Knightly Academy
Knightly Academy (Book 1)by Violet Haberdasher
Henry Grim has never been in trouble for borrowing a priceless sword. He has never discovered a forbidden room in a sinister castle or received a death threat over breakfast.All Henry knows is life as an orphaned servant boy at the Midsummer School, bullied by the privileged sons of aristocracy–until he becomes the first commoner accepted at the prestigious Knightley Academy, where he will train as a modern-day knight alongside the brightest and most arrogant fourteen-year-olds in the country.It soon becomes apparent that Henry and his two roommates, also from decidedly un-Knightley backgrounds, are not welcome at the Academy, and that someone will go to great lengths to sabotage their chances at becoming knights. But Henry discovers that much more is at stake than his future at Knightley—a war is brewing, and only he can sound the alarm. But is anyone going to believe a former servant on the brink of expulsion? (knightlyacademy.com) (because the lacking summary on goodreads sucked!)
I first heard of Knightly Academy at the Teen Author Carnival in NYC in May 2010. Violet Haberdasher was one of the author panelists during the event and as soon as she spoke about her novel I was enchanted by the idea of it! Sadly, I didn't have the money to buy the book then and this last year didn't allow me to buy many books - especially not in hard cover. This summer things changed a little and the book came out in paperback. What I once thought was a YA novel turned out to be a MG novel and to be honest, that made me want it MORE. I didn't figure the MG book to have a stupid love-triangle-teen-romance deal in it. That made me H-A-P-P-Y!I really enjoyed this book right from the first pages. Of course I couldn't help but draw parallels to the Harry Potter series, but the story did well to distinguish itself from that big time series. I liked Henry Grim right away and I loved his two roommates as well. The entire concept behind the Academy was such fun! I wasn't sure what to expect, I thought it would be a lot darker and gothic but it's not. It's a light, fun read about a boarding school type place where boys learn to be knights and girls, well, one in particular, would rather learn the boy stuff (reading, language) than the girl stuff (embroidery and etiquette).All characters were FUN. From Adam and Rohan to Professor Stratford and Sir Frederick. Even good ol' meany Lord Havelock (who resembled Professor Snape a little too much to me) was pretty entertaining.I enjoyed this book so much I even attempted to read it while on the bus. Not a good idea. It results in some pretty violently ill moments. It didn't stop me from trying a couple of times though. I finally finished it last night.I am very frustrated that the second book is out in hard cover because I would like to read MORE of this series NOW. Alas, I must wait a year all impatient-like for it to come out in paper back. I can't possibly buy the sequel in a different format, now can I? As it is, I am happy I waited for this book to change formats because they changed the cover of the book and I would have been stuck with miss-matched books in a series! GASP! The HORROR! So they'd best not change them again next year. =PI like when I discover fun books! I seem to like MG books more and more over YA lately. They have meatier stories and are much more entertaining!Knightly Academy series
- Knightly Academy
- The Secret Prince