Review: King Hall
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 08 1, 2013
*I received an ARC from Escape Publishing via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.*With urban fantasy being my favorite genre, and New Adult one of my favorite categories, I knew I had to read this book. The synopsis talked of a magical college, and really, how can you refuse that? I mean, it's no Hogwarts, but still. There was also talk of people with powers, and I'm all about the supernatural/paranormal. So this book looked like it would be just right for me, and luckily, I wasn't wrong.The main character of the story was Lily. I loved her, because she was so strong and loyal. However, she had many secrets that she tried to hide at all costs, so I felt awful for her. As a hybrid of shifter and vampire, she wasn't supposed to live, so everything she did had to be thought about. This made her a smart protagonist as well. Lily grew a lot throughout this story, and was in a totally different place in life by the end of this book. She became even stronger, and she learned that sometimes, there are people who can be trusted with anything.Along with Lily, the side characters made this novel. The other three prodigies were so great. There was Pearl, the beautiful but sassy mage, Jack the guarded playboy elemental, and Ezra the "wicked and scary" vampire. These three were such incredible friends to Lily, and their friendship was by far the best element of this story. I loved watching them get to know each other, and by the end, I thought they were one of my favorite groups of friends ever. The Kings were interesting too. They made a lot of the comical elements of this book, doing things like betting on how quickly the prodigies learned things in training and punishing them with babysitting. I loved it.The plot of this novel was definitely interesting. It was all about how Lily became the shifter prodigy of the Mystical world, and developed a friendship with the other prodigies. Many things happened over the course of the story, and one of the most important and emotional scenes happened near the beginning. It was really sad, but it allowed Lily to become the person she needed to be. Then, there was the element of Lily being a hybrid, which isn't a spoiler as it's mentioned in the synopsis. It was interesting seeing how much of a planner she had to be. Therefore, I thought the plot was interesting, and since the world was built pretty well, I flew through the story.Overall, I thought this was a very good book. I loved the characters and the friendship that developed between the four prodigies. I laughed, was sad, happy, and even shocked by some of the revelations. After the cliffhanger ending, I really can't wait to get my hands on the next book of this series. I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a unique New Adult story, or even an urban fantasy novel. It's a little bit of both, and in the best of ways. ~Brianna