Review: Good read.
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 01 3, 2014
The Academy was an easy but very good read. The title refers to a dark organization that kidnaps teenagers in order to mutate them into superhuman creatures. They are then put through trials to weed out the weakest of the group. The main character Asa is a likeable teenage boy who was recently orphaned by the pandemic. The world he is growing up in is one that is rapidly changing due to disease and shifting power. The Academy is kidnapping and mutating in order to build an army of superhuman teenagers, though you don’t really understand what is really going on until the end of the book. The character development is thorough and the descriptions of people and places are well worded and easy to visualize. Most characters have a complicated past that even they don’t really understand. The world is a dark and unforgiving place, full of monstrous animals and frightening people. The friendships that Asa builds serve as a contrast comparing the strength of love to the darkness mankind can descend into.I enjoy YA fiction and I often read it simply because a story sounds interesting. I also read YA in order to be able to recommend books to my godson that we will be able to talk about. I am looking forward to him reading this book, as I am sure he will like it and we’ll get to discuss genetics and ethics as applied to genetic manipulation. I liked this story a lot, and I look forward to its continuation.