Genre: YA/Paranormal
Description:
The first book in Rose’s Bonfire
Academy series. This new series ties into the Bonfire Chronicles series, of which Rose has one book thus far, Faustine.
Initiation could be
considered a prequel to Faustine as
that book takes place after Faustine’s graduation from the Bonfire Academy.
This book introduces us to several students, including Faustine, at that
exclusive private school for paranormals near St Moritz, in the foothills of
the Alps, and takes us through their first year.
Initiation has been
picked as a Red Adept Select book.
These are books that “stand out from the crowd” among those edited by the team
at Red Adept Publishing.
Author:
Globetrotter Imogen Rose is Swedish by birth, went to college in
London where she received a PhD in immunology, and is now a Jersey girl. After
her eight-year-old daughter insisted she write down her stories, Rose wrote the
first of her Portal Chronicles series
and decided to let it out into the world. The response was so positive that
she’s continued with three books in the series. At least one more planned, and
started two other series. For more, visit Rose’s website.
Appraisal:
Think about the average high school, full of hormonal teens pushing
all the limits set by those in authority (I had to dig deep into my repressed
memory to remember. If I can do it, so can you.). Now give those teens
paranormal powers that they are still learning to control (not unlike those
hormones in humans). In fact, learning about their just emerging powers — how
to control them, and how to put them to the proper use — is the reason the
Bonfire Academy exists. With werewolves, vampires, shape shifters, and
wanderers, along with various hybrids, life at Bonfire Academy is even more
complicated than a regular high school.
Although Initiation focuses
on Faustine, who Rose fans will know from the book of the same name, and
Cordelia, an older student assigned as Faustine’s mentor, the book has enough
other characters who play major roles that it could easily be viewed as an
ensemble cast. It appears the Bonfire
Academy series will be a prequel to the Bonfire
Chronicles series. Those who haven’t read Faustine should have no problem understanding, while those who have
will meet a younger, less mature version of Faustine along with an earlier
glimpse of a few characters they’ll remember from Faustine.
With Initiation, Rose
introduces a series that should be a hit for fans of YA Paranormal (a
demographic that seems to include as many adults as teens). She has laid the
groundwork for at least two more books in the Bonfire Academy series and the possibility of many more in the Bonfire Chronicles series.
FYI:
A small amount of adult language and a small amount of relatively mild
sexual content (implied, rather than explicit). Nothing a typical high school
student won’t hear in an average school day.
Original review ran November 29, 2011
Format/Typo
Issues:
As a beta reader I evaluated based on a pre-publication version and
can’t evaluate the final version in this area.
Rating:
***** Five Stars
Reviewed
by: BigAl
Approximate
word count: 90-95,000 words
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