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T*Witches #9
Split Decision
In the most thrilling installment yet, Cam and Alex are separated by the evil Thantos--and find their powers are halved. Can the twins reunite before one of them is drawn to the dark side?
Together, t*witchy teens Cam and Alex are a magickal force to be reckoned with. But, when apart, the twins can be susceptible to great danger. That's just what the wicked Thantos has in mind when he lures Cam to Coventry Island for the summer, leaving Alex in Marble Bay. While Cam is romanced by the magnetic and mysterious Shane, Alex makes a new friend who seems trustworthy...or is she?
As Cam moves further away from Alex, she learns ever more about the twins' past--and future destiny. But her knowledge seems to be pulling toward the dark side. Will Alex be able to save her sister in time?
Together, t*witchy teens Cam and Alex are a magickal force to be reckoned with. But, when apart, the twins can be susceptible to great danger. That's just what the wicked Thantos has in mind when he lures Cam to Coventry Island for the summer, leaving Alex in Marble Bay. While Cam is romanced by the magnetic and mysterious Shane, Alex makes a new friend who seems trustworthy...or is she?
As Cam moves further away from Alex, she learns ever more about the twins' past--and future destiny. But her knowledge seems to be pulling toward the dark side. Will Alex be able to save her sister in time?
275 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 2003
4 people are currently reading
434 people want to read
About the author
H.B. Gilmour
66 books54 followersH. B. Gilmour was a bestselling author of children's books. She grew up in Williamsburg, Brooklyn with her mother and the extended family and fondly remembered writing her very first poem for Arbor Day when she was just eight years old. As a teenager, she moved to Florida to live with her father. She attended college there and then moved back to New York City.
Gilmour’s first publishing job was at E.P. Dutton. In 1964 she joined Bantam Books where she worked as copywriter, editor, and copy chief and as an associate director of marketing. She was married to Bruce Gilmour in 1968. She had a child, Jessica, with him in 1970. They were divorced in 1972. Her first novel "The Trade", a trashy paperback about the publishing business, was published in 1969.
She wrote novelizations (including Saturday Night Fever) and children's books (including Muppets books) while working full-time at Bantam and raising a child on her own. She published her second original novel "So Long, Daddy" in 1985. The artwork for the dust jacket of the hardcover release includes a photo of her daughter, Jessica. Her third novel was "Ask Me If I Care", a book about a teenage girl who gets in with the wrong crowd.
In 1992 she joined the book division at Scholastic, leaving in 1995 to pursue writing full-time. She focused her energy on books for "tweens" and children which is what gave her the most joy.
She met John Johann, whom she would later marry, in 1992. They later moved to Cornwallville in upstate New York where she happily tended to the garden she never had in the city until her death. She died on June 21, 2009 of pneumonia due to complications from lung cancer. She is survived by her husband John, daughter Jessica, stepchildren Wendy and John, Jr. and step-grandchildren Reef, Riley, John Jr. and Jasmine.
Gilmour’s first publishing job was at E.P. Dutton. In 1964 she joined Bantam Books where she worked as copywriter, editor, and copy chief and as an associate director of marketing. She was married to Bruce Gilmour in 1968. She had a child, Jessica, with him in 1970. They were divorced in 1972. Her first novel "The Trade", a trashy paperback about the publishing business, was published in 1969.
She wrote novelizations (including Saturday Night Fever) and children's books (including Muppets books) while working full-time at Bantam and raising a child on her own. She published her second original novel "So Long, Daddy" in 1985. The artwork for the dust jacket of the hardcover release includes a photo of her daughter, Jessica. Her third novel was "Ask Me If I Care", a book about a teenage girl who gets in with the wrong crowd.
In 1992 she joined the book division at Scholastic, leaving in 1995 to pursue writing full-time. She focused her energy on books for "tweens" and children which is what gave her the most joy.
