The Secret Circle - Book 3

Book Three - The Power

In So Deadly A Battle...


United at last with Diana, the mistress of her coven, Cassie must first sacrifice her love for Adam to save the Secret Circle and the town of New Salem from the evil powers of the witch Faye.


Threatened by the possibility of her destruction in a final battle between good and evil, Cassie must hope that her supernatural gifts are strong enough to obliterate the powers of evil.


If victorious, Cassie will win more than she ever dreamed. But if she and Diana fail, the Power will go to those who seek only to destroy.


Can Anyone Triumph?

By far the best book in the trilogy; so naturally it has THE WORST BLURB of the trilogy. 

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SPOILERS

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This book picks at the exact same point the second book ended. Faye has just devastated the group...for the second time by revealing that Cassie and Adam are madly in love and hiding it behind Diana's back. You know...because she's Adam's ACTUAL girlfriend. 

While the Coven are initially sceptical; they soon realise that Faye is telling the truth. Faye continues - revealing the Cassie stole the magical skull - all the while twisting the truth further and further to make it appear that Cassie had been deliberately using and working against her fellow practitioners. 


Adam however insists on having his say. Between them, Cassie and Adam manage to explain what had really happened. The coven are confused and hurt but after Diana magnanimously forgives the duplicitous duo; all the poison leeches out of the gathering. 

Furious at her failure to crush Cassie; Faye becomes increasingly vicious. On the one hand, she insists on being recognised as the Coven leader. On the other, she distances herself from the group so thoroughly that even her allies begins to recognise how pernicious an influence she has become. 


Cassie tells the group of Black John's most recent visit to the Cove - finally providing the group with the explanation to their parents death. For those in the group who still have both parents; it's sobering. For those who lost a parent in the fight for good - particularly Nick who lost both - it offers respite. Although he is alone in the world, he knows now with certainty that his parents were decent upstanding witches - who gave their lives to try and protect the town from evil. 


Black John finally reveals himself to the group at Cassie's grandmothers funeral. It transpires that he has taken over the role of principal at their high school. His goal - it appears - is to destroy the coven. 
Portia (from book one) and her witch-hunting brothers move into the area and the school environment rapidly changes. No long are the Coven on top - indeed they are now openly despised. Black John uses his power to create an anti-witch environment, while appearing to only be improving discipline. He even manages to bring back the stocks by claiming them as culturally and historically significant.


Cassie - whose mother has had a complete breakdown - moves in with Diana, who continues to offer friendship and support. Nick asks her out, and to everyone's surprise Cassie accepts. She finds in Nick not a soul mate but a kindred spirit. 


To the surprise of the Coven (but not the reader), Faye is seduced by the dark side...sorry...Black John. For all of her attitude and posturing, I was surprised to find that she was basically working as his secretary. Anyway, the Coven decide to ask previous generations about the last time Black John was in town. While initially reluctant; the surviving Elders eventually tell the younger witches that the only way to fight Black John is to find the original Master Tools - hidden in the past by the original coven to prevent Black John from achieving his full magical potential. 

They also advise the girls to hold a ceremony - one designed to bring Faye back into the fold and bind the members together. In the end; there are two rituals - one for all the girls and one for just Diana and Cassie. 


Unfortunately, it doesn't appear that the ritual has worked. Faye gleefully tells Cassie the truth about Black John - that the last time he was in the Cove he seduced her mother. That her arrival precipitated everything that has happened since. That she is in fact (drum roll please) Black John's daughter. 


(OK, just to let you know - this brings us about halfway through the book. A LOT happens in this rather slender book!)


The next section is very detailed and involved, so I'm just going to highlight the results. Cassie, Diana and Adam set out to learn as much as they can from their Book of Shadows in preparation for the inevitable showdown with Voldemort...sorry again... Black John. 

Long story short - using their combined knowledge Cassie taps into the power of her dreams and manages to locate the Master Tools. With Faye still on the outs with the Coven and having betrayed the club at least once, Diana once again ascends to the position of leader - albeit temporarily. 


Individually and collectively, the Coven are attached by agents of Black John. It transpires that he had manipulated witch hunters in the past - using the fear and paranoia they created in the witch community to cause the move to the Cove in the first place. Recognising a winning formula when he sees one, Black John is now using the pushy Portia and her friends to try and find the location of the Master Tools. Time and again, the Coven work together to protect themselves - despite being a member short - though it is rapidly becoming obvious that they are being betrayed by someone within the inner circle. 


After one such attack, Adam rescues Cassie in dramatic fashion and she realises that she has to break up with Nick. She has no intention of hurting Diana but she can't be with anyone other than Adam. They remain too powerfully drawn to one another. Nick is surprisingly understanding about the whole thing. If nothing else, Cassie has forced him to face up to the fact that he is not alone in the world. Not anymore. 


After one particularly sensitive piece of information is leaked, Cassie, Adam and Diana realise who the traitor is. Worse - they realise that there is a good chance that it is this person who was likely responsible for the deaths throughout the books. 


