Blythewood

Avaline Hall is seventeen, and has already had an unbelievable life. She has survived a factory fire, escaped from an insane asylum, and been invited to attend Blythewood Academy. Blythewood is an elite boarding school. Ava's mother attended until she was expelled. Ava is hoping to learn more about her family at the school, but is learning more than she bargained for. Dark things are happening at Blythewood, and the students are being trained with a specific purpose. Ava must figure out what is really going on before events become to dangerous.

I won a copy from the author in a contest*. I had not heard of this book before, and was intrigued by the description. I am glad I received a copy because I ended up liking this book. I was pulled into this world and was delighted when I discovered it was the first in a series. The second book Ravencliffe is suppose to come out soon, and I look forward to returning to this world. It reminded my of another series I like: The Gemma Doyle trilogy by Libba Bray. It has a similar feel to it.

I liked the world set up in this book. The details were rich, and you felt like you were actually in a world where fairies and other mythical creatures exist. The combination of history and fantasy was well done. I really like it when an author is able to mix fantasy and history. It makes it seem like the world they created could be stumbled upon at any time.

I especially enjoyed the dark atmosphere. It creates a lot of suspense, and keeps you turning the pages. There was also a lot of character building which I like. I look forward to learning what happens to these characters. The story leaves off in an interesting place, and leaves you wanting to immediately read the next book so you can discover what happens.

I recommend reading this book.

*Receiving a free copy of this book does not change my review. It simply provides me with a book I might not have gotten to as soon, or heard about otherwise.