G43 Book Review of The Witch of Little Italy by Suzanne Palmieri
Author: Suzanne Palmieri
ISBN: 978-1-250-01551-8
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Type of book: Witchcraft, future, strength, amnesia, first love, secrets, loyalty, siblings, relationships, motherhood, incompatibility (hint of African American male/white female relationship)
Year it was published: 2013
Summary:
Bewitching and beautiful, The Witch of Little Italy is an enchanting and charming debut that will cast a spell over readers everywhere.
When an unexpected pregnancy has Eleanor Amore reluctantly returning to New York to live with her estranged family, she swiftly finds herself in the arms of an old flame. Together they work to unlock her inner powers to solve a decades-old mystery, the key to the Amore women's magical secrets.
This sparkling debut will warm your heart through the power of love, family and magic.
Characters:
The characters strikes me as three dimensional, that is you see them change one way or another. In beginning, Elly is abused and suffers from amnesia, but later on she becomes strong and regains those memories. Itsy is best described as independent, loyal, protective and contemplative about her past. I enjoyed reading her reminisces about her memories of childhood and her loyalty to Georgie. The other sisters, Fee and Mimi weren't drawn strongly, and neither was Anthony. Carmen, Elly's mother, wasn't drawn strongly either and she is a very compelling character. I really would have liked to know more about her. I was also surprised at how strongly I felt when something bad happened to one of the characters.
Theme:
Everyone deserves a re-do, and its possible to change the future.
Plot:
This is written in both third and first person narrative; Elly and others are written from third person narrative, while Itsy is written from first person narrative. I strongly suspect that there's a hint of rebirth in the book, and at one point I wondered who was truly speaking towards the end. I think also it would help if a certain event towards the end would be more longer or more stretched out instead of the author paying scant few pages on it.
Author Information:
(from goodreads.com)
website
http://suzannepalmieri.com
twitter username
thelostwitch
genre
Fiction, Paranormal, Mystery
member since
March 2012
About this author
Suzanne Palmieri is the author of The Witch of Little Italy, (Saint Martin's/Grifin March 26th, 2013) and co-author of I'll Be Seeing You (Writing as Suzanne Hayes with Loretta Nyhan) Mira Books, June 2013. Writer, Teacher, Mermaid, Lover of Trees.
"I'm a lost witch. Are you a lost witch too?" ~Suzanne Palmieri
Opinion:
This is truly a sparkling book. I have to admit that I was very "spellbound" when I read it. Some things seem convenient, but at the same time they added to the book's charm. I really liked Itsy's memories, along with Elly's storytelling of what she had learned and what happened. The characters are very strong, remarkable and well-written. I have to admit that I never really liked Emily Giffin's books because the female protagonists strike me as neurotic and so forth, yet I was shocked that this book might be thought of as a chick literature. Another coincidence that Mary, a friend of mine pointed out is the character's name. I won this book from giveaways, and before it I won Eleanor & Park from the same person whom I won this book from. The main character's name is Eleanor, just like in Eleanor & Park. In this book there's an atmosphere of something uplifting where I wanted for all the characters to have the happy endings. Intentionally or unintentionally, which perhaps slightly detracted from the reality is that the dark scenes are not really allowed to touch or to appear within the optimism. I was surprised that I would like this book this much. When I won it, I kind of had a "meh" reaction, or rather couldn't understand what was so charming about the book besides the book cover, but after I began reading it, as well as finishing it, I truly enjoyed every turn of the page and was glad and happy I won it.
Quick notes: I won this book on goodreads.com thus this review will appear in its entirety on goodreads as well as the blog
5 out of 5
(0: Stay away unless a masochist 1: Good for insomnia 2: Horrible but readable; 3: Readable and quickly forgettable, 4: Good, enjoyable 5: Buy it, keep it and never let it go.)
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