Blog Tour: Solstice High by Ardash Vartparonian - Review + Excerpt

Solstice High 
by Ardash Vartparonian
Released |October 22nd 2012 by Strategic Book Group|
Edition |Paperback|
Source |Blog Tour|
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It's the first day of school at prestigious Solstice High. Seniors Matt, Rochelle, Daphne and Jonas each have a big surprise waiting for them. When the four friends undergo a freak accident, they begin to develop superhuman abilities and come to realize that all is not as it seems within the bleak walls of their high school. While dealing with the day-to-day challenges of being teenagers, they must also confront their sinister principal, Mr. Devlin, who seems to have more than just education on his agenda.

My Likes
I thought this was an interesting book overall. It was really different and not what I expected, especially with the characters. I really liked the whole Paranormal-ish aspect of the book and thought it brought a very interesting twist to the story. In this book, we have four main characters and we get the pov of each one of the them. Matt and Rochelle were my favorites of the four. One day the four walk into a room at the school, which had some kind of a gas leak, and BAM, they each develop a supernatural power. I thought the characters were the most interesting of the book. Each character brought a different personality to the story and I really liked that. I really liked Matt because he was just so dramatic and Rochelle because of her attitude. Another thing I liked, somewhat, about the story was the romance. The romance brought that fun and cute vibe to the story and it also made it somewhat feel like a contemporary to me, not just because of the romance, but because of the way the characters acted as well. The action was pretty good as well!


My Dislikes
I had a huge problem with the switching of the POVs in this book. I got really confused the majority of the time because you don't know right away which character is speaking when the POVs change. That somewhat took away from the story for me because of that confusion. I also had a hard time getting into the story in the beginning for some reason. At times, the characters seemed to be a bit childish, but I could overlook that.

Overall, I thought the story was pretty interesting and enjoyable.

Excerpt for Solstice High

“We here at Solstice High strive for academic excellence, encouraging at all time for you pupils to do your best. One day, when you are older and out in the real world, you will look back on these days of school and think of them as the best days of your life.”

And so on, and so on… I couldn’t help noticing how every year Mr. Devlin seemed to make the same speech, trying to motivate the idle masses of youth, of which I was a proud member, into academic exertion. I truly felt that someone should have taken him to one side, patted him on the back and informed him that he was fighting a losing battle. 

But there was something compelling about Devlin, with his cold grey eyes and finely plucked eyebrows, something appealing and passionate in his words that could be measured by how much he spat whilst barking out words. He was extremely charismatic. But then again so was Mussolini. 

“He must be feeling like such a god up there on his little podium,” Rochelle whispered in my ear, and we both laughed quietly.

Rochelle is one of my best friends, a quarter of our little group. With chocolate waves of hair, wicked blue eyes and constantly pouting lips, she looks like something out of a fashion magazine. The only problem is that she knows this only too well, and tries to impose her own little one-party state onto the rest of us peasants. An iron hand in a velvet glove is how she describes herself.

My frank psychoanalysis was cut short by a low cough to our far left. I turned in that direction, scanning the throngs of bleary-eyed teenagers until my gaze met that of Ms. DeMona. Looking into her eyes could be compared to David looking into the eyes of Goliath after forgetting his sling back at home. With a tangle of dark curls rivalling that of a Maenad, and a piercing stare that would make Medusa jealous, she is what us students would call the scourge of the hallways. Or, in the curt manner of my blue-eyed friend, “Satan’s gift to high school”. Pursing her lips she raised one eyebrow in a demonic manner, and I instantly sat up straight and faced the stage. 

First day of senior year and already I was wishing it to be the last. 

I gave Devlin my full attention, observing the handsome man thundering down on the quivering freshmen, hands gesticulating wildly in the manner of Evita. I could see easily over the heads of those in front of me because of my height. ‘Beanpole’ was the word most people used for me, and it was true. There’s nothing physically remarkable about me: I’m just a tall, skinny guy with boring brown eyes and wavy black hair. My skin, though, is really white and smooth, and this is the only aspect of myself I regard without some degree of contempt. 

“What’s your first class?” Rochelle asked, oblivious to DeMona as she was to most things in life. 

“Maths…” I muttered, fighting back a groan. I regarded numbers as my own personal enemies. They were discriminative, I thought, for there was only one acceptable answer and all others deemed wrong; a numerical apartheid in my indignant opinion. 

“Don’t worry,” Rosh purred, and I could tell by her tone she was smirking. “Daphne and Jonas have Maths with you.” I had to admit that that made the idea of logarithms just a bit more bearable. “And…” She went on, and I was puzzled by the mirth in her voice. “So does Julius.” I flushed a deep red and fought back the desire to physically assault my busybody friend. 

A second cough to our left, but I didn’t even bother looking at DeMona again, for the meaning was clear. Detention on Friday and the day was only just starting.

Some people feel the need to down life like Rochelle does cocktails, but I preferred to just amble pleasantly along. Smell the roses and all that jazz. Hell, I couldn’t even be bothered to get a driver’s license, and that small trait I found to be a big indication of one’s psychological profile. Welcome to my so-called life.