Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Series: None
Format: Paperback, 405 pages
Source: Publisher
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When Ichabod Crane arrives in the spooky little village of Sleepy Hollow as the new schoolmaster, Katrina Van Tassel is instantly drawn to him. Through their shared love of books and music, they form a friendship that quickly develops into romance. Ichabod knows that as an itinerant schoolteacher of little social standing, he has nothing to offer the wealthy Katrina – unlike her childhood friend-turned-enemy, Brom Van Brunt, who is the suitor Katrina’s father favors.
But when romance gives way to passion, Ichabod and Katrina embark on a secret love affair, sneaking away into the woods after dark to be together – all while praying they do not catch sight of Sleepy Hollow’s legendary Headless Horseman. That is, until All Hallows’s Eve, when Ichabod suddenly disappears, leaving Katrina alone and in a perilous position.
Enlisting the help of her friend – and rumored witch – Charlotte Jansen, Katrina seeks the truth of Ichabod Crane’s disappearance, investigating the forest around Sleepy Hollow using unconventional – often magical – means. What they find forces Katrina to question everything she once knew, and to wonder if the Headless Horseman is perhaps more than just a story after all. In Alyssa Palombo's The Spellbook of Katrina Van Tassel nothing is as it seems, and love is a thing even death won't erase.
**I received this book free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.**
This one is hard to rate for me. I really did enjoy it, but it was not what I was expecting based on the title. With "Spellbook" in the title I expected more creepiness and magic than what actually happened on the pages. Don't get me wrong, I still liked the story, but I feel like it would have been so much more if there had been more creep factor and magic.
Despite that, I did enjoy reading about the legend of Sleepy Hollow through Katrina's POV. All too often in other media we see Ichabod's POV, and little of Katrina's. But this book was all Katrina.
Her father is a wealthy farmer who is well known in their village. Despite that, Katrina only seems to have one prospect for marriage, the annoying Boom Van Brunt. He is seemingly the only suitor until Ichabod Crane comes to town and stays with the Van Tassels. His romance with Katrina is slightly slow burning. They start as music teacher and student, and then slowly begin falling for one another even though they know it might be a hopeless endeavor. While their secret romance blossoms, so does Brom's anger and jealousy towards Ichabod. After Ichabod disappears under very mysterious circumstances one All Hallow's Eve, Katrina is forced to question everything she knows in order to find out the truth.
Character wise, I think all of the characters are well fleshed out except for Ichabod. I believe that is because he is present in very little of the story. I even found myself somewhat sympathetic to Brom, even though he is supposed to be the villain of the tale. Charlotte and Katrina's friendship was my favorite part of the story. Despite Charlotte being rumored to be a witch by the rest of the village, Katrina was perfectly fine having her best friend by her side no matter what. It also helped that both women seemed to possess some version of the Sight, which brought them closer together after Ichabod's disappearance.
Plot wise, the story did move a bit slowly at first as Ichabod and Katrina developed their romance. Once Ichabod disappeared, things really began picking up the pace and that is where the supernatural elements of the story kicked in.
Alyssa's writing is beautiful. Her description of the woods where the Headless Horseman is rumored to roam was creepy and dark. I just wish the story had less focus on the romance and more on some more magic and the Headless Horesman.
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