For 15-year-old Ryiah,
the choice has always been easy. Become a warrior and leave the boring
confines of her lowborn life behind. Set to enroll in the School of
Knighthood on the eve of her next birthday, plans suddenly shift when
her twin brother discovers powers. Hoping that hers will soon follow,
she enrolls with Alex at the Academy instead -the realm's most notorious
war school for those with magic. Yet when she arrives, Ry finds
herself competing against friend and foe for one of the exalted
apprenticeships. Every "first-year" is given a trial year to prove their
worth -and no amount of hard work and drive will guarantee them a spot.
It seems like everyone is rooting for her to fail -and first and
foremost among them Prince Darren, the school prodigy who has done
nothing but make life miserable since she arrived. When an
accidental encounter leads Ryiah and Darren to an unlikely friendship,
she is convinced nothing good will come of it. But the lines become
blurred when she begins to improve -and soon she is a key competitor for
the faction of Combat... Still, nothing is ever as it seems -and when
the world comes crashing down around her, Ry is forced to place faith in
the one thing she can believe in -herself. Will it be enough? (Goodreads)
Review by Natalie
*rubs hands together*
Let's begin, shall we?
THE FIRST YEAR starts out fast and continues that pacing for the remainder of the book, which I appreciate immensely. I started it and before I knew it I was 60 pages in with a crazed look of sleep deprivation on my face, but did that make me go to sleep? Nope, I had too much anticipation to keep reading. Which carried through into the school day where my Nook's battery died and killed a part of my soul in the process. Thank God for rechargeable batteries.
Anyway.
Ryiah and her twin Alex set out to attend the Academy, a school for mages. Before you can really "attend" the school though, you have to pass the first year where they pick 15 students from a group of, well, more than 15 students.
I love the way the author used the concept of magic and mages. I thought it was original and her writing was extremely believable because WHEW, the way the teachers worked the students at the Academy made my heart beat fast and feel as if I had just run their workout course. It was brutal. The workouts were crazy, and it didn't help that Darren had to go and piss me off time and time again. Darren. I wanna talk about Darren.YOU probably want me to talk about Darren. Fine, I will. What can I say? I'm a people pleaser. ;)
That is, after I talk about Ryiah (mwauhahaha got you didn't I?)
Ryiah, the main character, is great. She's completely hot headed and gets herself into all kinds of crap, but she's endearingly rash. And I loved that the author never cut her a break. Nothing came easy to Ryiah, making her work for everything. And when I say everything I mean everything. She had GREAT character growth, it was completely realistic. I can't wait to see her in the next book. It's gon' be good!
Now we can talk about Darren. You're welcome.
Darren is the younger son of the King of Jerar, the non-heir as he's sometimes referred to. How to describe this boy?
*taps chin in deep thought*
He's broody. (Aren't all the good ones, though)
He's a prince. (Therefore capable of fulfilling your(my) Kate Middleton dreams)
He's freaken powerful. See that charred tree over there? Yup, he smoked that. Cuz he's powerful. A prodigy to be exact. True story.
He's....he's... frustrating . So wishy washy in his feelings. But, like I said, aren't all the good ones. And Ryiah certainly didn't help with her impulsiveness to certain situations. (What situations you ask? Entertaining ones. And get your mind out of the gutter, not that kind. Well, not ALL that kind)
But yeah, I like Darren. He pissed me off. But he's a cutie underneath it all, I can tell. (*taps head* I'm psychic)
My only problem with this book was the world building. I understand that the story was set solely at the Academy and we'll probably get to learn the world in the sequels, but I don't know anything about Jerar outside of the Academy.
Happy Reading!!!
Market: Young Adult
Let's begin, shall we?
THE FIRST YEAR starts out fast and continues that pacing for the remainder of the book, which I appreciate immensely. I started it and before I knew it I was 60 pages in with a crazed look of sleep deprivation on my face, but did that make me go to sleep? Nope, I had too much anticipation to keep reading. Which carried through into the school day where my Nook's battery died and killed a part of my soul in the process. Thank God for rechargeable batteries.
Anyway.
Ryiah and her twin Alex set out to attend the Academy, a school for mages. Before you can really "attend" the school though, you have to pass the first year where they pick 15 students from a group of, well, more than 15 students.
I love the way the author used the concept of magic and mages. I thought it was original and her writing was extremely believable because WHEW, the way the teachers worked the students at the Academy made my heart beat fast and feel as if I had just run their workout course. It was brutal. The workouts were crazy, and it didn't help that Darren had to go and piss me off time and time again. Darren. I wanna talk about Darren.YOU probably want me to talk about Darren. Fine, I will. What can I say? I'm a people pleaser. ;)
That is, after I talk about Ryiah (mwauhahaha got you didn't I?)
Ryiah, the main character, is great. She's completely hot headed and gets herself into all kinds of crap, but she's endearingly rash. And I loved that the author never cut her a break. Nothing came easy to Ryiah, making her work for everything. And when I say everything I mean everything. She had GREAT character growth, it was completely realistic. I can't wait to see her in the next book. It's gon' be good!
Now we can talk about Darren. You're welcome.
Darren is the younger son of the King of Jerar, the non-heir as he's sometimes referred to. How to describe this boy?
*taps chin in deep thought*
He's broody. (Aren't all the good ones, though)
He's a prince. (Therefore capable of fulfilling your(my) Kate Middleton dreams)
He's freaken powerful. See that charred tree over there? Yup, he smoked that. Cuz he's powerful. A prodigy to be exact. True story.
He's....he's... frustrating . So wishy washy in his feelings. But, like I said, aren't all the good ones. And Ryiah certainly didn't help with her impulsiveness to certain situations. (What situations you ask? Entertaining ones. And get your mind out of the gutter, not that kind. Well, not ALL that kind)
But yeah, I like Darren. He pissed me off. But he's a cutie underneath it all, I can tell. (*taps head* I'm psychic)
My only problem with this book was the world building. I understand that the story was set solely at the Academy and we'll probably get to learn the world in the sequels, but I don't know anything about Jerar outside of the Academy.
Happy Reading!!!
Market: Young Adult
Language: Mild
Sensuality:
Mild
Violence:
Mild
Mature
Themes: One slight rape attempt, but it was over before anything could happen
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