Blythewood by Carol Goodman
January 6, 2014
4.5 out of 5 Stars
SPOILERS AHEAD!!!
Let me just start off by saying, holy crap! I was definitely not expecting for Goodman to take this book to the places I didn't expect. I thought this was going to be another one of "those books" that took place in a boarding school, and something bad happens in the story and everything goes to shit, then by the end everything is fine. Nope, not this book. It took an unexpected twist when it introduced paranormal entities who lived in the woods.
Welcome to Blythewood.
At seventeen, Avaline Hall has already buried her mother, survived a horrific factory fire, and escaped from an insane asylum. Now she’s on her way to Blythewood Academy, the elite boarding school in New York’s mist-shrouded Hudson Valley that her mother attended—and was expelled from. Though she’s afraid her high society classmates won’t accept a factory girl in their midst, Ava is desperate to unravel her family’s murky past, discover the identity of the father she’s never known, and perhaps finally understand her mother’s abrupt suicide. She’s also on the hunt for the identity of the mysterious boy who rescued her from the fire. And she suspects the answers she seeks lie at Blythewood.
But nothing could have prepared her for the dark secret of what Blythewood is, and what its students are being trained to do. Haunted by dreams of a winged boy and pursued by visions of a sinister man who breathes smoke, Ava isn't sure if she’s losing her mind or getting closer to the truth. And the more rigorously Ava digs into the past, the more dangerous her present becomes.
At the beginning of the story we learn that Ava was working at a factory stitching waistcoats. She was a hard worker, and was very good at her job. But when she sees a man lurking off talking to her boss she feels nervous, and she hears a distinct ringing in her head, a brass bell. She was shaken out of her trance by a mysterious boy who told her to get out of the building as fast as she could. She did, but was only caught by the blazing flames as the factory lit up. Her friends were jumping from windows and plummeting to the ground, trying to save them self's from being burned alive. Then she is taken away by the same boy who had told her to leave the building before. He saves her life, but not without consequences.
Honestly, I think the beginning of this book is riveting. It was a very strong way to begin a book, especially a fire the killed hundreds of people. Then Goodman took it to the next level and put her into an insane asylum for 5 months, and Ava didn't even know that was the amount of time she had been staying there. Holy shiz on a cracker.
I was truly surprised by this book. The Gothic theme that it had going for it, worked very well with the story. The folklore and all the different story telling's in the book also surprised me. Normally I'm not a fan of reading folklore or reading about stories that took place in the past. The story about the 7 sisters who made the bells for the kingdom was interesting, and I still don't know what happened to the 7th sister, did she get killed by The Darklings or was she saved by them?
Then there is the man who keeps following her, the very same man that followed her mother. As the story progresses you see this man more and more, and she learns that this man is pure evil, the man with the billowing smoke. Let me just say, This thing or whatever it is, is C.R.A.Z.Y. Turns out he was her mothers teacher from when she went to Blythewood. He loved her, but she loved someone else.
Not only was this story about her hunting the paranormal entities. But, it was also about Ava's search for her father. Towards the end of the book, she finds a paper that says the entities that was following her mother and herself around was her father. But little did she know, she was wrong. At the end of the book you find out from Raven who her father really is. Her father is one of The Darklings. The very things Ava is taught to kill and protect the world from at Blythewood.
Blythewood. A boarding school. A boarding school that teaches young girls how to kill the fey. Their whole society is based on the story of the 7 bells. Not only do they try to keep girls from finding out the truth about SOME of the creatures in the forest, but they threaten them. Threaten to expel them if the disobey what they are being told to do. To be honest, I definitely would NOT want to go to Blythewood.
But yes, back to the boy who saved Ava's life. Raven. He is one of The Darkling's that live in the forest. He is what is considered evil, even though he is not. Turns out Ava wasn't as crazy as the doctors at the insane asylum thought she was. He is not evil, he is just cursed. Cursed to never return to Faerie, along with the rest of his kind. He is kind, sweet, and risks a lot to save Ava from different events that happen in the story.
So by the end we find out that Ava's father is not the man with the billowing smoke. But, he is one of The Darkling's. Not only is her father a Darkling, but so is Ava. You kind of figured this out towards the middle of the story, but you don't really know till the end when Raven tells her. There is still a possibility that Raven is lying, but who knows I guess i'll have to read the next book.
Yes, I seriously would recommend this book to a friend. It was fantastic! It had me hooked from the very first page. Also, don't get me wrong, the cover also is what made me read it too, ITS BEAUTIFUL! Happy Reading!
~
Alysia
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