THE COVEN by Cate Tiernan Book Review
Series: Sweep, #2
Publication Date: January 29th 2001 by Puffin
Rating: 
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Book Summary: 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.
Book Review Overview:
- Full of secrets and surprises that you don’t want to miss
- The high school drama in THE COVEN seemed a lot less cliche in the second installment
- Recommended book to those who love witches, magic, Wicca
I first started reading the Sweep series when my friend in real life, Kelly, pushed the first book to me. I never really got around to reading the rest of the series up until recently.
I finally revived an urge to continue reading the Sweep series after watching the Nicole Kidman and Sandra Bullock movie, Practical Magic. The idea of modern witches who had histories dating way back when, appealed to me. Luckily, despite the fact that my Sweep series is incomplete, I had the second book in the series.
THE COVEN picks up where the first book left off. At first I was wary about THE COVEN by Cate Tiernan, but I quickly warmed up to it. I was put off by how the romance was already developed by the time I read THE COVEN by Cate Tiernan but I had to remind myself that there was development in the first book. THE COVEN by Cate Tiernan makes up for the rocky beginning by escalating the suspense quickly after the first chapter.
THE COVEN by Cate Tiernan is full of surprises that will make your jaw drop. Family secrets are unraveled and one thing after another just keeps piling on top of Morgan in THE COVEN by Cate Tiernan. At under 200 pages, I read THE COVEN pretty quickly as I wanted to find out what would happen next.
In my review of the first book, Book of Shadows, I complained about the unnecessary and seemingly cliché high school drama. Unlike the first book, I think the drama and backstabbing becomes a lot more believeable in THE COVEN by Cate Tiernan. I understand where the characters are coming from. Their hate and jealousy urge me to cheer for Morgan, especially because nothing seems to be working out for her at the moment.
The most interesting part of the story for me is the backstory on the covens. I like that the history of witches dates back centuries ago, and how different covens have different specialties. I love learning about the various covens just as much as Morgan loved to learn about her past.
Warning! THE COVEN by Cate Tiernan ends on a cliffhanger. If you own the old paperbacks like I do, I strongly suggest that you have the third book in hand before you start this one. I would definitely recommend the bindup version of the Sweep series since keeping track of the little paperbacks can be a pain.
I recommend THE COVEN by Cate Tiernan and the Sweep series to those who love magic, witches, sorcery, and the like. I love Tiernan’s take on Wicca and the various covens.
Other Book Reviews:
Gina’s Library
About the Author
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Cate Tiernan was born and raised in New Orleans. She currently lives in Durham, North Carolina with her daughters, husband, and stepsons. Her house is surrounded by land and woods and it feels like they’re in the country. They have dogs and cats and lots of stuff going on all the time. It’s a good life.
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Book Review, Three Stars - Audience: Young Adult, Author: Cate Tiernan, Book: The Coven, Borrow It, Genre: Fantasy, Publisher: Puffin, Series: Sweep | 
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A weekly meme on the books on the top of my list to read and books recently acquired, borrowed, or bought. Inspired by the Story Siren’s In My Mailbox.
Top of the Shelf / Currently Reading
What’s next on my to-read list for the upcoming week.
Bought: Massive Thrift Store Steal
I got 22 books for under six dollars last week! My favorite steal would have to be almost the entire Sweep series by Cate Tiernan. I’m missing a few books in the series, but I don’t think that will be a problem. I can’t wait to start reading! I also got a couple of romance novels, Gingerbread by Rachel Cohn, and Haunted by Meg Cabot. (I talk more about this in the vlog post below!)
And yes, the books are all on my floor. My meager shelves at the dorm = no more space. I could probably place all these books in an entire bookcase of its own.
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Top of the Shelf - Author: Carrie Ryan, Author: Cate Tiernan, Author: Janet Fox, Author: Meg Cabot, Author: Richelle Mead, Book: Haunted, Book: Spirit Bound, Series: Sweep, Series: Vampire Academy | 256 words
BOOK OF SHADOWS by Cate Tiernan
Series: Sweep, #1
Publication Date: March 22nd 2007 by Puffin
Rating:
Summary: Morgan and her best friend, Bree, are introduced to Wicca when a gorgeous senior named Cal invites them to join his new coven. Morgan falls for Cal immediately— and discovers that she has strong, inexplicable powers.
This book is focuses on a lot of the development because it is the first book of the series. Morgan, a junior at Widow’s Vale High, meets the new senior Cal. She is instantly riveted by him, but she isn’t the only one. She finds out that he is Wiccan, a witch, and begins to learn more about Wicca, magic, and herself. Nothing really exciting happens in terms of plot (is there a plot?), but the book is alluring because the reader learns so much about the world of Wicca. I was assured that the plot picks up later on in the series so I guess I will just have to wait to read where the story takes me.
Unfortunately, BOOK OF SHADOWS just isn’t about magick. In addition to discovering this new world of Wicca, Morgan goes through the stereotypical drama of high school: problems with boys, best friends, and parents.While the magick in this book is very alluring, the teenage drama was not. In particular, Bree was immensely irritating. She came off as shallow and selfish – not my kind of character. The drama just seemed very forced and cliche and it did not work out for me.
BOOK OF SHADOWS has its romantic element to it, but I honestly felt no chemistry between Morgan and Cal. I probably felt this way because there is hint that Cal has ulterior motives for getting to know Morgan better. What that is, I don’t know yet but it doesn’t sound good. It also makes me wonder: is Morgan truly in love with Cal or is it some magick element that makes him so attractive to all the girls? (Or is he really just that much of a chick magnet?)
Quick, easy, and fun read. The premise for the series sounds interesting so I’ll definitely keep reading.
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Book Review, Three Stars - Audience: Young Adult, Author: Cate Tiernan, Book: Book of Shadows, Genre: Fantasy, Publisher: Puffin, Series: Sweep | 443 words
- Action Packed
- Hahaha Funny
- Keeps You Guessing
- Heartwarmer
- Makes You Think
- Masterful World-Building
- Must Buy
- Page-Turner
- Poetic Prose
- Romantic Read
- Tear-Jerker
