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Seeker by Cate Tiernan
I was so much happier with this book than the previous one! The tension feels so different hearing it in someone else’s point of view. And oh, how I love Hunter. He is really an enjoyable character and his narrative is something new and shiny to add to this series!
Title: Seeker
Author: Cate Tiernan
Series: Sweep Book 10
Publish Date: April 1, 2002
Genre: YA Fantasy
Source: Purchased
Publisher’s Description: I love Morgan. She is my soul mate. But I must find my parents.
Now I have information. There are leads that seem promising. I feel myself getting closer.
But am I strong enough for what I might find?
Hunter is reunited with his father, who vanished years before. But Hunter doesn’t find his childhood hero-instead he finds a dark and shadowy version of the man he once knew.
Possible spoilers beyond this point.
Kat Mandu says…
Hunter seems so much more composed in Morgan’s eyes. But then you hear his thought process and he’s EVERYWHERE. And hilarious! The first couple scenes where he and Morgan are alone are great. You’d never guess that Hunter is dirty, male gender aside. Who knew he could make a perverted joke and be so awkward and yet passionate in his feelings for Morgan. And the way he chides himself – “Good going Niall,” among many others. It was awesome. His internal dialogue really catches your attention and you realize he’s not as composed as he comes off.
I’m very impressed with the way the story unfolds. Hunter’s disappointing find on his father and new revelations on the Council; his complicated relationship with Justine, the grief he feels at the simultaneous loss of what seems like both parents. I would have liked to hear more about Alwyn or Linden though. Much of Hunter’s history is explained in the Book of Shadow entries at the beginning of the series, but I thought I would have heard more insight by being in his head.
I think I was looking for a real flashback at what happened and how his family and the rest of the witch council reacted to it. But I guess diary memories are better than nothing.
Again, the magick in this is phenomenal and real. There’s an entire scene where a woman gives birth and Hunter is there, holding her hand and healing her. Then another where Justine is able to bring an animal back from the dead, despite the consequences of fate and karma. This is kind of the witch I wish Morgan would be at times, which is probably why Hunter is so attracted to her. They’re two sides of the same coin and so you see who Hunter could be with, despite his final choice.
Fun stuff, awesome journey, and an awkward boy telling the story. This gets a four from me!
Books in this series…
- Book of Shadows, Book 01
- The Coven, Book 02
- Blood Witch, Book 03
- Dark Magic, Book 04
- Awakening, Book 05
- Spellbound, Book 06
- The Calling, Book 07
- Changeling, Book 08
- Strife, Book 09
- Seeker, Book 10
- Origins, Book 11
- Eclipse, Book 12
- Reckoning, Book 13
- Full Circle, Book 14
- Night’s Child, Book 15
Links will become active as reviews are posted.
Strife by Cate Tiernan
Morgan’s realized her life has become complicated with the discovery of her real father’s lineage – and what he did to her own mother has haunted her from the beginning. Now the stress level has come to a head and Morgan’s dealing with it in the worst way. Her powers are lashing out and causing destruction and harm to others. Or are they?
Title: Strife
Author: Cate Tiernan
Series: Sweep Book 09
Publish Date: February 18, 2002
Genre: YA Fantasy
Source: Purchased
Publisher’s Description: Frightening things are happening around me. Someone’s magick is being used for violence.
My friends think it’s me. They’re wrong. I’m not the one who’s out of control.
But how can I prove it – before it’s too late?
Possible spoilers beyond this point.
Kat Mandu says…
This one is actually my least favorite in the series. It isn’t written poorly, but as I started to read it, I began to get angry with most of the characters in the book. I hated Erin for acting like a know it all, Sky for leaving, Morgan’s parents for being unable to understand their daughter’s faith (readers, I should tell you this is a very touchy subject for me, which made it that much worse), Mary K for being annoying, Alisa for being paranoid, and even Hunter for allowing her to be stripped of her magick. I especially wasn’t fond of Morgan since she seemed ignorant and selfish throughout most of the book. I ended up getting frustrated while I read.
