
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I quite liked the beginning of Silent Circle when Emerson is waking up on her seventeenth birthday and her day is about to get worse. She is entering into a world that she was previously unaware of, a world of witches, covens and werewolves. I found Silent Circle to be very well written, with realistic dialogue between Emerson and her school friends, as well as her conversations with various supernatural characters. Some of these characters prove to be friendly and seek to protect her while she advances her magical powers, but others only cause to harm Emerson. While there were good descriptive passages in the first few pages, when Emerson first appears causing me to turn the pages for more, later the pace slows down a little when there were a few long conversations. This became necessary as a sinister situation concerning Emerson’s deceased mother required constant explanation, bit by bit. Enough said as I want to avoid any hint of a spoiler.
The story is about witchcraft and the training of novices and occasionally there are long stretches before we see magic but when it is done it is vivid and exciting. There are complicated and dysfunctional relationships with conflict that the author describes skilfully and well. I feel certain that younger readers could probably identify with some of the schoolroom situations that the main character has to endure. The tale is told in the first person and Cassandra Larsen does really well to allow the reader to get inside this bubbly but troubled, typical teenager’s head. Her emotions and reactions around boys and rival girls had even this oldie rooting for her right to the end! We have a thrilling encounter with werewolves – sinister, threatening and particularly well done.
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