Tituba retells the Salem Witch trials from Tituba’s perspective. Tituba was the first person to be accused of witchcraft in Salem. This novel paints Tituba as an actual witch and tells why she uses witchcraft. When the witchcraft trials begin and the hangings start, Tituba begins to feel remorse. Can Tituba ever be redeemed?

Tituba is a tragic character. She is a slave that works in a preacher’s household. Her preacher is cruel to her and makes her life miserable. Thus, she turns to witchcraft, and it makes her feel powerful. However, she feels remorse when she causes innocent people to die in the witchcraft trials. While I found myself empathizing with Tituba, I did not feel connected to her. I thought that she was not developed very well for she is mostly overshadowed by her master, Reverend Parris who I thought was more complex than she was. However, I did admire her role as a mother.

Overall, this novel is about choices, loss, and redemption. The characters were not really developed. However, I thought the author made Salem really come alive. He portrayed how superstitious the people of Salem were. Therefore, I found the setting to be the best part of the novel. The novel was also very slow in the beginning, but picked up pace during the witchcraft trials. Even though the author portrays Tituba as an actual witch, I don’t think she was historically. Still, I find this novel did justice to Tituba by showing her hardships. I recommend this book for fans of The Heretic’s Daughter, A Break with Charity, and The Sacrifice! Tituba is a novel that anyone who loves reading about the Salem Witchcraft Trials will not want to miss!

This was a very interesting read about the most well-known (there were others) witch hunt in world history. I found it well written and loved Tituba. I highly recommend.
**I voluntarily read and reviewed this book

this was a really enjoyable historical novel, the characters were great and I really enjoyed reading this book.

This book did not go where I thought it was gonna go. It was very well told and written. If you want a different angle on the Salem Witch Trials then this is a good book to read. It is not a hard read and it will grab your attention pretty quickly. Tituba is a mother and wife that has been horribly treated and you can understand completely why she did what she did.

A difficult read but an important one. I had read "the Crucible" back in high school and seen the play performed but that was really my only knowledge of the salem witch trials. I found this book incredibly interesting as it illustrated Tituba's side of the story, where she came from and what drove her to do what she did. Tamanini paints such a raw and heartbreaking picture of slavery that is important for everyone to read and understand.

It is incredibly interesting in its scrutiny of both white and black people's mentalities in this time period and their different understanding of humanity and what we should mean to each other. It reminded me of "12 Years A Slave" in how it portrayed white people's justification for their actions and how they allowed themselves to believe what they were doing was right. The book also shows how religion can be such a beautiful thing and give hope/happiness to many but can also be manipulated to justify horrific actions.

I really enjoyed the in-depth look at Tituba, everything she goes through and her character's growth throughout, particularly how her acts of vengeance affect her mental state.

I did, however, feel that a great deal of the book was unnecessary and repetitive. I found myself getting bored as we read about the same things over and over with no particularly new information/ideas.

The premise of this book was incredibly enticing, as a history student specialising in witchcraft studies. However, I will admit this book did take me some time to get into, but I did reasonably enjoy it. One thing I was wary about, going in, was the treatment of Tituba's story, and admittedly, I was not entirely satisfied with the way it was handled. However, once I got into the story, I found the pacing was excellent. I would recommend this book to anyone looking for an interesting magical narrative, but probably not to history students of the area. Overall, it was a pleasant read.

I would start by saying this book is okay at best. The premise of “Tituba” lead with an interesting back story and I may have set my expectations too high when starting this novel. If you are looking for a novel filled with the mystery of African magic in the small town of Salem during Puritan times, sadly this novel falls flat.

Beginning very slow and not ever really ramping up (although the book was considerably easier to read half way through - when the trials started), the characters and plots could have been developed more.

As a reader you are left wondering how some characters came into their personalities and for the most part this goes largely unanswered.

While “Tituba” does give sparing nods toward African mysticism, is it not enough to satisfy the mystery of Salem and Tituba’s story. As for the girls who are at the forefront of the accusations, it may have served both the author and reader to present their point of view versus that of Reverend Parrish who may have been the only character that you actually get to understand throughout the story.

“Tituba” is okay and sadly left me wanting more where this novel was lacking.

