The Secret Circle (Secret Circle, #2)

by L.J. Smith

Review at Miss Book Reviews.
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*WARNING: This section contains spoilers for the first book!*

Now that Cassie is officially in 'The Club' and now known as one of the 'in' group at school she finds life so much better, she feels welcome and wanted, not like a disease everyone is trying to avoid. Unfortunately for her she is dealing with her desires for Adam, Diana's boyfriend, whom she fell in love with on the beach last summer (One meeting is all it took...). She loves Diana and she would never want to do anything to hurt her so she avoids Adam at all costs.

Meanwhile, the coven are still dealing with the crystal skull and the dark magic that was released from it the first time they tried to activate it. People keep dying and they have no idea why or what the connection is so they're trying to do everything they can to figure out this mess.

In this book Cassie was a lot stronger than she was in the first book. You see her grow and change. That's nice to see because I know that if she hadn't of grown I would have gotten tired of her and the way she always needed to lean on people for support. You see her take control of herself in this book.

Diana is still as strong and as lovely as ever. Although she is seen as a bit too naïve in this book, too trusting but she has no reason not to trust anyone. So I feel it's completely justified and that she's not naïve she just completely and wholly trusts the people she's close to. As you should.

Adam is strong and someone you could trust. He puts people before himself. I love that, he's definitely the one to call if you need help. In this book we get to see way more of him, he's a good guy yet also comes across as kind of mysterious.

Nick is mysterious but temperamental. Still he grows in this book and becomes a little more patient and interested in the coven. He's so mysterious that I've developed a little crush on him and I really want something to happen between him and Cassie! What is it about guys that are mysterious? I guess it's because they just don't tell anyone what they're thinking or feeling you kind of have the fight for it so it's not easy, or something like that.

Faye is as bitchy and nasty as ever. Yet I still don't hate her, you can see that she has this nice side to her. You can even see why she does the things she does to get what she wants. They're completely selfish reasons but those reasons always have to do with herself, they're never just so she makes people feel horrible. That's a by-product of her actions...

We get to see a bit more of everyone else in the coven without getting lost at who's who, I think that's very important because when there's so many characters in a book if they're not described well or there isn't a subtle hint at who they are you get lost very easily and can't remember who's who and who is what to each other. That didn't happen in this book. I found everything to be clear.

Personally I really liked this book too. I think it was as good as the first one in every way. There was some thing about the writing of this book that just drew me in, in every moment I was asking questions or trying to find out the answers to questions I had already asked. Who was this person? What did this mean? I was trying to put the pieces together to figure out what was going on but some of the clues were so subtle that by the end of the book I was still surprised. I love it when you haven't guessed the reveal at all in a book even though those clues and hints are there.

I haven't read all of L. J. Smith's books but I am really enjoying this series so I think I will check out her other books as well.

I think this book was entertaining, a fun read and a book that I could come home to and just relax with. There wasn't anything that I found hard to read, I wasn't disgusted or confused by anything I was just a little shocked. A little shock is always good.

I was pretty interested in the content too, like all the little witchery stuff, the crystals they used for certain things, the herbs they used for certain things. I kind of wish I had had an aunt or something that was interested in that stuff and had taught me all about it as I grew up. And by 'stuff' I mean the good uses for crystals and herbs etc .

I really liked this book, just as much as the first one so I'm pretty excited to read the next book to see what happens!

This was written in 1992.

As I was reading this book it definitely gave off this vibe of the 90's. Like the way people thought, the fact no one had cell phones at school or at all. You had to call someone from an actual phone that was plugged in to the wall, if you were by yourself and realised you were in danger you were pretty much screwed since you couldn't just txt someone. So that's not good but it was true.

It felt like life was less cluttered with technology and everyone was closer and communicated better because you had to go over to someone's house to see them, you had to call someone on the phone to talk to them you couldn't just txt them, you had to make the effort. I never call people these days to talk to them, but I think I will start. I kind of miss that communication.

I also got the impression that the kids/teenagers treated their elders with respect, more respect than I see a lot of kids/teenagers do these days. That's a sad thought to think that I don't know of many young people that use manners profusely or respect their elders. Perhaps that's just the area I live in, or perhaps that's just what I choose to see. Now I'm just rambling.

As I envisioned everything it reminded me of the 90's and my childhood. The excitement of the outdoors, or sleep overs with friends where we would get up to mischief like midnight snacks or talk about our crushes the whole night, there was no bitching about anyone and there was no spending hours and hours on the computer... I was only 2 in 1992 so I guess I'm thinking more of 1998 but still, it was this weird nostalgic feeling that I got.

Life these days doesn't feel anything like it did back then. Maybe that's because I was a kid and saw life through a different set of eyes. Obviously I see it differently now but it's just interesting to remember how much this world has changed from twenty years a go.

Also, the male protagonists in this book compared to the YA books now are so different. Well that's how I feel. They aren't treating the girls like crap, deliberately hurting them or ignoring them, they aren't masking their feelings for them, they're honest and straight forward about it. And I bet if they did the girls wouldn't take it, they would stand up for themselves. Maybe that's only in this book but it all feels less complicated. Where has chivalry gone?! I sound like I'm really old now...

Miss J
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