Shadow Grail:Legacies

Legacies
by MercedesLackey and Rosemary Edghill
Shadow Grail, book one

Who—or what—is stalking the students at Oakhurst Academy?

In the wake of the accident that killed her family, Spirit White is spirited away to Oakhurst Academy, a combination school and orphanage in the middle of Montana. There she learns she is a legacy—not only to the school, which her parents also attended, but to magic.

All the students at Oakhurst have magical powers, and although Spirit’s hasn’t manifested itself yet, the administrators insist she has one. Spirit isn’t sure she cares. Devastated by the loss of her family, she finds comfort with a group of friends: Burke Hallows, Lachlann Spears, Muirin Shae, and Adelaide Lake.

But something strange is going on at Oakhurst. Students start disappearing under mysterious circumstances, and the school seems to be trying to cover it up. Spirit and her friends must find out what’s happening—before one of them becomes the next victim… (description taken from Amazon.com)

I think this is a good start to an interesting new series. I really loved the first half of the book. The setup, describing Oakhurst Academy, introducing the magic and the teens, was really well done and intriguing. Spirit is a good character...spunky, yet unsure of herself in the new situation and without visible magic like the others. I loved her relationships with the other teens in her group.

My only complaint about this book was that when the revelation comes about what is happening to the disappearing students, the problem is addressed and "solved" almost too quickly. I felt like that part of the book could have been slightly more fleshed out.

I am definitely looking forward to reading the second book in the series, Conspiracies, though, and trying to figure out what type of magic Spirit has...