Métamorphose

Wicca #8

by Cate Tiernan

La terre remue constamment sous mes pieds.
Je pensais avoir découvert la vérité sur qui je suis.
Mais tout ce que j'ai appris n'était en fait qu'un mensonge.
*
Je ferai tout ce qu'il faut pour découvrir ce que je dois savoir.
Je sacrifierai pratiquement tout.
*
Je dois savoir qui- ou ce que- je suis.

Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy, Witches, Paranormal, Magic, Romance, Fiction

362 pages, Paperback

First published December 31, 2001

About the author

"was born in New Orleans, LA, in 1961. New Orleans is one of the most interesting American cities, and it has an incredibly rich and exotic culture that had a profound influence on me. Kids in other cities have lemonade stands; we sold voodoo gris-gris and made wax dolls in the likenesses of our enemies. It's a very beautiful city, and the constant heat and humidity make gardens grow out of control. There's an air of lassitude there, a general acceptance of eccentic or flamboyant behavior--the heat simply makes people do crazy things.

I went to school in New York, and after school went back to New Orleans. Then I went back to New York (Manhattan) and got a job in publishing and started writing. My first book, a young, middle-grade chapter book, was published in 1990.

Living in Manhattan was incredible, even though I didn't have a lot of money. There was so much to do and see, and so many interesting people to watch. There was a lot of frenetic energy there, and sometimes that felt very wearing and hard to live with. After eight years I was ready for a change, and my husband and I moved back to New Orleans. (Are you seeing a pattern here?)

(While I was in NY, I helped edit "The Secret Circle" by L.J. Smith. I thought it was great.)

We stayed in New Orleans five years. By the time we had two small children we knew we had to find someplace safer to live. I was glad my children were born in New Orleans--I had been born there, and my father had, and his father had, and his father had and so on. There was something about the connection of generations of blood coming from one place that I found very primal and important.

Now I live in a cohousing community in Durham, NC. This is the most suburban place I've ever lived, and it's very different from living right in the middle of a city. For one thing, there aren't enough coffee shops. However, it's incredibly safe, and the community is very important to me. There are a lot of strong women here, and I find them inspiring.

Am I a witch? Well, no. Even Wicca is too organized a religion for me. I'm much more idiosyncratic and just need to do my own thing, which is kind of new-agey and pantheistic. It's not that I don't work or play well with others, but I need to decide for myself when I do a certain thing, and how I do it. However, I can really relate to Wicca, and I so appreciate its woman-centeredness and its essentially female identity. I love those aspects, among others.

I have several favorite writers. Barbara Hambly has been the biggest influence on how I describe magic. She's an incredibly imaginative and empathetic writer with a gift for creating a rich, sensual world. I love Barbara Pym, an English writer whose books came out mostly in the fifties. She was a master at describing the thousand tiny moments that make up a woman's day; how the seemingly small and inconsequential thing can suddenly take on a huge emotional importance. I greatly admire P.D. James. She's one of the very few writers who makes me actually look up words in the dictionary. She has a beautiful, precise, educated command of the language that leaves me in awe. I love Philip Larkin's poetry. I read a lot of nonfiction and also have some favorite romance writers. Before anyone groans, let me say that these women write really well about women trying to achieve emotional fulfillment, and that's kind of what we're all doing, right? I also just like reading about sex. Anyway, Jennifer Crusie, Susan Elizabeth Phillips, and early Linda Howard are my faves.

And then of course there's my dark side, but more on that later.

" -Source

Cate Tiernan is a pseudonym for Gabrielle Charbonnet

Reviews

[Dana Al-Basha | دانة الباشا · Rating 5 out of 5]

I knew Morgan was Ciaran's daughter since the first vision, it's obvious Selene's coven won't stop until they have her power. I was sad by the ending of the previous book when Morgan felt that her heritage and blood are evil and even knowing Hunter was her soulmate she broke up with him, I think Hunter should ignore that and teach her to choose her fate.

So on her trip to NYC Morgan retrieves her mother's watch and learns about her mother's evil lover and her father Ciaran. She beings having vivid visions of a cult of witches with animal heads in a circle at an address she's not familiar with and they are trying to kill the young animal in the middle. The visions lead her to an address and she discovers that this cult coven is her father's people and the dark wave in which they steal powers from other witches, including hers. She also learns that her father, brother, and she could shapeshift into animals. At the end of the book when Morgan shapeshifts with her father as wolves and learns his true name she tells him evilly she will destroy him if he hurts her because now she owns him. She almost hunted Hunter!

[Amber J (Thereadingwitch) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Things just get more and more interesting with this book. Fortunately, the book has little summaries of where we are in the story at the beginning of the book or I would be lost.

