Feudlings by Wendy Knight

WHAT IT'S ABOUT:
Nothing makes a new school suck worse than discovering the guy you’re in love with is your prophesied nemesis.

Ari is the most powerful flame-throwing sorceress ever, and her people’s last hope in an ancient war. But she’s also a seventeen-year-old girl, and in her free, not-hunting-nemesis times, she jumps from school to school, trying to figure out regular people her own age and pretending she’ll get the chance to graduate.

Shane lives a double life. He goes to school and masters the art of popularity, hiding the fact that he has a fate with a slim chance of his survival. He’s destined to end a 300-year-old war by killing or being killed. He knows he’s hunted by a powerful enemy who’s not afraid to die. Only problem? He has no idea who that enemy is.

When Ari shows up at Shane’s school, angry and sullen and determined to keep him at arm’s reach, neither of them realize they are supposed to be killing each other, not falling in love. Until Ari does realize it, and she almost dies – by Shane’s hand.

MY TAKE:
I thoroughly enjoyed this story. Ari's loneliness was palpable and I loved how so many of the kids at the school--including the normal, human kids--welcomed her and made her a part of their group, even as she resisted their overtures of friendship. There are so many books about horrible, mean high school kids--and real life has plenty of them--but it's nice to get a taste of teens being kind and friendly as well. Because there are plenty of decent kids, too.

I liked how Knight slowly built up the relationship between Ari and Shane while letting the reader know (and agonize) over the inevitable showdown. I felt bad for them both, but Shane especially since Ari's trained as an assassin and been working at it since she was a child (can I just say there are seriously sick problems with her people's culture?) while Shane's been sheltered, protected, and kept from gaining important skills he'll need just to keep himself alive (I should note that his culture also has issues).

I won't spoil anything, but the showdown is awesome and there is resolution at the end--but it's obviously the beginning of a series (yay!) because there's a major plot line left hanging.

ABOUT WENDY KNIGHT

Wendy Knight was born and raised in Utah by a wonderful family who spoiled her rotten because she was the baby. Now she spends her time driving her husband crazy with her many eccentricities (no water after five, terror when faced with a live phone call, etc., etc.). She also enjoys chasing her three adorable kids, playing tennis, watching football, reading, and hiking. Camping is also big: her family is slowly working toward a goal of seeing all the National Parks in the U.S. You can usually find her with at least one Pepsi nearby, wearing ridiculously high heels for whatever the occasion may be. And if everything works out just right, she will also be writing.

AMAZON