The Secret Circle: the Divide Book Summary and Study Guide

There is a festival every year that starts of the spring season. Everything is going great for Cassie, then a new girl Scarlett shows up in town. She is known as an outsider by everyone there in town. A few hours after Cassie has been hanging out with Scarlett something bad happens that changes everything. Constance, which is Melanie's aunt, who has been teaching the circle new spells and what not has seemed to just pass away without any cause.

A few days passes and the circle decides to do a spell to bring Constance back from the dead. To be able to do that they need the book of shadows and the Master Tools. Before the spell doesn't work, Cassie notices that there is symbol on Constance head. Its a W in an octagon shape. After the spell doesn't work Cassie tells her mother went wrong. Her mother tells her that the W in the octagon shape is actually the symbol for Witch Hunters.

The next day she tells the circle about the symbol and Diana, one of the leaders of the circle, does a protection spell on everyone. But one of the things that the protection spell entails is that no one in the circle can talk to outsiders. That includes Scarlett and Max. Max is the new principle's son that Faye seems to be crushing over. After Cassie has started talking to Nick, who is another circle member a really fast storm seems to roll in. But its not actually a storm its a spell done by that witch hunters. When the lighting strikes do not hit Cassie or Nick, the spell lifts up so fast that is was as if Cassie and Nick just imagined it. After they go through that, Cassie and Nick go to the circle and they go to the Light House, which happens to be their meeting place. Only to find out that the light house has been burnt to ashes. But they find out that a witch hunter has put their symbol in the ground in the ruins.

They decide to go to Diana's house and she finds a witch hunter curse in her book of shadows. Which means that if the witch hunter tries to put a spell on a witch or try to kill them, it will back fire on the witch hunter. They decide to do the spell on Scarlett, even though Cassie really doesn't want to, but goes anyways. As they are doing the spell Scarlett shows them she is a witch herself, but has also been branded with the witch hunter symbol herself. Also Cassie finds out that Scarlett is actually her half sister. They have to same father.

A few days later Scarlett is supposed to meet up with Cassie and her boyfriend Adam, but doesn't show. Later that night Cassie has a dream that Scarlett is captured by the witch hunters and is being tortured. So Cassie tells the circle and they decide to do a locator spell. A locator spell is done to find who or what ever you are looking for. They decide to do the locator spell under the bleachers at the track meet, that way the witch hunters can not track where they are. After the locator spell is done, they hear a piercing scream and go to see what has happened. They see that a girl has been branded with the symbol and is now dead.

After they get back to Diana's house they decide that going after Scarlett is to much of a risk to take now. But Cassie decides she needs to go after Scarlett herself then. Cassie decides that she needs the Master Tools to do it. So she sneaks into Diana's room and gets the diadem from its hiding spot. Then later that night she goes to Faye's house and sneaks in to take the garter. Cassie already has the bracelet at her place. After Cassie gets the Master Tools she then goes to Cape Cod to rescue Scarlett.

After she gets to the house that the locator spell showed her, she finds out that Scarlett is actually just fine. That Scarlett is the one that set the trap. Cassie finds out that Scarlett does black magic and that she only came to New Salem to take her rightful place in the head of the circle, were Cassie has taken place. The only way that Scarlett can take Cassie's place is by killing her.

Scarlett sets the house on fire and is able to walk through the fire without even a hint of being hurt. All thanks to black magic. But Cassie is able to burn Scarlett with the fire with summoning her dark energy within that she has never really done. After Scarlett makes Cassie almost defenseless, Cassie remembers the rock that Adam gave to he when they first got together. The rock is so that if she is in trouble, all she has to do is squeeze it and think of Adam and he will be there. After Cassie gets out of the daze she is in she notices that everyone, including Adam is there. But no one can use their magic, because you can only do black magic in that place. So after Scarlett puts a spell on all of the circle and takes off, Cassie takes the spell off of them. They realize that the only way she was able to do it was by black magic.

After the circle gets to Diana's house to find out what happened at the house before the circle got to Cassie. But when Faye walks in Cassie notices the new necklace that Faye is wearing. That Max has given her. But it bugs Cassie that she asks Faye to see it and notices that now Faye has been marked with the symbol.

After Cassie comes home, Cassie decides to tell her mother everything. Cassie's mother then decides its time that Cassie have Black John's book of shadows. Cassie isn't really sure why she has Black John's book of shadows. But Cassie's mother tells her the only way she will be able to even defeat Scarlett is by knowing what is in Black John's book of shadows.

Best part of story, including ending: I hated that even though she had moved to a new town, she was known as a witch as was only excepted because of that.

Best scene in story: My favorite scene in the whole story is when Cassie faces off Scarlett and uses her own black magic against her.

Opinion about the main character: I like that the main character sees herself as a typical teenager, and tries to live that way, even though she is a witch in a Secret Circle.