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| I'm guessing this hunk on the cover is Darren... yum! |
Title: First Year
Author: Rachel E. Carter
Page count: Ebook, 278 pages
Publishing Date: August 2014
Publisher: Astraea Press
My rating: 4/5 stars!
Blurb:
Before the age of seventeen the young men and women of Jerar are given a choice –follow tradition, or pursue a trial year in one of the realm’s three war schools to study as a soldier, knight or mage…
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?
If any of you guys know me really well, you know that I absolutely LOVE Damon Salvatore. I love him in the book series (well, before L.J. Smith was wrongfully taken from the series because after that I stopped reading them) as well as CW's television show The Vampire Diaries. I've always loved Damon and the lovely Ian Somerhalder. *drools* Anyways, when I saw that people were comparing Prince Darren in the book First Year to Damon Salvatore, I was really interested. I've been wanting to read First Year for quite a while now, but it wasn't until the author, Rachel Carter, contacted me to see if I wanted to read it that I really got excited. I immediately excepted and now here I am!
Before I start the review, I have to say something. I binge-read this book in less than four hours. When I downloaded the ebook to my Kindle, I told myself that I would read ONE chapter and then read some more tomorrow morning before I had to go to college. I cracked open the book (or ebook) and began reading. Immediately the book started out strong. Within one chapter, I was already hooked. I couldn't stop reading. I told myself that I needed to go to sleep, that it was already ten p.m. and I had classes at 9, but my eyes were glued to my Kindle. Hours later, at 1:30 a.m., I finished First Year. And although I was bleary-eyed and evil to everyone I saw due to lack of sleep the following morning, I don't regret it. First Year was really good. I'm glad that I had the opportunity to read it!
The plot of the story- young adult training in the Academy to hone their magical abilities and secure their futures- reminds me a lot of Hogwarts in the Harry Potter series. Luckily, while it does have some qualities that Hogwarts had, the Academy is MUCH different. Hogwarts seems like rainbows and unicorns compared to the Academy. With that said, I love Hogwarts. But, still, the Academy is so much rougher than Hogwarts. Hogwarts seems like a mythical haven to some, or even a magical getaway for others. But the Academy? I wouldn't want to step a foot inside that place. The Academy is not a vacation. The Academy only accepts the strongest of will, strength, and power. If you're weak, you won't last. This place isn't fun and games. It's challenging. It's rough. It reminds me of prison or boot camp... or both meshed together. Be that it may, I really liked the Academy. While it's not somewhere I would go, I did enjoy reading about it. It leads to a great story line. In fact, I'm glad that it was tough. If it hadn't, I probably wouldn't have liked this as much as I did.
This brings me to the characters. Because the Academy is so demanding, there has to be tough characters. There's no room for boring, weak, or annoying characters. These people need to be intense, strong, and determined. I'm glad that the author agreed with me on this. The main characters were worthy to be at the Academy. Not all of them were the best in the class, but they never stopped trying. Never. Especially Ryiah.
The characters:
Ryiah, or Ry, is one of the strongest young women I've seen in a YA novel in a long time. She wasn't nearly the best at any of the classes she had to take at the Academy, but she always tried! She worked really hard to make it to where she was at the end of the book, and I admire her for that. While she might not be the best when it comes to magic, she showed the most determination out of all of them. Personally, I'm glad that she wasn't able to hone into her magic abilities easily. I like it when the main character has flaws and actually has to work hard for the things that they want. I hate perfect characters. I'm glad that Ry wasn't perfect.
Another thing I liked about her: she was insecure at times. She wasn't sure about herself. She didn't know if she could handle the Academy. She teetered between leaving and staying. But, in the end, she hunkered down and held out. Despite all of the drama, intense training sessions, lack of sleep, and a confusing relationship with a certain prince, she holds on. That just shows how strong she was. Most people would have already ditched the place when they went through the first day of training, not to mention all of the other crap that Ry has to handle.
