When I started reviewing this series, many people expressed excitement for me reaching the final two books. Well, we have gone through the third book and now we will see whether the fourth and final book completes the story and lives up to our collective nostalgia.
Stacey and her friends have finally begun their freshman year of college, but Stacey is still grieving for what she lost over the summer. She keeps having dreams that may point to her friend still being alive, but she cannot quite pin them down. It’s only when her college’s president calls on her to help his daughter Porsha that Stacey begins to understand what her dreams are about, and what connection Porsha may have to this mystery.
I find it interesting how Stacey goes from secretly protecting her friends to pretty much being a freelance witch/detective. Her heroics over the last three books have reached people well outside her circle, which leads to a college president asking her for help—almost becoming a client for her magical services.
At first, I thought it was weird that a college president would seek out a teenage girl for help in a high-stakes situation. But I suppose when you’ve exhausted all other sources, this girl has proved her prowess time and again, and she happens to be your daughter’s age, you don’t have much choice.
If Stacey was lonely in the third book, she is at breaking point here. Separated from her friends, dealing with nightmares and immense grief, and trying to pass college is an isolating experience for her. But once again, her friends prove their loyalty and they stage an intervention when Stacey becomes dependent on tranquilizer pills: a far cry from where they were in the first book, frankly. At one point, Stacey asks Amber if she can borrow her car in the middle of the night to follow a lead from a nightmare, and Amber barely asks any questions; she even hands over her cell phone and asks for updates. Amber has really grown on me now.
We also get a parallel story from the perspective of a boy named Shell, who lives in an isolated cult—ahem, I mean, community of other people. He has no memory of his life before the community, and he knows there is something more for him out there. If only it wasn’t highly discouraged, and possibly dangerous, for people to leave. We get a strong sense of danger about the commune up front, and we know that Stacey helping Porsha will also help Shell get out of there.
I’ll just say up front that the first time through, I did not see the twist of this book coming. I was so caught up in Stacey and Shell’s stories that I gawked at the twist, at once so shocked and so relieved that I remember where I was when it happened. At the time, it might even have been one of the most romantic, satisfying moments I’d ever read. Not quite so much now, but still.
I didn’t even realize the significance of Shell’s name: that because he has no memories, he is a shell of his former self. Clever.
I’m not sure we could have asked for a better finale to this series. The characters were developed well, the story was exciting, and I think this series reached the perfect length. It would be cool if the author wrote another book with Stacey and her friends as adults solving mysteries, but this story is good the way it is.
In all, if you want to return to the seeming simplicity of the early 2000s, with an edgy, if cheesy, vibe, this series is good for a dreary day. I’m disappointed it never got adapted into a melodramatic TV series during its prime. Despite the on-off annoying characters, I did still enjoy the story and the Wiccan aspects were fun, so this series will probably remain in my library for the next time I need a magical, nostalgic, early 2000s dip.
The Library Key 