LOST SPIRITS by Gabriella Poole

Book Four in the Darke Academy series
Publication date: November 1st 2012
Publisher: Hoddor and Stroughton
Number of Pages: 304
Date read: November 7th 2012
Genre: Young Adult, Urban Fantasy, Paranormal, Fantasy, Romance
Source: Bought   
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(Description source: Goodreads)

A new term, a new location for the Darke Academy - and everything is different for Cassie Bell. 

The beauty of the turquoise Kenyan sea can't make up for the loss of her soulmate, Ranjit. 

  

He's on the run, and Cassie will do anything to find him. 

But when the evil Katerina and her mother appear, more powerful than ever, Cassie has to make a crucial decision.

 And her love for Ranjit might just be her ultimate weakness ...

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Lost Spirits is definately one of my favourite Dark Academy novels by far. In this last novel it keeps the storyline flowing in a way that doesn't seem as though Poole is trying too hard to keep the Darke Academy series going.

Lost Spirits continues to follow Cassie and her best friend Isabella through the trials and hardships of attending a school of prestigious, soul feeding students.
Since the end of the last term Cassie has been trying to cheer Isabella up since her adoring boyfriend Jake was murdered by Cassie's boyfriend at the time, Ranjit Singh.

Since that occasion, Ranjit has disappeared and Cassie is preoccupied wondering where he could be. When Isabella decides to leave the academy Darke decides to take a leap of faith and make a revalation that will permanently alter all ther lives.


I found that the way in which Poole intertwined the character relationships and personalities was creative and well executed. I  overly enjoyed the plot twists that occured and the ways in which the characters grew in themselves and how even they changed over the course of the Darke Academy novels.

There are certainly some characters which I hate with a passion and others which have been developed well and I absoloutely adore! For me this demonstrates the lengths to which the novel has been thought out and how passionate the author is about the world that she has created. The ending wasn't what I expected when I began Lost Spirits but I thought it was a superb way to end this series that I adore!

 

I rate Lost Spirits Four out of Five!

DIVIDED SOULS by Gabriella Poole

Book Three in the Darke Academy series
Publication date: August 5th 2010
Publisher: Hoddor and Stroughton
Number of Pages: 320
Date read: September 1st 2010
Genre: Young Adult, Urban Fantasy, Paranormal, Fantasy, Romance
Source: Bought    



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(Description source: Goodreads)

The Darke Academy is now in Istanbul, and wherever the Academy goes, death is never far behind.

 Death has followed the Darke Academy to the ancient city of Istanbul, where an unseen hunter is on the loose. 

Scholarship girl Cassie Bell is fascinated by the city's beauty, but there's no time for her to relax. 

Torn between an old flame and a new romance, she must also choose between the select world of the Few and her loyalty towards her best friends—and all the time a killer is stalking the Few.

As Cassie is about to discover, no one is above suspicion. Sometimes, the people you love can be the most dangerous enemies of all.

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"Cassie knew how much Isabella loved Jake. She knew her friend’s ferocious, burning loyalty, and how violently she defended those she loved; it was just that she’d never been on the receiving end before.

But there was more. Isabella was hiding something."

Divided Souls is a gripping and superb continuation of the Darke Academy series!
Set in the largest, most historic and exciting city of Istanbul, Turkey it follows scolarship girl, Cassie, on the thrilling adventure  of a lifetime. I

n the end of her first term at the Darke Academy she was implanted with a donor's soul against her will but the ceremony was interuppted part way through and now she is trapped as being part 'few' for the rest of her life. Being stuck with another bitchy and VERY opinionated woman inside your head isn't easy and even becomming overly attractive and gaining powerful connections often can't compensate for the frustrating Estelle.

This is Cassie's third term at the academy and with her best friend Isabella by her side, she can take on anything, except facing her brooding yet charming and breath-taking ex boyfriend Ranjit Singh that is.

Gabriella Poole continues to take you on the roller-coaster journey and certainly keeps everything interesting. She opens in a really enticing way that I really enjoyed, it left me wanting to see why the characters were in the position in which they were.
From the first few opening scenes I reconnected with the characters immediately, it was as though being reunited with old friends.

The style in which the Darke Academy series is written is one that I enjoy reading, it is easy to become absorbed in the world along with the characters and the setting is both vivid and exciting.

The story line that Divided Souls follows isn't one that I found to be too Cliched in many aspects, not all, just many. The classic love triangle-esque aspect was, I thought, tastefully done and didn't drag on for too long. The love interests were handled in a tasteful and quite delicate way, which did not enter into being irritating or slutty (cheating) in any way. 

If any characters annoy me from this novel it is Isabella's, I know and fully understand how unique and difficult her situation is but she really makes NO effort to fit in or to stop complaining so much about her situation. I adore Richard!! His personality is original and he is a genuinely likable character of which I cannot help but be fond of and feel sorry for. He is sweet and genuinely concerned about those that he cares about and would walk through burning fire for them.

I really found Divided Souls to be a great novel and will begin Lost Spirits ASAP

"Single and ready to tingle.
Cassie burst into laughter. ‘Mingle!’
Isabella grinned. ‘Deliberate mistake.’
‘Freudian slip, more like!'"

I rate Divided Souls Four out of Five!

BLOOD TIES by Gabriella Poole

Book Two in the Darke Academy series
Publication date: February 4th 2010
Publisher: Hoddor and Stroughton
Number of Pages: 288
Date read: August 31st 2010
Genre: Young Adult, Urban Fantasy, Paranormal, Fantasy, Romance
Source: Bought   
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(Description source: Goodreads)

Suspense builds in the second tale of the Darke Academy, where true graduates take life by the throatThis term the secretive Darke Academy has moved to New York, and Cassie Bell is no longer the innocent new girl. 

