I love this series. This book took me a while to finish but I'm pretty sure it has had more to do with my currently chaotic life than anything negative to do with the book.

The only thing I can really say about this one is how can they not see who the culprit is? I saw it in the last book lol. ( )

I really got annoyed throughout this book. Alisa really was hard on Morgan. I also thought the whole problem with Alisa was dropped towards the end of the story. I am hoping some light is shed in the next book. I was really waiting for it to come out that Alisa had powers or something. It just didn't make sense at the end about Morgan and Alisa. ( )

The first 2-3 books in this series are addictive, a fresh "modern-teen" POV in the tired genre of witches/kids with supernatural powers finding themselves (and the wonder of Wicca) among families/communities who "don't get it".

After #3, it goes downhill. There is no psychological development of the main characters (and the secondary characters are quite shallowly described and hard to distinguish throughout the series; even the more promising and believable ones, BFFs Bree & Robbie are essentially dropped from the books by #4) a lot of the narrative suspenseful points are all "tell" and no "show", the conclusions are hurried and tied up nicely--except for a minimum of predictable suspense that the publisher made you have to draw people through the series. Also, each book is so short, (it's like a single chapter of a Harry Potter) that the narrative arc is predictable and hasty, and makes one wonder if these were paid by the book, or that the series was extended way beyond what should have been its natural life span by the publisher, or what.

It's no Harry Potter, that's for sure. Apart from the above flaws, here's no humor (unless you count Morgan's drinking Diet Coke all the time, which gets tired really fast) and no writing good enough to be enjoyed by adults as well (a sure sign of a good children's book).

Also there's way too much touchy-feely Wicca rituals and pseudo Gaelic chanting, which is not well enough written to be convincing and also gets tiresome.
( )

Morgan struggles to keep both her old life and her wicca life, while losing neither one, but it gets harder and harder to do so when she's in constant danger. Not only does she have to worry about keeping her powers under control and not using them in ways that would be consider dangerous, she also has to worry about dark witches coming after her.

In order to help Morgan, the Witches Council sends a healer named, Erin, to assist in helping Morgan learn to defend herself against dark magic. But Erin doesn't get much of a chance to teach Morgan anything. Not when it appears that Morgan's magic is having uncontrollable outbursts that results in objects flying around the room and bookcases collapsing down on people. Morgan doesn't believe it's her, but who else could it be? She first believes it's her father, Ciaran, but the council says he's in Spain and that telekinesis needs proximity. When everyone becomes scared of the uncontrollable magic, especially Alisa, Erin convinces Morgan that they have no choice but to bind Morgan's powers, at least until she learned better control. When her power's have been bound, Morgan feels hollow and has a constant headache that won't go away. She feels incomplete.

When uncontrollable magic still continues to go on, even after Morgan's power has been bound, Erin and witch's council have no choice but to think it from another source- Ciaran. After unbinding Morgan's power, Erin leads the group in a spell that she learned from a dark magic book, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

The spell works and Ciaran is captured by the seekers, but something unexpected happens. Objects are still moving without cause. Morgan tries to think that it's just a coincidence, but in the world of magic there is one thing that you learn- there are no coincidences.

Morgan doesn't have much time to dwell on the matter, because she learns that Hunter, the love of her life- her soul-mate, is leaving for Canada in search of his parents. A fact that scares her completely, because she's not certain that he'll ever come back.

Strife is the ninth book to the Sweep series by Cate Tiernan. It's just as powerful and intriguing as the previous books. The life of Morgan Rowlands is captivating as it's enchanting. This novel will put your detective skills to the test to discover the mystery of what really is happening to the characters. ( )

Strange things are happening around Morgan. Is she being attacked or is she somehow causing the events herself? All the stress is starting to show in her grades and her teachers and family are concerned. As always, Hunter is at her side, but she is also afraid that he will leave her to search for his mother and father.

Well, these books just keep sucking me in. I love them even though I still get so annoyed at Morgan. She is such a ... well, teenage girl. Can't wait to see what is going on with the new girl, Alisa. ( )