A BookViral Review Of The Academy By C J Daly

SUMMARY: Kate Connelly should be careful what she wishes for. 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……….

The BookViral Review: Genre – YA Romance and Paranormal Fiction

Few novels genuinely deserve the epithet of ‘page-turner’ but The Academy is certainly worthy of it. Cleverly plotted, beautifully characterized, dark and utterly compelling it’s clear from the start that Daly knows how to weave an intriguing narrative and she is quick to hit her stride. Taking the best elements of YA Romance and Paranormal Fiction the pace rarely lets up as The Academy becomes an all-prevailing presence in Katie Connelly’s life. A life in stark contrast to that lived by The Academy’s cadets and Daly’s carefully constructed narrative which adopts alternating perspectives will have readers on tenterhooks as the characters develop and change.

Despite the ever-popular pull of the genre there are surprisingly few thrillers in the YA genre that create authentic relationships between protagonists, but with its great cast of teens Daly has pitched it perfectly and the burgeoning relationship between Katie and Peter Davenport is touchingly rendered and feels very real. Both are well nuanced and sensitively drawn protagonists with a host of obstacles for them to overcome but Daly keeps us guessing to the very end with a final reveal that’s sure to have far-reaching implications for Katie and her younger siblings Andrew and Mikey.

A superb read that will surely appeal to fans of The Hunger Games and Twilight, The Academy is recommended without reservation.