Dark Elite, Book 2

Synopsis: Lily Parker is new to St Sophia’s School for Girls, but she’s already learned that magic can be your best friend …or your worst enemy. So they say absolute power corrupts absolutely. But it turns out even a little bit of magic can turn you to the dark side. That’s why Lily has to learn how to control her newly discovered abilities and quickly, on top of avoiding the snobs who think they run her school, nursing a crush on a cute sophomore with a big, werewolfy secret, and fighting the good fight with her best friend Scout as they take on Chicago’s nastiest nightlife – including the tainted magic users known as the Reapers. All that’s even before Lily’s invited to a private meeting with Sebastian. He’s hot, he’s powerful, and he’s offering to help her harness the magic flowing through her veins in a way that no one else can. He’s also a Reaper. Lily can’t help but be suspicious of his offer. But she also needs his help. It seems that the line between good and evil isn’t quite so clear as she thought …

Review: I liked the first book even if it is true that some points had puzzled me. Yet I was really curious to get into this second opus, especially after meeting Sebastian, but I will go back to that later.

We thus find Lily, who more determined than ever hopes to understand what her parents are hiding. She knows that seeking for answers will bring trouble but it seems impossible for her to give up on that. But what she discovers may be much more complex than she thought. This is not all, because here come into play vampires! Yeah, they also exist in the Chloe Neill’s world and I admit that it was interesting to discover them. And they’re not the only ones because we are also introduced to other creatures that are quite intriguing and although it is true that I understood before the characters what was going on, I’m really curious to learn more about them. Last thing, there is Sebastian! Ah this character… It’s so hard to decide about his fate. He is part of the “bad guys” that’s true, but he also helps our heroine so that it is impossible to hate him. I even have to say that this is the only character that fascinates me that much. I look forward to learning more about him and to find out what he really wants from Lily. Yes, because I’m more confused about him now, and it’s intriguing to see if something will happen between them. But I hope we will know more in the next novel. I think I could only read the novel for him!

Many secrets mingle with the lives of our characters and it is true that I was surprised to see that they weren’t talking right away. I think especially of Scout and her mysterious project or of the fact that it will take some time for Lily to tell her friend about her encounters with the enemy. The plot thickens a little more, which is also interesting and it’s true that I’m curious to see where the author is going on. Problem… I remember seeing quite complicated opinions of the third book, so I guess I’ll see when the time comes to it. After that, it is true that the rest of the story may lack a bit of pace for me but it’s not really a big concern. In addition, this second novel allows us to discover more about our characters and we discover many revelations all along the story. Some are amazing, some a little less, but it was quite interesting to see the reactions of the characters.

So it was a good novel again and I’ll wait for the third to discover the end of the story. In the meantime, I know I need to read the Chicagoland series! Yes I know I say it all the time, but I will! (yes, one day!)

Dark Elite, Tome 2

Résumé : Lili doit apprendre à contrôler ses nouveaux pouvoirs… en plus de supporter les pestes de son lycée, de faire ses devoirs et de se battre la nuit contre des magiciens maléfiques ! Tout cela lui laisse à peine le temps de rêver à Jason, ce charmant jeune homme qui cache un secret garou-esque. Quand, lors d’une patrouille nocturne, des créatures bizarres menacent ses amis, Lili prend conscience qu il n est plus temps de s’entraîner. Les Adeptes ont besoin de ses pouvoirs pour empêcher une bataille paranormale qui mettrait Chicago à feu et à sang !

Avis : J’avais bien aimé le premier tome, même si c’est vrai que certains points m’avaient laissé perplexe. Pourtant j’étais vraiment curieuse de pouvoir me lancer dans ce deuxième opus, surtout après avoir rencontré Sebastian, mais j’y reviendrai plus tard.

On retrouve donc Lily, qui plus déterminée que jamais, espère comprendre ce que mijotent ses parents. Elle sait parfaitement que chercher des réponses n’amènera que des ennuis mais il lui semble impossible d’abandonner et encore moins de leur demander. Mais ce qu’elle découvrira est peut-être bien plus complexe que ce qu’elle ne pensait. Ce n’est pas tout, car entrent en scène ici les vampires ! Oui oui, ils existent aussi dans le monde de Chloe Neill et j’avoue que c’était intéressant de les découvrir. Et ce ne sont pas les seuls, car nous sommes aussi introduits à d’autres créatures qui sont assez intrigantes et même si c’est vrai que j’ai compris avant les personnages de quoi il en retournait, je suis vraiment curieuse d’en apprendre plus à leur sujet. Dernière chose,  il y a Sebastian ! Ah ce personnage… C’est si difficile de statuer sur son sort. Il fait partie des « méchants » c’est vrai, mais il aide tellement notre héroïne qu’il nous est impossible de le détester. Je dois même dire que c’est le seul personnage qui me passionne autant. J’ai hâte d’en apprendre plus sur lui et de découvrir ce qu’il désire réellement de Lily. Oui, parce que je suis de plus en plus confuse à son sujet, au point que j’aimerais finalement qu’il se passe quelque chose de plus entre eux. Mais j’espère que l’on en saura plus dans le prochain roman. Je crois que je pourrais lire le roman uniquement pour lui d’ailleurs, j’attends impatiemment d’en apprendre plus à son sujet.

