Apprentice (The Black Mage Book 2)

Rachel E. Carter. Woman you almost destroyed me with this book....

I need time to process what just happened before I leave a review. *heavy sigh*

.........

So I think that I am finally in a place where I think that I can write a review worthy of this book.

Let's begin.

HOLY EFFING SHIZ!!!!! I so did not see this book coming. EPIC! AMAZEBALLS! Anything you can think of to describe the epic awesomeness of this book take that and multiply it by 50. Rachel E. Cater hit me a six for a nine and I have never been so happy to be played in my life.

While reading this book I was conflicted. After reading First Year, I knew where I wanted this book to go. I knew that I wanted Ry to end up with Darren because he is everything I love in a character. But no, Ms Rachel had other things in mind.

I hated him. I grew to despise him at every turn. I found myself shipping #TeamIan because I seriously couldn't stand the things that Darren was doing. I resigned myself to thinking that she should end up with a lesser character for her to have at least a chance of happiness.

But Home is Home, right?

I was tortured by those words and chose to ignore all the signs. I chose to believe what was on the surface and not think about what else could be out there.

And that is where I shall stop talking about the book plot, any thing more and I would be giving away spoilers.

I must say though that it has been a long time since I've felt this excited while reading a book. I love that my emotions were roped in and held tightly until the very end. I was going crazy all day yesterday while in work. I did nothing but read, everything was put on hold because I could concentrate on anything but what was happening in this book.

I enjoy thing kind of emotional rollercoaster. Like the first book this one as well had me on my toes, at the very edge of my seat, with a rapidly racing heart, never knowing what to expect. I LOVED EVERY SINGLE WORD!

(SIDE NOTE: At the end of the book there was this one part. I was so engrossed that I didn't stop to think and I was blown away! Quite literally)

I know some authors start of with a good first novel and kind of die of by the second or just use the second as a filler. Not Rachel Carter, not her at all. If anything, the second book was better than the first!

Another thing she did, which I absolutely adored was build all the supporting characters. They grew up and I enjoyed that. I loved that Alex and Ella weren't a perfect couple and they had their trials and we were able to see them grow and see the relationship blossom (because I totally ship them btw).

Derrick. I like him, we need to hear more about him. I would also like to see more of Sir Piers and Marius they were really nice adult characters as well and Andy, she was cool.

Now I think I have rambled on enough so I must end before I start adding spoilers. LOL. I'm super excited for Candidate!

READ THIS BOOK PEOPLE! You would not regret it. And tell all your friends so you won't be alone when you get to the end.

I was surprised that this book went through all the remaining 4 years of the apprenticeship because of the pacing from the first book being just 1 year. It was a good surprise though- I liked the pace and it seemed like only important parts were shown without useless filler areas.

First of all, I have to say that this book gave me SO much second-hand embarrassment because of Ryiah’s actions. There were some parts in this book that I was like WTF what is wrong with these people. I’m still not quite sure why Ryiah and Darren love each other in this book (though I am satisfied after book 3). At the time I was reading book 2, I guessed it was because they are similar to one another? When they are together, it can be quite breathtaking, but I struggled to find why it happened in the first place.

The political part of the story slowly starts to unfold, with the war with the Caltothians starting to affect the characters. Although I don’t agree with Ryiah a lot, she is such a realistic character with her struggles and inability to deal with her emotions and not getting over a love. Even with her heightened pain casting abilities, she is still a refreshingly real heroine who isn’t invincible and the ending helped ease the painful emotions felt throughout Apprentice.

I loved the dynamics of all of the relationships in this book. How I could continue to try and guess, but not really know what anyone was going to do next. This story kept me going and I finished it in one day!

I loved the dynamics of all of the relationships in this book. How I could continue to try and guess, but not really know what anyone was going to do next. This story kept me going and I finished it in one day!

Loved Loved Loved!

Beware the Gifs…I was a science major, not English! I’m not very good at expressing myself without them! And this book requires a lot of expression!!! Plus… I think it shows more effort on my part ;) …those suckers are difficult for non-computer people like me…

I have been procrastinating on writing my review for Apprentice… why? Because to write it would be acknowledging the fact that I’m in the “waiting period” again, which is excruciatingly painful! And I know pain… I work in a hospital! But of course… Rachel needs to have a life too! I mean, getting married is a pretty BIG deal. Go get your HEA!!! How exciting!

In case you couldn’t tell… I LOVED Apprentice!

This is me on February 16th around 10:30pm (ish) when Kindle downloaded my pre-order of Apprentice.

This is me at around 90%

Immediately after finishing the very last page

Shortly followed by …

…The stages of grief (Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, & Acceptance which is now on February 28, 2015)

Any book that can cause that much emotion is worth buying, unless you like extremely predictable and bland. In that case, this book will rock your socks and give you a loaded dose of what you have been missing your whole life! Convinced to purchase this books yet?

Apprentice was shockingly better than the first if you can believe that. While most TV shows and books in a series water down shortly after, Rachel sure knows how to keep the heat ablaze! This is because Ryiah was even more amazing, Darren was definitely more alluring, supporting characters were more entertaining, and the action was way more engaging. The world building in Rachel E. “Soon 2 B Married” books is truly one of a kind. Unfortunately I’m not creative, but all I can say is that she doesn’t simply tell you “bibbidi bobbidi boo” magic, but describes the magic in a way that engulfs and encompasses all your senses: auditory, visual, olfactory, and tactile! It’s like a self induced hallucination that's legal and way better for your body/mind/soul! I love battle scenes. I will read chick-books, but I won’t watch chick-flicks! Give me action, pain, blood, and gore any day of the week! The amazing thing is, Rachel doesn’t just give you one action packed scene, but many! These battles in no way shape or form congest and override the storyline, but bring life and new challenges in a way both men and women or boys and girls can appreciate.

