Rating: 
Summary: "You Can Never Really Know What's True"
Review: As the second to last book in the "Circle of Three" series, our three witches-in-training are on the last leg before their initiation. Kate, Annie and Cooper have nearly completed the year-and-a-day of study in the field of modern witchcraft, and now only one last challenge awaits them: the aptly named Challenge Box.
The Box is filled with a number of paper slips, each with a task on it that the girls are required to complete - without telling the others what their individual task is. They have two weeks to understand and complete their challenges before reporting back to the study group - and the speculation of the coven. If Sophia, Archer and the other leaders decide their tasks are completed then they will be prepared for initiation. If not, then they will have to continue their studies indefinitely.
Each girl tackles the problems by themselves. Kate's task is to "Answer the question that has no answer." Utterly baffled by this, Kate is further upset when her parents forbid her in accompanying Annie and Cooper on their holiday to New Orleans. Instead she must work on fixing up her failing grade in her science class. After a confrontation with her nemesis Sherrie left her with a fail, Kate is given a second chance to make it up. At the same time, she's found herself on the last stage of convincing her parents that her involvement in Wicca is an unchangeable component of her life - but maybe in this conflict is the key to solving her challenge.
Meanwhile, Annie is grappling with her challenge: "Give away your most precious possession." Realising that it probably doesn't mean material possessions, Annie puzzles over the challenge on her way to New Orleans, where she is meeting her elder sister for the first time. Juliet was adopted long before Annie's birth, and up until a few months ago Annie wasn't even aware of her existence. And again, the events occurring in her lifetime may be directly involved with the meaning of her challenge.
Lastly, Cooper is stuck with "Face your greatest fear." So far, she's been having too much of a good time in New Orleans to give it much thought, but figures that the challenges of performing on stage and eating crawfish have something to do with it.
Within the entire series of "Circle of Three", this entry is one of the better ones. Isobel Bird manages to juggle all three of the girls' discoveries without neglecting one in particular, and although the Box's purpose as an accurate gauge for judging what girls are ready and what ones aren't are a bit dubious, the book does manage to end on a rather surprising final note.
As always, some things bothered me: Annie wandering off alone in the middle of Mardi Gras for one thing (is she aware of the dangers in doing that?!) and the rather pathetic audience that supposedly "howled with laughter" at Cooper's improvisation on stage - it's funny, but it's not *that* funny.
But Bird also treats Kate's relationship with the Catholic Church respectfully (unlike the more one-sided view she took in "Second Sight" and "The Five Paths") and miraculously gives us a *nice* representation of a Catholic priest. Also, she asks the fundamental question of life: what do you believe? Her ideas and musings on this question left me thinking - something I certainly didn't expect from these books!
Rating: 
Summary: 3 cheers for Isobel!!
Review: I had almost given up on the entire series, because number 11 was so bad and number 12 quite preachy. Then, as I had a bit of time in the library, I read this one figuring they couldn't get any worse. I wasn't disappointed.
The plot was good, and the twist at the end is stunning. You begin to think that something like that *may* happen, but won't coz, youknow, we're all used to sloppy endings. But it all fits. The pace of the story works well. Topics raised by the book also keep you thinking, and it still has that bit of strange magical happenings that we expect from Isobel's writing.
I throughly enjoyed it. It's as good as 'Merry Meet' and 'The Five Paths'. Now I'm looking forward to the next one.
Rating:
Summary: I'm So Sad!
Review: I'm SSSOOOO sad the Circle of Three books are almost over!!!!! WAHHHHHH!!!!!!!! Okay- done with that, about the book, I loved it. It held the element of suprise. Annie, Cooper, and Kate are supposed to go to New Orelens to visit Annie's Aunt, one is banned from the trip last-minute. ...Sadness. Astonishment. Read to find out more!ˇ
Rating:
Summary: A major twist in the series
Review: I've been reading this series for quite a while, and I couldn't wait to find out what happened in this book. The story takes a major twist when Kate, Annie, and Cooper all recieve their final assignment. To solve their challenge. None of the firls get their challenges at first, but they all seem to receive the answers in different places. Annie and Cooper, in New Orleans, while visiting Annie's new-found sister. Kate, back at home, while going through a very hard moment. When the girls present their answers at the last class, they're all sure their going to be witches together. But then a major twist comes a long. A twist that could ruin their friendship, ruin their Wiccan bond, and destroy their circle of three. What's going to happen? I guess we'll all just have to wait until #15 comes out later this month.
Rating:
Summary: Surprise!