Alex is the twin brother of Ry. I really enjoyed Alex. While he's dedicated to his training and education, he can also be really funny at times. He enjoys being a ladies man, but at the same time I think that he wants to really be with someone. He's also very protective of Ry, which I think is so sweet. I don't know why, but I always go "Awwww" when the brother protects his sister. It's just so cute. I will say that I would have liked to have seen more of Alex in the book.
Ella is the best friend of Ry. Ella meets Ry at the Academy and they immediately hit it off. I liked the friendship that they two of them shared. Ella is really kind and sweet. She's a great friend to Ry and always helps her out to the best of her ability. Even though she is really nice, she can also be cruel, especially to people who try to hurt her loved ones. So I would say she's kind of territorial. I really enjoyed Ella and hope that I get to see more from her in the next book.
Now, for one of the most dynamic characters in the book: Prince Darren. I don't know what to say about the Prince. He's rude, mean, sarcastic, and quite snobby. He seems heartless throughout a large portion of the book, and I thought that I was going to hate him. Yet, at the same time, I liked him. (I know, that makes no sense!) Honestly, this was how I felt about Damon Salvatore. You want to hate him but you just can't. I have this same feeling for Prince Darren. He makes Ry's life at the Academy really hard at times and the reader wants to punch him, but then the next scene he'll help Ry out... and then, as the reader, you'll want to hug him. It doesn't help that he's a hunk, either! But even if he is really mean at times and you think that there's no way that the author can make you like him, it happens.
Like I said before, Prince Darren is a very dynamic character. He's got more than meets the eye. Underneath all of the false pretenses, he's actually a great guy. And he cares. He might not show it, but it's there. You can catch glimpses of his real emotions at times, and you know that he's not the bad guy that Ry thinks he is. He has his own reasons for his actions. You might think that there would be no excuse for some of the things that he does in the books, but then he spills the beans about his true intentions and you're left feeling guilty for not trusting his judgement in the first place! Darren will have you hating him one moment and loving him the next. It's a roller coaster ride!
The romance:
While there were many hints to a romance between numerous characters, it's not really the focus of the story. The focus is still training for a possible future through the Academy and passing the tests at the end of the first year to move on. Still, there are glimpses of possible romantic futures for some of our characters, and I hope that this happens! The relationship between Darren and Ry is really rocky and I feel like it will continue to be rocky, especially because of Priscilla, the evil "girlfriend" of Darren. I'm not sure how Darren and Ry will proceed in the next book. Their relationship, or friendship, rather, is very fragile at this moment, so I hope that they'll talk things through. But who knows? As for Alex, I hope he finds love with a certain someone... not saying any names, though.
The magic:
This was one of my favorite parts of the book! I liked the training sessions that the characters had to go through. It was really interesting and I liked learning about it. I will say that most of them are really hard and exhausting, but I thought it was enjoyable. (Probably because I'm not actually doing the work!) Anyway, I like the magical elements in the book and how it ties to the Academy.
Other thoughts:
I didn't really see any grammatical errors- only a few- but I want to let you guys know that the ebook version for First Year has yet to be edited completely. If I'm not mistaken, the paperback version has been edited. So keep that in mind if you're going to read the ebook/epub version. The dialogue flowed freely and smoothly; I didn't find many awkward lines and conversations. Also, I really enjoyed the writing style of Rachel Carter. She was very descriptive and was able to convey what she meant in a few sentences instead of having to drag it on and on forever.
I really enjoyed this book. I'm interested to see what will happen in the next book for Ry, Alex, Darren, Ella, and all of the other characters. I have a feeling that things are going to be any easier than they were in this book! I definitely look forward to reading the rest of the series. If you're a fan of Harry Potter, magic, swoon-worthy men that remind you of Damon Salvatore, an interesting writing style, and gradual romance, this might be the book for you! Go check it out!
Until next time,
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