Also? What was up with that suddenly happy ending with her parents? Randomly they ACCEPT everything after all the bullshit they put her through in 24 hours? Naw, that was a bit too unrealistic.
I wish Cal would come back because then it would actually make sense in a weird but dark way, not to mention his presence would be helpful because he might push Morgan over the edge so that she makes a decision that would push the story along a lot better. But he doesn’t and so pretty much everyone turns against Morgan and she has no one on her side, even Hunter. I think Cal’s dark whisper would have added some intrigue to the plot that was sadly missing.
And the other part of the ending was predictable. We all knew Hunter would go try to find his family. That’s been mentioned for the last six books. So I was hoping for better. A cliffhanger. A promise. Something along those lines.
I did like the mental magick that Hunter and Morgan share through the stone. It was unique to the story and will lead to future scenes similar to it I bet. But I always tend to like the magic that makes this series super awesome.
Only a rating of two this time. Sorry guys, I just didn’t like this one.
Books in this series…
- Book of Shadows, Book 01
- The Coven, Book 02
- Blood Witch, Book 03
- Dark Magic, Book 04
- Awakening, Book 05
- Spellbound, Book 06
- The Calling, Book 07
- Changeling, Book 08
- Strife, Book 09
- Seeker, Book 10
- Origins, Book 11
- Eclipse, Book 12
- Reckoning, Book 13
- Full Circle, Book 14
- Night’s Child, Book 15
Links will become active as reviews are posted.
Changeling by Cate Tiernan
Shape-shifting—one of the reasons I love this book!
Title: Changeling
Author: Cate Tiernan
Series: Sweep Book 08
Publish Date: December 31, 2001
Genre: YA Fantasy
Source: Purchased
Publisher’s Description: When Morgan receives a shocking revelation about her family, she’s thrown into a moral tailspin, believing that her essential nature is evil. Is her dark heritage too powerful to overcome?
Possible spoilers beyond this point.
Kate Mandu says…
The descriptions were awesome, love the points of view I always read from an animal’s perspective. And Morgan’s mission… the deeper insight into the world of the Council gets better and better. You get the feeling that maybe the Council, with its tough rules that supposedly protect everyone, may be under a bit of stress with the knowledge that Ciaran and the rest of Amyranth are at large.
I still love Killian, despite what some of the characters within the book think about him. I love his rebelliousness and how he’s unlike any of the other characters already introduced. I feel as drawn to his abuse of magick and himself, just like Morgan and it makes you love him more because he’s comfortable doing what he wants. I wanted to reach out and touch the stars just like she had. It was such a gorgeous, seductive scene.
And that magic bouncy ball game thing? I thought that was so cool. I can totally envision a bunch of witches just hanging out, all playing with this spherical energy. One of my favorite scenes besides the shapeshifting. There were a lot of awesome parts to this.
I also enjoyed the continual battle with her feelings for Hunter. I was glad Hunter could see through her lies and was being persistent as he should have been, trying to win her back by snapping her back into shape.
I give it a shiny five because it’s my favorite in the series. It just has a lot of good action and drama for me.
Books in this series…
- Book of Shadows, Book 01
- The Coven, Book 02
- Blood Witch, Book 03
- Dark Magic, Book 04
- Awakening, Book 05
- Spellbound, Book 06
- The Calling, Book 07
- Changeling, Book 08
- Strife, Book 09
- Seeker, Book 10
- Origins, Book 11
- Eclipse, Book 12
- Reckoning, Book 13
- Full Circle, Book 14
- Night’s Child, Book 15
Links will become active as reviews are posted.
The Calling by Cate Tiernan
Title: The Calling
Author: Cate Tiernan
Series: Sweep Book 07
Publish Date: October 29, 2001
Genre: YA Fantasy
Source: Purchased
Publisher’s Description: At last, I am coming into the sunlight. The dangers I faced are gone. And I’m in love. Deeply in love. But lately I’ve been having dreams. Terrible visions of someone in trouble. Someone who will die, unless I can prevent it. Who is calling me like this? And what will it cost me to help?
