Review: Firespell- by Chloe Neill

As the new girl at the elite St. Sophia’s boarding school, Lily Parker thinks her classmates are the most monstrous things she’ll have to face…

When Lily’s guardians decided to send her away to a fancy boarding school in Chicago, she was shocked. So was St. Sophia’s. Lily’s ultra-rich brat pack classmates think Lily should be the punchline to every joke, and on top of that, she’s hearing strange noises and seeing bizarre things in the shadows of the creepy building.

The only thing keeping her sane is her roommate, Scout, but even Scout’s a little weird—she keeps disappearing late at night and won’t tell Lily where she’s been. But when a prank leaves Lily trapped in the catacombs beneath the school, Lily finds Scout running from a real monster.

Scout’s a member of a splinter group of rebel teens with unique magical talents, who’ve sworn to protect the city against demons, vampires, and Reapers, magic users who’ve been corrupted by their power. And when Lily finds herself in the line of firespell, Scout tells her the truth about her secret life, even though Lily has no powers of her own—at least none that she’s discovered yet…
(Summary from Chloe Neill's website.)

Firespell is the first book in Chloe Neill's Young Adult series' Novels of the Dark Elite. When Lily Parker's parents leave for a two year sabbatical to Germany, Lily is moved from upstate New York to Chicago to attend a fancy boarding school, St. Sophia's. Lily is less than happy about this change, and never having been the rich kid, doesn't think that she'll fit in to this place at all. Luckily, on of her roommates, Scout, turns out to be her BFF from day one. If only Lily could figure out where Scout runs off to every night...

Since this is a rich school, there have to be the rich snobby girls...enter the Brat Pack. Amie is another one of the girls roommates and probably the nicest, but she always follows the others. Mary Katherine is the always rude, but not actually rich, one. Then there's Veronica, the leader of the brat pack with all the snobbiness that entails. The girls take great pleasure putting down Lily and especially Scout. It's actually due to them that Lily is thrust into Scouts magical world, and the hospital. The brat pack is a great addition to the story, and though it doesn't have much to do with the magical story line, it is straight out of most high schools (albeit an extremely expensive one in this case).

Scout is part of a splinter cell of magic users that combat other magic users that try to feed of the energy of people. There are other teenagers in this group, but the two main ones that we get to see are Michael Garcia, who Scout is not dating, and Jason Shepard, Mr. Blue-Eyes himself. The budding chemistry between Lily and Jason is adorable, and I for one can't wait to see how it continues in the next book. Also, Scout and Michael are hilarious!

I loved this book!! It was great trying to figure out how the magic was going to be connected to the school, though there is still more to find out. There is also an entire mystery involving Lily's parents throughout the book, and how they are connected to St. Sophia's and Chicago. I can't wait for the next book! There's so much more to learn! Oh, and there's a certain dark haired boy that I now want to know more about due to his assistance in a certain battle.... I think that this is my favorite young adult novel that I've read in a while!


To Find out more about Chloe's Dark Elite Novels, go HERE.
To Find out more about Chloe's Adult series, the Chicagoland Vampires, go HERE.