Name: Rites of Passage
ISBN: 9780062295194

Joy N. Hensley

In this fast-paced, high-stakes debut novel, sixteen-year-old Sam McKenna discovers that becoming one of the first girls to attend a revered military academy means living with a target on her back. As Sam struggles to prove herself, she learns that a decades-old secret society is alive and active . . . and determined to force her out. Fans of Simone Elkeles and Trish Doller will love Rites of Passage’s perfect blend of sizzling romance and edge-of-your-seat suspense.

Rites of Passage

Melissa Palmer

Book #92 Read in 2014
Rites of Passage by Joy N. Hensley (YA)

Sam McKenna has grown up in a military family--her father is a highly ranked officer and her two older brothers were headed for military careers. Then tragedy struck their family and on one last dare from her brother Amos, Sam enters a military academy as one of the first five female recruits. The females are not wanted at the academy--by the bigwigs or by most of the others at the academy. Sam is forced to endure physical and emotional humiliation as the others try to break her and get her to quit.

This was a good read. It had a lot of action to hold a reader's interest. Sam was an interesting character and a strong female protagonist. I enjoyed it. I would recommend it to both male and female high school students. I received a copy of this book from the Amazon Vine program in exchange for a honest review. 

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Let's hear it for strong, kickass female lead characters in a realistic young adult novel! YA has some great female characters, but I've never run across one quite like Mac before... at least in realistic fiction. I loved this girl. She was strong and determined – to a fault, some might argue – but still realistic and likable. She went through so much crap throughout the course of this book, but she her determination didn't waver. That might have started because of her older brother's dare, but I have no doubt that, by the end, it had more to do with her attitude and unwillingness to be pushed around than the dare. She had something to prove and no one was going to stop her... no matter how hard they tried. 

Being perfectly honest, this book was a little slow to start. I'd heard so many great things about it that I never once thought about setting it down, but it still took me some time to get fully invested in the story. There was a lot of military jargon and tradition in the beginning, but I don't see that as a bad thing. I considered it world building. I feel like I learned something. Several somethings even. I felt like I was right there with Mac as she went through the trials and tribulations of being at DMA. When the story took off, however, it went hard and didn't stop until the end. I didn't expect edge-of-my-seat suspense and action from this book, but that's precisely what I got. 

There was a lot to love about Rites of Passage. The characters are high on the list. I've already said how much I loved Mac. My second favorite was Drill. Oh my god. Can Drill have a book of his own, please? Sigh. I loved him so much. For awhile there, it seemed like there might be a bit of a love triangle in this book, but I was thrilled to see there really wasn't. I loved how Drill watched out for and protected Mac without being too alpha male and without stifling her. The thing between them was, of course, completely forbidden. Military rank and all that. I want to say it's the fact that it's forbidden that made it so damn sweet, but the truth is, they were just so perfect for each other. They were connected in ways Mac didn't even realize at first. 

This book was chock full of interesting characters. Some in good ways and some in bad. It seemed as though everyone was keeping secrets and they weren't always what I thought they might be. I didn't really ever feel like I could predict what was going to happen next or how everything would work out in the end and I LOVED THAT. I read so many books and a good portion of them are utterly predictable. Rites of Passage was far from that. In addition to the action and suspense, there were just the right amount of twists and turns. 

My only complaint about the book – and it's a tiny one – is the ending. If this was the first book in a series, it would be perfection. As a standalone, it feels a wee-bit unfinished. That might just be because I had connected with these characters on a deep level and I'm greedy and wanted more. (Of course, I also have my fingers crossed the author will decide to write a sequel. Perhaps of the new adult variety. But I'll take anything, seriously.) 

If you love strong female characters, great action and suspense, and sweet forbidden romance, look no further. Rites of Passage is a great debut novel and I'm looking forward from much, much more from Joy N. Hensley in the future! 

I received a copy of this book from the publisher, via Edelweiss, in exchange for an honest review.

Lisa ✩ @lifeinlit

4.5 Stars!

Believe what you hear about this novel… it WILL make you feel extremely lazy for sitting on your couch reading, while Sam is busting her butt before your eyes, page after page. I did (at least twice that I can remember) get up and start working out while listening to the audio. I just HAD to. Seriously. Talk about making you feel like a couch potato. This book will definitely have you questioning your own physical strength.

I loved how totally unique this story was. I have never read anything like it, and I think that’s why I enjoyed it so much. I’m always all for a kickass heroine, but I’m not big on fantasy which is where we usually see those types of girls. So to see this type of personality on a girl in a more contemporary, realistic fiction story was awesome. I loved Sam from the first page. Though I didn’t always agree with things she said or did, I loved her strength, eagerness to succeed and unwillingness to fail. She was the kind of girl I think will definitely influence impressionable teenagers who are reading this book.

You should be warned though… parts of this book were a bit difficult to read (or in my case, listen to.) I was cringing and gritting my teeth at points, but I still couldn’t put the book down. The good news is it’s worth the effort it takes to read through those parts. Sometimes you have to take the really harshly bad with the good to get the whole picture. This was one of those times.

I did my best to avoid all reviews before reading this. I did, however, see quite a few ratings… and almost all of them were either 4 or 5 stars. That was enough proof to me that this was a book that I needed to at least give a try. I’m so happy I did. It was fantastic! I’ve already recommended it to several of my reader friends, and I will be sure to continue to recommend it more in the future. Can’t wait to see what’s in store for us next from Joy N. Hensley!

Audiobook Impressions:
Khristine Hvam definitely has quite a few books under her name on Audible. I’ve listened to a few by her, including The Iron Fey series, and just recently, The Lonely Hearts Club. There’s a reason that she has narrated so many books… she’s pretty darn incredible. I thought she was PERFECT for this book. Not many people could bring out Sam’s badassness as well as show her insecurities and fear so perfectly. She was spot-on with all of it. Another fantastic narrator that I hope to hear more from.

(Thanks to HarperTeen for the review copy!)

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