LJ Smith — The Secret Circle
by Maria
April 3, 2009
Just finished the first vol. of the series the Secret Circle. Smith’s an amazing YA writer — her characters are generally distinct from both one another and from other series, which is always fun. While her plots can be a bit rote, she infuses them with fresh life because of her able prose and her quirky details.
On to the plot. Cassie has to move out to Cape Cod because of MYSTERIOUS FAMILY REASONS her mother won’t tell her. After starting school, Cassie quickly realizes why — she’s at least half-witch. The coolest kids in her HS are also witches, and once she accepts this and starts chillaxing with them, she’s pretty happy.
However, when Cassie gets sucked into the politics of the coven (Diana is a goodie and wants to use magic for good, Faye is a baddie who wants to use magic for entertainment) things quickly come to a head involving teen politics, forbidden love, and the legacy of the Salem Witch Trials.
What’s neat about this series is that even though Faye is both bad and extremely sexualized, she’s not the only sexy girl character. While each of the witches is associated with an implicit archetype, the strengths and weaknesses of those archetypes are fairly well handled. Faye’s not only a sexy sexy lady, but is also a good leader. The Henderson brothers are not only references to the Wild Hunt, but are also kind and compassionate friends. Even Deborah, who’s an angry Artemis, has her moments, like when Cassie and her run off to try and run down an ancient evil, and end up scaling a fence. In heels and prom attire. The guys are all “OMG, how did you DO that?” and Deborah and Cassie are like, “Girls CAN climb fences, you know..”
The series is what it is — it’s a quick satisfying read meant for YA readers, with a formulaic plot, and a guaranteed happy ending. I’m pretty happy I finally picked it up, and it’s definitely going on my “would give to a kid” reading list.
Related posts:
Posted in Sci-Fi/Fantasy Novels, Young Adult Novels on April 3, 2009 Tags: Fantasy, Horror, Kids, Romance
Subscribe to RSS feed
Submit Article: Stumble it! | Del.icio.us |
Reddit | Digg
Subscribe to Hathor's 
April 4th, 2009 at 7:07 am
This is the series that finally got my baby sister reading for fun–and even turning off the TV in favor of books! I was a huge LJ Smith fan when I was a teen (as were my sisters, cousins, and–later–my students).
April 6th, 2009 at 9:38 pm
lol isn’t it amazing she’s still producing such good work? i read her when i was a teen nearly 10 yrs ago!!
April 12th, 2009 at 1:51 pm
Not to criticise this book in particular, which looks good, it would be nice to see witch handled as something besides a species – as a skill that a character can choose and develop.
April 13th, 2009 at 10:25 pm
Afternoon Maria,
That was a nice review! Concise and clearly written, good job.
My name is Omar W. Rosales. I’m a novelist at LLewellyn Worldwide (home to faeries, trolls, witches, and flights of fancy).
“Elemental Shaman” is my new title about ghosts, Buddhist Masters, Maya Lords, 2012, reincarnation and Life after Death (whew!). We’d like to send you a review copy and a Promo Pak.
Please drop me a line and we can send you one via FedRaven or UBS (United Broomstick Service) asap.
Thanks,
- Omar
omar@elementalshaman.com
April 14th, 2009 at 4:10 pm
Hi Sunless Nick –
Hmmm. I’ll keep my eyes open, hey?
September 25th, 2009 at 12:53 pm
Hey Sunless Nick –
The Orphans series treats magic as a skill you can develop through meditation and practice.
January 12th, 2010 at 11:00 am
Wow…I read the synopsis on the back of this at Walmart, and it sounded really good…this makes it sound pretty corny, actually, as most witch books are…as a Pagan, this kind of stuff makes me wonder…I’m still going to read it, though, just out of curiosity…
January 12th, 2010 at 12:36 pm
It’s not AS corny as it could be, honestly. It’s just a YA book.