She met John Johann, whom she would later marry, in 1992. They later moved to Cornwallville in upstate New York where she happily tended to the garden she never had in the city until her death. She died on June 21, 2009 of pneumonia due to complications from lung cancer. She is survived by her husband John, daughter Jessica, stepchildren Wendy and John, Jr. and step-grandchildren Reef, Riley, John Jr. and Jasmine.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
April 4, 2020
Yay another installment for which the back cover blurb is actually accurate! I guess those two were just flukes. Cam’s been emailing Shane, warlock and one-time (?) Thantos lackey, on the sly, as he’s been trying to reform. But now he needs Cam around on Coventry, so he can show her how he truly has reformed and maybe they could even start a relationship. After all, it is summer vacation, and Jason, Cam’s non-warlock basketball hottie beau, is going away before going to college the following fall. On the flip side, Cade Richman is coming back to town, and Alex cannot wait to get to see him again and get their relationship off the ground. With Dylan off at camp and the parents getting a free cruise, it’ll just be the twins at home, and they’re determined to make the most of their summer with their respective boys. The catch? Shane is still on Coventry, and Cade is in Marble Bay. For the twins to see them, they’ll have to split up. This when their magick is just starting to grow again, and each of them is discovering new abilities. What they don’t realize yet is that as strong as their magick becomes when they are together, their magick is also weaker when they are apart. But there are – drum roll, please! – evil forces at work which intend to take advantage and exacerbate the situation to take down the twins in any way possible, and by any means necessary.
The big take away from this book, and how it is relatable to real life, is how you should trust your gut, think things through before making decisions, and be true to who you are – to not to take things at face value, nor get carried away on a wave without stopping to think about why you’re trying to ride it in the first place. If you don’t, you could end up getting into a bad situation, or worse, a dangerous situation. This book also serves to show how Cam and Alex, despite being different, also need each other very much. They balance each other out, and keep each other from acting too impulsively or irrationally in potentially dangerous situations.
I’ve found it interesting how for secondary characters and/or relationships, things happen in the background and we hear about how the status quo has changed. At the beginning of the series, Ileana just seemed to be an acquaintance-heading-towards-friend of Brice Stanley, but by The Witch Hunters she was his mysterious, rarely seen yet steady girlfriend. Back in book 3 Seeing is Deceiving, Beth was having a hard time at home because her parents were fighting – in this book (or maybe #8, the line between books is blurring a bit), her parents are mentioned as being separated/divorced. Also, last we saw Bree in book 5 Don’t Think Twice T*Witches, she was at a rehab center for her anorexia, but in The Witch Hunters suddenly she’s been released and has been back at school to finish out the year.
As for the antagonists of the series… Thantos has been the constant background antagonist, the evil villain, with a cycle of adversaries to face off against the twins. Early on it was often Fredo (acting at Thantos’ behest, basically), or everyday situations/people, or sporadically he-of-the-questionable-loyalties Shane, but these last few books have seen a trio of un-Initiated girls calling themselves the Furies playing an active antagonistic role. These Furies are Sersee, Michaelina and Epie, and while they start out acting on their own albeit also to get Thantos’ attention, in the last book Sersee successfully blackmailed Thantos and is basically his new tool to get at the twins. In all honesty, I found it rather unbelievable that Sersee could get to Thantos like that, in cleverness and in magick.
Then there’s Thantos himself: I really can’t tell if he’s supposed to come off as an actually complex character with his scattered approach to getting at or just plain getting the twins, his bouts of temper, his air of dark mystery, or if it’s just poor character development. Even unpredictable characters are supposed to have some sort of solid pattern to them, some steady logic behind their actions. And ones who are supposed to be successfully managing a multi-billion dollar tech corporation should definitely have some logic/pattern to their actions and reactions. Thantos has barely any of that. And the big reveal he makes , I figured out and have known since the very beginning. It certainly wasn’t anywhere near a surprise to me as a reader, though I guess for the girls it would be a surprise. Anyways, the way that reveal is then leveraged against him, the way proceeds to play him complete with over-the-top sounding typical hero-villain exchanges, was so corny and rote that I couldn’t take it seriously. I think that is part of what ultimately makes this series so, well, forgettable: it relies on very standard tropes, half-hearted and confused world-building, inconsistent and/or cookie-cutter characterization and character development, and slippery at best alliances and manipulations to get things done, to pin down a few. It is fluff reading that intentionally diverts course or waters down to trope-land any time anything serious starts to go down, and the characters are solidily two-dimensional even as they try to attach 3-dimensional aspects to them (which rarely if ever actually stick, as most of the time they revert back to the flattest 2D they ever were).
