Review: The Initiation by LJ Smith

Title: The Initiation
Author: LJ Smith
Publisher: HarperPrism
Published: 15th September 1992
Series: The Secret Circle #1
Source: Own Kindle Copy

The author of the bestselling The Vampire Diaries presents a suspenseful new trilogy. Seduced by the Secret Circle, Cassie is initiated into the mysterious "in-crowd, " a coven of young witches whose power has controlled New Salem for 300 years--and risks falling prey to the dark powers in order to have the coven leader's boyfriend. - From Goodreads

So, I admit it... I read this book because I thought the new TV series on the CW was great. Being the impatient woman I am, I decided that I would just figure out what was going on by reading the book! Well you would have thought I had learned my lesson with The Vampire Diaries, Pretty Little Liars and The Lying Game - the book is nothing like the TV show! That's not to say that this book was not entertaining!

Cassie and her mother move back into the family home in New Salem after Cassie has a mysterious encounter with a handsome boy on a beach a few towns away. Being the new girl at school is difficult in New Salem, especially when you stand up to the head mean girl, Faye! Faye who hangs voodoo dolls in lockers, makes your bag look like it is moving and steals your poetry!

There are a lot more witches in their coven also and there seemed to be quite a bit of unrest within the group with us getting the impression that the coven was split into good magic and bad magic! I also have to remind myself while reading books by L. J. Smith, that these books were written pre mobile phones. When ever a character gets in a jam I find myself wondering "why not just phone for help?"

I enjoyed this book, it was filled with forbidden love, magic, a crystal skull, mean girls and a likeable main character, but I felt that it was over just as the story began. I think, like the vampire diaries, instead of being a trilogy it feels more like one book split across three. I will be picking up the other two because they are super fast reads!