Introductions by C.L. Stone

Genre: YA Fantasy, contemporary, mystery

Release Date: December 23, 2012

Publisher: Arcato Publishing

Format: ebook                     Pages: 280

Series: The Academy #1      Sources: Netgalley

Goodreads Synopsis:

With an agoraphobic mother and a barely-there father, Sang abhors the isolation keeping her in the shadows. The only thing Sang craves is a fresh start and to be accepted as ordinary by her peers, because for her being different meant being cast out alone.

When her family moves to a new school district, Sang infiltrates a group of boys nearly perfect in every way. Grateful for an influence outside of her parents’ negativity, she quickly bonds with the boys, hoping to blend in and learn from them what it means to have a natural relationship with friends.

Only the boys have secrets of their own and they’ll do anything to keep her safe from the knowledge of the mysterious Academy that they've sworn allegiance to. Bit by bit, Sang discovers that her friends are far from the normalcy she expected. Will her loyalty change when she's forced to remain in the dark, or will she accept that she's traded one house of secrets for another?

Meet Kota, Victor, Silas, Nathan, Gabriel, Luke and North in a story about differences and loyalty, truth and mystery, friendships and heart-throbbing intimacy.

The Academy, ever vigilant.

My Thoughts:

Ok, so I just finished reading Book One of the Academy Introductions. I am so torn on this book. I really liked the storyline, but I was so confused and disappointed though out the book. There is just no way any of this story is even slightly realistic.

I hated the protagonist, Sang. Granted, I know that she lived a very deprived childhood, without love and affection from her family and social interactions other than school. But the way this story is going, she seems to have the very strong potential of being the shared girlfriend of all 7 boys. There is such a thing as too much damsel in distress and our girl takes even that to a whole new level. Truthfully, it really mad me sick the way she was, albeit unintentionally, leading all the guys on. And what girl would just accept that these guys had a major secret and not want some answers. For all Sang knows, they are part of a murderous cult set to sacrifice her on the next full moon.

Silas had to be my favorite of the guys, although I am majorly suspicious of them all. What is their huge secret? Silas seems to be the sweetest out of the bunch and sweet on Sang, too. I just can’t understand what their plan is letting her into their gang. Why her, why now and why do they not want their teachers to know? All of this is just extremely suspect and while I would love to speculate, I am just so confused.

So while Introductions is definitely not Book of the Year for me, I will wait for Book 2 to see if Sang smartens up or if the guys share their big secret.

Readers of YA fantasy, contemporary, and mystery may find this book interesting.