[Clare · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok, this book is why I will never leave my kids alone. When her adoptive non-Wiccan parents leave for a cruise, Morgan falls apart. Her grades slip, she volunteers for dangerous things and she behaves like an idiot. Drinking, weather magic, morally dubious spells.
I didn't like it because I didn't like Morgan's behavior, and there seemed to be no consequences.

Yes, I'm a parent, and yes I read YA fiction. Deal with it. :)

[julia ☆ [owls reads] · Rating 3 out of 5]

An improvement over the last book! I had no memory of 99% of what happened, but Ciaran having more page time was really good! Morgan continues to be an idiot most of the time, but what can we do ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[Librarian Bee · Rating 5 out of 5]

❤❤❤❤❤

I knew Morgan couldn't stay mad at Hunter for too long, they really needed each other right now. Poor Morgan she has been through so much in just 3 months! Now add more information on her birth dad into the mix and I don't know how she doesn't constantly have a migraine. Maybe it's all the darn diet coke she drinks!

"That's what magick is. Many choices, through your lifetime. How you make them determines who you are. And who you are determines how you make them."

On the positive, I'm happy things seem to be looking up for Bree and I no longer hate her as a character. But then again things happen so fast in this series, so you never know. I do wish to learn more about Sky or Raven, I'm hoping more is to come about them. ❤

[Leoni Dempsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ read!!! Absolutely loved this book! I loved learning more about Morgan’s birth father and half brother, and enjoyed the showdown at the end when Morgan and her father shapeshifted into wolves 😁😁 love this series and cannot wait to find out what happens next! 😁

[Ray · Rating 4 out of 5]

love the witches. i liked this series as well. it is different than a lot of my paranormal adventures. i like that it's focus is square on the development of the main character as a person and as a witch. Her transition through the series from novice to now has been exciting and fun to read. it isn't all giggles in her trials to mature and develop. I like that a lot. Again, a series I hadn't read for a while, it was nice to get reacquainted.

[Jessica Di Salvio · Rating 4 out of 5]

Je ne reviendrai jamais des rappels sur les autres tomes comme si on ne suivait pas les personnages et l’histoire depuis 8 tomes, mais bon…

C’est, à date, le tome que j’ai préféré. La connexion de Morgan avec Killian et Ciaran est bel et bien réelle. Ça l’a rendue le livre vivant et ce pour la première fois depuis longtemps.

Je suis vraiment curieuse de la suite des choses et de savoir les véritables plans de Ciaran.

[LilMisGrayBrisk]

Dnf’d at 17% (chapter 4)

[#ReadAllTheBooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

I know I run the risk of being a squealing fangirl, but this really is a nice series. I might rate these lower if the books were longer, but the shorter length of the books works for the dynamic of the series.

This book finds Morgan trying to deal with the truth about her parentage- that her father is the evil Ciaran, leader of Amyranth. When the Council decides that Morgan has to infiltrate the group by cozying up to her evil father & irresponsible half-brother, Morgan half-heartedly agrees- partially because she wants to help but also because she is genuinely curious about the father & family she's never known. Unfortunately nothing is ever easy & Morgan may find that she's in danger of losing everything that she holds dear to her...

One of the things I liked most in this volume is that Morgan's school life is suffering. Why? Because she's spending so much time on her magical problems that she's forgetting to study. It's a nice reality wake up call amidst all of the supernatural goings on & reminds us that Morgan is ultimately a teenager still & has mundane concerns. It's also nice to see Morgan finally grappling with her previous usages of power & paying more attention to how she uses it. It was a subject brought up in the last book & I'm glad to see that Morgan's finally starting to wake up to the fact that she was more influenced by Selene & Cal than she thought. The only thing I'd say I'm irritated by is that Morgan seems to adapt to so many different powers quickly & that she hasn't caught on sooner to the fact that some of the things she's doing isn't normal for someone her age. It's a little... well... I just don't want this character to fall prey to the cliche of "heroine gets all the powahs". Morgan needs to have some limitations, but I'm glad that at least she's starting to realize that she's done wrong in the past. (Now if she could only get past her tendency to do things & not tell anyone about them- it's getting a little old & she should know by now that omission can get her & others killed!

