Reviews- Legacy by C.J. Daugherty & Giveaway-Night School!

Legacy by C.J. Daugherty

Publisher-Atom

Release- Jan 3rd 2013

Purchase- The Book Depository  / Fishpond

In the last year, Allie's survived three arrests, two breakups and one family breakdown. The only bright point has been her new life at Cimmeria Academy. It's the one place she's felt she belongs. And the fact that it's brought dark-eyed Carter West into her life hasn't hurt either. But far from being a safe haven, the cloistered walls of Cimmeria are proving more dangerous than Allie could have imagined. The students and faculty are under threat, and Allie's family - from her mysterious grandmother to her runaway brother - are at the centre of the storm. Allie is going to have to choose between protecting her family and trusting her friends. But secrets have a way of ripping even the strongest relationships apart...

Tina's Thoughts:

I quickly fell in love with C.J Daugherty debut novel, Night School. It has everything I adore in an escape; mystery, action, romance and thrilling characters. It also has this brilliant quality of being crazy consuming! I couldn't wait to see what Daugherty had in store for these characters next and I'm happy to say that Legacy turned out to be another favorite.

Legacy starts off with Allie on the run from men in suits who are chasing her through the London streets. Soon she finds refuge with Rachel's family and are back in Cimmeria Academy before term begins. The attack at the school left the academy in devastation and everyone works hard to rebuild the old gothic building before all the students come back. It's here that Isabelle tells Allie that she will be admitted into Night School, where she will learn how to protect herself from Nathaniel's men.

Only, Night School is a lot harder then Allie realized, physically, emotionally and morally. 

Rules and secrets have a way of trapping you but lies and betrayal have a mind of it's own and soon Allie will have to decide where her true loyalties belong, no matter who she may lose in the process.

First off, I want to take a minute and just gush about the excellent writing style! I'm not sure what it is about Daugherty's books that have this all absorbing quality to it, but if I would have to pick one word to describe it, I guess it would be realistic. These characters and everything that happens in this book just feels so dame real! Vividly detailed, Daugherty has an exquisite flavor when she writes. From lavish details about the school and it's grounds, to every expression on each of these faces, to the fight scenes and clever witty dialog and banter. Every little aspect is set to motion where I feel like I'm transported in these pages and I can see everything in all it's richness. Then we have this incredibly maddening mysterious plot, and when I say mysterious, I mean I'm still not exactly sure what Night School is all about. 

When you read a vampire book, you expect vampires to be in it. Same with werewolves, fairies and so on. But the beauty of this book is that it's like a label-less can. Daugherty doesn't give you all the answers, even in the second book, we're still not positively positive what's inside. This is both alluring as hell and aggravating, but funny enough it's not frustrating. In fact, I love not knowing, it only makes me want to read these books more!

I simply adore ever single one of these characters, even the bad dudes. They're all skillfully well developed. Allie felt so conflicted this year, with all that's happening at the academy plus all the vigorous training in Night School, not to mention her very daunting love life and all the family drama. Poor girl has had one helluva year. But Allie is such a resilient character. Solid and strong, she doesn't let things weigh her down long. She takes responsibility for things that she did wrong, learns from her mistakes and changes and grows because of them. She is definitely a character I can be proud of.

There really isn't any secondary characters in this book, or at least not for me. Everyone seems to have a very specific role and are quite involved with every aspect of the story, which I find fascinating and fun.

Jo, Rachel, Jules, Isabella, Lucas, Carter and Sylvain continue to bring in much entertainment as the story slowly starts to unfold. We even have a couple of new characters, Zoe Glass, our kickass zingy child-genius that is infectiously adorable and Nicole, who turned out to be a pleasant surprise.

There is a spy among us within the walls of Cimmeria Academy. It was fun to try to guess whodunit, but sadly, it will keep you guessing and leave you hanging till the next installment.

As for Allie's love life? Well, I wish I could be happy about that particular part of the story, but I'd be lying if I said I was. I'm the kind of reader who doesn't mind love triangles, but this one stabbed me in the heart. In all honestly, I don't think I would have minded so much if Carter stayed true to his character. In the first book, Carter West was hard to read and I couldn't quite get a fix on him, but he was still sweet, charming and a supportive friend and love interest. So it really shocked the hell out of me (and broke my heart) to see this overbearing, possessive, difficult and unreasonable Carter that unfortunately graced us in this book. He's still Carter, but he's...different, wrong somehow and I just didn't like it.

I'm all for giving second chances to characters who prove redeemable, and Sylvain has proven time and time again that he regrets what he did, but I'm not happy with this new romantic development. Sure, he may have been the better man this round, but I don't feel any chemistry when Allie and Sylvain are together. He had his chance in the first book and blew it. End of story, but hey, they can still be friends. 

So yes, I'm waving my 'Team Carter' flag proudly in hopes that he doesn't let me down and things play out differently in later books. 

Bottom line, I seriously couldn't love a series more. It's crazy addicting, outstanding writing and real heart and soul characters that have you invested at minute one. This is without a doubt one of the most intense and intriguing stories I ever read. It's grips you and doesn't let go till the very last page and even then it will consume your thoughts long after the story is done. The ending shattered my heart and there is still so much we don't know and so much we still need to learn, so I can't begin to express how badly I need the next book!

A must read for fans who enjoy mystery-suspense, thrilling action and an unstoppable romance. MORE!! 

                                                                   4.5 Snowflakes

Crystal's Thoughts:
Oh my brain hurts!  This second installment of the Night School series was beyond entertaining, but has left me with so many unanswered questions!  My head is spinning from everything we did learn and begging for more answers.

Legacy starts off with Allie being chased and let me tell you my heart was pounding!  She of course gets away and for her safety she goes to live with her friend Rachel until school starts.  When it does start things don't get any easier for Allie.  She is behind her Night School training, her friends aren't happy about this new addition to her schedule, there is a spy among her peers that she can't find, and Carter *sigh* I don't even know where to being with him.  My heart is broken  =(

This book isn't big on answers, but it is filled with action and while I love action I still need answers.  I feel like this book took a small step back and I am a little disappointed.  I had so many questions from the last book that I couldn't wait to have answered and the author doesn't even really touch on any of them.  Even her characters were getting fed up with the lack of information given.  So since this book wasn't filled with answers you want to know what to expect??  HEARTACHE!  Lots and lots of heartache.  I understand that Allie needed to breathe and I seriously wanted to kick Carter for his ultimatum, but these needed to TALK!  I can't believe the way their story ended in this one and I just don't know what to do.  I was always a Team Carter so Allies new relationship is not sitting well with me and I just hope the author rights this wrong early on in the next book and gives us some answers!  One of the things I liked about the first book was the secrets and smoke and mirror stuff, but I can only take so much of that before I start losing interest.  

There is one thing that happens that I can't actually talk about, but I am very upset about it and very confused.  I hope we also get closure in regards to this situation that happens at the end.  I want this something to have more meaning for the person involved.

Even though I have a headache and heartache I still did enjoy this installment.  Allie is feisty as ever and I still enjoyed reading her story.  I will say though that if the next book doesn't start explaining things I might have a different opinion.  

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                                                                    3.5 Snowflakes

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