By Cinda Williams Chima
Published By Hyperion
Summary (Goodreads): Before he knew about the Roses, 16-year-old Jack lived an unremarkable life in the small Ohio town of Trinity. Only the medicine he has to take daily and the thick scar above his heart set him apart from the other high-schoolers. Then one day Jack skips his medicine. Suddenly, he is stronger, fiercer, and more confident than ever before. And it feels great until he loses control of his own strength and nearly kills another player during soccer team tryouts. Soon, Jack learns the startling truth about himself: He is Weirlind; part of an underground society of magical people who live among us. At the head of this magical society sit the feuding houses of the Red Rose and the White Rose, whose power is determined by playing The Game a magical tournament in which each house sponsors a warrior to fight to the death. The winning house rules the Weir. As if his bizarre magical heritage isn't enough, Jack finds out that he's not just another member of Weirlind he's one of the last of the warriors at a time when both houses are scouting for a player. Jack s performance on the soccer field has alerted the entire magical community to the fact that he's in Trinity. And until one of the houses is declared Jack's official sponsor, they'll stop at nothing to get Jack to fight for them.
Dislikes: This book started out really slow for me. The only thing that kept my interest was the training of Jack to be both a warrior and a wizard. The school and soccer parts are what took it down for me, they weren't bad just not as interesting.
Likes: I enjoyed the overall story and premise of the "War of The Roses" being fought between two wizarding groups to see who was going to be in charge of the magical community. I liked the characters as well. I thought Jack was a good lead and was believable as a teenager who has led a fairly normal life and suddenly finds himself with these powers. I found the secondary characters were more interesting. The enchanter aunt and wizard handyman among others added a lot to the story and kept you guessing on who was on which side. I also liked how the leaders of both the red and white were both evil and you weren't really rooting for either, your focus was on the warriors who were fighting.
Overall: I found the world and premise of the wizards, warriors, and enchanters living in an hierarchy based on an agreement that was signed hundreds of years ago. I'm not sure where the series is going since they seemed to finish up Jack's story but I'm looking forward to reading the next book.
Rating: 3.5
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