The Secret Circle trilogy: The Inititation, The Captive, and The Power, by L. J. Smith

Teenage Cassie moves to New Salem and becomes part of a coven of teenage witches. Hijinks, battles with evil, angst, crytals, crystal skulls, magic silver garters, soulmates, deliberate comedy (Pizza Man He Delivers!), and a metric ton of barely subtextual lesbian longing ensue. Loved it!

The best part of this trilogy for me was how central and often sensual the relationships among the girls were. Especially the battle between the saintly good witch Diana and the sexy bad witch Faye, fought by proxy over the allegiance of new girl Cassie, who has a pro forma soulmate relationship with boring boy witch Adam, a much more interesting relationship with cool boy witch Nick ("Nick was not at all like an iguana"), and gives every indication of being head-over-heels with Diana. Cassie is constantly admiring Diana's purity, and at one point they share a bed.

The supporting girl characters are not hugely complex, but vivid-- especially sexy-but-not-stupid Suzan and babydyke (is that offensive coming from a straight woman, or in general? if so, I'll rephrase it) Deborah. One of the very sexiest bits in the entire book is Deborah giving a Cassie a totally heterosexual ride on her throbbing motorcycle.

Also, there are vampire kittens.

( Read more... )

The Secret Circle trilogy: The Inititation, The Captive, and The Power, by L. J. Smith

Teenage Cassie moves to New Salem and becomes part of a coven of teenage witches. Hijinks, battles with evil, angst, crytals, crystal skulls, magic silver garters, soulmates, deliberate comedy (Pizza Man He Delivers!), and a metric ton of barely subtextual lesbian longing ensue. Loved it!

The best part of this trilogy for me was how central and often sensual the relationships among the girls were. Especially the battle between the saintly good witch Diana and the sexy bad witch Faye, fought by proxy over the allegiance of new girl Cassie, who has a pro forma soulmate relationship with boring boy witch Adam, a much more interesting relationship with cool boy witch Nick ("Nick was not at all like an iguana"), and gives every indication of being head-over-heels with Diana. Cassie is constantly admiring Diana's purity, and at one point they share a bed.

The supporting girl characters are not hugely complex, but vivid-- especially sexy-but-not-stupid Suzan and babydyke (is that offensive coming from a straight woman, or in general? if so, I'll rephrase it) Deborah. One of the very sexiest bits in the entire book is Deborah giving a Cassie a totally heterosexual ride on her throbbing motorcycle.

Also, there are vampire kittens.

( Read more... )