[Jacquline · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is by far the worst book in the series. I could hardly get through it. Morgan is getting on my nerves. Eoife, a woman from the witch council, comes to tell her that the fate of Alyce's coven, Starlocket, is in her hands. Morgan has to get close to her birth father, Ciaran in order to understand his motives. Throughout this whole book, it is Morgan's agonizing torture of her being good or evil. She believes she is good by the end of the book when her father tested her to kill Hunter, and she chose to be good from that point. The book has gone too weird. The story line started out brilliant, but now it sucks. The plot is getting annoying, especially with Morgan deciding if at this precise moment she is good or evil. Despite how she feels about herself at the end of the book, believing that she chose to be good, I think she is already evil. It's evident in the way that she practices her magick alone or when she's showing off to others. Her friendships are starting to break apart, and before she knows it, her adopted family will be in danger because of how reckless she's being. She already put Mary K.'s life in danger with Selene. Who's next? That's what I keep asking myself. I don't trust Morgan in the least bit, which is hard for a reader to commit to a book because the book is told from her point of view. I already have ideas of how the series is going to end, and I wonder how close I am. As far as I'm concerned, Morgan is going to become inherently evil, like her father. She might kill Hunter on her downfall. Her children will be in danger from her. Why else bring Ciaran into the series if he wasn't going to bring her character down?

[Josh T · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars! This is my 4th time reading this.

How i only rated this 4/5 before, i don't know... This is definitively a 5/5 soul churning, heart wrenching, bleary eyed, read. Absolutely love this book, even after several reads.

These books are my happy place.

[Andrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't really know how to describe this... it was a little sluggish. I found the actions of some of the characters to be... not in keeping with how someone of that nature would truly act, so it was a little annoying/forced.

[Ky DeepDiveThis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Literally finished in what felt like minutes...may be my favorite of the series so far!

[Capu · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVE Hunter!!!! Never give up!!!

[Jonathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hoewel het heel erg frappant is dat ze dit allemaal aan een 17 jarige meid overlaten, vond ik het verhaal diepgang hebben. Dit boek ging vooral over ‘het goede’ en ‘het kwade’ wat erg duidelijk lijkt, maar als verwantschap en de psychologische ‘need to belong’ erbij komt kijken is het allemaal niet meer zo simpel. Morgan’s verlangen naar een band met haar vader en haar achtergrond en tegelijkertijd de afschuw die ze naar hem voelt was erg mooi beschreven. Ik vind het mooi dat die innerlijke strijd niet zonder slag of stoot is gegaan en dat het pijn doet om ‘het goede’ te doen.

Ik kwam er later achter dat de originele Engelse titel ‘changeling’ is maar ik vind de Nederlandse ‘Erfgoed’ vele malen beter.

[Alayna Josz · Rating 5 out of 5]

this is a 10/10 series for me. i loved reading this when it was coming out. i couldnt wait until my friend would lend me her copies when she was finished with each one. it's a bit like the craft meets sabrina the teenage witch and charmed, but really it's a story all it's own which is even more fun! i always loved imagining it in my mind, wondering if they'd ever make a show or movie, and if they did could it please be awesome and not a let down? i loved these books, probably read them 3 or 4 times over. Thank you Cate Tiernan! i'm going to have to come back and write a more eloquent review, but this is what I can say for now!

[Chelsea Yoquelet · Rating 4 out of 5]

Daddy issues.

[Jessica Pritt · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good book. However some things don't add up near the end. She was supposed to do so much but ended only needing to put a watch sigil on her father. Great book, ready to start the next.

[Mara De Kort · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m in sooo deep…

[Whitney · Rating 1 out of 5]

Plot

Changeling is about finding more about Amyranth out, but at the same time nothing really happens. Honestly, the majority of the book is Morgan whining about how she’s inherently evil because Ciaran is her father and he’s oh so evil. That’s actually the majority of the plot. There’s also some convoluted plan for Morgan to “infiltrate” Amyranth and obtain enough of their secrets to stop their upcoming attack on Starlocket, Alyce’s coven; all in the span of two weeks. The plot is very…eh. It’s not really good, in my honest opinion, as most of the book is spent on Morgan’s internal issues. I didn’t sign up for a retrospective teen book, I signed up for magic.

Writing

There’s still a lot of telling instead of showing. The reader is told all about how Morgan feels but we’re never actually shown. Very shoddy writing. There are multiple times in the book where the text wants you to feel sympathetic towards a character but you just can’t because the writing doesn’t allow you to. I’m sure we’re supposed to sympathize with Raven, Ciaran, and the Woodbanes, but to do that we’d have to like them first, and that is never allowed to happen in the first place.

Characters

Morgan just keeps getting worse and worse. She literally spends the entire book wallowing over the fact that she might be evil. A little hint, if you’re worried that you might be evil there’s a high chance you’re not actually evil! Morgan is not an interesting person to read about. Of course characters have faults, and they should, but nobody wants to read about an annoying girl with her shallow problems in a book about magic.

Killian is a character from the last book that we get reintroduced to this book, now as Morgan’s half-brother. He’s a douche. He does what he wants, hurts who he wants, and is supposed to be somebody the reader likes. He’s not. I hated him.

