The Marked (Delcroix Academy #2)

Our Journey continues with the main protagonist, Dancia (which until recently I thought was Danica...), and her friends as they try to uncover the mysteries about their school. Dancia still struggles with her love interests, Jack and Cam, and she knows she must make a decision. She likes dating Cam, but she still misses her best friend Jack.

The action and suspense still continue as Dancia gets more and more powerful and has to go into training after an attack by a gang. Dancia is pushed to the limit and her powers grow beyond what anyone had expected. The academy still has some issues, and as she discovers some of their secrets, she must choose a side...even if neither feels right.

Dancia has come a long way from being scared to use her powers, to being confident enough to excercise her powers. But, her character development was nothing compared to her friends. Most of the characters in the first novel are present in the sequel, so you really have a chance to see them develop after already having time to get to know them. I really enjoyed reading about Anna and Ethel. We get to see another side of both of these characters and their development makes them stronger. I look forward to reading about them in the next book in the series.

And Jack.... What to say about Jack. Jack makes small appearances, where all it seems he does is add suspense and make you question everyone else. I don't feel like I got to know Jack as well as I could have until the end. And then in the end, I was just thinking "WHAT? That was kind of abrupt."

To Sum It All Up: Like most books in a series this book has a small case of the "middle book syndrome." Middle books in a trilogy, or even a series, tend to not be as interesting as the first book. They mostly just prepare for the next book (which is usually the end in the series). I'm not quite sure whether this book is in a series, or in a trilogy. The book was good, but not great. And that was expected. Even with that being said, it still is a very fast read.

The second installment in the Delcroix Academy series has definitely convinced me that this series is inspired almost wholly by the X-Men. There was a quote partway through when Cam's explaining what The Program does, and it's so obvious that Delcroix is Xavier's school for gifted children, being attacked by guys with comparable powers. That said, I love stories about people with superpowers, so this didn't detract too much from the story for me.

Unfortunately, even more than in book one, I do not like Cam. He's too perfect, which seems to mean lacking personality. I mean, this guy doesn't seem to have a sense of humor or be interested in anything besides Delcroix. Other than the fact that he's super duper hot, I really don't see why Dancia's so into him. Unless, as I personally fear, he's manipulating her with his persuasive abilities. Even if he's not, this is what I've thought about him from the beginning of book one, so I really can't not be creeped out by their relationship. It's not even that I ship her with Jack; she really should find someone else that's neither of them. Too bad since the book is largely about her relationship with Cam.

Speaking of creepy, Mr. Judan freaks me the hell out. He has way too much power over everyone, with his power of persuasion. Seriously, I don't think anyone can have persuasion powers and not go full-on power hungry. I mean, at one point, it says that if Judan wants a student to leave Delcroiz, he can get the parent(s) a new job. What the heck? He has too much power if he can just have people transferred like that!

The best part of this series, which I shamefully neglected to mention in my first review, remains Dancia's grandma. She is one of the spunkiest 78 year old women ever. She's such a feminist and loves giving people a hard time just for fun. I love that she gave Dancia a hard time for not fighting back and letting her boyfriend protect her. Grandma makes me smile. Both of my favorite quotes from this series have been grandma's work.

Book two cements this series as a fun, action-packed ride. Although I'm not blown away, I have every intention of continuing on with the series, because they're so fun to read.