The writing was simply mid tier, with several places that it felt like the author was trying too hard to appeal to teenage boys without really knowing how they actually talk. Felt a little stereotypical. The romance was very basic and also a bit stereotypical. It does make you want to read the next book but only because there are so many unanswered questions from the first book. There were also several plot points that seemed too convenient rather than worked into the story. Like his mind pictures that he can conveniently do without really any explanation or practice. Or when other people discover they have powers just in the nick of time. ( )

INCREDIBLY slow to start. Or rather, starts with a bang, then sits around and listens to it for a while. Parts of the plot rely heavily on a taxi driver the MC takes to the airport, who will then do basically anything for him after a phone call.

The mysteries here were really of two varieties, one arcane but ultimately "realistic", and one about Good and Evil and demons and guardian angels, etc. Totally against my normal expectations, I wish the second part had just been left out. The first was enough to sustain a book or two.

The boarding-school setting of the book is improbably awesome, moreso than Hogwarts, and defies belief at its sustainability as an institution. But is IS pretty cool.

Nick MacLeish is by far the best character in this book, which is mostly a boys' club. The girls mainly exist to react to the guys.

Gripping but ultimately disappointing. I'll confess it drove me to pick up the next book--just enough to skim it for major plot points

Fast-paced story about a young teenager, whose life is thrown into turmoil when his low profile is jeopardized by his high scores on an aptitude test, and he becomes a target. He escapes to a school for gifted children, with the help of a cool cabdriver, only to find himself battling a secret society within the school. Will has to learn to trust his gifted new friends in order to succeed in an epic battle. ( )

In the beginning of the book, I was confused. The first few chapters will throw readers into sudden action with very little explanation other than the fact that Will West is a very special kid - he can run practically as fast as a cheetah, can throw images at people that change their perception, and is a super genius. Which makes him - well, you don't know that until the very end of the book. So for a good part of it, readers, expect to be confused, and just call him that "special" kid.

He's sent to a school for all other special kids, and by this time, if you've read Harry Potter, you'll be seeing some similarities. There are the bullies, slimy and unpleasant Lyle and the track runner/jock Todd, and their stereotypical bully/antagonist behavior is made up for with Will's new friends. Mostly. Elise has her sarcasm and secrets, Nick has his jokes and silly nature, and Ajay has his technological-savvy charisma, and I found them entertaining and likable. The only one I was put off by (slightly) was Brooke, while she has believable characteristics of being extremely kind and is a stickler for rules, even I could see when she first appeared that she would be the love interest of Will's. Damsel-in-distress syndrome and a kiss for saving her in the end; I make my point.

On that note, although the romance is more so on the side than the main part of this adventure, Will getting to kiss both the female protagonists? Really? Elise, I could forgive; she does end up "awakening" and unlocking what makes her special later on in the novel. And her secrets make it pretty obvious she's not really into Will. But the whole Will/Brooke romance felt rushed and expected. More development on this in later books would be nice.

Will's guardian angel Dave (and Dave doesn't tell us he's a guardian angel until he's allowed to, so you just think he's some otherworldly being until he does so) does most of the explaining for Will's predicament. Even then, I'm left confused. The Never-Was? Lamia? Monsters? Paladins? It all does not seem believable until the end. But I do like how Frost incorporates history (Charlemagne's Knights aka The Paladins) and monsters. Forget vampires and wizards. Will's an Initiate (I still have no idea what that really is, an unfortunate downside).

The middle and end picked up from the very confusing beginning. I was able to actually understand what was going on as Dave explained to Will and as Will and the gang slowly uncovered the secrets of their school. And their are many more secrets to uncover, with Will's parentage coming into play.

Now would I recommend this book? Yes and no. Yes, it was a great, quick read full of unexpected elements that deviate from the norm of witches and vampires and werewolves and incorporating historical facts into it. The characters were mostly diverse and hopefully we see more development from them in future novels. But some cons. Reading through some sections, such as Will's mind projection, were hard to imagine in the modern setting of America. If you're confused by certain aspects of the book, like the angels and the Initiates and the Hierarchy and all the things Dave the guardian angel tried to explain, it may be harder to get into this series. And even if the characterization was a positive, it also was a negative, as I stated with the romance.

The second book, Alliance, I will be reading, to find out what awaits our heroes, and to clear whatever confusion I retained after finishing The Paladin Prophecy. ( )

This is a fun ride of a book that hooks you from the very beginning and doesn't ever let up. The action is continuous, the characters are incredibly fun, the plot lines are a little confusing, but all in all it is a very entertaining book. The characters were my favorite part. The main character, Will, is a good young man who loves his parents and tries to do his best without drawing attention to some of his extraordinary skills. When strange things begin happening and he has to run away, he meets Nando, a taxi-driver who immediately becomes a friend that goes to many great lengths to help Will. I loved Nando for his good heart, his courage, and his smart-alecky remarks. When Will arrives at his new school, I fell in love with his roommates - especially the hysterical Nick. Why oh why did I not mark some of his quotes?! And why has a movie not been made of this yet? It would definitely make a good one. Fun, fun, fun.

Areas of concern:
*Quite a bit of bad language. Around 30 uses each of the "d" word and the "h" word. 8 uses of the "a" word, and 1 use of the "s" word.
*This is nit-picky, but a group of male and female teenagers share a sort of apartment with a common kitchen and living area with their bedrooms jutting off from the common areas and no supervision aside from a creepy evil guy who makes surprise inspections.

https://read-me-maybe.blogspot.com ( )