Review: 3.5 but I rounded up since I do like this one
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 09 6, 2013
Holy crap y'all! I can't even begin to tell you how frustrated I was with this book. Furthermore, I've never been more frustrated with a book and still ended liking it, thus adding to my frustration. Does that even make sense?I'm not even going to lie... I got as far as the first four pages and was ready to call it quits. In fact, I did. I jumped on Goodreads and lo and behold there were tons of raving reviews and about a couple of reviews that shared in my frustration. Only then did I stop and try to give this book another chance. Obviously I got through more than a few pages this time.  So here it goes...This is a new world where humans (Coms aka Commoners) and Mysticals live alongside one another. The Mysticals are a magical folk consisting of four factions; Shifters, Mages, Vampires and Elementals.  The Commoners are still under the leadership of their presidents, kings, queens and so on and so forth. The Mysticals have four kings/and or queens to lead each faction. We view this new world through the eyes of Lily, the future Queen of Shifters.This is the story of how two future kings and two future queens, while training to become rulers, foster a unique and strong friendship that hints of being a catalyst for changes in their world yet to be seen.My beef:*Right off what rubbed me the wrong way was the writing style. This book reads as if you should already know aspects of this world; as if in fact this was book two of the series. It's not. It is book one. I checked just to make sure because that's how confused I was.  The author does an incredible job in making the friendships between the four prodigies believable but in all reality that is the entire book's focus. You don't really get any backstory on the different factions. You don't know how these partnerships came to be. Even though different factions go to school together you don't ever understand why socially they are segregated.  You do get to understand the different powers they have and the individual weaknesses but nothing truly about their people and histories.  There is a bit about the Great War between Mysticals and Commoners but literally a sentence or two. You don't know what, who, when, where and why.  It happened, it was gory and as a result there was a treaty drawn up.  There are bits and pieces of angst and action peppered here and there but again, only to spice things up momentarily and then it's brought back up as if to say "oh yeah, remember (insert so and so here) this is how it was handled".*Did it bother anyone else that Lily ditched her one and only friend prior to becoming the prodigy? She was there one minute and then not. She could have kept her as a friend.*I agree with everyone that the best developed character was Ezra, the Vampire Prodigy/King. Everything was on point with him. He was mysterious, unique, powerful and his reactions and emotions were consistent and the best written. Something happens where it causes Lily to grieve. We are inside Lily's head the entire book which means that if this is a constant grief, which we are led to believe, we should be able to know about it. Nope. Lily's grief felt like it was here one moment and gone the next just to revisit us in small spurts. Ezra was going through a similar grief and although his grief was not as fresh it felt that way the entire time.*Let me tell you, there is talk of sex. Lots of sex talks. Mucho mucho sex talk. There is not a lot of actual sex going on. I'm not bothered by the actual deed not happening or that it is but behind not so locked doors. I think I'm more bothered with how much it's discussed. Why is this so important to the story? I think I'm also a bit bothered that people actually think sex is always on the brain. I was that age once... it wasn't always on my mind! If it's because they are Mysticals, please help me to understand why it is so important to them.*There is a lot of expectancy going on. I kept expecting stuff to happen.* There is no revolution, folks. The synopsis fibbed a bit. I think it was meant for book two.After all that you might be wondering why I still liked the story... Me too! Just kidding. Maybe not.After giving it much thought, I came to a few conclusions that this has the makings of a great story, a unique world bursting at the seams, with incredible characters that will bring on change and action.  You feel the love and loyalty between the prodigies; you will laugh out loud and perhaps cry a little too. This was an ARC. Meaning, all of this could have been fixed. Even with the before mentioned flaws, the story was entertaining and I do recommend it. Enter with caution and patience and you'll be rewarded.  Maybe.ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley.