TRIPLE MOON

Terrible teen witches seek and sabotage safe haven in this spinoff’s spinoff.

Suspected of murdering two private school classmates, identical twins Molly and Mardi Overbrook grudgingly give up their glitzy Manhattan lives for a summer in Brigadoon-ian North Hampton, New York (setting for the Witches of East End series). Catalog-perfect Ingrid Beauchamp gives the goddesses (literally—Thor is their dad) a rustic reality call, forcing the girls to get jobs, limit their magic use, and babysit, but reform is slow in coming. Vapid, high-fashion Molly and antagonistic, retro-and-rebel Mardi enjoy playing pranks but engage in tiresome bickering and outrageous behavior to prove their (superficial) differences. Surprisingly ignorant of Norse mythology and their own family history, Molly and Mardi end up re-enacting a Wagnerian plot over a special ring and unusual romantic situations. The twins are unsympathetic characters for much of the book, and the impermanence of death lowers the stakes, but readers seeking tales of Gatsby-style excess, gourmet meals, hot bodies, and outrageous wardrobes can find a quick fix here. De la Cruz returns to the realm of teen lit but seems to keep some of her racier adult elements as she liberally—if sometimes unsuccessfully—mixes an epic story cycle and ancient legends with a summer beach romance, supernatural mystery, and teens-gone-wild tale.

A stormy beach read that is more soap than opera.