Firespell by Chloe Neill

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Firespell by Chloe Neill ( A Dark Elite Novel: Book 1)

(BCC)

As the new girl at St. Sophia's Boarding School, Lily Parker thinks her classmates are the most monstrous things she'll have to face - but oh, how wrong she is.

When Lily's parents decide to send her away to a fancy boarding school in Chicago, she is not happy. Lily's classmates are the ultrarich brat-pack type - and if that isn't enough, she's hearing and seeing bizarre things on St. Sophia's creepy campus.

The only thing keeping her sane is her roommate, Scout, but even Scout's a little weird - she keeps disappearing late at night. When a prank leaves Lily trapped in the catacombs beneath the school, Lily finds Scout, who's running from a real-life monster. Scout is part of a splinter group of rebel teens who protect Chicago from demons, vamps, and the gone-to-the-dark-side magic users called Reapers. She lets Lily in on her secret, even though Lily has no powers of her own...or at least none she's discovered yet.

* This review is done from a copy supplied to Novel Reads by the publisher.

I've made it clear that I have no love for YA books about spoiled poor me rich girls away at a fancy schamncy boarding school. So when this book came I was more than a tad reluctant. What got me though, is my love of YA/Paranormal, the really cool cover, and the fact that I'd never read this author before. Things I very much love in a book.

Lily Parker, not quite sixteen year old, finds out just after her sophomore year that her parents, philosophy professors, will be going to Germany for a two year academic sabbatical, and she will be leaving her New York town for Chicago where she will go to school at St. Sophia's Boarding School. To say the least, Lily is not happy. She'd much rather stay with her friends and her comfort zone. But when St. Sophia's accepts her into the school, her future is set.

Lily hates St. Sophia's. There are the typical cliques and she's just not fitting in. Thankfully, one of her new roommates, Scout, is most definitely nice and true friend material. But, as the BCC says, Scout keeps skipping out late at night, and she seems more than a little tired after these outings. What Lily doesn't know about Scout and her secrets really piques her curiosity and she begins to follow her one night, that is after all, what a new BFF would do. But it isn't until Lily is on the receiving end of a fairly nasty prank that Lily truly finds out what Scout's been up to.

But Scout's mystery isn't the only one Lily is faced with - could it be her parent's had lied to her all of her life? Made a whole identity to cover up what they were really working on? As clues begin coming Lily's way about this, and evil magic users attempting to suck the souls of young magic users start to attack the school, Lily realizes she just may be in over her head. Or, does she have a bit of latent magic of her own?

Firespell is a refreshing addition to a YA Paranormal genre that is quickly filling up with shifters and vamps. Neill's writing is spot on, with great dialogue and the action packed scenes have the reader turning the pages and spellbound from the get go. I'm eager to read more from Neill and have added her Chicagoland Vampires Series to my wish list.

Take Care

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