Genres: YA Fantasy, Science Fiction, Romance
Publisher: Entangled Teen
Release Date: June 28th, 2022
Pages: 400
My Rating:⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Synopsis:
Natasha was once the stereotypical popular girl, until the day her dad walked out of her life. In a spiraling decline, her mother becomes listless and absent, her social life is almost non-existent, and she just can’t bring herself to care that she’s failing in school.
Then a new girl arrives at school. Meet Elodie: the girl everyone wants to be or be with, dazzling the entire school in her flashy confidence. And for some reason, Elodie seems genuinely interested in being Nat’s friend, despite everything that should suggest otherwise. Behind Elodie’s mysterious nature, their friendship has strings attached.
Nat is given the opportunity to attend an elite, remote boarding school, funded by a recluse, tech billionaire. Grey Wolf Academy is both everything and nothing as it seems. Nat must navigate this new chapter in her life all while under the mentorship of Braxton who, as much as she is attracted to, she knows she shouldn’t trust him. While trying to discover the secrets of her father’s past she begins to learn more about the rare gift she possesses, and that the academy wants to use her for.
Review:
I loved Natasha from the very beginning, her personality and the narrative voice is super relatable. Readers get an intricate look into her home life and the events of her past and how they have affected her and shifted her motivations.
The author also has great insight into the lows of high school drama and what it feels like to be a teen, which creates an emotional connection to the characters in the universal need to belong and feel accepted.
The sense of foreboding from the very beginning grapples readers into a story full of mystery and intrigue.
The historical accuracy of the art and culture is an exciting point of interest that makes the story truly immersive.
The sequence of the events is expressed in vivid detail that transports you into time and place.
Grey Wolf Academy is the newest fictional school we all wish we could go to.
I really enjoyed the short, quick-win chapters. In a genre (fantasy) that typically has lengthy, dense chapters, this was very refreshing and kept me turning the pages.
The writing style and crafting of these chapters was such that each chapter felt significant to the plot as a whole, but also had its own complete and fulfilling arc, with hooks at the end to keep me wanting to find out what happens next.
Chapter length may seem an insignificant consideration to some, but it actually played a large role in my enjoyment of the story.
I only have a few “negative” remarks, but none of which seriously detracted from my experience with this story. There are a few places where I felt things were rushed and could have been fleshed out more, which lowered the level of believability for me in certain aspects.
Particularly with some of the twists, the build up was perfect but the reveals were over and moved on from in a flash. And in some instances, without giving spoilers, I’ll just say that information presented felt random with no lead up.
The only other thing is that I did kind of expect the protagonist to have a little stronger of a reaction to certain events and revelations, which made her seem unrealistic sometimes.
Regardless, this is definitely an exciting start to a new series.
With the slow-build adventures and developments, I can only imagine how much more is to come.
This is a series I don’t see fizzling out in future installments. I think we’ve just barely begun this wild ride.
Huge thank you to Netgalley and Entangled Teen for gifting me with a copy of this amazing adventure in exchange for my honest feedback!
Disclaimer: This post may contain affiliate links that I may earn a small commission from with no additional cost to you. Thank you for your support 🙂
Shop online while supporting local bookstores:
Their mission is to help support local, independent bookstores while still offering readers the e-commerce experience. This is a great way to easily get the books you crave while supporting other fabulous members of our bookish community!
Leave a Reply