Reviews

Hallowed Circle by Linda Robertson

loveinpanels's review against another edition

4.0

Every bit as good as the first one! I really liked the world-building in this book, as it helped me understand how magic works in Persephone's world.

Fun, exciting, engaging, hard to put down.

pacey1927's review against another edition

4.0

I looked forward to this book ever since I read the first book "Viscious Circle" on a whim. The supporting characters drew me in immediately, especially werewolf, band-leader Johnny. I also loved that Persephone took in orphaned Beverly and her elderly and sharp tongued grandmother. "Hallowed Circle" was another great installment. Persephone is running for the high priestess or coven leader, mostly as a favor to a friend and she has no desire to win. She just wants to make sure the coven doesn't get another horrible leader. The book really felt like it read in three parts to me. The first part showed her day to day life with Grandma and Beverly. More so, it focused on her growing relationship with Johnny. The second part of the book was the grit of the story, the competition for coven leader. Here we are introduced to a handful of new characters, including the Elderenne who has some kind of connection to vampire Menessos, and Hunter, the snooty, know it all who is Seph's biggest competition. The tests the girls go through are all interesting in their own right and I really enjoyed seeing what happened, especially when the power went out and bodies start being discovered. However, this was a long stretch of the book where we don't see are supporting characters, and I kind of missed them there. I think they really add a lot to this series. The final part of the book resolves some of the threads from the first two parts. Johnny and Seph have to figure out what is going on with them, the coven leader is named and there is an interesting conflict at the end which sets up a great plot for future stories. I really enjoyed this book. Linda Robertson writes a well crafted story and her characters are definitely the life force behind it. I saw a lot of similarities between the first book and other Urban Fantasy series out there but in this second book Robertson proves her series is unique. I will definitely be continuing on with this series.

jadeshea's review against another edition

3.0

Hallowed Circle is the second book in the Persephone Alcmedi series. And it begins when Seph is nominated to become the high priestess of the local witch coven. But the thing is she has way too much on her plate to actually win the testing, but when it looks like the other contestants won't be able to do good enough, she's going to go in and try to change the outcome. However, she didn't expect her vampire to show up, nor did she expect her relationship with Johnny to change, but alas it happened. Now, she must deal with everything all at once before it is too late.

This book was pretty interesting. It had a lot of action and drama in it. But I felt like I was missing some of Seph's emotions during the book. I could feel some of them, but not all, even though it seemed like she was trying to make herself emotionless in some ways.

So, overall the book was okay. It was a nice second addition to the series, and it kind of lets us know where Seph is at with everything going on, and what may happen from now on.

thenia's review against another edition

3.0

This is the second part of Persephone's story, where she gets involved in something she hates, politics. In an effort to keep a bully from becoming High Priestess of the nearby coven, Persephone reluctantly agrees to accept her nomination, despite the various reasons why she shouldn't.

After the events of the previous book (which I can't say I remember all that much after so much time has passed since I read it), she is

Spoiler

bonded to a powerful vampire-wizard, Menessos, is in the first stages of a relationship with Johnny, an alpha werewolf, and holds the role of Lustrata, which she knows very little about

.

As the story progresses, she comes to term with most of her reservations regarding a number of issues, takes part in the tests for the next witch High Priestess and

Spoiler

starts a romantic relationship with Johnny that isn't all sunshine and roses.

She ends up the runner up for the High Priestess position, which works out great for her, since she didn't want the position in the first place, but which gave her the chance to influence the new High Priestess in a good way, and discovers that the the new High Priestess is not nearly as bad as she first appeared. She also becomes member of the secret coven of the Eldrenne, the eldest and most powerful of the witch elders, discovers the truth about her bond with Menessos and fully accepts her role as Lustrata, before starting a war between the witches and the fairies in an effort to save her foster daughter's life and gaining a number of allies for the upcoming war

.

This is a straight up urban fantasy book, and although there's nothing really wrong with it, I just wasn't feeling it, which is why it took me so long to finish.

The series continues with [b:Fatal Circle|7101579|Fatal Circle (Persephone Alcmedi, #3)|Linda Robertson|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1308254446s/7101579.jpg|7359553] where Persephone's adventures continue.

Previous book reviews:
✦ Vicious Circle (Persephone Alcmedi #1) ~ ★★★ (05/10/13)

kyleemccarthy's review against another edition

4.0

I dont know what it is about these books but they are hitting all the right buttons for me. These books are super addicting.

quietbookbird's review against another edition

3.0

I liked this story for the most part- the idea of the competition for high priestess was a good one, and there was excellent mystery and drama. Still- the ideology grates. Characters make high and mighty speeches that seem silly in the context, and I often don't follow the logic on the Lustrata thing. Why is Seph the Lustrata? Why MUST she do this and this and this? Plus, we get some poems and lyrics thrown in there- usually I would love this, but they were really really bad. Horrifying. And for a modern book from a seemingly young author, it feels dated. There were some power outages and the characters kept talking about "the electric". ELECTRICITY. It's not that hard (or is this an American cultural thing I've misread?). And Johnny's innuendo was really lame (btw, I keep remembering things that annoy me every time I hit "save" onnthe review. Bad sign! A mildly interesting, easy read, but with some annoyances that spoiled it for me.

moondance120's review against another edition

4.0

It has been some time since I read the first book in the series so it took a little reading to get back into the characters and figure out what was going on.

Persephone (Seph) Alcmedi has been asked to compete for the high priestess position left vacant by Vivian Diamond who has mysteriously disappeared. Persephone must keep secret what she knows about Vivian. Seph has also acquired her grandmother, a child left orphaned by Vivian and a hunky werewolf. To add to her plate, she is the Lustrata, carries the stain of a powerful vampire and has ticked off the fae.

There are a lot of characters and situations that will not make sense if you have not read the first book. The story moves quickly and mostly confusion free. I hope to see the relationship between Seph and Johnny grow in the coming books.

vailynst's review against another edition

3.0

Maybe I won't write a review...

Just some notes:

Good book for progression and growth & describing it for Seph. The action sucks. Not too fond of the overly descriptive manner of certain parts of the book. Comes off as clinical, rather than as a part of the story. Not sure if I'm into what Seph has become or accepted. Johnny is still hot. Vamps are in standby.

lessharper's review

4.0

There is a lot to like about this book- strong female characters, interesting side characters, interesting if typical magic system, and a likable main character. Persephone is a likable lead character. She's not harsh or mean. Sure she's a little shut off but she's also caring and sensitive. She's also a badass gifted with some preternatural strength.

The writing is solid but a great deal of the future of the book is telegraphed, so you know what is going to happen and can even guess when and where.

There are some things to not like too-

riding on brooms and pointy hats during ceremonies

as well as the age old trope of weres, vamps, and witches coming out into the open and the fight for equality with humans. SIGH. I do like that the vamps are dangerous and assumed evil, even if they are sexy.

One of the comments compares this to Anita Blake and the triumvirate. Yes there is a were and vamp involved in her becoming the Lustrata, the big difference is that

they serve Persephone and she is not in service to them.

Of course we'll see if that is the case in the later books or if Seph will go full Anita and engage in kinky three ways with her vamp and were.