The Secret Circle, Volume I: The Initiation

By: L. J. Smith

Narrated by: Devon Sorvari

Length: 7 hrs and 12 mins

Publisher's summary

The Circle’s power has lured her home....

Forced to move from sunny California to gloomy New England, Cassie longs for her old life. Even so, she feels a strange kinship to a terrifying group of teens who seem to rule her school. Initiated into the coven of witches that’s controlled New Salem for hundreds of years, she’s drawn into the Secret Circle, a thrill that’s both intoxicating and deadly. But when she falls for the mysterious and intriguing Adam, Cassie must choose whether to resist temptation or risk dark forces to get what she wants—even if it means that one wrong move could ultimately destroy her.

©1992 Lisa Smith and Daniel Weiss Associates (P)2011 HarperCollinsPublishers

Not what I expected

I decided to listed to theses books because the show was cancelled. I quickly realized the stories are completely different. Even basing the book just on its own its not that great as the reviews claimed. I feel that the show had a better story line.

Wonderful story

The biggest disappointment in this story is that it has a non+ending in order to lead into the next book in the series. other than that, it's a fantastic read!!

I loved this book. the narrator was right on point

It started out kind of slow but got pretty good very quickly. It is a fantasy, drama, love spell all cast into one book.

So different to the tv show

What did you like best about The Secret Circle, Volume I: The Initiation? What did you like least?

I wanted to read this because the show ended so abruptly, I had no idea how different the book is compared to the show. Finding out there are 12 members of the circle and Faye is not the worse or most bitchy member/ Cassie's strong feelings of sisterhood and friendship for Diane was an eye opener.

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

Not much really, it would have been nice for there to be more spells in the first book. I think the book could have gone on a bit longer to have more of an impact

What do you think the narrator could have done better?

I liked the narrator, cant fault her.

Do you think The Secret Circle, Volume I: The Initiation needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

Yes, but I cannot seem to find it

I loved the books series

I loved the book series when I read it, now I can listen to it.

Still love this book after all this time

I first read this book on paperback, about 10 years ago. It was so well written that even after all this time it still captures my imagination and is a nice little escape from reality lol. I like listening to things like this while I'm at work, bored out of my mind from the repititious tasks I complete, the words paint a picture so vivid you can imagine everything almost like watching a movie. So in summery, great story-pulls you in. The lady who read the story also had a great voice that brought it to life. I highly recommend for anyone who is looking to add a little magic in their life.

more moral than the bible

very well written stories and the narrators for the most part aren't to bad eather I can say that the stories in this series is so much better than anything in the myths at the bible that are referenced and their is so much more of a chance that shifters actually are real than anything in the christian bible actually being real this series is 💯 x 💯% more believable and anything in the Bible including what is referenced in the story

Weak lead, too much romance

I purchased this book because I watched the TV show and loved it. I was sad when they cancelled it and wanted to continue the plot.

I was really disappointed with this first book. It has a much different storyline from the TV series and I’m disappointed by how weak of a character Cassie is in the book. The whole thing seems to be about her romance with Adam and I find it really aggravating that half the book describes how terrified Cassie is all the time and the other half describes how into Adam she is and how she needs to be saved by him. Not cool. I feel like I’m reading a really bad romance novel. I’ll buy one more book because I’m hoping that it’ll get better, but I’m already fearful that it won’t.

On the plus side, the narration is awesome. Very well done.

Good story, but annoying lead character

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

Not sure. If I did, I would do it with caution.

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

I would DEFINATELY made Cassie less of a whiner and lighten up on her obsession with Diana. It makes her annoying and creepy and I personally wouldn't want to try to befriend someone like her based on this book.

Any additional comments?

Cassie, our leading lady, is WAY too tantrum-y and horribly judgmental in the early parts of this book. I actually got ticked off at her and the way she described her Gramma. What a b****.

Glad to have, but overdramatic narration

I've been a fan of the Secret Circle since the 90s, and was thrilled to have an audio version. Sorvari has a perfect, sulky teenage voice, which would seem great for delivering this somewhat melodramatic trilogy. Her reading speed is perfect; neither too fast or slow.

Given how over the top the narrative already is, I wish Sorvari had read more evenly. She delivers ferocity, sulkiness, and drama, but does so in ALL instances, even for ordinary sentences, like, "Cassie's grandmother stood up." Does a sentence like that really need to be read with such intensity? Haha-funny lines, like those of the Henderson brothers, are also strangely sarcastic instead of slapstick. Sorvari pretty much delivers the entire book in this one way, and it becomes monotonous.

This sulky delivery also doesn't fit the protagonist's personality. Cassie is shy, ethical, and earnest, not at all bratty or rebellious, as Sorvari would have you believe.

As for the book itself, I read this when I was 10 and have reread it since then. But hearing it through someone else's voice revealed unintentionally silly it can be! There are plot holes that go unaddressed: Doesn't anyone think it's weird Cassie arrives exactly when she "needs to"? Wouldn't they be even slightly suspicious? And for the trilogy as a whole: Isn't it odd how little say Adam has? The romantic decisions are made entirely by Cassie, and he's a Romeo-like doll, never choosing but being told who he's allowed to be with. To Smith's credit, he does set up certain crucial scenes and this is a female-centric world, but he nevertheless seems flat and unappealing. (Nick, on the other hand, is much more interesting b/c he has a backstory.)

Most gratingly, there is an absurd amount of attention paid to how beautiful and frightening Faye is—it is repetitive and even embarrassing. I skipped over those paragraphs and paragraphs of how golden her eyes and skin are and blablabla, but you can't do that in an audiobook.