Format: Kindle, 276 pages
Release Date: September 23, 2019
Publisher: JFP Press
Source: Kindle Unlimited
Genre: Young Adult / Fantasy
HARRY POTTER MEETS THE HUNGER GAMES
Ever since magic stormed the world, the price for human survival is surrendering your firstborn to the monsters.
But this year it's Nova's turn, and the monsters better watch their backs.
I am the firstborn in my family. The first of three. And today I will pay the price for my siblings' lives by surrendering control of my own. I will step through the runegate, and I will never see my family again.
What the others do with the firstborn is shrouded in mystery. All anyone knows is they are never heard from again.
I will step through the runegate willingly.
But I can keep secrets too. And I'll do whatever it takes to bring the others to their knees...
Fans of Harry Potter, Shadowspell Academy, Harley Merlin, and The Hunger Games, welcome to a magical new world packed with adventure, intrigue, romance, and characters you'll fall in love with.
Shadow Trials is the first installment in author Isla Frost's Firstborn Academy trilogy. 30 years ago, the Blythe Family broke the Agreement with Walkers by refusing to send their first born to them. It resulted in an entire bloodline being wiped out. For 37 years, Humans have been sending their first born thru a ruingate. What becomes of them? 17-year Nova is First Born. This year she's expected to leave her family behind and willingly surrender herself to the Walkers.
Nova's got other ideas: She's going to learn about her enemy, and take them down, and destroy the First Born Agreement so her brother and sister don't have to face the same harsh reality. Thankfully, Nova isn't alone here. Her best friend Ameline is also required to give herself up. They've also agreed that they will stand together thru anything that happens. Upon arrival, Nova and Ameline quickly become friends with Bryn who is from Texas.
Millicent Manor is not what you expect. It's actually a school where human and walkers learn together. Also, Millicent is a sentient being who loves to punish those who make her mad. Like Nova and Bryn. Humans once claimed that magic destroyed the world. The invaders claim that magic merely reformed it. Everything Nova has been told about her enemy is that they are predators and bloodthirsty. Now, Nova and her friends find themselves wondering what else they need to know.
The students are to be trained for 3 months. Those who pass the stringent and dangerous trials, move on to becoming more. More about that in the next installment. Nova is also curious about the boy she thought as a friend, Fletcher, who disappeared 2 years ago. Where did he go? Is he still alive? The only way to figure that out is to pass the tests that are set out in front of her while also making sure that Ameline and Bryn survive as well. Then there's Theus & Lirielle who slowly become allies of Nova's.
Oh, and they are both Walkers aka Hollows who are also first born who were sent here to be trained alongside humans who they will fight with against a menace known as the Malus who destroyed Europe leaving it a barren wasteland. Theus ends up being a pretty decent character for whom Nova decides to trust. Lirielle is a seer who apparently knows something about a prophesied one who will one day end Malus and thus the Agreement. More about that in the next installment.
This does read like a Harry Potter knock-off with training in strategy, endurance, knowledge of creatures & plants, magic use, wands made of bones, strength of mind and body. As Nova and her friends proceed to discovering their magic and their infinity, they will eventually be separated into the strongest, fittest, most skilled, and magically gifted humans to join a specialized team. When readers finally do get the reason for this academy, I don't there should be any real shock. I think the only mystery left is why Lirielle calls Nova "Wildcard" and what it has to do with her future.
Onward to the next installment!
i enjoy books like this and it sounds like a good one
ReplyDeletesherry @ fundinmental