On the plus side, we got a long-overdue “sneak peek into the world of Coventry and magick” in this book – we get some family trees, information about the curse and a the prophecy of the grey eyes, who the goodies/baddies/questionable are, and quite a bit of herb/stone symbolism which to my untrained eye seem straight out of spirituality/Wiccan traditions. There is even a section on magick education on Coventry – and guess what, it exists!! Not only does it exist at the university level, but the section on it opens “In most instances, there are thirteen levels to a complete Coventry under-Initiate education” (bonus page 25) – so there is some official schooling prior to initiation! Schooling that Cam and Alex have had very little of; instead they were just given advanced tracker-level spells intended for one-time use. So how can they be even remotely ready for initiation when they have had virtually no actual lessons in magick? They’ve been flying by largely on instinct, luck, inherent magickal skills (premonitions, super-sight, super-hearing, mind-reading, that sort of thing) and occasional lucky breaks (aforementioned tracker-level spells). It just doesn’t make any sense. And that is a very big problem throughout this series: there’s not enough logic in the way the world is put together, and it’s not very believable.
Speaking of a lack of logic: last book we learned that Sersee was raised by a Protector, though it did not go well – but why would she have to be sent away from Coventry? She was not in any danger as the twins were. The twins being sent away makes sense, since it was to protect and hide them from Thantos. But Sersee? It was literally just a plot device as a counterpoint to Dave and Sarah’s successful raising of Cam and Alex, a plot device to create a Witch Hunter, and introduce how Sensitives can come to be. There was no logic to it.
In short, this lack of logic within book plots and across the series makes for a very shaky foundation of anything, does not allow for complex character development, and forget about it being believable or convincing. When I first started this re-read, I thought I’d keep the books for nostalgia’s sake, even though I don’t plan to read them again. This far in, I’m not even sure I want to keep them at all. Man, I really wish I remembered what I thought of it when I read it as a 12-14 year old, if I had nearly as many problems with its structure/logic/characterization/etc then as I do now. At any rate, I find it very unfortunate that this series not only does not hold up well 15 years later/as an adult, but that it barely holds up anything at all. My favorite part of this book was the pretty black-and-white illustrations of witches in the bonus content. Thanks goodness I only have one book left to go…
Continuity errors:
…when they’d found each other. Which was exactly one year ago today. July Fourth. – page 6 – see, I was right – they did meet in the summer! (unless this is an error in the story (again)?)
[Shane said,] “I gained your trust and led you to Sersee, who tried to kill you. There’s no pretty way of saying that.” – page 47 – If memory serves, wasn’t it more Sersee who lured Cam once she knew of her existence? Shane didn’t play much of an active role in all that that I could tell…
[Alex’s] most prized possession was a guitar, Dylan’s old one. Even her bike had been Cam’s castoff. – page 68 – The bike was Dylan’s first: “Pulling her bike, formerly his bike, out of the rack, [Alex] rolled her eyes.” (Building a Mystery page 67)
…did become aware of her inner slayer – and acted on it. – page 196 – intentional “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” reference…?
“In another year or so, my life as I’ve known it is going to change, anyway. My friends will all be gone, off to college – and I guess I will be, too.[”] – page 211 – except, the twins only just finished their sophomore year of high school, so the going off to college won’t happen for another two years.