Now she is strong, determined, and hiding secrets of her own. 
Cassie has been introduced to the world of the Few and is struggling to come to terms with her astonishing powers, a dangerous romance, and the malevolent spirit inside her, demanding to be fed. 

When an old enemy returns, bent on revenge, Cassie is tested to the limit. 
Can she rescue her friends from a horrific fate, or will she end up destroying them to save herself?

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"Get your Jimmy Choos on, you mean," remarked Cassie under her breath, but she felt a thrill of glamour as she slipped into the gorgeous stilettos. "Am I going to be able to walk?"
"In these shoes you do not walk, Cassie, you stalk.”

Blood Ties further explores the hidden world of the dark and mysterious occurrences at the Darke Academy. 
It continues to follow Cassie Bell as she learns to live with being one of The Few, a very select group of students who have been given beauty, power and someone else's soul in their body.
Cassie is now trapped with Estelle, an old, strong and respected soul in her mind as well, this is no easy feat to deal with when Estelle interrupts her innermost thoughts and contributes her outspoken opinion to most things. 
As Cassie's friendships grow ever stronger with her classmates, especially Isabella, Ranjit and Richard, she begins to get a better view on her life and she begins to get it back on track. With Isabella by her side and the drop dead gorgeous Ranjit as her boyfriend Cassie feels as though she can take on the world. 
That is, until things take a dramatic twist for the worse and the tables turn on them, then Cassie finds herself torn between love, friends and self preservation.

Blood Ties was a great sequel to Secret Lives, it followed on really well from where it left off and kept up the momentum to keep your blood pumping. 
The characters continue to develop, diverting slightly from their stock character persona's and becoming more realistic and relate-able.  
I would love to be able to say that the language becomes more sophisticated and that a wider vernacular is used but alas, sadly it is not the case and it tends to remain mostly at the same level.
 Although the plot line certainly does thicken and intensify, it is sadly quite predictable at times but still maintains some mystery and curiosity for readers.
The next book should be just as good and this series seems to only be getting better, so cannot wait to get my hands on Divided Souls.

“For this lowlife to remain at the Academy while I was expelled is simply...oh dear, how shall we put it?"
"A crime," murmured Sara.
"That's kind, dear Sara, but crime can be fun and sophisticated." Katerina gave a thin-lipped smile as the other three girls chuckled. ."

I rate Blood Ties Four out of Five!

SECRET LIVES by Gabriella Poole

 Book One in the Darke Academy series
Publication date: August 6th 2009
Publisher: Hoddor and Stroughton
Number of Pages: 288
Date read: August 30th 2010
Genre: Young Adult, Urban Fantasy, Paranormal, Fantasy, Romance
Source: Bought 

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(Description source: Goodreads)

The first in a new series about an exclusive school with a terrible secret—you'll be dying to join the chosen Few

The Darke Academy is a school like no other.

An elite establishment that moves to a new exotic city every term, its students are impossibly beautiful, sophisticated and rich, and the more the new scholarship girl Cassie Bell learns about the Academy, the more curious she becomes. 
What sinister secrets are guarded by The Few, —the select group of students who keep outsiders away?
 Who is the dark stranger prowling the corridors at night? 
And what really happened a year earlier, when the last scholarship girl died in mysterious circumstances?

 Cassie quickly discovers that a little knowledge may be a dangerous thing, but knowing too much can be deadly.

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“Oh, get down from your high horse before you fall off.”

Secret Lives is the enticing first novel in the Darke Academy series. 

It takes flight in the illustrious city of Paris, which you soon realise is the perfect place for the annually moving, elite boarding school, Darke Academy, to be.

When intelligent and very middle class Cassandra Bell, aka Cassie, arrives at the gates of Darke Academy she is in awe of it's size looming over her and its' gothic appearance. 

The prestige and elite standards overwhelm Cassie in not only the sheer size and looks, but also in the attitudes and persona's of the other students.

This being amplified even more so due to her being the looked down upon for being the 'scholarship girl'.

Despite being the insignificant, lowly scholarship girl, Cassie soon makes friends as well as some very important enemies.

 She soon finds herself ensnared within the select, prestigious group within the school named The Few, drawn in by their charisma and effortless good looks Cassie soon discovers a secret that could mean the end of life as she knows it.

When I first set my sights on Secret Lives, I was immediately drawn in and curious about the series. 

The cover alone makes it stand out of the shelf, with the striking title and those menacing, dangerous, yet somewhat alluring eyes. 

These elements accompanied by the  image of what one can only assume to be the academy gives an image that keeps in your mind and provides a sense in intrigue.

Secret Lives  was a bit difficult to get into at the beginning but I kept reading, curious as to where things would lead. I was well rewarded, because the story soon began to fly and I became trapped in Cassie's world with her. At the end of this novel I decided that I simply HAD to read the next few!!

Cassie, despite being the very stereotypical female protagonist, was a decent enough character and I even quite enjoyed how the love triangle was written. 

This is a really good book once it gets going, worth reading and with some great characters!

    

“Pretty?" mused Katerina. "I suppose so. She has unusual looks. True beauty, I think, requires a touch of cruelty. That seems to be missing."
"Good," muttered Cassie under her breath.
Richard shot her a warning look.”

I rate Secret Lives Four out of Five!