As promoted, the debut novel "Tituba: The Intentional Witch of Salem" by Dave Taminini proposed to share a differently themed retelling/imagining of the infamous Salem witch trials. The book was indeed full of acts and characters who did, according to the written history, populate that long ago time of Puritanical religious practices. Those beliefs did indeed pave the way for the hysteria and infamy that surrounded those dark times of suspected supernatural treachery in every corner of the Massachsetts Bay Colony. As billed in both story summary and title, Taminini's novel promised a focus on the sole person of color, Tituba, and her secret yet powerful supernatural powers and their application within the witch hunt that has come to negatively define an important time in our nation's infancy.

According to this fantasy-infused reimagining,Tituba learned her "powers" as a child from her beloved mother, but then long suppressed those powers upon the loss of her mother and her own subsequent enslavement and unwilling transport from Barbados to the repressive and controlling Salem, Massachusetts. Despite a promise to her dying mother to never use her power to project her imaginings and visualizations to others, as well as to never do harm, circumstances lead her to do just that as she becomes ensnared in the mob insanity of this time. Taminini's Tituba was to be central to both story and the condemnation of many, many innocent women, children, and men.

And here is where I have to offer an observation that differs with the stated story focus. As written, this story appears to focus far more on the righteously pompous Reverend Parris (Tituba's cruel and overbearing owner) and his insecurities, shortcomings, weaknesses, and privileged excesses. While her character is developed, it seems far less examined and expanded upon than its centrality to the stated story deserves. This reading also left me wondering why her supporting characters (her loyal husband John Indian and her beloved young son Akanni) were not given more integral places in her overarching story. It just seems that if the draw for reading this retelling in the first place was to be a stronger focus on a much overlooked major character in the history of the Salem witch trials, then Tituba and HER history and life deserved to actually BE the center that holds the reader's focus.

I thank NetGalley for the advanced digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

#NetGalley
#Tituba:TheIntentionalWitchOfSalem

I was a bit torn with this book. Don't get me wrong, it was tremendously entertaining, but this book makes the kids into victims It makes Tituba an actual witch (or at least what they would have considered witches back then.). Tituba is a slave who has always been an 'appeaser' of her masters. She follows orders, doesn't talk back, doesn't intervene in the punishment of her husband or son. She's a good slave. Her master, Samuel Parris is the new minister of Salem Village. He's moved from job to job in hopes of finding something that he's good at, that he can stick with and in the process he's dragged his family and his slaves (Tituba, her husband John Indian, and their son Akanni) from place to place until Parris is given the job in Salem Village and they move into the parsonage. One night Parris's daughter and her friend Ann are late coming home and Tituba sends Akanni out to find them. This is the night everything changes.

What I was torn about is making the children the victims, because I grew up with the stories of the Salem witch trials. My grandmother is from Massachusetts and my ancestors were accused in the witch trials. The kids were always the guilty ones. They used the power of accusation on anyone they didn't like for any number of reasons, so making them the victim in this book was a bit difficult to swallow. I tried to put that bias on my part aside and look at the story as a whole. It was definitely entertaining and I could sympathize with Tituba and why she did what she did and I was happy with her ending. It was a satisfying read and a fascinating, though horrifying, period in our history. It was well written and the dialogue was believable. The descriptions were as accurate for the time period as I've read about from other research I've pursued. All in all, this was a good book. I enjoyed it and if you want to read a historical novel this is a good book to pick up.

This book was very much a book of two halves for me. The beginning was excellent; I loved learning about how Parris came to be in Salem and the monetary motivations driving his behaviour, and I especially loved learning about the character of Tituba and her family.
Not much is known about Tituba, so whilst her story here was largely fabricated, it provided such a humanity and empathy to the infamous instigator of the Salem Witch Hunt in 1692.
It made my heart ache for the fear Tituba felt about her son; his rebellious nature, his unwillingness to accept their situation and dreams for a free life, and the regret she had upon his death at the fact she never explained to him why he would keep quiet, not draw attention to himself or risk his life.
It also made it abundantly clear why she felt the need to exact revenge on the town of Salem, although I failed to see why she did not make more of a target out of Parris a lot more. It was here where the plot failed for me. From around the second half onwards, the magic that Tituba uses against the parishioners spoilt the gravitas that the first half possesses.
Read the full review on my blog: http://thatbookishgem.com

An interesting take on the Salem witch trials and the life of the slave Tituba. This story is from Tituba's point of view and Rev. Parris. There are many lessons to learn concerning guilt, revenge and forgiveness.