Typo:
I can show you where were the best stuff is – page 83 – delete “were”
TelePrompTer – page 81 – Well I wasn’t sure this was the right capitalization for this word, but apparently that is the correct spelling/capitalization for the brand name, whereas the generic term is “teleprompter”
The big take away from this book, and how it is relatable to real life, is how you should trust your gut, think things through before making decisions, and be true to who you are – to not to take things at face value, nor get carried away on a wave without stopping to think about why you’re trying to ride it in the first place. If you don’t, you could end up getting into a bad situation, or worse, a dangerous situation. This book also serves to show how Cam and Alex, despite being different, also need each other very much. They balance each other out, and keep each other from acting too impulsively or irrationally in potentially dangerous situations.
I’ve found it interesting how for secondary characters and/or relationships, things happen in the background and we hear about how the status quo has changed. At the beginning of the series, Ileana just seemed to be an acquaintance-heading-towards-friend of Brice Stanley, but by The Witch Hunters she was his mysterious, rarely seen yet steady girlfriend. Back in book 3 Seeing is Deceiving, Beth was having a hard time at home because her parents were fighting – in this book (or maybe #8, the line between books is blurring a bit), her parents are mentioned as being separated/divorced. Also, last we saw Bree in book 5 Don’t Think Twice T*Witches, she was at a rehab center for her anorexia, but in The Witch Hunters suddenly she’s been released and has been back at school to finish out the year.
As for the antagonists of the series… Thantos has been the constant background antagonist, the evil villain, with a cycle of adversaries to face off against the twins. Early on it was often Fredo (acting at Thantos’ behest, basically), or everyday situations/people, or sporadically he-of-the-questionable-loyalties Shane, but these last few books have seen a trio of un-Initiated girls calling themselves the Furies playing an active antagonistic role. These Furies are Sersee, Michaelina and Epie, and while they start out acting on their own albeit also to get Thantos’ attention, in the last book Sersee successfully blackmailed Thantos and is basically his new tool to get at the twins. In all honesty, I found it rather unbelievable that Sersee could get to Thantos like that, in cleverness and in magick.
Then there’s Thantos himself: I really can’t tell if he’s supposed to come off as an actually complex character with his scattered approach to getting at or just plain getting the twins, his bouts of temper, his air of dark mystery, or if it’s just poor character development. Even unpredictable characters are supposed to have some sort of solid pattern to them, some steady logic behind their actions. And ones who are supposed to be successfully managing a multi-billion dollar tech corporation should definitely have some logic/pattern to their actions and reactions. Thantos has barely any of that. And the big reveal he makes , I figured out and have known since the very beginning. It certainly wasn’t anywhere near a surprise to me as a reader, though I guess for the girls it would be a surprise. Anyways, the way that reveal is then leveraged against him, the way proceeds to play him complete with over-the-top sounding typical hero-villain exchanges, was so corny and rote that I couldn’t take it seriously. I think that is part of what ultimately makes this series so, well, forgettable: it relies on very standard tropes, half-hearted and confused world-building, inconsistent and/or cookie-cutter characterization and character development, and slippery at best alliances and manipulations to get things done, to pin down a few. It is fluff reading that intentionally diverts course or waters down to trope-land any time anything serious starts to go down, and the characters are solidily two-dimensional even as they try to attach 3-dimensional aspects to them (which rarely if ever actually stick, as most of the time they revert back to the flattest 2D they ever were).
On the plus side, we got a long-overdue “sneak peek into the world of Coventry and magick” in this book – we get some family trees, information about the curse and a the prophecy of the grey eyes, who the goodies/baddies/questionable are, and quite a bit of herb/stone symbolism which to my untrained eye seem straight out of spirituality/Wiccan traditions. There is even a section on magick education on Coventry – and guess what, it exists!! Not only does it exist at the university level, but the section on it opens “In most instances, there are thirteen levels to a complete Coventry under-Initiate education” (bonus page 25) – so there is some official schooling prior to initiation! Schooling that Cam and Alex have had very little of; instead they were just given advanced tracker-level spells intended for one-time use. So how can they be even remotely ready for initiation when they have had virtually no actual lessons in magick? They’ve been flying by largely on instinct, luck, inherent magickal skills (premonitions, super-sight, super-hearing, mind-reading, that sort of thing) and occasional lucky breaks (aforementioned tracker-level spells). It just doesn’t make any sense. And that is a very big problem throughout this series: there’s not enough logic in the way the world is put together, and it’s not very believable.
