Holy Macarena! I just finished reading A Witch's Beauty, and I am having heart palpitations. I honestly didn't think that this book could best A Mermaid's Kiss, but it did! Hill is a powerful, sensual, intense writer. Mina and David are an amazing combination..beauty and monstrousness, strength and weakness, good and evil...it's all here. Mina is one of the most fascinating characters I have ever met. Her physical manifestation of the struggle between good and evil (half of her body is physical perfection, the other half grotesque) is a poignant symbol of her inner struggle to control her Dark One blood. I usually have trouble with irritating heroines. It's a fine line for an author to create a character who is willful and prickly, while still maintaining some likability. Mina is an incredibly well developed character and her emotional journey in this story is utterly satisfying. Although David is a wonderful character in his own right, this is Mina's story all the way. Hill's expertise as a story-teller is never more apparent than in the chapters leading up to the climatic battle scene with the Dark Ones. Boy, does she know how to build up the sickening anticipation of what was going to befall poor David (and Mina) in the Dark One's World. I am ashamed to admit that I snuck at look at the final pages of the book to reassure myself before tackling those chapters...the awful apprehension was almost to much to bear! (I can't remember feeling that much anxiety since reading Stephen King's The Shining). Anyway, of course Hill takes her characters to Hell and back. If I had to pick one word to describe this book and Hill's writing it would be...powerful. Wow. I am officially a Joey Hill addict (that's the sound of Amazon's CEO cackling with glee). Grade: A+
Pleased as punch, Penelope
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