Rachel Carter

Before the age of seventeen the young men and women of Jerar are given a choice -follow tradition, or pursue a trial year in one of the realm's three war schools to study as a soldier, knight or mage...For 15-year-old Ryiah the choice has always been easy. Become a warrior and leave the boring confines of her lowborn life behind. Set to enroll in the School of Knighthood on the eve of her next birthday, plans suddenly shift when her twin brother discovers powers. Hoping that hers will soon follow, she enrolls with Alex at the Academy instead -the realm's most notorious war school for those with magic.Yet when she arrives Ry finds herself competing against friend and foe for one of the exalted apprenticeships. Every "first-year" is given a trial year to prove their worth -and no amount of hard work and drive will guarantee them a spot. It seems like everyone is rooting for her to fail -and first and foremost among them Prince Darren, the school prod-igy who has done nothing but make life miserable since she arrived.When an accidental encounter leads Ryiah and Darren to an unlikely friendship she is convinced nothing good will come of it. But the lines become blurred when she begins to improve -and soon she is a key competitor for the faction of Combat... Still, nothing is ever as it seems -and when the world comes crashing down around her, Ry is forced to place faith in the one thing she can believe in -herself. Will it be enough?

The Black Mage

First Year

Rachel E. Carter

Fifteen-year-old Ryiah enrolls at her realm's most notorious war school for those with magic. But there's a catch-only fifteen will be apprenticed. Competition is fierce and she trusts no one, especially the arrogant Prince Darren... Will she survive, or will her dream go down in flames?

this book stood on my shelf for like 2 years and i finally read it. it was easy to read and quick to get through, but literally nothing happened. like i missed the plot, it was only some teenagers going to a magic school, that was it. no subplot no depth. the characters were really flat and i couldn't connect with any of them. i don't even know a whole lot about the main characters of the story after reading this book. i also know nothing about the love interest and they had about 3 interactions in the whole book. i expected more.

kristin :)

Tiago Fernandes

This was a great book. Really fed that Harry Potter love while also throwing in some hunger games. I would definitely recommend thanks book to anyone who has a love for magical fiction books!

Before the age of seventeen the young men and women of Jerar are given a choice –follow tradition, or pursue a trial year in one of the realm's three war schools to study as a soldier, knight or mage…For 15-year-old Ryiah the choice has always been easy. Become a warrior and leave the boring confines of her lowborn life behind. Set to enroll in the School of Knighthood on the eve of her next birthday, plans suddenly shift when her twin brother discovers powers. Hoping that hers will soon follow, she enrolls with Alex at the Academy instead –the realm's most notorious war school for those with magic.Yet when she arrives Ry finds herself competing against friend and foe for one of the exalted apprenticeships. Every “first-year” is given a trial year to prove their worth –and no amount of hard work and drive will guarantee them a spot. It seems like everyone is rooting for her to fail –and first and foremost among them Prince Darren, the school prod-igy who has done nothing but make life miserable since she arrived.When an accidental encounter leads Ryiah and Darren to an unlikely friendship she is convinced nothing good will come of it. But the lines become blurred when she begins to improve –and soon she is a key competitor for the faction of Combat… Still, nothing is ever as it seems –and when the world comes crashing down around her, Ry is forced to place faith in the one thing she can believe in –herself. Will it be enough?

Aditi

Aditi Verma

Laura Springall

I'm going to start this off by stating that this is bad YA, but the good kind of bad. The kind of good bad that makes you want to read more and more. It's filled to the brim with so many tropes, but somehow Carter did them really well and I give her a whole lot of credit for that.

I'm surprised by how much I liked this to be honest. I went into this expecting it to be a case of Special Snowflake Syndrome where our heroine discovers her magical powers and is instantly the most powerful mage to ever exist and will vanquish all evil with the flick of her wrist. You know, the usual.

I WAS WRONG.

The tagline "Magic just got a whole lot harder" IS TAKEN SO LITERALLY YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW. Like. Let me tell you a bit about my girl Ryiah.

She is not your typical special snowflake heroine. OH NO. RY SPENDS THE ENTIRETY OF THIS BOOK NEAR THE BOTTOM OF THE CLASS. ONE OF THE WORST MAGES OUT OF ALL THE FIRST YEARS. RIGHT UP UNTIL THE END. SHE HAS TO ACTUALLY 
  WORK. HER DAMN. ASS. OFF
 ALL DAY EVERYDAY IN ORDER FOR HER TO PROVE HERSELF. There are so many times this woman almost called it quits. So many people told her she didn't belong there, not just because of her status but because she was so obviously nowhere near their level. BUT THIS GIRL IS LIKE "BITCH. NAH." AND WORKS HERSELF LITERALLY ALMOST TO DEATH TO PROVE THAT SHE DESERVES TO BE THERE JUST AS MUCH AS EVERYONE ELSE. LIKE SOMEONE GIVE ME A TISSUE AND A SHOULDER TO CRY ON I'M A GODDAMN MESS OVER THIS FANTASTIC CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT

AND THE FRIENDSHIPS. HOO BOY.

