The two in the first book share a growing friendship, that throughout the trilogy becomes increasingly intimate. The two discover that they are part of a group of witches who have to figure out their powers so that they can save their town from the evil that always seems to lurk in a small town.

On the other side of town is Vanessa, the popular and pretty blonde in a push-up-bra who is slutshamed by her peers.

The two characters relationship that struck my closeted heart at the time was the drugged up emo chick, Linnéa who’s plagued by an alcholic father the fear of her social worker relocating her and the abrupt loss of a friend. In 2016 when I moved to the US to study at Mount Holyoke College, I noticed that the popularity of these books had not made it over to the States and outside of Europe. A story about female witches that were not defined by their love interests but paved the way for their own narratives including queer ones, had blazed through Europe and Sweden and into my lap. The same year it came out it was nominated for the Swedish August Prize for Youth Literature, and it has since been sold in over 30 countries including the UK and Germany, and translated into at least 25 languages. The books became an overnight success in Sweden and the authors Sara Bergmark Elfgren and Mats Strandberg received billowing praise from Swedish critics. It wouldn’t be until a couple years later, after having read the other two books in the series ( Fire and The Key) and a collection of other queer books that I came out to my dad while brushing my teeth. That had been the fastest I had ever read a book. As I began reading this rather large 500 page book I found myself swallowed by it, and for a week I could do nothing but read about the witches until I had reached the last page. A book about strong female witches possessing magical powers with deep connections to each other, some a little more than friends and everyone I knew was talking about it. He told me I could pick out any book but he wanted me to try to finish it even if I did so at my pace.Ī new book for teens had just come out called Cirkeln or The Circle. I had always been a slow reader so my dad was testing out options to get me to read more. My dad sitting opposite me pulls an ebook out of his bag.

Back in the summer of 2011, an awkward 14 year old me was sitting on the Stockholm City Commuter rail writhing in the heat as the train headed north towards Solna, soon to be entranced by a pair of queer witches.

The Circle by Mats Strandberg