Things I Liked

I realized that I like the fact that the witches aren’t in hiding in the series. They don’t flaunt their powers in front of the general, non-magickal public, but they’re not in hiding either. So, there’s that.

Things I Didn't Like

There’s this really insensitive thing that Tiernan does where she tries to compare the real-life prejudice faced by marginalized people to her made up witches. In the first couple of books Morgan was comparing her dealing with being a witch to being gay. In Changeling, the very real and present marginalization of the Roma in Europe, the Native Americans, and the Aboriginal Australians are compared to the “oppression” that the fictional Woodbanes face. First of all, in the entirety of eight books so far, the reader is never once shown any incidents of actual prejudice towards the Woodbanes. People are weary and cautious of Woodbane blood witches, yes, but that’s the worst thing we’ve seen thus far. And people have good reason to be wary of Woodbanes as there is a giant coven full of nothing but Woodbanes that has wiped out non-Woodbanes and Woodbanes that weren’t evil like they were. Tiernan is a very, very ignorant person to try and make these comparisons. Any sympathy I might have felt for the Woodbanes flew out the window with this crap.

Another thing I didn’t like is how Tiernan’s magic society is set up and the actual rules of magick. The reader is constantly told that, as a young, uninitiated witch, Morgan shouldn’t be able to do certain things, but what exactly is and isn’t normal? We’re never given a frame of reference and thus anything that Morgan does that is supposedly a testament to her power doesn’t really resonate to the readers.

Diversity

The one same-gender couple that was part of the main cast was broken up for no real good reason. So… the diversity in this book sucks eggs.

Overall

Boring book. Nothing really happened. Morgan turned into a wolf, of all animals, at the end and nearly killed Hunter for some asinine evil, then decided she’s not evil after an entire book of angst. That’s two days I’m never getting back.

Here is a link to my notes.

[Tosha · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was sadder then the rest but loved the ending.

[Daniela · Rating 2 out of 5]

Morgan's battle with good and evil is front and center in this book. She does a really great job with tinkering on both sides. She's a good person by choice, but the evil still nudges at her from time to time. When she steps out of line and uses magic when she's not supposed to, she keeps wondering if she truly is meant to be a Woodbane and just go with it, or keep fighting it with all the good that is inside of her.

Being propositioned with being a spy for the Witch council against her father, Ciaran, doesn't help Morgan's situation either. Bringing in her half-brother, Killian who she met on that adventurous trip to NYC, to try and get close to her Ciaran proves to be a hassle as well. Not only is Killian around all the time, but he's putting a strain on Sky & Raven's relationship, and Sky is blaming Morgan for contacting him.

Finally coming face to face with her birth father, Morgan is faced with the fact that she might actually care for him. But, how, when he killed her birth mother? Getting close to him as possible, proves to be almost deadly for her, when Ciaran shows Morgan anther secret about herself and her clan. She can shape shift. When her and Ciaran shape shift into wolves and run after a prey int he woods, who happens to be Hunter, will Morgan CHOOSE good or Evil?

I could have done without the whole shape shifting thing to be honest. And more Hunter is always better. And Killian's a funny guy, so he keeps you entertained. All in all it was okay. I'm still trying to figure out who the letters in each chapter were about.

[ShaeDuke | Upstate NY · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of my more favorites in the series.

Here's the thing, this might totally be a me thing. The other books in the series had better plots. The did. But I felt that THIS book, built into the multibook arc. And it gave some of the stuff that I had really been wanting as far as character building and having better idea of WHAT the overall story arc was going to be.

A lot of the earlier books felt like short stories cut off from each other. And this one sort of tied them back together, while also fulfilling somewhat the slow burn romance thing that I crave in books.

[Barbara ★ · Rating 5 out of 5]

When the Council asks Morgan to spy on and betray her new found brother and father, she is torn. Yes Ciaran, her father, is an extremely evil witch bent on destroying her friends, but he is her father. She has an instant affinity with her brother, Killian and betraying him may be the most difficult thing she'll have to do. The emotional upheaval is intense but the ending makes it all worthwhile.

[Tina · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVE this series and this book does not disappoint!!!

[Katrina Passick Lumsden · Rating 2 out of 5]

So...freaking...lame. Was there a point to this one? Oh, right, so the reader could be subjected to page after page of Morgan's ridiculously pointless moping.

I'm gonna read something else, I need a serious break from this series.

[Mel { wolfsbanebooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of my favourites in the series. The drama and inner conflict makes for a great read yet it's still quite a light read.

[Abi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Actual rating - 2.5

I liked this one about the same as the last one. It bored me a few times, and the characters annoyed me.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

on to the next one