(Review) Rae of Hope

Title: Rae of Hope (THE CHRONICLES OF KERRIGAN)
Author: W. J. May
Publisher: Mitchell Morris Publishing, Inc
Pages 248
Pub Date: November 2011

About the Book

How hard do you have to shake a family tree to find out the truth about the past?

Fifteen-year-old Rae Kerrigan never questioned her family’s history. That is until she accepted a scholarship to Guilder Boarding School in England. Guilder is an exclusive, gifted school. Rae has no idea what she is getting herself into or that her family’s past is going to come back and taunt her.

She learns she is part of an unparalleled group of individuals who become inked with a unique tattoo (tatu) on their sixteenth birthday. The tatu enables them to have supernatural powers particular to the shape of their ink-art. Both of her parents where inked, though Rae never knew, as they passed away when she was young. Learning about her family’s past, her evil father and sacrificial mother, Rae needs to decide if there is a ray of hope in her own life.

The first thing that drew me in about this book is the beautiful cover. I love it and the second thing was the author. When I discovered that she was a Canadian writer I knew I had to read this one.

I loved the book and can’t wait for the sequel,  DARK NEBULA to come out in August 2012. I will definitely be buying it and book three, HOUSE OF CARDS will come out in 2013.

I managed to read this in almost one day. It was a pretty quick read although for me it was a little longer only because I wasn’t able to download it onto my Kobo (because I am currently having issues with downloading books onto it) so I basically had to read this on the computer but that didn’t stop me from enjoying the book.

Rae is not your typical 15 year old girl. She has experienced more in her short life then anyone should. Her parents died in a horrific way leaving her an orphan at the age of 6. She is then sent to live with her aunt and uncle. For the past ten years she has been living in The United States.

Now shortly before turning 16 she is being whisked back to Britain to attend a very elite school called Guilder Boarding School. She has no idea why her aunt and uncle are sending her back but she is very apprehensive about going.

You can tell Rae is out of her element but quickly makes friends. One of them being her roommate, Molly. I have to say that I really liked Molly even though she was a little nosey for my liking. For me I kind of thought the friendship between both girls was like Anne of Green Gables, Diana and Anne. Kindred spirits.

Its not long before Molly tells Rae the real reason she is at Guilder along with everyone else. Rae will soon have special powers. Rae realizes that she was brought to the school for that reason alone. How will she handle all this when she finds out?

I would have loved to seen the tattoo that Rae got on her 16th birthday that magically appeared. It sounded amazing. Rae realizes that this tattoo holds so many secrets from her past (father). I think she was a little shocked and who could blame her.

This was were I got a little frustrated because everyone knew about Rae and her story except Rae. She had no idea what was going on and I felt for her because wouldn’t want to know this before everyone else did?

Of course no book would be complete without some love interests for Rae. I have to say that I loved Andy because I loved his interactions with Rae. He was very flirty and aggressive. I just loved him. (Its been awhile since I have gushed over a guy character.) As for Devon, I have to say he wasn’t my favorite. He reminded me of that bad boy we are warned about.

I am so happy that I got to read this book and I can’t wait to read the next one in the series. I am dying to know what happens next.

Thanks Bewitching Book Tours for allowing me to be on this tour.