"What fortune awaited sweet, timid Percy Parker at Athens Academy? Hidden in the dark heart of Victorian London, the Romanesque school was dreadfully imposing, a veritable fortress, and little could Percy guess what lay inside. She had never met its powerful and mysterious Professor Alexi Rychman, knew nothing of the growing shadows, of the Ripper and other supernatural terrors against which his coterie stood guard. She saw simply that she was different, haunted, with her snow white hair, pearlescent skin and uncanny gift. This arched stone doorway was a portal to a new life, to an education far from what could be had at a convent -- and it was an invitation to an intimate yet dangerous dance at the threshold of life and death..."
I love Darker Still yes, but this...
Oh, this is a hot, hot, hot mess. Here we go. Down in the rabbit hole.
First of all, let's start with Percy Parker. Aside from the annoying alliterative name of hers, Percy Parker (who I once mistaken for Peter Parker, Spiderman) is a quiet girl with a very strange appearance. (Which is already a mark against her, by the way.) Originally living in a convent, she joins Athens Academy and meets Professor Alexi Rychman. Her character development isn't impressive nor is it nonexistent.
Professor Alexi Rychman doesn't seem powerful. Mysterious? Eh. I guess so, but I'm not very impressed with him. At all. And he seems way too dependent on a single prophecy I don't really care about. (Sorry.) The chemistry between Percy and Alexi doesn't feel organic. It's more... forced. And every scene they have together? Ahh... no.
Oh, and the rest of the five characters. The peers of Alexi? I don't remember anything about them. Well, I do remember a couple. And a weird rich guy who refused to be a guardian against evil? And there's this jealous woman who is in love with Alexi? I don't know. The point is that they start blending in together as the book goes on, assuming if I even recognized them as different characters in the beginning of the book.
The plot could have been great. But no. It starts becoming a huge test for the Six, and when the tension starts going away (instead of increasing), I start getting bored and annoyed by the plot's predictableness. Who is the real girl? I mean, the person who is meant for Alexi. Alexi's prophesied true love. Yawn. And it is so obviously Percy is the one. All of Alexi's peers have their heads in their rears. Even Alexi himself.
And the ending. It's a whole Deus Ex Machina. Is there any point in the Six to try at all? Because... Percy pretty much solves the entire problem.
(It turns out I wasted a good chunk of my life reading this novel.)
So in conclusion: no.
Rating: One out of Five
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