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michelejenn's review
4.0
The Nitty-Gritty:
This fast-paced story is begging to be a movie. One part Percy Jackson, one part Divergent, one part Harry Potter, and two parts something all its own, this book is action-packed and vibrantly written. We’ve got the chosen-one trope, a magic school hidden from the rest of the world, and the discovery of a group of people with specialized improbable powers. It’s everything you know you love, all with a cast of main characters firmly in that middle-school age range that seems to be so hard to find.
My one issue with this book was the pacing. We start out a little slow, and then it really picks up at around the 100 page point. At that point, I really didn’t want to put the book down – I kept on thinking about what was happening in the story and every time I stopped reading I felt like I was just waiting for the moment that I could pick the book back up. But thinking back on the book, it honestly felt like two or three books worth of plot crammed into one. There were 3 very distinct acts that could have been their own book. The end result feels a little like the author wasn’t sure whether or not he was going to get a deal for the sequel, so he tried to get all the pertinent world-building information out in this first book.
That said, I fully intend to purchase this book for my classroom library. I already have three students in mind for this story.
The Verdict:
Perfect for readers who have finished Harry Potter and Percy Jackson and just need more vibrant world-building, action-packed, chosen-one stories.
This fast-paced story is begging to be a movie. One part Percy Jackson, one part Divergent, one part Harry Potter, and two parts something all its own, this book is action-packed and vibrantly written. We’ve got the chosen-one trope, a magic school hidden from the rest of the world, and the discovery of a group of people with specialized improbable powers. It’s everything you know you love, all with a cast of main characters firmly in that middle-school age range that seems to be so hard to find.
My one issue with this book was the pacing. We start out a little slow, and then it really picks up at around the 100 page point. At that point, I really didn’t want to put the book down – I kept on thinking about what was happening in the story and every time I stopped reading I felt like I was just waiting for the moment that I could pick the book back up. But thinking back on the book, it honestly felt like two or three books worth of plot crammed into one. There were 3 very distinct acts that could have been their own book. The end result feels a little like the author wasn’t sure whether or not he was going to get a deal for the sequel, so he tried to get all the pertinent world-building information out in this first book.
That said, I fully intend to purchase this book for my classroom library. I already have three students in mind for this story.
The Verdict:
Perfect for readers who have finished Harry Potter and Percy Jackson and just need more vibrant world-building, action-packed, chosen-one stories.
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