Any Witch Way by Annastaysia Savage ~ review

About the book from Goodreads: Enduring the teasing and ridicule of her school mates, Sadie struggles through life as a pre-teen on the eve of her 13th birthday. Three years ago, a car crash took her mother, but Sadie never saw her body. She refuses to believe her mother is really gone. Holding fast to that feeling earns her the nickname "Crazy Sadie."

Despite her one wish to be normal, Sadie only finds solace with a small group of unusual characters. These unlikely friends give her a “semi-normal” life outside of school in a bookstore where strange and mystical things seem to happen. In fact, if Sadie entertains her deepest suspicions, her friends are a little mystical.
When her birthday arrives however, Sadie finds herself whisked into a magical world that swirls just under the surface of normal, everyday life. Not only does she learn she’ll soon become a witch, but she also discovers she must battle The Syndicate to save her new world.


Faced with fantastical encounters, unexplainable transformations, and startling fears, Sadie struggles against an unknown evil – all while searching for her real identity.
 
My take on this book:
Sadie is a young girl who wants to believe her mother is still alive. Her mother died when her car crashed into the river, but there was never a body found, causing Sadie to hope, believe, that her mother is still alive somewhere. She has been bouncing around in foster homes and has a tough time at school being taunted and teased by the other kids and called Crazy Sadie, for Sadie she would just like to be considered normal. The one constant in her life is books, she loves to read and her best friend happens to be Mrs. Felis, a little old lady who runs a book store. Sadie enjoys her visits with Mrs. Felis and her cat Grimm, but often notices that Mrs. Felis does odd things but Sadie chalks it up to her age. Sadie's birthday is coming up, on Halloween,  and Mrs. Felis wants to do something special for her. What Sadie learns on her birthday will have her embarking into a magical world that will surely change her life forever!
 
I really enjoyed  this story. The author does a fantastic job of painting a world that literally jumps of the pages. Sadie is such a like able character, and it was nice to see her grow from the young witch who was always asking questions to one who becomes comfortable with her gifts. There are so many varied characters in this story, such as gnomes, talking cats, fairies, giants, and even centaurs who each have their own distinct personality that add richness to the story.
While Sadie takes us on a journey into a magical world, the  author also touches on a few serious subjects such as bullying, and the difficulty of Sadie losing her mother. This story is a very quick read that has enough twists to hold the readers attention until the end. Sadie will easily capture the attention of young readers, and because its a good clean read  I would give it a G rating, I wouldn't have any problems giving it to a child as young as seven or eight. I hope that the author does a sequel for this story, I would love to read more of Sadie and her adventures!
rating 4/5
I won an e-book copy of this book from Librarything, which in no way influenced my opinion of this book.