Review: It's kind of hard writing for this particular book in the series without giving important plot points away, but I will try. I am embellishing, hoping to throw you off a little.The girls pull their final challenge from a box. While they have worked together for the past year, they must work alone for this challenge. Annie finally meets her older sister. Cooper enjoys a solitary walk through New Orleans. Kate is surprised by what she learns about herself, her old friends, and her new friends. I found the ending both predictable and surprising. I'm stopping now...ENJOY. EXTRA NOTE: My overall rating of this series is four stars. Five star reviews go to MERRY MEET, BLUE MOON, THE FIVE PATHS, AND IT HARM NONE, & THE CHALLENGE BOX.
Rating:
Summary: A major twist in the series
Review: Ok, so I've been reading this series. I bought this one when it first came out, as I've been eager to see what happens with Kate, Annie, and Cooper next. But I have to say, the ending of this one really seems to throw a wrench in to the way things will turn out for the circle of three. This is even bigger than Kate's parents telling her she couldn't attend the Wicca class any longer. I won't tell you what happens, but I promise you, it looks like things won't be getting any simpler for our three favorite 'almost witches'. I can't wait to see what happens in the next book!
Rating: 
Summary: This one kind of throws a wrench into things
Review: Ok, so I've been reading this series. I bought this one when it first came out, as I've been eager to see what happens with Kate, Annie, and Cooper next. But I have to say, the ending of this one really seems to throw a wrench in to the way things will turn out for the circle of three. This is even bigger than Kate's parents telling her she couldn't attend the Wicca class any longer. I won't tell you what happens, but I promise you, it looks like things won't be getting any simpler for our three favorite 'almost witches'. I can't wait to see what happens in the next book!
Rating:
Summary: The Challange Box
Review: Possibly the best book in the Circle of Three series yet. The book starts out with Kate, Annie, and Cooper each picking a challenge out of the challenge box. Obviously, none of them understood their challenges. They all hoped that their trip to New Orleans to visit Annie's newly found sister will help them.
At the last minute, Kate's parents forbid her to go, after her big science project blow with Sherrie. All the girls feel auful, but life goes on. On their last night together, Cooper gives Kate a box of gifts to open while they were gone. And believe me, that box was full of surprises.
Annie and Cooper encounter many, many surprises down in New Orleans. Including voodoo, a strange woman, a terrible case of stage fright, and the best food the girls have ever tasted!!!
When the girls get back to Beecher Falls, they've all figured out their challenges, after probably the hardest week of their lives. The story takes a shocking and terrible twist when the girls take their challenges to class and find out who is going to participate in the initiation. It is probably the most shocking and sad thing I've read so far in this series.
To find out this twist, you've GOT to read this book. It is THE best!!!!!!!!!
Rating:
Summary: Cooper, Kate, and Annie's Final challenges
Review: The challenge box is a strange thing. It's a small box filled with slips of paper which have certain challenges written onto it that Kate, Cooper, and Annie have to take in order to become initiated. Each of them has a challenge but it may be harder to complete than they ever imagined. Kate find herself plagues with questions that challenge her faith and beliefs. She wants to become a witch but is she ready? She's faced with another challenge when she's forced to work on yet another project with Sherrie, the girls she despises the most. Annie has finally meet her older sister in New Orleans and she and Cooper are immersed in the rich culture of New Orleans. But there's a question in the back of Annie's mind. Will he sister accept her if she knew she was Wiccan? And Cooper finds herself facing many things that she's uncomfortable or afraid of. Will she have the courage to face her greatest fear? It's sad to see that such a great series is going to be over after I finish up the next book. But as they say all good things come to an end. The Challenge Box was yet another entertaining story about the three girls facing tough questions and making hard decisions about life. And the ending is quite a shocker too. I agree with whoever said it was a cruel place to leave us fans but it was quite an ending. Everyone who has been a fan of this series should read this book. I have the 15th and final book. Initiation, in my room waiting too be read.
Rating:
Summary: The Challenge Box
Review: This book was absolutely fantastic! If you like this series, you'll definately be up thinking about the twist ending long after you finished reading the actual book! This book starts with Kate, Cooper, and Annie's final challenges. They are asked to pull a sheet of paper out of the box and complete the challenge on it. Based on how well they complete their challenges decides whether or not they will be invited to the initation. In other happening, Annie and Cooper go to New Orleans, while Kate stays behind working on her make-up science project with the unbearable Sherrie. When Annie and Cooper get back they are all prepared for their final class at Crones Circle. Cooper is extremely confident they will all be witches next year and their circle will not be broken. After presenting their challenges and how they completed or had not completed them they are asked one at a time to proceed into the back room where Archer will tell them whether or not they are asked to the initation. As Cooper, Annie, and Kate walk in confident they will become witches together, they are faced with the cruel reality that one in their circle might not be ready to be a witch.
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