The Circle

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 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 show more 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 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 show more 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

In the little town of Engelsfors, powers awaken in seven high school students. But even as they explore their new abilities, a malevolent force hunts them, one by one.

Lev Grossman wrote a blurb describing this as "The Circle is Twilight by way of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo," which is the best proof anyone could need that he's a hack who doesn't actually read the books he references. The only resemblance between Twilight and the Circle is that they're both written for a YA audience, and the only resemblance between TGWTDT and The Circle is that they were written in Swedish. The Circle is actually more like The Craft crossed with [b:The Casual Vacancy|13497818|The Casual Vacancy|J.K. show more Rowling|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1358266832s/13497818.jpg|19926990]. Some of the witches have crushes or relationships, but the focus of this book is on the claustrophobic feeling of a small town with a depressed economy and a high school riddled with cliques. To some of the witches, their powers offer them a way out--Anna-Karin finally has a way to not only protect herself against the bullies who have made her life hell, but turn the tables on them. But for most of the witches, having powers changes nothing at all. And for one, it makes matters far worse.

I was impressed at how quickly each of the characters distinguished themselves. I found the first chapter or so confusing, but from then on had no difficulty telling each of the (many) main characters apart. I loved seeing all the facets of their lives, the differences between their school personas and their home selves and their inner personalities. I came to really like each of them (except Ida, ugh, but I gotta respect an author who's brave enough to have at least someone that unlikable), even though the book doesn't shy away from showing their selfish, narrow-minded, or foolish moments. And I really liked the friendships that developed between some of them. They felt like real friendships, not just opportunities for witty banter.

The magic in this isn't what I'm used to; I expected wand waving or sympathetic magic and instead got rituals that use spit and gooey ectoplasm.

The adult characters in this book are fascinating. The school janitor declares himself the witches' protector, but he can't remember enough to actually help them, and there are hints that he comes from a far-off time. I liked the twist on the magic Council--interfering busybody bureaucrats I'm used to, but after all the threats I was as surprised as the witches when it turned out the Council was far less powerful and knowledgeable than it pretended. And I liked that the Big Bad wasn't pure evil, but had his own reasons for action.

I look forward to the next in the series! show less

You all know the story: A girl finds out she's special because she has a connection to angels/vampires/ mermaids/ Ghostbusters. Then it turns out she's more special than anyone else and the fate of the world is on her shoulders alone. And like that wasn't enough, she also falls in love with a boy she can't be with because he's her mortal enemy/ her guardian/ her brother/ just too sexy for her.

Well, this is NOT that kind of book. It's all much more complicated than that. Instead of one heroine Extra Special, we get six very ordinary ones. They're supposed to save the world with their powers, but first they have to get along. That's quite a challenge when the group includes a bully and her victim and one of the girls dates another one's show more ex. These girls are troubled (by all kinds of issues, not just boys) and it shows in how they act. They're far from perfect and that makes them extremely believable and relatable.

The story begins with a mysterious death that looks like a suicide. From then on anything can happen. Anyone can get hurt and anyone can die. The authors don't promise their readers safety, but they will give you a hell of a ride. Unfortunately the book is a beginning of another trilogy - I'd be happy to read a great YA fantasy standalone sometime. show less

Part one of a forthcoming trilogy, which starts off with a spooky death and the introduction of a virtual barrage of characters. It's a little confusing, but once you've got everyone straight in your mind, this is one of the most captivating YA novels I've read. Six girls, all different - the outcast, the brain, the popular, the ugly, etc. - have to learn how to work together to defeat the evil power. Doesn't sound all that original, does it? It may have a standard premise and seemingly stereotypical characters, but it's certainly not a standard story. The two authors have managed to bring small-town Sweden (or anywhere, really) to life, along with a realistic depiction of teenage issues and feelings.

The supernatural part, which is the show more main story, often takes a back-seat to the mechanics of the various relationships and before you even know it, you have a personal stake in the well-being of these girls, even those you don't like. Thankfully, the characters never succumb to what I refer to as Sookie-Stackhouse-Syndrome - getting into trouble by acting stupid - and I am thankful to the authors for not taking the cheap way out; nobody dies unless the evil power is actually cleverer or stronger. I also appreciate that the girls don't suddenly bond and become bosom buddies once they realize that they will be needing each other's powers, but rather more realistically, the ones who don't like each other in the beginning still don't get along at the end. I am very much impressed with the writing, characterization, and plot and wish more than anything that the forthcoming installments don't let this one down. show less

This book could have been about 200 pages shorter and the story would not have suffered. I nearly stopped reading the book several times in the first half (that's 300 pages that I waded through, for those keeping count), and probably the only reason I continued was because it was a book club book. Though I was so very very close to not finishing when I decided I wanted a bath last night and read the last third of the book or so in the tub. The bathtub is my happy reading place where I am only distracted by kitties who periodically come to check on me to make sure I was still alive, and to give me very concerned looks.

This book has been compared to Buffy -- which I can see, I guess. They both start off taking place in high school. Only show more Buffy had less meaningless angst, more vampires, less exposition, less info-dumps after 300 pages of no info, and less of me wanting to punch the characters.

And I felt so unsatisfied by the ending. Nothing was really explained, and while I realize this was the first part in a trilogy, I felt that for 600 pages, more big picture could have been revealed. Instead, we had one info-dump scene towards the middle where the girls are lectured on the Council and their magic books, and then nothing really before or after that. And the book didn't draw me in enough for to really want to continue reading the series to find out the bigger picture. show less

First of all: this book doesn’t really need my praise. Released just a few weeks ago here in Sweden, it seems to be spreading like wildfire. It’s topping several best seller lists, and the reviews are raving. For me, it was the whole front page of the culture section of our biggest daily that did it, where one of my favorite critics somewhat baffled called it “beautifully crafted” and “perfect circle”. I’ve already said it’s going to conquer the world, and after finishing I’m still convinced. This is a book you’ll all read. Or deliberately choose not to.

What is it then? Well, it’s a YA brick, first in a planned trilogy. About teenage witches on a mission to stop the apocalypse. Yeah, I know: Woo-bloody-hoo. But show more it’s also a pitch perfect novel about growing up in a small town where the future left decades ago, about the horrible social games of teenage life and about all kinds of…real stuff. And really, while nothing is perhaps truly original in this book – think Buffy meets Let the right one in meets Fucking Åmål, maybe – it’s just so cleverly balanced between it’s dirty realism and it’s occultism, it cannot be denied. At times, I even wish the authors would stop babbling about demons and just focus on the tension in the locker room. Which is, for me at least, not often the case with this type of literature. And of course, like in Buffy, what Strandberg and Elfgren are doing is also finding the effortless links between these two streams of the story – so that the magic and the horror and the secrets actually become mirrors of teenage life.

In drab, industrial Engelsfors (beautifully captured, for someone who’s grown up in a town like that) six girls from very different social stratas – both at home and in school – are brought to the deserted dance park under a blood red moon. They have nothing in common: the bully, the sporty girl with a secret eating disorder, the outcast, the victim, the white trash and the painfully average. They are not friends. But they are finding out they need to find a way to work together, or die.

People don’t just change here, other than by extremely small steps. And yes, the girls drink, smoke, have sex and are often extremely cruel to each other. This is not a pretty book, nor is it moral. But it rings true, witch circles or not. And of, course, it is virtually impossible to put down. show less