Determined to keep *this* information secret, the circle fall apart...in public at least - continuing to gather as much intel as possible. Black John is preparing a hurricane - one that will isolate the Cove from the mainland and wipe out huge numbers of the population. Taking a huge risk, Cassie forges a reluctant truce with an outsider - hoping to save as many lives as she can.

Ultimately; the Cover are able to cleanse and purify the unwitting traitor but Faye still seems to have abandoned them. As it is an emergency, it is the ideal time to nominate a new leader. Before anyone can react, Diana nominates Cassie - who is stunned. The group unanimously agree. Before she can think, Cassie is about to lead the club against her father.  


Black John has had centuries to prepare for this day. He sets the scene and Cassie feels helpless against him alone, even with the Master Tools. Her Coven join her - despite the risks and it is only by working together that they could possibly be able to defeat him. One by one the club use the knowledge they have collected throughout the series to bind him forever...but they can still feel his strength - diminished but not gone. In the end, wild unpredictable Faye steps up and joins her family and her friends. Black John is - for now and all future generations - defeated. 

Cassie instantly checks on her mother who has finally regained her senses. The Coven remain determined for her to lead though she recognises that she'd be better with Diana for stability...and Faye for her passion. She will only stay on the Cove if they form a triumvirate and work together. 

Finally, Diana points out that Cassie and Adam are soul mates and that it would be useless to deny it any further. Cassie and he are finally allowed to be together and she sees a glimpse of their future together - not just in this life but in an infinite number of futures. 

In the end, she realises that she is truly home. 

OK, I know I've made it sound a little 'aw, bless' there at the end but it's actually very engrossing and I really enjoyed reading the series. 

Just as well really. I borrowed the Vampire Diaries from a mate and I can't get into it at all.  

The Secret Circle

The Secret Circle - Book 1 - The Initiation

The Secret Circle - Book 2 - The Captive

The Secret Circle - Book 3 - The Power

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Review Table of Contents

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Full Table of Contents 

The Secret Circle - Book 2 - The Captive

Book Two - The Captive

CAN THE SECRET CIRCLE SURVIVE...  

Lured into the most popular in-crowd imaginable, Cassie is intoxicated by her new found strength, a power as addictive as it is perilous.


Caught between two members' consuming desires to use the coven's mysterious force, Cassie turns to one of their boyfriends, Adam ... and falls captive to her own dangerous love.


Bewitched by the promise of love through magic, Cassie captures Adam's heart and upsets the delicate balance of power, unleashing a storm of fury no one anticipates.


...OR WILL THE DARK STRUGGLE OF GOOD, EVIL AND TORMENTED LOVE CONSUME THEM ALL?

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SPOILERS

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That's a bit better really isn't it? Alas; it has nothing to do with the book - clearly a blurb written by someone who hasn't read it yet!!

This - the middle book - suffers by more than a little. After a great lead in; it tries to dance that fine line between keeping the readers interest going for another book, without giving too much of the game away. There is also a slight information overload - we are clearly being given info to set up for the big finale.

It just about manages to maintain momentum but despite the info dump it really doesn't feel like an awful lot happens till the final chapter. 

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Faye knows that Adam and Cassie are soul mates having seen them get all smoochy on the Beach. The star crossed lover are desperate not to act on it and betray Diane - to the extent of swearing a blood oath. Faye blackmails Cassie into stealing the dark artifact that Adam brought back to the circle. 

Course, as soon as this deed is done - Faye naturally holds this act over Cassie's head and basically turns her into a slave...a captive as it were. This culminates in Faye overthrowing Diane as the leader of the Circle. 

Diane is crushed by what she sees as Cassie's betrayal. Cassie - caught between a rock and a hard place - begins to think that she is destined to be a dark witch - no matter what she tries she can't follow her heart.  Instead she is forced to watch as everything she has started to care about crumbles around her.


Things quickly spiral when Cassie finds another murdered student. While Kori had her neck broken; Jeffrey was hung. Additionally, when she returns to the local cemetery to retrieve a lost crystal; she find that all of the Circle teenagers lost a parents - or both - on the same day. Curious, she digs a little deeper and discovers that with the exception of herself - all the teenagers were born within a few weeks of each. Cassie can't quite put the pieces together but she realised that something is clearly afoot. 


Meanwhile, the power crazed Faye is using the Circle to explore darker and darker magicks. They are responsible for releasing a big bad oogily boogily. When the school principal is found crushed; his replacement immediately begins to try and curb the Circle's power. Cassie begins to see the pattern.  Faye has indeed brought Black John back to New Salem. The methods used to commit the murders correspond with ways in which witches were put to death.

He wastes no time in attacking the Circle - and specifically Cassie's mother and home. After a vicious attack; Cassie's grand mother is left mortally wounded. She quickly tries to prepare Cassie for what is likely to happen next.

Black John was one of the original founders of New Salem. He is powerful beyond the description of it, surviving throughout time. The last time he had any serious influence was in the 70's. He found the witches and manipulated them into pairing up - breaking up soul mates with his magicks. 

His goal was to create a new circle - more powerful than at any point in history. Through his actions; all the children were conceived within the same time frame - explaining all the birthdays being so close together.  


