Review & Giveaway: Solstice High by Ardash Vartparonian

Teddyrose@1

11 years ago

As my readers know, lately I have been spreading my reading wings and trying genres I don’t usually read. Solstice High is my very first time reading urban fantasy. There was something in the description that attracted me to it.

The Book Description:

Publisher: Strategic Book Group (October 22, 2012)
Category: Urban Fantasy/Sci Fi/Young Adult
Tour Date: July- Early August, 2013
Available in: eBook and Print, 360 Pages

Matt, Rochelle, Daphne and Jonas are four students starting their senior year of high school, but suffer a freak-accident the very first day and start to realize that they are developing superhuman abilities. They quickly realize that the school principal, Mr. Devlin, has in fact more than just education on his agenda, and is using the school for his own purposes.

Not only must the four friends try to figure out what Devlin’s plans are, but when he will strike, and seeing as how they cannot turn to grown-ups for help without exposing themselves, must themselves grow-up in order to stop him. As well as learning to cope with these developing powers, the four teenagers must deal with the day-to-day muddles of being a teenager, such as volatile emotions, infatuations and family issues.

My Thoughts:

I can’t believe I’m saying this about an urban fantasy book, it was great.

Rochelle, Daphne, Jonas, and Matt happen to be outside of the gym change rooms and saw a sign saying do not enter. Of course, they take it as a dare which they will live to regret, kind of. They all develop different super powers and need to learn how to control their now found powers. Control, something teens have a hard time doing in the best situations. LOL!

Not only did they need to learn how to learn to control their powers, they all had family, school, and social issues to deal with. They also had to find a way to stop a sinister plot by an adult that they were supposed to be able to trust! They couldn’t risk telling grownups what has happened to them, they didn’t want to wind up in a lab like human rats being poked and prodded.

Besides the genre being different for me, it is an young adult book. I didn’t realize how deep and philosophical a young adult book could go. I was pleasantly surprised! For example, read the following passage:

“Every culture, or at least ancient culture, worshipped these sort of supernatural beings that could do things ordinary humans couldn’t. I mean, just look at the ancient Greeks. They had as a super god a bearded dude who could throw lightning bolts from his hands. Other characters included some guy who could control the ocean and a woman who could make any man fall in love with her. And considering what we could do, those things didn’t seem like too far a stretch either.”

I thought that was so cool. These kids do a lot of growing up during the course of this book. It seemed so realistic despite the super powers. I also saw the super powers as a philosophical question, what if this happened in real life. How would you deal with it? To find out how Matt, Rochelle, Daphne, and Jonas deal with it, you will have to read the book.

I can hardly wait to read more by Ardash Vartparonian! I highly recommend it!

4.5/5

I received this book for my honest review!

About Ardash Vartparonian:

Ardash Vartparonian was born in London but raised in Buenos Aires, Argentina. At the age of 18 he began his debut novel, Solstice High, and continued writing throughout his last year of school and first year of university, where he moved back to the UK to study English Literature at Edinburgh University. Now a fourth year student, Ardash enjoys going out with his friends, watching horror movies and reading fantasy book while trying to keep up with his university work. Find out more at http://sbpra.com/ardashvartparonian/

Ardash on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/SolsticeHigh?ref=hl
Google+: https://plus.google.com/100558471915520443621/posts?hl=en

Thanks to the author, Ardash Vartparonian, I am giving away one print copy. This giveaway is open to the U.S., Canada, and the U.K. and ends on August 29, 2013. Please use Rafflecopter to enter.

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