The Circle by Mats Strandberg
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
On a night after the apparent suicide of high school student Elias Malmgren, a blood-red moon fills the night sky. Minoo wakes up outside her house, still in her pajamas, and is drawn by an invisible force to an abandoned theme park on the outskirts of town. Soon five of her classmates–Vanessa, Linnea, Anna-Karin, Rebecka and Ida–arrive, compelled the same force. A mystical being takes over Ida’s body and tells them they are fated to fight an ancient evil that is hunting them. The park is a safe haven; the school, a place of danger. The six are wildly different and definitely not friends…but they are the Chosen Ones.
As the weeks pass, each girl discovers she has a unique magical ability. They begin exploring their powers, but they are not all firmly committed to their mission–to discover the truth about Elias’s death. Then a horrible tragedy strikes within the circle. Newly determined to fight the evil forces, they begin to learn magic from The Book of Patterns, an ancient work with a will of its own that reveals different things to different witches.
Warnings: assisted suicide (uh, I think that would be the term for it?), murder, emotional abuse, bullying, fatmisia, homomisia
An urban fantasy set in Sweden, the story is about a group of teens who discover they have been chosen to fight a nameless evil. According to the prophecy, though, there should have only been one of them. Now they are being targeted one by one, and unless they get together and work at it, they will all be picked off one by one.
While the book itself is translated, I didn’t feel like it was particularly different from any regular English YA (so good translation job!) The book is mainly told through five of the witches, and they all are very different girls, who want different like things in life and have different attitudes towards their newfound powers. One wants to use her powers of persuasion to become the Queen bee in school. Another uses her powers of invisibility to spy. The unchosen leader wants to bring them together but doesn’t know how.
The story is dark in atmosphere and delves into human desires, and fallacies. The girls have a lot to grow through before they come together as a team, and this book is mostly about that journey. There is also the fact that a murderer is at large, but yes, the story is mainly about the squad getting together. They have to learn to trust in their bond, and one another, even if one of them is a bully who the others hate.
The magical system used in the book is slightly unique in that the ‘grimoires’ they use are sort of sentient and show them that they need to know on a priority basis. So some girls have now knowledge at their disposal than others. It serves to drive the plot, but also drives a wedge between some. And I liked the subjective nature of the prophecy – it definitely led to some interesting twists and shocking things that I didn’t expect.
As for the shocking things, there are also some scenes involving suicide-like scenarios that could be triggering for some, so reader discretion is advised. Meanwhile, there are some things I didn’t like, namely the two relationships that involve an adult and a teen, both having guys in their 20s (one being a teacher) with girls who are barely 16. One was, well, resolved, but neither is challenged, so yeah I’m not really satisfied with that.
Overall, though, this is a amazing dark fantasy book that I definitely want to get more of. Will start the sequel soon!
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