Blood Witch (Sweep, #3), by Cate Tiernan

Blood Witch (Sweep, #3), by Cate Tiernan on Goodreads

Release Date: March 22nd, 2007 (1st published on 2001)
Age Group: Young Adult
Publisher: Puffin

Overall: 5 Monkeys
Interest: Series
Categories: Paranormal, Witchcraft, Religions, Wicca, Family Issues

Other Titles Reviewed in TCM: Book of Shadows (Sweep, #1), The Coven (Sweep, #2)
Challenge: 100 Books in a Year
Read in April 2011

Summary from Goodreads:

Morgan knows that witchcraft can be dangerous and that her birth parents died because of their involvement. But witchcraft is a part of Morgan in a way she can't ignore, and now that she's practicing Wicca, her powers are increasing. Her boyfriend Cal is a witch, too. He believes that they are muirn beatha dans, witches who are meant to be together, to love one another. But the sudden appearance of Hunter, a stranger who claims to be Cal's brother, threatens to ruin everything. Hunter says that Cal is practicing dark magic. And Morgan feels unsure. Could it be true?

My Opinion:

I have to say, this series is becoming one of my favourites. It just gets better and better. Cate really knows her Wicca.

This review will be very short, because this is a short book. And since this is the third book, and the new bind-ups contain three books each, from now on I'll just review those bind-ups, because these books are so short, it'd be so much easier if I just did that, writing a review for three books at once.

What I have to say about Blood Witch:

• I don't like Selene Belltower. I started disliking her at the end of book two, and now it's getting pretty obvious where she's going, and that makes me dislike her even more. 
• I don't like Cal either. But that's because I kinda read a little spoiler, which made me change the way I see him. 
• I'm liking Hunter more and more, and I can't wait to see what happens with him.
• I'm dying to see what's going on with Bree and Raven and their coven! It feels like Bree and Morgan are both stubborn, and they both miss each other, but neither wants to be the one that apologises first.
• And although it sometimes felt like Morgan couldn't do anything without Cal's approval, I definitely see where that is going, and I'm sure -or I hope- that she'll be her own woman soon. There are fifteen of these books, so the third one is just like scratching the surface. 

The writing's magical, like in the first two books, and although Cate weaves a lot of made-up facts (of course she would, this is her fictional world!), her Wicca facts are very accurate.

I can't wait to see how this unravels! So many secrets and lies and drama!!! You should definitely start reading this series, if you already haven't.

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The Coven (Sweep, #2), by Cate Tiernan

The Coven (Sweep, #2), by Cate Tiernan on Goodreads

Release Date: March 22nd, 2007 (1st published on 2001)
Age Group: Young Adult
Publisher: Puffin

Overall: 5 Monkeys
Interest: Series
Categories: Paranormal, Witchcraft, Religions, Wicca, Family Issues

Other Titles Reviewed in TCM: Book of Shadows (Sweep, #1)
Challenge: 100 Books in a Year
Read in March 2011


Summary from Goodreads:

Cal, now Morgan's boyfriend, helps her accept the truth: Wicca is in Morgan's blood. As Morgan learns more about Wicca, she realizes that she needs to find out more about her parentage. The answers are there, but she doesn't know how to find them.

My Opinion:

Another great Sweep book! 

In this one, Morgan learns more about herself and her heritage, about why she's such a strong witch. Her character is beautifully written, a shy and insecure girl who turns into a powerful witch when in circles.

I loved the relationship between the characters; Cal, Morgan, Bree, Selene, they were all amazing. Morgan's friends are completely believable, Cate does an amazing job of giving each of them their own personality, and that is a hard thing to do!

There's so much going on, it keeps you on the edge of your seat the entire time! Definitely a book worth reading!

It's such a short/quick read, that I don't have much else to say, because I don't want to ruin it for those of you who want to read it. 

You can now buy bind-ups of these books, they come three books per bind-up, meaning the first three books, that were first published individually, are now one bind-up, and so on.

I'm now reading Blood Witch (Sweep, #3), and I'm loving it! Boy drama, BFF drama, so much drama!!! Amazing series!

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Book of Shadows (Sweep, #1), by Cate Tiernan

Book of Shadows (Sweep, #1), by Cate Tiernan on Goodreads

Release Date: March 22nd, 2007
Publisher: Puffin
Age Group: Young Adult
Categories: Paranormal, Witchcraft, Religions, Wicca, Family Issues,
Source:Web
Overall: 5 Monkeys
Read on January 2011





Summary from Goodreads:

Morgan thinks witchcraft is laughable when her best friend Bree drags her to a meeting of the Cirrus Coven. But during a cermony led by Cal, Morgan's long-time crush, Morgan feels a shock. Suddenly everything looks brighter, clearer. Morgan doesn't want to get involved with witchcraft-but she feels like witchcraft is choosing her.

My Opinion:

This is an old book, that was first released back in 2001, but it's like reading about today or last year. Nothing much has changed since then, "high-school-wise", in terms of cliques and such.

BoS is like reading a diary of a girl who makes the transition from Catholic (or Protestant, it didn't say or I don't remember) to Wicca, the witches' religion. And by Witchcraft, I don't mean devil-worshipping or pinning needles into a voodoo doll. I mean, a completely tolerant and nature-focused religion. I know about it because I've been reading about Wicca for a year now. So when you hear the words Wicca, Witchcraft and witch all in one conversation, don't jump to the conclusion, "Oh, so she/he's gone dark and from now on will be wearing black and listening to satanist rock bands," because that couldn't be more off the point. 

But this isn't a lesson on Wicca or Paganism, or History, for that matter. 

Morgan (conveniently named that, since Morgana was a powerful witch in the Arturian era) is a sixteen year old girl. Simple, the my-best-friend-is-prettier-than-me type, who knows nothing about witches... until Cal comes along.

Cal is your typical hot new boy in school, but there's something else about him. He's a witch (not a wizard -that's in Harry Potter only, people!- nor a warlock -that's in Charmed!-, but a witch. In Wicca, there's no distinction between male and female when speaking of witches.) 

Cal gets along with everyone in school, he's very sociable and likeable, and that's how he invites a group of people to celebrate Mabon with him (Mabon is the Autumnal Equinox). Morgan and her BFF, Bree, apart from other people, go to the Circle (think about it like Mass for Witches). 

Immediately, Morgan starts to feel different, elated. Until she passes out. Cal will later explain to her and the others that she fainted because she's a very strong energy conduit. 

Morgan starts to feel something for Cal, something she's never felt before for a boy. But, so is Bree. Bree claims she's in love with Cal, and Morgan will step aside to leave room for her to go after him.

You can see what's going to happen there, can't you? Boy drama.

A major revelation takes place in the end. The pace is fast, but not rushed, and you hardly notice you're done with the book (at least, that happened to me. The book was done before I realised it!).

The Sweep Series consists of fifteen books, I'm already reading the second, and it's just as great as this one. It's also getting re-published, and with a facelift! They're now out in bind-ups of three titles each (you should be able to find the first three books, meaning nine titles -three in each book- in bookstores now).

Cate Tiernan is also the author of the Balefire Series and the Immortal Beloved Series.

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