The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe

Non-YA Book
Rating: 3.7/5
Age R: 13+ for some content that is definitely pg-13 material
Release Date: June 9, 2009
Thoughts:
It's 1991 and Connie, a Harvard graduate student, needs to work on her dissertation over the summer and get her deceased Granna's house ready to be sold. She finds a mysterious key and piece of paper with the words Deliverance Dane written on it. She ends up doing research, with the help of a very cute guy named Sam, to try and find out what or who Deliverance Dane is/was. Her research takes time away from what she is supposed to be doing which angers her adviser, Manning Chilton for some reason. Soon Connie finds herself having to find a physick book, not just for her research but...you'll see. :)
I liked this book quite a bit because it's good but to me, it wasn't that great. A lot of it I could have done without. I still loved reading about the discovery of a new witch. I also absolutely loved the fact that the author is related to Elizabeth Howe and Elizabeth Proctor, two of the women who were accused of being witches in Salem.
The main thing that made this book not too enjoyable for me was that it was slow at times. The author made up for it with the suspense and mystery but at the same time, it was predictable, so even that didn't make the story that much better.
The story goes back and forth between the present, 1991, and the past when the Salem trials were taking place. Those were my favorite parts in the book. At times I thought "Don't go back to the past! I want to know what's going to happen next!" That's just how engaging the read can get especially when I read what was being told through these women's perspectives, I just loved that! Some of these chapters were so sad! The reader feels so much for what those accused women must have felt. :(
If you like reading historical fiction, like I do, then I recommend it. But if you think this book will be all about witches and spells and magic, you are picking the wrong book. This book has a bit of everything and it's engaging but for the most part it's about a girl trying to find a book, possibly being in danger, finding out about her family, and it has a little bit of romance. All of it told in great detail and beautiful writing. :) Like I said, pretty darn good and entertaining book, but not super amazing.

Sweetness:
Read a sample chapter from Barnes and Noble here.

YOU WILL ENJOY READING THIS BOOK IF YOU LIKE/ARE INTERESTED IN:
-witches
-a little bit of magic
-spells
-love stories
-historical fiction
-alchemy
-mystery
-discoveries
-1991
-Full Metal Alchemyst (manga and/or anime)-this particular guy from FMA reminds me of a person in this book especially because of his greediness.
-Charmed (TV show)-I was reminded of it somewhat especially because of the witches aspect in the novel. There both completely different but I thought I'd mention it anyway. :D
-The Crucible by Arthur Miller (I read it last year and thought it was pretty darn good)
-The Crucible (movie)