Speaking of a lack of logic: last book we learned that Sersee was raised by a Protector, though it did not go well – but why would she have to be sent away from Coventry? She was not in any danger as the twins were. The twins being sent away makes sense, since it was to protect and hide them from Thantos. But Sersee? It was literally just a plot device as a counterpoint to Dave and Sarah’s successful raising of Cam and Alex, a plot device to create a Witch Hunter, and introduce how Sensitives can come to be. There was no logic to it.
In short, this lack of logic within book plots and across the series makes for a very shaky foundation of anything, does not allow for complex character development, and forget about it being believable or convincing. When I first started this re-read, I thought I’d keep the books for nostalgia’s sake, even though I don’t plan to read them again. This far in, I’m not even sure I want to keep them at all. Man, I really wish I remembered what I thought of it when I read it as a 12-14 year old, if I had nearly as many problems with its structure/logic/characterization/etc then as I do now. At any rate, I find it very unfortunate that this series not only does not hold up well 15 years later/as an adult, but that it barely holds up anything at all. My favorite part of this book was the pretty black-and-white illustrations of witches in the bonus content. Thanks goodness I only have one book left to go…
Continuity errors:
…when they’d found each other. Which was exactly one year ago today. July Fourth. – page 6 – see, I was right – they did meet in the summer! (unless this is an error in the story (again)?)
[Shane said,] “I gained your trust and led you to Sersee, who tried to kill you. There’s no pretty way of saying that.” – page 47 – If memory serves, wasn’t it more Sersee who lured Cam once she knew of her existence? Shane didn’t play much of an active role in all that that I could tell…
[Alex’s] most prized possession was a guitar, Dylan’s old one. Even her bike had been Cam’s castoff. – page 68 – The bike was Dylan’s first: “Pulling her bike, formerly his bike, out of the rack, [Alex] rolled her eyes.” (Building a Mystery page 67)
…did become aware of her inner slayer – and acted on it. – page 196 – intentional “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” reference…?
“In another year or so, my life as I’ve known it is going to change, anyway. My friends will all be gone, off to college – and I guess I will be, too.[”] – page 211 – except, the twins only just finished their sophomore year of high school, so the going off to college won’t happen for another two years.
Typo:
I can show you where were the best stuff is – page 83 – delete “were”
TelePrompTer – page 81 – Well I wasn’t sure this was the right capitalization for this word, but apparently that is the correct spelling/capitalization for the brand name, whereas the generic term is “teleprompter”
July 2, 2020
This was an excellent addition to the series! The character development and suspense were great. I can't wait to read the next book.
January 5, 2025
This one is very intense and feeds on the girls insecurities. In the end facing their insecurities and all the stuff they were put through helped them become stronger
October 15, 2018
Split Decision
The twins spend half of the summer break apart. Cameron (persuaded by an email from her wizard love Shane) makes a trip to Coventry. And Alex stays behind in Marble Bay to spend time with Cade (whose back). In Coventry Cam immediately feels at home with Miranda and the familiarity of sharing her father's bed. But when she explores (either her Father Aaron's or her uncle Thanatos's) room she finds an underground tunnel with a strange guy scribing something on paper. Later on while out with Shane she has a vision of herself drowning which comes true later when she meets up with rival Sersee and her gang. She's saved by Thantos and eventually finds out his motivation. Thantos wants he, her, and Miranda to be a family. And he's counting on Cam's vanity to be so focused on the riches, the power, and the popularity of being a princess that he can easily take over the family's business which legally belongs to the female heirs. Which Thantos produces a documentary (fake) claiming the oldest brother was named the heir. Meanwhile back in Marble Bay Alex also comes face to face with one of their rivals. Michelina (Lena?) Let's just call her Mich. Who despite her reluctance decides to give her the benefit of the doubt when she declares she's no longer part of Sersee's clique. But after being there a while Mich starts to show signs that maybe she hasn't changed as much as she claims when she leads Alex to an old graveyard to talk to "Sarah".
