** spoiler alert ** 
 Facepalm. Oy vey. Takes a deep breath. 
 Well, this was disappointing. 
 Before I get into why I disliked this book and was so bitterly disappointed with it, I feel obligated to share a couple of things I DID like, mainly because even though I personally didn't like the STORY, you can see that -- for the most part -- between this and Mirrored, Alex Flinn's writing really has grown very strong since Beastly. Not that Beastly was BAD, by any means, it was a decent read, but you can see a marked improvement in voice, style, and outright creativity since then, which is the mark of a truly great writer, the ability to grow and change and still be the best story-teller you know how to be. 
 1) The beginning with Kendra discovering she was a witch and escaping with her brother Charlie into the forest, meeting up with the gingerbread witch. I really liked this, and honestly am a bit befuddled as to why Flinn didn't just make THIS the ENTIRE plot of the novel. It's strong, engaging, interesting, tells us more about Kendra (even if a few things don't seem to fit with the information we were previously given in Beastly), introduces both endearing and frightening new characters... I was really starting to like and care about Charlie before he was booted out of the story with a simple "And I never saw him again..." cliche, and the Gingerbread house witch was both pathetic and scary at the same time somehow. I would really like to have seen MORE happening in the time Kendra was living in her house, learning witchery skills and what not, before the story just rushed her obviously forthcoming demise. 
 2) Like I said, the writing itself is pretty strong, here are a couple of quotes I enjoyed.... 
 Mrs. Delgado, realizing she'd lost all control over her class, resorted to the weapon of choice of every teacher in the face of anarchy. She flicked the lights on and off. 
 That made me smile. 
 What are you going to do about it...? ... Organize a boycott of all the Harry Potter books because they gave me ideas? 
 Heh. Cute. 
 That said/shared, the bulk of this book was so unbelievably irritating, it actually offended me on a personal level. 
 First off, our leading lady. Emma. Geez. How do I even begin to describe what's wrong with her? 
 Well, the book and all the characters we're SUPPOSED to like within said book try to make it seem as though Emma is this brilliant deep well of knowledge and has this wonderful personality, but having been in her head for her POV, she most certainly does not. She's about as deep as Bella Swan, and we're supposed to like her because she's plain and non-threatening and reads classics and likes Harry Potter and watches Jeopardy. Well whoo-tee-freaking-do! Her, and a million other girls who think they are special isolated little snowflakes. 
 I too read Harry Potter (as of recently), am not super pretty, and enjoy classics (I happen to ADORE Wuthering Heights thank you very much), and you know what? I still couldn't relate to this girl! 
 It's not that I never felt bad for Emma in any given situation. Her lost relationship with her dad, for instance, really WAS tragic; but as the plot progressed she just kept on digging herself in deeper and deeper and giving her spoiled stepsister everything she wanted because of poorly thought out "blackmail". 
 Not to mention she obsesses constantly about this guy named Warner, who I think really did like her, but was just weak-willed. Throughout the entire book it's Warner, Warner, Warner... Her insipid POV just never shuts about him. And how upset she is that her sister stole him. Stupid girl "Warner"s us to DEATH with her whining until she just suddenly decides she doesn't like him anymore and runs off into the sunset with somebody else. 
 Seriously, the girl sets up this whole plan and then just "falls in love" in five minutes with some other guy because he has the same favorite book as her. 
 It wasn't that said other guy wasn't a better match for her, it's just that he came into the storyline WAY too late for me to give a rat's hat. I mean, the story really had to end with handsome rich guy ex machina? Really? 
 Not to mention the entire story hates on the Cinderella fairytale. Maybe Cinderella was really a jerk, and didn't deserve to go to the ball -- according to Emma. 
 Yeah, Emma, just because you have a mean but pretty stepsister, I'm sure every one of the hundreds of Cinderella stories told over the years were WRONG. They were wrong and you're suffering for it now because the world revolves around you. Pass the freaking tissues. 
 Secondly, it just felt like everything in this book that wasn't from KENDRA's POV (or briefly and randomly from some mermaid who saved a Titanic passenger then killed herself -- I'm not even kidding) was just meant to pander to the average female teen. 
 Hmm, well, average female teens like main characters who are plain and end up with a hot guy, right? Check. Hmm, well, average female teens like lots of pointless mean girl conflicts that don't add to the story in any important way, right? Check. Hmm, well, average female teens like reading Harry Potter and think their mother is overbearing and like to whine about her attempts to make them lose weight and doll them up, right? Check. 
 It just goes ON AND ON. 
 And you can just FORGET all that thoughtful, empowering "beautiful people don't have to be mean/less than perfect guys can get the girl" stuff you learned from Mirrored if you (like me) happened to read the books out of publication order. Because all the pretty girls ARE mean in this one, and only the perfect hot rich guy was good enough for Emma. 
 I'm not saying I think she should have ended up with Warner. Warner was a weak candybutt who didn't deserve a happy ending after how he blew her off. But you know what would have been more girlpowery? If Emma had just concluded she was OKAY as she was, if she decided she didn't need Warner, BEFORE Mr. perfect walked into her life. It would have been another cliche, but a less annoying one, to be sure. 
 Actually, that makes her JUST AS BAD as Warner, if you think about it. 
 So, he chose her sister over her because she was prettier and had a better sob-story. Well, she stopped lusting dumbly after him only after she met a smarter guy with more money and even better looks. Yeah, true, he dumped her first, but still. 
 Emma's whole storyline was like a bad mashup of something you'd see on Lifetime movie channel and a low-budgeted, poorly scripted, direct to video urban fantasy flick with a Disneyfied Princess Diaries ending. 
 What a load of rubbish. 
 It amazes me that so many girl were willing to give this one positive reviews and hate on Mirrored, when this clearly has the more flawed morality of the two books... 
 To each their own, but it sure looks like the pandering to Bella Swan fangirls worked wonders here. 
 So yeah, didn't care for this one. 
 But I AM looking forward to the next Kendra book Beheld (I heard it's going to have an East of the Sun, West of the Moon story-arc!) and I hope it's less grating and mind-numbing than this one was. 
 In the meantime, I hope to check out Towering, see if I like that one any better. 
 Not recommended. 
 An afterthought: What the WTH does Kendra think she's doing giving out all these magic mirrors in every book she's in? I thought she was supposed to be lying low and keeping her status as a witch a secret, yet with every single book she's doling out magic mirrors like goody-bags. BOTH Goose and Kyle BREAK her mirrors and leave them in shards in their respective books. Does she go back and clean up these messes herself? Or does the glass just disappear by magic? 
 A second afterthought: Bewitching is a terrible title for this book, a better and more accurate one would be: 
 Hey, Cinderella Stole My Boyfriend!