De nombreux secrets se mêlent à la vie de nos personnages et c’est vrai que j’ai été surprise de voir qu’aucun n’en parlaient. Je pense notamment à Scout et son projet mystérieux que même Lily ne connait pas ou alors au fait qu’il faudra à notre héroïne du temps pour raconter ses rencontres avec leur ennemi. L’intrigue s’épaissit un peu plus, ce qui est aussi intéressant et c’est vrai que je suis curieuse de voir où l’auteur va nous mener. Problème… je me rappelle avoir vu des avis assez compliqués du troisième, alors je pense que je verrai au moment venu ce qu’il en est. Après c’est vrai que le reste de l’histoire manque peut-être un peu de rythme pour moi mais ce n’est pas vraiment un gros souci. De plus, ce deuxième roman nous permet d’en découvrir plus sur nos personnages et on découvrira de nombreuses révélations au cours de l’histoire. Certaines sont étonnantes, d’autres un peu moins mais c’était assez intéressant de voir les réactions des personnages.

C’était donc un nouveau bon roman et j’attendrai le trois pour découvrir la fin de l’histoire. En attendant, il faudrait que je lise la série des Vampires de Chicago ! Oui je sais je le dis tout le temps, mais je le ferais !!! (oui oui un jour !)

Dark Elite, Book 1

Synopsis: When Lily Parker’s guardians decided to send her away to a fancy boarding school in Chicago, Lily was shocked. So was St. Sophia’s.

As the new girl at the elite St. Sophia’s boarding school, Lily is surrounded by an ultra-rich bratpack. She’s pretty sure her spoiled, petty, fashion-obsessed classmates are the most monstrous things she’ll have to face, and surviving them and their cruel practical jokes is proving even tougher than the homework…

But on top of being the punchline to every joke, Lily’s hearing strange noises and seeing bizarre things in the shadows of the creepy building. All building have their creaks and groans – but Lily could swear that she’s being watched.

The only thing keeping her sane, so far, is her roommate Scout. But something strange is going on there too – Scout keeps disappearing late at night, reappearing bruised and tired, and she won’t tell Lily where’s she’s been… until, that is, a prank leaves Lily trapped in the catacombs beneath the school. Lost in the dark Lily hear’s footsteps heading towards her – it’s Scout and she’s running from a real moster.

Scout is part of a group of rebel teens with unique magical talents, sworn to protect the city against demons, vampires, and Reapers: magic users who’ve been corrupted by their power. Much as Lily would love to help, it’s too dangerous without powers of her own – especially if she’d have to go up against the firespell herself…

Review: Ah since the release of this book, I was curious to find out how it was, so when I had the opportunity to get into it, I did not hesitate. I must say that I have the Chicagoland Vampires series since its release but I haven’t read any yet. Yes! I know! I need to start them one day, especially considering the number of volumes I have and the beautiful reviews everywhere.

We discover Lily, a girl like others whose parents took a sabbatical holiday in Germany. And while they accepted she could stay to continue her studies as she wanted, they finally changed opinion and force her now to study in a private school she does not want to integrate. But despite her worst will, she is engaged in this new environment she knows nothing about. Of course, we always find the ideas that are usually in this type of novel: a group of mean girls opposed to others, a little eccentric and rebellious. And here she is, Lily, the girl who did not ask anything and yet who will immediately choose her clan. And when she befriends Scout, she will quickly upset the trio of girls. But while her life begins in this new place, our young heroine will immediately try to unravel the Scout’s mystery about her disappearances every night (as she doesn’t want to tell her the reason). By dint of hard, Lily will understand that the world in which she lives is much different than what she thought. Indeed, magic exists and there is a war in the shadows that nobody knows about. But more than that, she will have to call into question her entire existence and certain events will even force her to question her own parents she loves more than anything.

I confess that despite a somewhat slow start, I enjoyed reading the whole story. I was curious to understand Lily with everything that is going on and to see how the author had imagined the powers of her characters. Lil is a strong girl and she happens to be in pretty much self-control in appalling circumstances. Nothing could prevent her from understanding what is happening and curiosity could also cause her a lot of trouble. Of course we also quickly like Scout who is always there for our heroine even though it will take a lot for her to finally tell the truth. This is a person who does not care what others think about her and does what she wants, yet we feel perfectly that she is alone and needs a friend. There are also many other characters like Jason, and I’m sure we’ll learn more about him soon. I liked him too along the chapters and at the same time I think it’s a bit annoying that he acts differently depending on the people around him and apologizes later for his attitude.

I found that everything was accelerating in the second part of the novel which is suddenly much better for the rhythm of the story. I also had good some surprises and revelations and I hope we will have even more thereafter. I have now several questions related to some points that I wouldn’t reveal to you to keep the surprise and I look forward to learn more now! I’ll wait for book 2.