The Witches Lottery by Krystal Mclaughlin

I ran across author Krystal Mclaughlin on book blogs. Here’s the description of her debut release The Witches Lottery from amazon:

When Sophia and Drew McKibben's parents are killed in a tragic car accident, they are shipped off to live with an aunt they never even knew existed. Believing that they are moving to a privately owned island just off of the coast of Mystic, CT to live alone with her, they are surprised to find a sort of under-aged bed and breakfast.

Sophia draws the attention of one of the locals, Falen, immediately. He always seems to know exactly what she is thinking, and to her frustration, everything she does seems to amuse him. When a newcomer to the island brings with him a sense of deja vu, she begins to ask herself the ultimate question: Am I going crazy?

Sophia's world starts to unravel when she notices her own brother acting just as abnormal as the rest of them. When she begins to realize that the life she left behind looks even more bizarre then the one she was forced to leave it for, she's faced with a decision to make: embrace the new life that has been given to her, or drown in the past. Either choice brings with it more secrets and deceptions to unearth. The problem now is that the two worlds may actually be more intertwined than she thought.

I truly enjoyed reading this book. The plot was very well done. There were several subplots happening and I wasn’t able to figure out the different turns the story took before hand. There is a major storyline and several other storylines that are also happening. It keeps the reader interested in the story. While the main story is happening to Sophia there are things going on with Drew and the other characters on the island that leave you wondering. 

The relationship between Falen and Sophia is interesting. It isn’t love at first site but it also isn’t a typical friendship that evolves. I love the way that Falen gets under Sophia’s skin and the way they seem to argue but still get each other. It makes their relationship seem real to me because it is more like real-life than fantasy.


I also enjoyed the break from the typical YA formula of a love triangle. Additionally, I liked the amount of suspicion that surrounds Sophia's interest in Teagan. He is mysterious and she has a gravitational attraction but instead of succumbing to the attraction instantly she is wary of it.

The things that I didn’t care for in the book is some of the dialogue seems a bit forced. Some of the exclamatory statements seemed a bit out of place. This is a minor issue that I had but it did detract from the story a little for me. I also found the beginning to be a little slow as everything was being set up. However, in the end you need to know the entire start of the story. So that was all forgiven by the middle of the story.

Overall, I really enjoyed this story and look forward to Krystal’s future works. Her storyline is well thought out and I don’t think it will get old as further stories come out. In addition, there are many interesting side characters that I hope to see more of in later stories. I give this story a 4/5. You can find all news about Krystal at krystalmclaughlin.blogspot.com. Also the sequel to The Witches Lottery titled A Dragon Forsaken will be out in March on Kindle and nook.