Book of Shadows (2001)

I read it in french and I enjoyed it thoroughly. It was recommended to me by some of my friends. ( )

The first 2-3 books in this series are addictive, a fresh "modern-teen" POV in the tired genre of witches/kids with supernatural powers finding themselves (and the wonder of Wicca) among families/communities who "don't get it".

After #3, it goes downhill. There is no psychological development of the main characters (and the secondary characters are quite shallowly described and hard to distinguish throughout the series; even the more promising and believable ones, BFFs Bree & Robbie are essentially dropped from the books by #4) a lot of the narrative suspenseful points are all "tell" and no "show", the conclusions are hurried and tied up nicely--except for a minimum of predictable suspense that the publisher made you have to draw people through the series. Also, each book is so short, (it's like a single chapter of a Harry Potter) that the narrative arc is predictable and hasty, and makes one wonder if these were paid by the book, or that the series was extended way beyond what should have been its natural life span by the publisher, or what.

It's no Harry Potter, that's for sure. Apart from the above flaws, here's no humor (unless you count Morgan's drinking Diet Coke all the time, which gets tired really fast) and no writing good enough to be enjoyed by adults as well (a sure sign of a good children's book).

Also there's way too much touchy-feely Wicca rituals and pseudo Gaelic chanting, which is not well enough written to be convincing and also gets tiresome.
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Cate Tiernan is a fabulous writer. That said, 176 pages? Seriously? I bought this online, not realizing and was... Pissed!
After reading a couple more in the series I decided this would be a four or five star series... But:
These books are like tv episodes rather than full length movies. For me library-bait as I have to limit my book budget because of my veracious literary appetite, and half length books just can't fit in that. Recommendation: if you can get this in a multiple book- book do it otherwise do what I did after I bought the first, skip on down to the library.
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Morgan Rowlands is an normal 16-year-old girl with an totally ordinary unremarkable life. Morgan spends most of her time with her best friends Bree and Robbie. When Cal Blaire moves to her small town of Widows Vale Morgan finds her life changing. After being hosting a party Cal reveals that he is a practicing witch looking to form a new coven and Morgan finds herself intrigued. But when Morgan and Bree both become interested in Wicca and Cal personally, Morgan finds her mundane life thrown into turmoil.

This is the first in the Wicca/Sweep series which is hands down one of my favourite series of all time. I've read and reread these books countless times over the past ten years or so making an actual review way overdue. The book mixes magick (spelt here with a k) with normal teenage life in a fascinating way. The attention given to detail, especially in this first book shows that the author has done some serious research into modern Wicca and generally presents it in a realistic way, although a degree of artistic license is taken.

The storyline is well paced with Cal's appearance and the introduction of Wicca coming early on. From there the emotional ramifications of Morgan's choices keep the pace fast, and the writing makes the book really accessible and easy to read without being dull. Interestingly the start of each chapter includes a quote from a fictious magickal text and a segment from the journal of one of the characters which adds an extra dimension to the storyline.

Morgan is a brilliant lead character who really comes to life on the page. The first person narrative really allows the reader to get inside Morgan's head and experience things alongside her. Her inner turmoil about being drawn to Wicca is particularly well-written as are her family's reactions. As her life begins to change Morgan gradually becomes more confident and starts going after what she wants which is a brilliant characteristic.

The supporting characters are equally well written, with Bree pulling off the glamour-puss role without being irritating and Robbie being the ideal best friend. Cal is the perfect mix of gorgeous and tempting, especially with the additional draw of being the only witch Morgan and her friends know.

All in all, this was an awesome read and I can't wait to get stuck into The Coven.

Plot: 10/10
Characters: 10/10
Ending: 10/10
Enjoyment: 10/10
Cover: 9/10

Overall: 49/50 ( )

Ce livre me fait penser un peu à la série Twilight. Comme Twilight, on touche au surnaturel (les pouvoirs des sorcières) et aussi comme Twilight, le livre est écrit avec un vocabulaire et des phrases simples. L'histoire est amusante et très intéressante pour les filles adolescentes. Je donne tout de même 5 étoiles puisque cette série risque d'accrocher bien des filles à la lecture française. ( )