Secret Circle Vol I: The Initiation

Rating:
Summary: A great read then and now
Review: I first read this book about 8 years ago when I was in late middle school or early high school. I was really impressed by the plot of this book. I loved mysteries and horror stories and for my hungry young mind I really found this book to be a satisfying meal. I looked this book up on a search engine hoping to rediscover some novels from my younger days and was pleasantly surprised when I found it on this site. I think that L.J. Smith's juvenile horrors are a bit more sophisticated than say, R.L. Stine's Fear Street novels. While I think both authors write excellent novels that young teens will enjoy, L.J. Smith's stories might better appeal to today's teens, who seem to be more mature and 'worldly'(if I can use that term) than teens were even 8 years ago. However, I think parents will be comfortable with the knoweledge that the Secret Circle and other books by L.J. Smith don't bombard teens with inappropriate sexual content or language.

Rating:
Summary: great read
Review: I love this book enough that I decided to reread it, and I didn't enjoy it any less this time around. The group of teens in the Club are fun to read about, although, in some cases, a little black-and-white (Diana is very Good, Faye is very Bad). There's the usual romance that you find in L. J. Smith's books - Cassie loves a guy she can't have because he's the boyfriend of someone she respects. I enjoyed the forbidden romance parts of the book, as well as the parts where Cassie is trying to adjust in a school where no one seems to like her or want to help her. I think The Secret Circle Trilogy is one of L. J. Smith's best trilogies, and I really enjoy the first book in it.