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When sixteen-year-old Cassie Blake visits New England with her mother, she thinks that this will be the best way to begin the school year. She is ready to go home and prepare for school with her best friends. But when a mysterious stranger runs into her and needs her help, she can’t help but feel called to help him. After saving his life, he returns the favor by giving her a rock to remember him by for protection. Cassie brushes it off, because this mysterious stranger couldn’t be the love of her life. Once she gets back home to her mother, there is news broken that her grandmother is doing worse and that she will have to move to New Haven with her mom, into a new home and new school with new friends. Cassie, begrudgingly, obliges and after seeing her grandmother, can’t wait to move home. After starting the day off at school, she ends up making enemies with the school’s dark beauty, Faye. Diana, the school’s most popular, in the best way, saves her and becomes like a big sister to Cassie. Cassie tries to enter into the “group” at school filled with the popular Diana, the dark beauty Faye, Nick, the twins, Faye’s puppets, and more, but with no avail because she isn’t “one of them”. After there is a death at the school, though, and Kori dies, Cassie is awoken in the middle of the night, and initiated into the group, finding out that she is a witch! And later that night, the mysterious stranger shows up again, and he is Diana’s boyfriend!

In this book, there is quite a lot of different things that make it what it is. There is a lot of relatability in Cassie. Cassie is being taken away from her life and being implanted into a new school with new friends. Anyone changing schools or moving away from friends and/or family can understand this. There is a lot of anger coming out of Faye, which can be seen as bullying or being mean in general. The book, nor the author, is not condoning this in any way, but it shows the character’s personality and that on the other side of her, there is beauty. There is also the fact that she uses her looks to please herself and to draw others in who may be unwilling otherwise. Magic, of course, is part of this book, as there are good witches, and the magic used in this book refers to a usage of it or there being differences between black and white magic. The magic used is mostly white magic in the book. Lastly, there is death in this book, which is described slightly gruesome but not gory enough for those of you who can’t read anything about murder. It seems to be accidental, but the group knows better. 

In my opinion, this book is a great book. There is personality in the characters, and while the supernatural can sometimes be too much, in this book, it is not overpowering, but still there. I think that Cassie is a strong protagonist. She has feeling and emotions that cause emotions and reactions in you. There is a hidden antagonist in this book that is shown more in the next book, but Faye is sometimes seen as the antagonist when she is not. She is still on the Circle’s side, while not representing them as well. All in all, this book is very good.

For this book, I would give it a 9.5/10. The book is very strong in its characters and in the plot, but where is slightly falls short is explaining the hidden antagonist in the next book. I feel that it should have been brought forward sooner, but it doesn't effect the book too much.  All in all, a 9.5/10.

Check out The Secret Circle at the Newport Beach Public Library.