From Goodreads: Sam McKenna’s never turned down a dare. And she's not going to start with the last one her brother gave her before he died. So
Sam joins the first-ever class of girls at the prestigious Denmark
Military Academy. She’s expecting push-ups and long runs, rope climbing
and mud-crawling. As a military brat, she can handle an obstacle course
just as well as the boys. She's even expecting the hostility she gets
from some of the cadets who don’t think girls belong there. What she’s
not expecting is her fiery attraction to her drill sergeant. But dating
is strictly forbidden and Sam won't risk her future, or the dare, on
something so petty ... no matter how much she wants him. As Sam
struggles to prove herself, she discovers that some of the boys don’t
just want her gone - they will stop at nothing to drive her out. When
their petty threats turn to brutal hazing, bleeding into every corner of
her life, she realizes they are not acting alone. A decades-old secret
society is alive and active ... and determined to force her out. At any cost. Now time's running short. Sam must decide who she can trust ... and choosing the wrong person could have deadly consequences.
My Rating: 3.5 hearts
Thoughts on the Novel: Although
it wasn’t a perfect read, Rites of Passage by Joy N. Hensley was a solid
debut. But, since I’ve been having trouble writing a review for Rites of
Passage, I’ll just list what I liked and disliked about it.
Pros:
- I loved Sam as a protagonist. Since I know I wouldn’t last a day
at a military school, I really admired Sam’s determination to last a full school
year at the Denmark
Military Academy despite
being bullied for simply being a girl. She was such a resilient character!
- I found the setting to be pretty
original because I’ve never read a book that's set at a military school.
- The Society created an element of
mystery, and increased the stakes for Sam being seriously injured if she chose to stay at the Denmark Military Academy.
Cons:
- Though I liked the small amount of
romance present between Sam and Drill, it took far too long to develop because
of Sam’s simultaneous interest in Kelly until the middle portion of the
book.
- I found the ending a bit too open
for my liking.
Rites of Passage was released by
HarperTeen on September 9, 2014.
Comments
About the Cover: I like its simplicity and the focus on the dog tags.
In exchange for an honest review, this book was received from the publisher (HarperCollins) for free via Edelweiss.