Again, I loved this book! The romance, action, and magic are skillfully written. So much so, that it will leave you starving for more! Another fantastic read by Rachel E. Carter! Thank you thank you thank you!

WARNING: Love triangle! But no worries, Rachel expertly handled the situation and made sure not to torture us all to death!

Just keeps getting better and better. I love this series so much. Can't wait for the next installment! The characters just get more interesting and really makes the reader care about them. There's a definite love triangle in this one that I also enjoyed.

Twists and turns, poor girls fights odds and "wins" despite some bad decisions...

This would have been an ok read if the "proofers" had done a better job. Poor words choices, usage, and grammar throughout the book made the story difficult to follow -- at least for me. Maybe the YA audience doesn't care.

Angst. We have angst.

The more I think about this and after reading book 3 I have a few questions for Rachel.

1) were you turned down by your high school's most popular boy?
2) did you, or anyone you knew in high school act half as stupid as Ryiah does over Darren?
3) If any boy acted to you the way Darren does to Ryiah would you do anything she does?

There is a serious reason I'd ask, and it comes down to the fact that the angst and teenage "romantic" antics get very stupid in this book. Honestly, I can't see anyone like Ryiah surviving an apprenticeship with her attitude and lack of maturity. She alternately throws herself at Darren and then ices him when he is a typical urban fantasy/romance bad boy. The sad thing is that like so many male romantic interests in this type of story Ryiah almost literally can't survive without him. She's supposedly a very good mage in her own right, but Darren rescues her multiple times here.

I like the characters and the concept, but at the same time I found Ryiah grating due to her immaturity and complete inability to stand up to anyone. Those aspects of her personality don't fit the description of her as a good mage and I find that I didn't enjoy this book as much as the first in the series

Ryiah fights hard to be the best Combat Mange and we're fighting right alone with her. The storytelling is incredibly tense and suspenseful. The pace is fast, but there are so many ups and downs that it slowed the overall story down a lot. She fought at every turn and wouldn't give up, but I came close to giving up. I'm glad I didn't. Well-developed, complex characters battling tense situations within excellent storytelling.

But the final book in this series, Last Stand, was brutal and literally tortured my heart. I can't decide if I am glad I read this series or not. I'm leaning toward powerful story that just hurt too much.

Finished book 1 yesterday and started book 2 immediately. Stayed up until the wee hours reading and picked it up after work to finish. Characters are believable, plot full of action, and twists to keep my interest.

Short novel filled with plot twists and a captivating narrative. Her writing style is a sigh of relief after reading so many dense books. This has everything a reader wants: developed characters. AND an interesting plot... I'm excited to read the next one.

A fast moving novel with magic, battles, and love triangles. The ending came as a surprise and so was the betrayal. If I were her, I might not have forgiven him all of his moves to make things happen.

The second book of this series...

...6 years of reading books and I just realized why I read them. Why the first book I read that actually caught my attention was romance...Adventure...Fantasy.

I realized that books allow me to experience emotions that I havent had the chance to encounter yet. Why I long for true love. Why I want to explore the world. Why I want a career that is filled with action and no day the same as before.

This book helped me realize this. When I get mad at Eye or any other female character who seems to can't get over first love, I'm like "get over him!" I get angry and upset and annoyed. But then I understood. I'm learning different emotions through books. Books teach me about life. First is to learn and then to experience. When I experience these emotions, then I will understand what I read in books.
The first time I read "took my breath away", I thought that made no sense and was just an expression. But when I actually experienced it, my first thought was, "now I know what they meant in books".

Ryan is everything I was to be as an adult. She is brave, loyal, stubborn, kind, wise (even though considered reckless), and overall amazing. I am almost 3 months from 18 and about to go to college and the real world. I hope to experience everything That went through (emotion-wise, don't really want to get stabbed multiple times) so I can have a better understanding of who I am as a person.

I love books that help me understand myself better.

Can't wait to read the next book!

Well written, immersive characters. Shows a glimpse of life that I'm supremely glad I have no part in.

If you thrive on interpersonal drama where the oh so hard-working, talented girl that's "hated by everyone" ends up having to pick between the boy who loves her and the multiple times backstabber that "did it for her own good", this is the book for you.

I enjoy fantasy books. In particular, I have enjoyed WOT, Stormlight Archive, Kingkiller Chronicles and of course Tolkien. However, I also enjoyed Harry Potter, Percy Jackson and Artemis Fowl. The reason I say this is to make it clear that I enjoy a wide variety of fantasy books. I found the first book in the series reasonably good...good enough to try the second. Boy did the standard fall. The second book is a teenage romance novel with some elements of magic and a larger story thrown in just so the romance has a background. I found myself skimming pages as the author went on and on about ridiculous love triangles in detail while spending very little effort in giving similar details for the story itself. Highly recommend giving this series a miss based on book 2. Unfortunate as book 1 was decent.