Apprentice (The Black Mage, #2)

Apprentice by Rachel E. Carter
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

( I have received this book free form the Author for my honest review )

From the Chosen.....

5 Stars!

Holy mother of god! My feels just exploded. I couldn't stop thinking about Pride and Prejudice, and how this novel could possibly be an epic alternate world of that timeless classic.

The similarities are not hard to miss and as much as I would be delight to point them out, it's not going to happen. The only way to see, is for you to read the book yourself. (Now I got you interested) ;)

Aside from that mind-blowing fact; this book has out staged its predecessor by miles. There's no shortage of action or drama. Oh the drama, it was like tea time, only with rum.

There were a few moments that made me giggle with satisfaction, mostly because it involved a highborn getting decked or rightly put their her place.

(Ryiah my girl, good job, though I would have rather that you cold cocked him rather than slapped. But, a slap to the face is rather offending, so I give you props!)

Though I plainly stated my dislike for do-no-wrong Prince Darren, in my review of First Year, he did improve throughout this story. No longer as a fungus, but an edible mushroom. His charter does, to my dismay, greatly evolve, to the point where I was actually smiling like a child at the end, and its outcome. Here's to hope he doesn’t get eating by squirrels.

Ryiah, now her growth was more emotional. Her struggle with her heart, and her painfully awful way of dealing with it, is not so far from real life.

(I didn’t like how she broke Ian’s heart, or how she bluntly stole him from Lynn. Not tactful, at all. Though I do give her points for the balls she had in doing so. I can’t stay mad at you!)

Her strong will did however waver, and she got trapped as most of us do. Putting that aside, she's brave and rose up above the rest on more than one occasion, to the point where she was no longer the one being lead, but was the one doing the leading, even if the others didn’t see it.

I like how the time line is stretched over the four years, though it felt rushed at times, it wasn't a bother. (At least I didn't find it a bother.) Since most of the time they’re training anyways, it took away from mindless filler that would have filled the pages of this great read. And if the story would have taken on a more traditional path as in, one book per appearance year, we’d be waiting a close to a decade to get to that marvellous ending. Sometimes it best to plow through the junk and get to the point.

There are many near death experiences, and each time they had my feels in a vice grip. Miss Carter, as it appears, likes to off people. So to say, I wouldn't put it pass her to kill one of my fav charters. For a bit there I had this eerie feeling Derrick (Ryiah's younger brother) was going to kick it. So glad that didn't happen. I had this picture of Ryiah’s screaming her head off, and almost getting killed herself.

The threat of war is heavy throughout the book, and each encounter makes it clearer that the enemy has its feelers out, and pushing the boundaries to see what the Crown has for defences. I have a feeling that this series is going to end in a bloodbath, a glorious one.

I can't wait for the next installment, and will probably go little nuts in the process.

I highly recommend this book, this series. It's everything you ever want YA to be, only for the fact, that it will soon be morphed to a New Adult story because of how fast the charters are ageing; you can't be a disgruntle teen forever.

I would like to thank Rachel E. Carter for choosing me to read and review her outstanding word.

Happy reading

-Emily