Book Review: The Academy Saga

Happy Monday! I hope you have a good little week set up, I feel like we are so close to summer for real being here. I know I'm feeling a little bit squirrely and just want warm weather, sunshine, and summer adventures. I should do a post on some of my summer adventure plans. I decided that since last year was basically a dud (for good reason, don't get me wrong), I am trying to plan a fun summer for us. Part road trip far-ish away and part local-ish tourist, I've got some fun ideas. I just need to get the family on board! 

The Academy Saga - CJ Daly

Kate Connelly should be careful what she wishes for.

Just seventeen, she already feels like she’s suffocating. Since her mother’s death, her father’s basically checked out, so she’s stuck raising her brothers by herself out in the New Mexico scrub. All Kate wants is a little distraction from the same-ole, same-ole that is her life.

When two mysterious guys show up at the diner where she works, she thinks her wish has come true, until they start giving her a hard time. Like her life isn’t hard enough. Something about them niggles her, but she brushes it off. She’s never going to see them again anyway . . . right?

Then they appear in an alley one night to either rescue or kidnap her (she’s still not sure which) before disappearing like figments of her imagination.

Kate decides to put the bizarre encounters out of her mind. She has bigger problems to worry about: like that elite military academy that’s been pursuing her gifted little brother. When one of their cadets shows up at Clovis High School, he creates instant pandemonium. And just happens to be one of those mysterious guys. Coincidence? Mama said there’s no such thing. And to always trust her instinct. But that might be kind of hard, because every time she’s around Cadet Peter Davenport, her gut starts flip-flopping on her. And her heart.

Can Kate keep it together long enough to stop Cadet Davenport’s mission? She’s about to find out. And—once again—how neatly life can be split into before and after.

Today I'm talking about The Academy Saga, the start of a new series which is kind of being compared to Twilight and The Hunger Games. I'm not sure I'm going to go there, it's a bit fantasy/supernatural and part romance (kind of), and feeling like there is a bigger story happening in the background, but it doesn't quite reach the level of those commonly loved series. It has potential though. One thing kind of holding me back from my excitement is that there is a lot of fluff- easily a third of the book could be left out and the greater story wouldn't suffer. Nothing that some heavy editing couldn't fix up. I'm hoping that the next book(s) gets a little more editing because I think it could be a fun series that a lot of teens could get into. For a first novel? It's a solid debut. 

I do love that the characters are written so well that you find yourself thinking about them long after the story ends and kind of wondering what happens to all of them next. The story itself is intriguing enough to keep you turning the pages and wondering what was going to happen. I will say that, despite mucking through the fluff, I wanted to know what was going on. The romance part? Written really well and I felt like it was appropriate for a teenager but I'm also not the mom to shelter my kids from teen romance in general, so maybe I'm a terrible measure for that. 

Honestly, the last 25% of the book or so is where the majority of the story is just us getting there. Overall, I'd be willing to read book two because I feel invested in these characters. 

Thank you to CJ Daly and TLC Book Tours for having me on this tour! 

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