Morgan is a blood witch – but where is her real family? And who are her friends, and her enemies?
Possible spoilers beyond this point.
Kat Mandu says…
This isn’t one of my favorites in the series, since I always thought it moved rather slowly. And the character seemed irritatingly slow herself, not realizing connections of certain things that are REALLY going to affect her life.
I do love the introduction to Killian, my favorite male character in Sweep. And I did like that someone besides Hunter, was telling her she was stupid to use her powers in such ways like Robbie did. But it was a good book to connect book six’s ending and with what is to come later in the series.
The best part is the new introductions to a lot of things. After the ending of Spellbound, things have started anew for Hunter and Morgan, but also for several other characters. Romance is blooming between friends Robbie and Bree, but also for Raven and Skye. We also get to meet Ciaran, the new bad guy to play an important role in Morgan’s life, especially now that things have shifted for Morgan again!
Cough, cough, spoiler: “MORGAN… I am your father.”
The change of scenery was nice; it was set in New York so there was a lot of new descriptions and changes as the characters had to go on this road trip together and survive the immense amount of emotions floating around.
I rate it a three!
Books in this series…
- Book of Shadows, Book 01
- The Coven, Book 02
- Blood Witch, Book 03
- Dark Magic, Book 04
- Awakening, Book 05
- Spellbound, Book 06
- The Calling, Book 07
- Changeling, Book 08
- Strife, Book 09
- Seeker, Book 10
- Origins, Book 11
- Eclipse, Book 12
- Reckoning, Book 13
- Full Circle, Book 14
- Night’s Child, Book 15
Links will become active as reviews are posted.
Spellbound by Cate Tiernan
** spoiler alert ** Spellbound takes it to the next level for this series. The magick is more intense, the bond between Hunter and Morgan grows stronger, and Morgan witnesses the death of two people. Cal, her first love, who dies trying to save her – and the old Morgan who was naive, broken-hearted, and weak.
Title: Spellbound
Author: Cate Tiernan
Series: Sweep Book 06
Publish Date: September 10, 2001
Genre: YA Fantasy
Source: Purchased
Publisher’s Description: Morgan knows that a great battle is to come. More immediately, she senses that someone is out to harm Hunter. Is it a human or a witch?
Possible spoilers beyond this point.
Kat Mandu says…
The author explains how Morgan seems to mature in this book and readers find themselves rooting for the underdogs as Morgan finds herself face to face with a powerful and ruthless enemy. Gorgeous imagery (for the first half) and real emotion was really loaded into this book. And Spellbound brings both the end of things, and new beginnings. Morgan’s true battle against the dark has just begun.
The only thing I wasn’t a fan of in this is that it kind of takes this more…fantasy kind of turn where the characters and the action doesn’t seem nearly as realistic. And I know what some of you may be thinking. Naturally, magic isn’t real, yeah? But no matter what you believe, this series comes off as a very realistic kind of maturation for Morgan. She’s got real problems, real family, and she goes to high school, so there’s that. It’s almost contemporary, with Wiccan details snuck inside. This is the first book that kind of takes it out of that real feel by adding in some pretty powerful battle magick.
Have you ever seen a movie where the creatures are completely in graphics, but they look fake? That’s kind of the same visuals I was having. A lot of awkward filming.
But regardless, I really enjoyed this one. Morgan is coming into her powers and although things might have calmed down for now, there’s still nine books left – and guess what? Things are about to go topsy turvy again.
Books in this series…
- Book of Shadows, Book 01
- The Coven, Book 02
- Blood Witch, Book 03
- Dark Magic, Book 04
- Awakening, Book 05
- Spellbound, Book 06
- The Calling, Book 07
- Changeling, Book 08
- Strife, Book 09
- Seeker, Book 10
- Origins, Book 11
- Eclipse, Book 12
- Reckoning, Book 13
- Full Circle, Book 14
- Night’s Child, Book 15
Links will become active as reviews are posted.
One Book Two 