Mats Strandberg

Only a few weeks have passed since the final events of ”Eld”, and the remaining witches of the Circle are still staggering to cope with losses, death and the desperate upholding of illusion. Engelsfors is now not only a rather drab little town, but, a place where the frequency of tragedy is getting harder and harder to ignore, even for regular people. Something is just not right, everybody is starting to feel it. And the Chosen Ones get no time to rest – signs start to show that the show more apocalypse is coming fast, the Council are now not only red-taping them down but actively and aggressively working against them, the Demons’ Blessed escapes from her prison. And fairly soon Minoo is forced to make an impossible choice, straining loyalty to the maximum. Watching from the mists of the borderlands however, are forces trying to make contact. But will they get through in time? Does it even matter?

Also, while the occult events move towards a shattering climax, the “normal side” of teenage life of the girls is also at an all time low. A parent dies. Linnea is going to trial for the assault she was the victim of and is forced to realize that almost all her school is on the side of the culprits. Vanessa sees her involvement in the Circle pulling her further and further way from her friends. A love story is killed by cowardice and old ghosts. An alcoholic falls off the wagon. As before, one of the real talents of Elfgren and Strandmark is making these parts as engaging, nailbiting and horrific as the magic battles. This is a dark book at times, and even more often a very sad one.

Tying all knots together in this epic battle for world control, spanning the universe and thousands of years, is a tall order. But, despite sometimes having to resort to the “sit down and I will tell you the whole story from the beginning” trope a few times, they succeed admirably. And even manage to make the very conclusion of this trilogy feel worthy where it could so easily have fallen flat.

Four days and 817 pages later, I feel reluctant to say goodbye to this group of flawed, struggling, hard-working teenage witches. They feel like real people to me, and I wish them all the best. I can’t wait to put them into the hands of my kids when they grow older. show less

The Circle is a Swedish YA Fantasy by Mats Strandberg and Sara Elfgren that is the first in their Engelsfors Trilogy about a group of witches. A handful of diverse teens find that they are witches and in the near future they will be engaging in battle with a terrible evil. In the time before the battle they need to identify their strengths, practise their magic and, the most difficult task, bond together in trust. Of course they are not left alone to develop their skills, someone or show more something is hunting them and kills two of them before they realize that they must also hunt this evil down.

Even with a fair amount of teen angst about the opposite sex, family issues, fitting in and being popular, I still was completely swept up in this story. At almost 600 pages, it is quite detailed, and by the end of the first book they have only scratched the surface of whatever evil is about to emerge. What I found most engaging were the characters, each of the five remaining girls have a distinct personality and a distinct magical skill. Based on the elements of water, metal, earth etc., they are individually strong but when they join together, almost invincible.

I will certainly be continuing on with this trilogy as not only was I captivated by the darker fantasy elements, I also enjoyed the author’s handling of the teen issues like body image, suicide, grief, bullying and friendship that are explored. show less

After dismissing these books as being "over hyped" for years, I was shocked to find I enjoyed the shit out of this one. The only reason I didn't finish it in one sitting was because real life kept interupting me with stuff. Afterwards I ran to the library (literally, I jogged there) to get part 2 and 3.

One of the things I really love about it is that it has six female protagonists. I've read so many (good) YA novels that stars the one girl, and that's pretty much it, the rest of the show more supporting cast is male. Not this time though, we have six very different but all very real female protagonists to relate to.

These six girls have to impossibly balance school, magical powers, annoying boyfriends, friends who don't understand and evil demons who are out to get them, all while trying to get along as a very reluctant group. While I didn't do all of that when I was in high schol (although I do think we all encounter those demons in locker number 643), I think most people will be able to relate to their struggles. show less

This is the first book in a long, looong time that I found that is
1.) centred more or less exclusively on female teenaged characters,
2.) whose main plot isn't a love plot,
3.) who don't get raped.
This is so incredibly rare it really bears mentioning (Seriously. Try thinking of more examples of books that fit these characteristics). And it is a Fantasy book! Of course there are love plots, but they are a part of the story and have usually been established before the plot - teenage witches show more coming to terms with their powers - starts.

The different girls don't all differ that much from each other, but after some time were believable enough to be interested in. I'm definitely considering Finisheding the sequels.

I don't understand why this book has been compared so widely to completely unconnected books simply because the authors are also Swedish when what we have here is a mix between Charmed with a bit of the Buffy scooby cast thrown in. Set in Sweden, though, sure. It most certainly doesn't have the least bit to do with The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and as far as I'm concerned is a better book for that, because grittiness and female characters doesn't always have to be about sexual abuse. show less