Ryiah and Ella. The loves of my life. Brotp to end all brotp's. They come from very different social classes, and are placed in a situation where they have to compete against each other for a shot to make their childhood dreams come true. A lot of authors would have pitted these women against each other and made them rivals coughPriscillacough. But Ryiah and Ella? BFFs. There for each other unconditionally. Never jealous of each other, even when their skill levels are so different. They just. Help? Each? Other? Even when that means one of them might surpass the other. It doesn't matter. They just want each other to succeed no matter what. Like. Rachel E. Carter, thank you. I need more tissues.

Ryiah and her brother Alex. Alex is so damn protective of Ry and it's the sweetest thing ever omg. BUT. He also respects her and doesn't overstep his boundaries. He understands that she is a strong independent woman and she can take care of her damn self. But you bet your ass he's going to be there in the background with a proud look on his face as she sets straight anyone who tries to tell her she isn't good enough. MORE TISSUES PLEASE.

The one thing that I really didn't like about this book, what brought it down from five stars to four. *sighs* R o m a n c e. I would have been 3000% here for it if Ry and her love interest had just been bomb ass friends. The weird sexual tension between two people who only know each other through eye contact across the cafeteria and the occasional brief encounter is not necessary. Also, every time Ry said his touch made her feel like her veins were on fire or some shit, I wanted to scream. Just saying.

So yeah. Read this. You might be surprised by how much you like it

Celia Adams

OH MY GOD THIS BOOK WAS AMAZING, I COULD NOT STOP READING AND YOU SHOULD READ IT TOO
Okay, let me start off by saying I had really low expectations for this book. I'd gotten it for free from the author's website, and normally I don't hold out much hope for such books(especially after reading Elementals by Michelle Meadows, uck)
BUT THIS BOOK THOUGH!!!! IT BLEW ME AWAY!! It had everything I could want from a YA! The main character, Ryiah(epic name luv) wasn't naturally good at anything. She had to work and struggle just like NORMAL people. She wasn't the chosen one, or the prodigy or any of the other cliches. She stood out and was special because she worked hard and was just generally awesome. And she wasn't taking any bullshit, excuses, passes, nothing. This girl was literal perfection.
Also she had a twin, Alex, and in case you didn't know, I FREAKING LOVE TWINS
AND THE LOVE STORY!!! FINALLY A WELL-DEVELOPED BAD-BOY LOVE STORY. ITS BEEN SO LONG!!! I actually saw the development and reality of this love story, it wasn't all, 'I saw him, he's hot as hell, fuck I love him'. More like. 'I saw him, he's a jerk, lets go at each others throats for a few months, oh wait he's kinda okay, oh hey he's cute' and then on. THAT is how I want to read a love story. Give me more like this, where romance actually grows and undergoes duress. That's the YA novel I want to read, and I'm going to buy the sequel right now.

Ryiah's world was shattered the night she discovered King Blayne's nefarious plans. Now, she has to betray the one she loves most in order to save the realm from war. Ry finds herself on a perilous mission to help the rebels and convince the kingdom of Pythus not to honor its pact with the corrupt king of Jerar.

First year

Manon van Heumen

Okay. Let me start off by stating the truly amazing writing style of Rachel. I only started this book yesterday, but I flew through the pages because her writing was so incredibly good and easy to follow.

Then, let me state my stupidity in not buying these books sooner. This book was so good, I simply need to delve into the other three (and the novella) right away. I can't believe myself for not buying these sooner.

Lastly (before I get to my actual review), I want to state that Rachel is an underrated author, who should definitely get more kudos for her work, because it's simply amazing. Full stop.

Okay then, the story starts of with Ryiah and her brother Alex being on their way to the Academy. The story begins action-packed, and you are immediately sucked into the story. And it doesn't let you go until the very last page. The character building is incredible, and you get to know the characters gradually better in time. The way Rachel uses words to describe scenery makes it very lively, and it makes you feel as if you're actually there. The end of the book (no spoilers) was nerve-racking and it made my stomach churn all the way to the end of the book.

I would recommend this book to everyone who loves Throne of Glass, Air Awakens and Falling Kingdoms.

I can't wait to dive into the other books.

Thanks Rachel, for gracing us with this enchanting story.

First Year The Black Mage

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