MY THOUGHTS: I thought Split Decision was good. In some of this book, some characters didn't fool me. I never trusted Sersee and frankly, I don't understand why Cam didn't put her faith more in her vision than her decision to follow Sersee. As soon as she saw there was a lake she should have said SEE YA! And got the hell out of there. Especially since she knew these girls weren't her friends. I don't know what to believe about Shane. He's shady. Sometimes he seems to be there. I do believe that he possibly could have been frozen in place so he couldn't help Cam. I believed he was there in the moment that he helped Cam get revenge. But then I didn't understand what he did to the red horse and the charm he wore and what that was all about. I don't understand that in the battle with Thantos he seems to still follow Thantos orders. And I don't know how to take that he snuck out. You might say that he wanted to escape Thantos so not to have to help Thantos, but I think you could also look it at like he's a coward and didn't want to take sides. I'm starting to think he's loyalty blows in whichever direction the wind blows. I liked how Cam, in the end, played Thantos just like her mom said in the movie "HONEY YOU JUST GOT PLAYED!" (and then laughs). Showing that she's more than just the shallow, figurehead, that Thantos thinks she is. And then there's also Alex who I can't believe didn't put the pieces together sooner either. At first, Mich seemed legit. But as soon as she noticed all those tell-tale signs that that wasn't Sarah. I guess this goes to show that sometimes we want to believe in something so badly from someone from hurt, or pain, or love that in our vulnerability we leave ourselves open for people to come in and take advantage of that. I also can't believe that Alex whose supposed to be "a good witch" let so many things slide that Mich does at the pizza place and not until she starts enhancing people's mental abilities to give them more money does she really say anything. I'm not a goody-goody by any means. Did those rude *** people in PIE IN THE SKY deserve some of that stuff? YES, THEY DID! But Alex (if she's portrayed to us as this symbol of "white magic") she can't really pick and choose to what degree the magic is used for bad before she steps in and does something about it.
RATING: 7
The twins spend half of the summer break apart. Cameron (persuaded by an email from her wizard love Shane) makes a trip to Coventry. And Alex stays behind in Marble Bay to spend time with Cade (whose back). In Coventry Cam immediately feels at home with Miranda and the familiarity of sharing her father's bed. But when she explores (either her Father Aaron's or her uncle Thanatos's) room she finds an underground tunnel with a strange guy scribing something on paper. Later on while out with Shane she has a vision of herself drowning which comes true later when she meets up with rival Sersee and her gang. She's saved by Thantos and eventually finds out his motivation. Thantos wants he, her, and Miranda to be a family. And he's counting on Cam's vanity to be so focused on the riches, the power, and the popularity of being a princess that he can easily take over the family's business which legally belongs to the female heirs. Which Thantos produces a documentary (fake) claiming the oldest brother was named the heir. Meanwhile back in Marble Bay Alex also comes face to face with one of their rivals. Michelina (Lena?) Let's just call her Mich. Who despite her reluctance decides to give her the benefit of the doubt when she declares she's no longer part of Sersee's clique. But after being there a while Mich starts to show signs that maybe she hasn't changed as much as she claims when she leads Alex to an old graveyard to talk to "Sarah".
