Night School: Legacy by C J Daugherty

For Review: Atom
Published: 3 January 2013

From Goodreads: In the last year, Allie's survived three arrests, two breakups and one family breakdown. The only bright point has been her new life at Cimmeria Academy. It's the one place she's felt she belongs. And the fact that it's brought the dreamy Carter West into her life hasn't hurt...But far from being a safe haven, the cloistered walls of Cimmeria are proving more dangerous than Allie could've imagined. The students, and faculty, are under threat and Allie's family - from her mysterious grandma to her runaway brother - are at the centre of the storm. Allie is going to have to choose between protecting her family and trusting her friends. But secrets have a way of ripping even the strongest relationships apart...

I loved Night School when I read it last year so have been eagerly awaiting the sequel. I am pleased to say it lived up to all my expectations – it was different than I thought it would be but in a really good way.

The book starts straight in with the action, and we are thrown back into the mystery not knowing who to trust. I was pleased to get back to Chimmeria, with all the characters I grew to love last time. And yes, okay, I definitely wanted my fix of Carter West!

One of the things that surprised me in this instalment was how much my opinion of all the characters seemed to shift ever so slightly. While I loved Isabelle in the first book, seeds of doubt grew and I started wondering if she could be trusted. I also began to really like Sylvain, although I am still hesitant over his character because I feel what he did at the Summer Ball was serious and shouldn’t be dismissed too easily. And also, what the hell was up with Carter? Don’t get me wrong – I still loved him but he seemed so angry and possessive this time (or at least at the beginning of the story). Unless it was just me?  Either way, the whole ultimatum thing really annoyed me – you don’t get to dictate who someone is friends with! Although I do wonder what it is between Carter and Sylvain – does he know something we don’t? Or is it just jealousy over Allie?

So many things happened – it’s such an exciting story – but at the same time I got to the end and am not sure I knew much more than I did to begin with. That’s not a bad thing though – I’m sure I read somewhere (and please correct me if I am wrong) that this is planned as a series of 5 books? If so, I can see it taking a while to get those answers, but I know I will be along for the ride because so far, it is seriously awesome! I mean, that ending? I am so glad the author is prepared to go there and take risks – I didn’t see it coming at all but it certainly raises the stakes so to speak!

Can I have the next book now please?