Book Of Shadows By: Cate Tiernan Sweep # 1

Book Of Shadows By: Cate Tiernan

Sweep # 1

"Something is happening to me that I don't understand.

I see things, feel things in a new way. I can do things normal people can't do.

Powerful things. Magical things. It scares me.

I never chose to learn witchcraft. But I'm starting to wonder if witchcraft is choosing me."

************

******Spoiler Warning******

Morgan Rowlands is a 16-year-old Junior in high school, living in the small town of Widow's Vale, about two hours north of New York city. Although smart and taking senior math and science classes, Morgan describes herself as an ordinary girl with broad shoulders about 5'6" with long single length medium brown hair, dark eyes, a strong nose, and still awaiting a visit from the breast fairy. She lives an ordinary life with parents who are still married and love each other and a younger sister everyone adores. They go to church every Sunday and have brunch at the local diner. Morgan is described as the Owl of her family while the rest of them are larks, she is different in many ways but they still love each other. She has two best friends she has had since childhood that no matter how they have changed have managed to stay close

Her ordinary life becomes unsettled upon meeting the new senior Cal Blaire, with his black-brown hair, golden eyes, and perfect olive skin. Cal quickly becomes the most popular and sought-after guy in school, drawing the attention and admiration of every girl, including Morgan, her best friend Bree Warren, and popular goth girl Raven Meltzer. Having quickly gained popularity with his air of charisma and good looks, Cal manages to befriend several students from all different cliques and invites them to a party in a field at the edge of town. During the party, Cal reveals he is a witch and practices Wicca and hoped to celebrate Mabon; the Autumnal Equinox, one of the Wiccan Sabbats by inviting his peers to join him in a circle.

Many of the partygoers leave feeling discomfort at the idea, but Bree and Morgan as well as a few others decide to stay for the circle. During the circle Morgan banishes limitations and feels a sort of dizzy energy and a small pain in her chest, this draws Cal's attention as no one else has this reaction. From that moment on, Morgan begins showing a natural affinity for Witchcraft, she seems to know things she should not know before they happen, like numbers of the hymns church, who's calling before the phone rings, and even what someone has behind their back. Morgan's reaction to Magick sparks Cal's interest and he tries to get closer to her. 

Bree tells Morgan that she fallen for Cal and wants to be with him, although Morgan feels the same way she decides she has no chance with him and keeps her feelings to herself. Bree takes Morgan to an Occult bookstore Cal told her about just north of Widow's Vale in Red Kill called Practical Magick. She feels an odd longing to be in the shop and to know all about Wicca. She purchases a few books, one on wicca and another recommended to her by the shop owner about blood witches and the seven great clans. The shop owner makes her nervous as he seems to know something about her that she doesn't know herself. He asks her about her clan insinuating that she is a blood witch.

The second circle has much the same effect on Morgan as the first and Cal tells the others that she is a very sensitive energy conduit, and helps her ground herself afterwards. The group then decides to go for a swim (skinny dipping) and Morgan panics comparing her body to those of her friends. A naked Cal tries to talk her into joining, but when he can't convince her and she tries to leave, he scoops her up in his arms and walks her into the pool, much to the annoyance of Bree. The next day, after reassuring Bree that the pool incident wasn't her coming on to Cal they make up, but it doesn't change Morgan's feelings

One day Morgan's parents find her Wicca books and her mother goes ballistic. Her family is Catholic and believes witchcraft to be sinful and the work of the devil. They tell her that those books are not allowed in their house and she must get rid of them. Bree tells her she can keep them at her place and she decides not to attend the next circle because of her parent's feelings, even though it upsets her. She soon decides that even though it's not what her parents want for her, she wants to be a witch and decides to practice on her own since she had already missed two circles. She tries a beginner spell for clear skin one night and gives it to her friend Robbie who has struggled with horrible acne since seventh grade telling him it was a new facewash her mom bought.  