I had trouble getting into this novel. I taught The Crucible to 10th grade, but even with my background, I found the plot and characters confusing. The most beautiful part of the novel was the relationship between Tituba and her son, Akanni; however, that didn't carry over the course of the novel. Character reasoning was difficult for me, too. I didn't quite believe the "why" on why Tituba did or didn't do certain things at the risk of losing her own life or her family's lives. I think clarity on plot and characters might have helped a bit but this also struck me as a book where less could have been more in terms of content. Certain chapters felt really drawn out but didn't really play into the plot or character development from what I could tell. It wasn't a bad read but it was a slow and at times confusing read.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book to the fullest! I finished it in one afternoon because I couldn't put it down!
You see, I love reading about anything on the Salem Witch Trials which was a horrible event in our American history. For some reason, this part of history has always fascinated me. How could people be so cruel and mistrustful?
All the Puritans wanted was to worship in peace. But, then supposedly evil found them.
It just goes to show you that evil is everywhere and what people ( especially 4 girls ) will do with information when given to them. Fear is another big thing in this story. Fear is in the eye of the beholder. It is what spreads the evil.
I loved seeing Tituba in a new light. About who she really was. A woman with feelings like any other human being.
I never did like the way she was treated by Samuel Paris. I couldn't stand him! He was mean, shifty, greedy and the big one a manipulator. among other things. I could use another way to describe him but I won't.
It took me awhile to figure out what Goody and Goodman meant which I'm assuming Mr. and Mrs? I hope I;m right.
I highly recommend this book! I think you'll love it just as much as I did!
My thanks to Netgalley for a complimentary copy of this book. I was NOT required to write a positive review for this book. All opinions are mine.

I absolutely enjoyed Tituba by Dave Tamanini. This book moves into other considerations and depths surrounding the character (we think we know) in a way that adds to an understanding of the source material, and yet operates uniquely. I would gladly pair this book with Ahab’s Wife as a wonderful literary work.

Tituba is a slave, kidnapped from Africa in her youth and belonging to Salem’s new preacher, Parris. She has always obeyed her master & his family as she was bidden by her dying mother, and has found a measure of happiness in her husband and son who also are owned by Parris. Her family want her to run from slavery but Tituba is afraid. When events spiral out of her control & she has a deep loss, her magical powers start to present themselves and she chooses to use them for revenge.

A new view of the Salem witch trials, which I recommend.

Thank you #NetGalley for my free advance copy of
#TitubaTheIntentionalWitchOfSalem in return for an unbiased review.

This book contains the 3 fs. Fact, fiction and fantasy. An excellent combination for a telling of the Salem witch trials in America. It's a very readable and entertaining novel about an horrendous period of history but Tituba makes the fantasy element truly believable. The story races along at a great pace and I would certainly recommend it to anyone who enjoys this period of American history.

*arc provided by net galley in exchange for an honest review.

In this tale of justified revenge spun horribly out of control history, and fantasy are masterfully interwoven . The Author sets the stage beautifuly with a paranoid populace and wronged women bound to clash as a mother’s grief manifests chaos in the world around her. This tale plays havoc with the Conscience of both it’s characters and readers leaving the line between retribution and unintended evils razor thin.
Dispite odd dialogue choices here and there this is a book I will certainly re read and recommend to other readers I meet.Tituba is an enjoyable historical fantasy that may be a good fit for people who enjoyed reading the crucible stage play and Similar titles.

I am always intrigued by books about the Salem Witch Trials. This was an interesting take on them, and I could tell that this novel was very well researched. I enjoyed learning more and going into the minds and consciences of some of the main players of this time in history. I receive a free copy of this book from netgalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest feedback.

This is great reimagining of the Salem Witch trials from the perspective of Tituba. Tituba is a slave in the reverends house and after a searing loss, she vows to use her powers to get even with those in Salem who have hurt her. Things rapidly spiral out of her control though.

*Received a copy of this ebook in exchange for an honest review*
Tituba is an interesting figure in American History. A slave accused of witchcraft. But not a lot is known about her in general. I appreciated this take on her life and the trials she went through.