MY THOUGHTS: I thought Split Decision was good. In some of this book, some characters didn't fool me. I never trusted Sersee and frankly, I don't understand why Cam didn't put her faith more in her vision than her decision to follow Sersee. As soon as she saw there was a lake she should have said SEE YA! And got the hell out of there. Especially since she knew these girls weren't her friends. I don't know what to believe about Shane. He's shady. Sometimes he seems to be there. I do believe that he possibly could have been frozen in place so he couldn't help Cam. I believed he was there in the moment that he helped Cam get revenge. But then I didn't understand what he did to the red horse and the charm he wore and what that was all about. I don't understand that in the battle with Thantos he seems to still follow Thantos orders. And I don't know how to take that he snuck out. You might say that he wanted to escape Thantos so not to have to help Thantos, but I think you could also look it at like he's a coward and didn't want to take sides. I'm starting to think he's loyalty blows in whichever direction the wind blows. I liked how Cam, in the end, played Thantos just like her mom said in the movie "HONEY YOU JUST GOT PLAYED!" (and then laughs). Showing that she's more than just the shallow, figurehead, that Thantos thinks she is. And then there's also Alex who I can't believe didn't put the pieces together sooner either. At first, Mich seemed legit. But as soon as she noticed all those tell-tale signs that that wasn't Sarah. I guess this goes to show that sometimes we want to believe in something so badly from someone from hurt, or pain, or love that in our vulnerability we leave ourselves open for people to come in and take advantage of that. I also can't believe that Alex whose supposed to be "a good witch" let so many things slide that Mich does at the pizza place and not until she starts enhancing people's mental abilities to give them more money does she really say anything. I'm not a goody-goody by any means. Did those rude *** people in PIE IN THE SKY deserve some of that stuff? YES, THEY DID! But Alex (if she's portrayed to us as this symbol of "white magic") she can't really pick and choose to what degree the magic is used for bad before she steps in and does something about it.
RATING: 7
February 10, 2016
Alex and Cam are busy. Cam is in Coventry with Shane, a warlock and someone she is attracted to despite his earlier betrayal of her.
Alex is in Marble Bay with her boyfriend, Cade. As usual, they are the target of beings who would use their powers for evil purposes.
(One thing I am somewhat confused about. Since Shane had already caused Cam quite a bit of trouble, yet she still found herself drawn to him, isn't there a spell she could do on herself that would, at least temporarily, nullify any physical attraction and allow her to see and judge him as objectively as possible? Just to be on the safe side?)
Cam is having some trouble on the island, running into a strange warlock, her old enemy Sersee, and various other problems.
Alex gets a job at a pizza parlor. Meanwhile, Cam nearly dies after Sersee, Shane and others spring a trap on her. She's rescued by Thantos (a little too conveniently, for my tastes.)
Alex sees what is supposedly her mother and is told to leave Salem and return to Montana. She realizes, though, that the whole thing is a setup, including Shane acting like he likes Cam.
There's a major confrontation in Thantos' castle, with his causing Cam to become blind. Even more of the extent of Thantos' evil is revealed.
There is an additional section in the book, The Coventry Island Almanac. It includes a history of the island and how it was founded, information on people who live there, both good and bad, and basic information on certain aspects of Wicca.
Alex is in Marble Bay with her boyfriend, Cade. As usual, they are the target of beings who would use their powers for evil purposes.
(One thing I am somewhat confused about. Since Shane had already caused Cam quite a bit of trouble, yet she still found herself drawn to him, isn't there a spell she could do on herself that would, at least temporarily, nullify any physical attraction and allow her to see and judge him as objectively as possible? Just to be on the safe side?)
Cam is having some trouble on the island, running into a strange warlock, her old enemy Sersee, and various other problems.
Alex gets a job at a pizza parlor. Meanwhile, Cam nearly dies after Sersee, Shane and others spring a trap on her. She's rescued by Thantos (a little too conveniently, for my tastes.)
Alex sees what is supposedly her mother and is told to leave Salem and return to Montana. She realizes, though, that the whole thing is a setup, including Shane acting like he likes Cam.