Just days after giving her spelled tincture to Robbie, he comes to school with healing skin, Robbie doesn't tell anyone he got a cream from her, and doesn't ask Morgan about it but keeps looking at her, Cal looks at her like he knows she had something to do with it. By the end of the week Robbie's skin is completely clear and he tells the group his suspicions. Cal, Bree, and Robbie confront Morgan about her spell, Robbie is hurt that he was used as a guinea pig, but still happy about the results. Cal warns her not to do spells until she has been trained, but seems more impressed and interested in her abilities which upsets Bree who was already jealous of Cal's attention.

  Cal snubbing Bree's advances irritates her, so as Cal's attention to Morgan becomes apparent, a rift in Bree and Morgan’s friendship emerges. Starting with the incident at the pool party, and getting deeper every time Bree sees Cal and Morgan together. Her Jealousy finally overtakes her while she is driving Morgan to that week's circle. An argument ensues and Bree ends up Leaving Morgan on the side of the road too far from their destination to make it on time. Upset and hurt from the argument and losing her best friend, Morgan begins the long walk home. At the circle, Bree tells the group that Morgan will no longer be participating.

Later that week Bree sits beside Morgan in the library and tells her that she and Cal have slept together and will soon be a couple, so they can go back to being friends again and put their whole fight behind them. Hurt at the thought of Bree and Cal together and still furious at Bree for what she had done, Morgan tells her that what she did will never be behind them. She says that she is going to the circle on Samhain; the witch's new year on October 31st, and that she wants to be a witch because she actually has a connection to it, unlike Bree who is only pretending to be interested in it for the guy.

During the Samhain gathering Cal and his friends form a coven called Cirrus. During this circle Morgan feels filled with magical energy, after they have stopped their chanting and spinning, she reaches out to a flower bud and it blooms in front of everyone. Cal tells Morgan she needs to ground herself and lays her down on the ground with her head in his lap. She asks him what is happening to her. He tells her that she made magick and that she is a blood witch: a person who is born with magical abilities, and is able to trace their ancestry back to one of the original seven clans. after this revelation Cal leans down and kisses her in front of the entire coven.

***************

 My opinion on this book was that I absolutely love it!

 

This book is one I have re-read many times over the years; it was one of the first series I ever read and has stayed a favorite of mine. I first read it in high school when I was 17. I instantly felt a connection to Morgan. Besides the fact that we both thought of ourselves as ordinary and had similar features, we both took an interest in wicca and had strict god-fearing families who didn't approve. 

 As a seventeen-year-old who had just gotten into reading (thank you Twilight) I didn't know what to expect, I didn’t know what good writing looked like and so I just read whatever I could find that interested me. I didn’t have a Genera or know what I liked yet so I browsed the fiction section. Over the years I had read a few books I enjoyed, but I had never found anything that got me to want to read more.

 I found this series in my school library and picked it up mainly because of the title of book one. As I said I had become interested in wicca so I knew what a book of shadows was and it intrigued me. I devoured the book in a matter of hours and returned the next day for the next one. I checked the books out two at a time (my schools limit) and would return them and get the next two the following day.

 Weekends were torture because two books would not last me Friday, let alone the rest of the weekend. I ended up going to Barnes and Noble over the weekend and buying some of them to continue reading. I eventually went and purchased them all after I turned 18 but that’s another story.

 Re-reading them years later I still love them and enjoy the nostalgia they bring back. As a 29-year-old I see the characters as young and naive whereas at 17 I saw them as nearly adults, probably due to the fact that I saw myself that way. I now have siblings and cousins the age that Morgan is in the books and I look at things a little differently.

 Now that I have been reading for avidly for over a decade, I can see that the writing is not as advanced as other things I have read, but I have to keep in mind that this series was written for 8-12 graders. It is a young adult coming of age story about a young girl who finds herself and the truth about herself all while navigating adolescence, friendships, and love.

 I will always love this series and will continue to recommend it to anyone who will listen. This story spoke to me and connected me to a million other worlds in books, and without stories like this one (and Twilight) I would not have become the bibliophile that I am today.