, they wouldn't have told us. The omnipotent Party honchos treated us like children, keeping us in blissful ignorance and scaring us with the specter of capitalist monsters. But they didn't know that the times were quietly changing."

My Review:

The beginning of this book was very intriguing. I liked the descriptions of life in Czechoslovakia, and the descriptions of the witches definitely kept me reading. The first person voice of the main character was well done and I liked her. I found her experiences interesting and the character development was very good. I especially liked her friends, Zita, Zlata, Sysel, and the Pavels. I loved that there were three Pavels, and they were only known by their last initial. Her experiences with the Brontosaurs were sometimes humorous and sometimes frustrating, like when she and Zlata just rode off on their bikes to the camp and their parents didn't know where they were or what they were doing. Her experience with the witch in the graveyard was kind of creepy, but it hooked me. I couldn't wait to learn more about these witches and what they do. Then when she meets a certain someone, the story goes downhill. She gets into this abusive relationship, and yet even though she knows what it is doing to her, she won't give it up. This is also when the profanity and "intimacy" begin. The ending disappointed me. It just ended, and I didn't feel like the plot had really progressed; I didn't learn anything about the witches, and the main character was left in a bad situation. Maybe there is a planned sequel, but I felt that with the title "Then the Witches Multiplied," I should have seen at least a little more of the witches. They definitely didn't multiply in this book. I was left feeling let down and a little confused. Bummer. It started out so well!

Rating: R (Profanity and a lot of "intimacy," with an abusive relationship)

Recommendation: Adult

Disclosure: I did receive a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.