A good concept, but lackluster launch

First let me say, the overall idea and world are really good, and I enjoyed what little there was in this book. The fact I wanted more should tell you how compelling the story is. However, the book suffers from two major flaws.

First, The book is incredibly short given how detailed the author is. Once the main character gets to "the academy" the story only has 3hrs left in it. The main drama takes place in the first week or so of being there then we jump to the end of the "semester" and the book ends.

It felt like more of a short story than a full length book. why not do some more world building and character development and give us a story over the entire semester. I honestly felt a little cheated...

Second, the entire story is launched when the main character turns 18 at 3:03am except that none of the surrounding story support her being 18. It feels like she was suppose to be 15 or maybe 16. For example, she talks about going back to school at her normal high school with her friends, Shouldn't she be talking about graduating?

At every turn I felt like an editor decided she should be older and and change the lines referring to her age. The people accepted to this magical creature academy are supposed to be there for 9 semesters, which would sound a lot more like college if _any_ of them actually behaved liked they were 18 and not 15. I just couldn't shake the feeling that the original concept didn't have this set around an 18yr old.

Overall, it is a fun book, Given how short the book is, if the author is releasing these quickly, then it will be a fun series, if we are only getting a long short story every 6mths or a year this one will quickly fall off my radar.

5 people found this helpful

That was rough...

Narrator did the best with what she was given but, I’m afraid it just wasn’t enough. Lucia Ashta just missed the mark on this one. The protagonist lacks gumption when it matters. At the age of 18 she seems to have the emotional intelligence of a 15 year old girl. The male characters are likewise lacking strength and focus. Couldn’t get past the 9th chapter. I’m afraid it was just not bold enough for the genre...

2 people found this helpful

Magical Creatures

Rina starts out hopeful she will be some sort of magical creature and get to join her older brother at school but then figures she is human until someone shows up to invite her to the same school her brother attends. It was fun having a main character who knows almost as little of this magical world as we do since the readers get to discover the same wonders for the first time as Rina does. I love the trolls and their description. Rina has to figure out what sort of supernatural creature she is and how to access her abilities. I loved getting to meet the characters especially a certain prince. I can't wait to see what happens next since Rina is now in a lot of danger.

1 person found this helpful

magical creatures Academy

This book is just amazing. It is funny, engaging and I just loved it. The narrator does an amazing job with the different characters.

3 people found this helpful

Wow

I felt like I was a part of every scene. This is my first book by Lucia Ashta and I loved how when she writes it feels like you are experiencing everything as well. There was some slow burn, mystery, and lots of action. The world built around the characters is really neat and interesting. All the characters have great personalities and are easy to like. The narrator is also new to me and I thought she did a great job bringing the story to life before me. I enjoyed listening to her and she did a good job on distinctive voices. I can hardly wait to listen to what happens next! Lucia Ashta has a new fan.

3 people found this helpful

Shifters meet Harry Potter

This was a fun book! I really enjoyed it! It was kind of like shifters meet Harry Potter, really fun and addictive! I can’t wait untilbook 2 comes out in audible!

2 people found this helpful

Very good book

As a lot of action in the series love it i would highly recommend it

3 people found this helpful

A fun listen

This is a fun look at the magical world. I enjoyed listening and enjoyed that narration.

Intriguing and fun read

This is the first book by this author that I've read/listened to and I really enjoyed it. I was hooked from the beginning. It is a different approach to the urban fantasy world, with great characters and wonderful world building. It set up the story for the series and left me wanting more. I will be reading the next books in the series soon.

Fun read!

Read 4/11/2020
Good beginning. I can't help but compare some of the story to Harry Potter.