It’s time for another review! I received an ARC of How To Hang A Witch at BEA and I was so excited to read it!  I had heard good things about the book and was waiting for the release but I was lucky and got my hands on an ARC!

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HOW TO HANG A WITCH – ADRIANA MATHER

Publication date: 07/26/16

Publisher:  Knopf/Random House

Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult, Paranormal, Supernatural, YA Fantast, YA Paranormal

Rating: 4.5/5 Stars

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Salem, Massachusetts is the site of the infamous witch trials and the new home of Samantha Mather. Recently transplanted from New York City, Sam and her stepmother are not exactly welcomed with open arms. Sam is the descendant of Cotton Mather, one of the men responsible for those trials and immediately, she becomes the enemy of a group of girls who call themselves The Descendants. And guess who their ancestors were?

If dealing with that weren’t enough, Sam also comes face to face with a real live (well technically dead) ghost. A handsome, angry ghost who wants Sam to stop touching his stuff. But soon Sam discovers she is at the center of a centuries old curse affecting anyone with ties to the trials.

Sam must come to terms with the ghost and find a way to work with the Descendants to stop a deadly cycle that has been going on since the first accused witch was hanged. If any town should have learned its lesson, it’s Salem. But history is about to repeat itself.

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I was so excited to get my hands on this book! It definitely didn’t disappoint! Since grade school, I’ve always been fascinated by the Salem Witch Trials and the hysteria (with good reason) that surrounded them.  Adriana Mather’s How To Hang A Witch revisits the history by focusing on the descendants.  Believing in the paranormal in a place like Salem isn’t unusual as Mather puts in her author’s notes “People didn’t ask you if you believed in ghosts, but instead when was the last time you saw one.”   The novel mixes the paranormal with real life to create a fascinating narrative.

I loved the history in the novel and how Sam discovers parts of her self and family through their history.  There were times that I grew frustrated with some of the characters. There were times that the accusations against Sam were so ludicrous but Mather does a great way of justifying and explaining them.  In a town like Salem believing the impossible doesn’t seem so strange.

I can’t wait for it to release in July and be able to discuss it all! If How To Hang A Witch isn’t on your TBR list then you should definitely add it!