'Sweep: Book of Shadows'

(CREDIT: book by Cate Tiernan.)

Rank: 1.9 out of 5 <- missed the mark

This time last year I was in the middle of writing two essays on witchcraft, and one might say the broad topic fascinated me. Wicca, spells, earth-based magick, it doesn't matter. I really doubt I would ever engage in it, but there is much I can appreciate from this practice. At this point I think I could ramble on about the European and Salem witch trials until you lost count of the sheep in your mind's eye.

I had spent time researching through nonfiction to learn about earth-based practices and witchcraft, but I never had the chance to find a fictional book about it. Sure there were TV shows about witches such as Charmed and Sabrina, but I wanted a good book about it.

Well. My wish was sort-of granted.

The Sweep series tells of a teenager named Morgan Rowlands as she explores into the world of Wicca with her friends. They learn it through Cal Blaire, a patient and accepting witch who is proud of his family's traditions. Because this is the first book, it dives into Morgan's self journey as she warms up to Wicca and impresses everyone with her talents. Predictably, of course, her parents start to fear her because of her involvement in "dark arts."

There is more to the story, but I forgot about 75% of it.

Nothing about it stood out and sticked to me long enough to continue to invest in this series. Although the author does write very well about her doubts and concerns about this new path, Morgan appeared to be an obvious Mary Sue. A Bella Swan type of Mary Sue. When she's not telling us about what she learns in her free time, she thinks about how wonderful Cal is. Cal and his "perfect nose," his "beautiful olive skin," and his "riveting, ageless, gold-colored eyes." Well, at least Cate Tiernan didn't describe the skin as "incandescent."

Right now I am sick and tired of the "gorgeous lover-to-be" type of guys in any form of story. Flawlessly beautiful men suck, and it's pretty true when a typical guy takes a look at the character and either laughs or runs away from girls who drool over it. Cal felt too perfect, too nice, and too laid back; maybe I overanalyze too much, but I could sense something was not right about that guy. Or maybe I don't believe in the "soul mate/true love" concept due to the shallow execution of it in books.

Furthermore, there were so many characters, whom I could never remember, and 176 pages isn't enough to properly establish a unique coven of at least ten teenagers. It's sad.

The points I will give to this short book is the information about Wicca seemed pretty interesting, though kinda made-up, on the author's part. (Wicca is such a broad umbrella.) Perhaps it was the only thing that kept me going and kept me interested. Otherwise, this is a weak and slightly-below-average book.

Meanwhile, I can happily watch Willow Rosenberg continue to study and practice witchcraft and not worry about plot in Buffy... Maybe I should shut up about that now. lol