In 1976; those parents with great courage decided to tackle the evil that was Black John. He crushed them - killing all those that stood against him. The surviving parents - inherently weaker than their deceased partners - abandoned magic altogether, hid their book of shadows and resolved not to tell their children anything. 

Cassie's grandmother tries to impart one last essential piece of the puzzle but loses her fight and passes away. Sickened by what has taken place; Cassie tells Faye that she will not follow her any more. Faye - furious as losing one of her stooges - decides to tell Diane about Cassie and Adam.

Find out what happens in next week's exciting instalment...

 

The Secret Circle

The Secret Circle - Book 1 - The Initiation

The Secret Circle - Book 2 - The Captive

The Secret Circle - Book 3 - The Power

The Secret Circle - Book 1 - The Initiation

As a teenager I was a huge fan of L.J. Smith. My best friend and I worked our way through the Night World* series with great glee! Every book was read a dozen times and we've been waiting for the final one in the series for over a decade now!!

With the The Secret Circle due to be shown on UK televisions soon; I thought that now was as good a time as any to acquaint myself with the books - especially as I totally missed the boat on the Vampire Diaries (which have now been lent to me and will be on my Christmas reading list!).

The afore mentioned bestie has also been recommending them for (several!) years; so it was great to finally be able to text her and say that I'd be giving them a go!

Book One - The Initiation

Seduced by the Secret Circle - a coven of young witches whose power has controlled New Salem for three hundred years - Cassie falls hopelessly in love with the leader's boyfriend and fall prey to dark powers...

Hmm. The most vague blurb in the world doesn't really set the scene or the tone for the first book in the trilogy.

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SPOILERS

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The Set Up

Cassie is a shy girl who has never quite found her voice socially speaking. She and her mum have a happy and fulfilling life in California - far far away from New Salem and her grandmother. 

While on holiday, Cassie's world is rocked by two events.

Firstly - she rescues a boy on a beach from really committed bullies. (There's an interesting little exchange between Cassie and Portia - one of the bullies...which is followed up in later books.)

Secondly - she is told by her mother that they have to uproot their entire lives in order to look after her ailing grandparent.

Cassie is dreading starting over at a new school; though she does briefly ponder trying to set herself up as a new person - starting from scratch and all. She is surprised to find that her grandmother is approachable and interesting  - if slightly odd. The two bond over gardening - specifically herbs.  Cassie's mother on the other hand definitely struggles with the transition.

However; Cassie's worst fears start to be realised when she begins at the local secondary school. For some reason that she can't fathom; she is quickly ostracised by teachers and pupils alike when they discover where she lives. Her new home has character and is the oldest, weirdest one on the oldest weirdest street in town - Crowhaven Road. As far as Cassie is concerned she has hit rock bottom.

Cassie - it transpires - was wrong.

An unfortunately run in with the sarcastic, beautiful and vicious Faye isolates her from the rest of the inhabitants of Crowhaven Road - a clique known in the school as the Circle, who weld surprising power. Unexpected things start to happen to her - cruel pranks that the staff (faculty - I love that word) refuse to acknowledge or deal with. 

It's quite likely that this story would have a sad and tragic ending if Diane - the ethereal, beautiful and kind leader of the Circle - hadn't taken an interest in Cassie. Before she knows it; Cassie is catapulted into a new friendlier world. After tragedy strikes a potential initiate into the group; Cassie is offered a place in the Circle.

Once in, Cassie discovers that the Circle is involved in more than just pranks - each of the twelve are witches. She learns that she has more to embrace than just her familial roots. 

Oh and the boy...the boy from the beach? Yeah, he's Diane's long term boyfriend.

Things are about to get a leetle bit complicated.

The Review

I really enjoyed this book. The language was very easy to read, in terms of pacing, phrasing and structure, without ever becoming overtly simplistic, monotonous or patronising. 

I also liked that nothing was totally spelled out for you. The interactions with Portia at the beginning of the book were dramatic and full of portent. I was a little disappointed that this wasn't revisited until I realised that it was clearly a set up for later books. The lack of resolution strangely filled me with a certain degree of confidence that - whatever lies ahead - I wouldn't feel condescended by a tidy, neat, wrapped in bow ending.

Except when it came to the identity of the boy. It was not at all surprising that he was taken. If anything; I kinda thought that Cassie was a bit of an idiot not to have figured it out herself. Still; as the emotional leverage, it wasn't too bad.

Given that it's a book about witchcraft; there are very little demonstations of power. Rather it's the implications and hints; little nuances - such as the herb craft and stone lore that leads you to suppose that they are particularly informed about the craft. With regards to their fear factor; this is best demonstrated by their school friends and teachers who have clearly learned that it's best to leave well enough alone. 

All in all - a pretty solid introduction. I read it in under 4 hours, so immediately started on the second! Review up soon!

Score:

6/10

Trailer for the upcoming TV Series

What do you think? Will you be watching?

(*Please note - Night World fans - as of the 12th October 2011, LJ Smith has announced on her fan forum that she has completed Strange Fate which has now entered the editing stage. Fingers crossed!)

The Secret Circle

The Secret Circle - Book 1 - The Initiation

The Secret Circle - Book 2 - The Captive

The Secret Circle - Book 3 - The Power