There's a major confrontation in Thantos' castle, with his causing Cam to become blind. Even more of the extent of Thantos' evil is revealed.
There is an additional section in the book, The Coventry Island Almanac. It includes a history of the island and how it was founded, information on people who live there, both good and bad, and basic information on certain aspects of Wicca.
November 25, 2017
Shocking secrets come to light at last as readers discover Thantos's true nature, leaving the twins to deal with family drama, sinister death traps, and the loss of their magick without each other.
Alex and Cam haven't really been apart since Alex first showed up on her sister's doorstep in book one. Now for the first time, the Twitches are doing their own thing. Alex is figuring out her relationship with Cade and Cam, recently split-up with Jason, is lonely enough to fall for another one of Shane's romantic tricks.
So Cam ends up on Coventry Island to deal with not only Shane, but also Sersee and her friends, Miranda and a very angry Ileana. Thantos tries to lure her in with promises of power and a family, with one exception: Alex isn't part of the picture.
Alex herself has fallen into Michealina's spell - one that promises she'll see Sara again - and finds herself wondering if things would be better if she went back to Montana. Which is exactly how Thantos wants her to feel.
This book has a big "finding myself" kind of theme as the twins discover what life could mean for themselves without the interference of the other sister. The last eight books have tested their powers and now it's time to test their mettle and inner strength.
So overall, I really liked it and am ready for the finale.
Alex and Cam haven't really been apart since Alex first showed up on her sister's doorstep in book one. Now for the first time, the Twitches are doing their own thing. Alex is figuring out her relationship with Cade and Cam, recently split-up with Jason, is lonely enough to fall for another one of Shane's romantic tricks.
So Cam ends up on Coventry Island to deal with not only Shane, but also Sersee and her friends, Miranda and a very angry Ileana. Thantos tries to lure her in with promises of power and a family, with one exception: Alex isn't part of the picture.
Alex herself has fallen into Michealina's spell - one that promises she'll see Sara again - and finds herself wondering if things would be better if she went back to Montana. Which is exactly how Thantos wants her to feel.
This book has a big "finding myself" kind of theme as the twins discover what life could mean for themselves without the interference of the other sister. The last eight books have tested their powers and now it's time to test their mettle and inner strength.
So overall, I really liked it and am ready for the finale.
August 30, 2017
Early 20s me: 5 stars
Adult me: 5 stars
*For the first book in a "child/teen/middlegrade/nostalgic" book, I am going with the rating younger me would have gone with, then if I read on in the series, I will rate the books what adult me believes it should be rated. If the book is a stand alone, I will go with whatever rating I feel most comfortable giving the book. Please note, I do not really think books should have an age limit. People should read what they want to regardless of the intended age group, except for kids reading erotica or something, of course.*
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I really liked this as a teen (I was 20 by the 9th book) and I have not read it as an adult yet, but I would like to believe that my feelings and rating would be the same. I will see upon a reread.
Adult me: 5 stars
*For the first book in a "child/teen/middlegrade/nostalgic" book, I am going with the rating younger me would have gone with, then if I read on in the series, I will rate the books what adult me believes it should be rated. If the book is a stand alone, I will go with whatever rating I feel most comfortable giving the book. Please note, I do not really think books should have an age limit. People should read what they want to regardless of the intended age group, except for kids reading erotica or something, of course.*
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I really liked this as a teen (I was 20 by the 9th book) and I have not read it as an adult yet, but I would like to believe that my feelings and rating would be the same. I will see upon a reread.
November 23, 2011
I'm still frustrated by the fact that the punishment for attempted murder on this island is community service. Other than that, I liked how the book delved into relationships more like Cam's and Alex's. I'm also relieved that
October 26, 2009
I read all these books about 4ish years ago (I think). It was right after the last one came out..anyways, they are WAY better than the movie!
September 12, 2014
i love this book it is a very good book i might read it again.
May 24, 2021
Official Rating:
5/5 stars 🌟
5/5 stars 🌟
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