I was so excited to pick up another book in this genre and this one did not disappoint! The story is creative, the writing is great, and the characters are relatable, even with their supernatural statuses. Can’t wait to read the next book in the series!

I absolutely love fantasy stories and especially the ones like this book, where people find out, they are not only human as expected. This book is a fun read, when we discover together with Alex, how different he really is. And then the school – we all love school setting, not only because of Harry Potter.

Alex is a great character and fun to read, bit sarcastic as I like. The plot offers action and fun the same time and surprises are guaranteed. The friends he find in school are as unique as he is and they are so much fun as well. Diverse and still so matching. That I especially liked about this group.

The book is full of magic and dragons, great characters and lots of surprises – a big recommendation for all lovers of fun fantasy books.

Thank you for my copy netgalley
I really enjoyed this book and am looking forward to book two
Alex has found out he is not quite human and is off to live at Fois academy where he embarks on a whole new life of discovery
The book is easy to read I did it in 2 days the characters are likable and the story morish
I did get a bit frustrated at parts where back story I felt was half explained at took a while to enlighten us on what was going on but I guess that is as much my impatiance
All in all a really good read

A fun YA book, fans of His Dark Materials will enjoy this (I think!). It was a good read but I'm not 100% sure that i will continue on in the series.

Listed as YA, this book is really for everyone who enjoys an entertaining story of how quickly lives can change when truths come out. A young man learns that his life is not what he thought it was and his future plans have now entered the fantastical. Coming of age is difficult enough without learning that your destiny is not within your control. How this young man faces these changes and grows into that destiny is a wonderful story that will make you laugh and cry and keep you reading "just one more chapter".

This was a super fun YA read with the lovable and cute Alex as the main character. Persevere through the start of the book despite being barraged by information. This will all help to make sense of the rest of the book. Thanks to the publisher and netgalley for the arc.

Join or Die was a pretty good book. I mean, it doesn't hurt that Alex was completely adorable throughout it. However, I will admit that the beginning was a lot to take it. Lots of information was being dumped onto my lap and it took me a while to get into the book. Alex was definitely thrown into a new world rather quickly. Kind of like Percy Jackson? I will admit that the book definitely picked up after that though.
My rating is 4/5 stars.

I have received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Join or Die was a pretty good book. I mean, it doesn't hurt that Alex was completely adorable throughout it. However, I will admit that the beginning was a lot to take it. Lots of information was being dumped onto my eyes.. but I completely get it as well. Alex was definitely thrown into a new world rather quickly. Kind of like Percy Jackson?

I will admit that the book definitely picked up after that though. It really was fun to dive into but it also kind of makes me hesitate for book two. Mostly because I don't want it to fall into second book syndrome.. and I also don't want so much info dumping either. Yet, I'm intrigued and want to dive in head first.

This book is a good start to hopefully a Series I#d like to continue to read.
At first it was a little rough, seems to me Mrs Ruth had to find her voice for her characters.
But she definitely found it and it was exciting, thrilling and spooky.
I'd like that all the kids at this school come from a long line of monsters, because we got enough heroes and wizards.

Now it's time for dragons, vampires, werewolfs and all the other creatures of the night.

I'd like to thank NetGalley for giving me the chance to read this book.

this book seemed like it would be right up my alley but it turns out it was far too long winded and YA for me. II feel my rating is my own belief of the book and for those that love the genre i bet you will enjoy this so much more. Sadly i was too bored of it and i am a bit jealous because that synopsis is epic and amazing. This didnt work for me

This was a fun, fast paced read. Alex was a cute main character, he's been through a lot since his dad abandoned his mom and him. He's a bit jaded but he's a nice guy and stands up for others which was awesome. He also doesn't judge people right off the bat and the friends he made will be even more loyal because he gave them a chance and will do anything for them.
The beginning of the book is a bit of an info dump, but Alex is being introduced to a whole new world so it fit in the context of the plot. The scavenger hunt was a fun storyline and helped bring the circle together. I enjoyed all the magical creatures we encountered in the story and it seems there are many more to come! I'm really looking forward to seeing what Alex and his friends will become after the Change.

The book follows a 14 year old boy called Alex who discovers he is half creature as his dad was a dragon shifter. Alex is set to change soon so he has to leave home and is sent to a school for the supernatural.

The main character Alex is meant to be 14 but he didn't feel 14 to me. Alex tries to be witty and some bits were funny and others just didn't work for me or were a little tiring after so many other comments. Alex also has major daddy issues and complains about his dad a lot. One thing I found to be a little unbelievable was how quickly he just accepted that he wasn't human. I don't think I would accept it that quickly. Alex is also judges people a little quickly.

I loved the amount of creatures that were added as there's so many from different cultures and mythologies which i thought was a nice touch. The characters aren't fully fleshed out but it is the first book in an series so I'm guessing the characters will develop more later on. The character friendships do develop in the book and I did like that but I wanted to know more about the characters motivations in joining Alex. The worldbuilding also felt a little confusing or it needed more building but again it's a first book so I hope there will be more in later books.

The writing was okay, it was easy to read but I felt more description could have been used in certain areas. There is a lot of cursing in this book, way more than normal and i wasn't expecting it. There's a lot of common tropes in this book with the academy, finding out your not human/normal, daddy issues and fight for the throne/leadership just to name a few which isn't necessarily a bad thing but I ended up comparing this book to other books with the same tropes. By the end there are many things left unanswered which I hope will be in future books.

Overall this is an okay fantasy that I sort of enjoyed reading but it was also similar to other books that I have read recently. I have to say if you like books with a school setting and of children with powers then this would be a great read for you.

Until he comes home one day to find a Bugatti Veyron in his drive, Alex has absolutely no idea what he really is. Suddenly his absent father's best friend is whisking him away to a boarding school for creatures, where he will have to learn how to blend into human life once he changes into whatever creature he will become. But the change isn't all he has to worry about. He's descended from the Scion, a supernatural peace keeper and now has to compete to become the next in line.
I really enjoyed this first book of the trilogy. I love that Alex isn't afraid to show his feelings, and the friends he makes at his new school are almost like a second family to him. Bring on book 2!

I have mixed feelings about this book. I think the premise is fantastic but the execution wasn't all that I was hoping for. I was so looking forward to the setting of the school and the different classes, but unfortunately I was very disappointed. Aside from 'creature basics' the classes didn't seem to really fit for me. What kind of werewolf fights with a sword? I found that class, among others, quite bizarre.

I loved the variety of different creatures, I thought that was great but I did feel like they lacked depth (with the exception of Elvy). I also thought that the character development and their relationships with one another could have been built on more. I just didn't find it believable and although I am very very glad we weren't subjected to cringe-worthy immaturity from our young teen characters (as is seen with a lot of other YAs) Alex did seem mature way beyond his 14 years. Also, I found the course language a little high for a book with such a young target audience.

A few things I did really like were the concept of the veil, the scene with the mirror and Elvy. I thought he was the best established character and it's a pity he lost most of his page time once the others joined. It felt like he was left to the shadows a lot of the time.

Finally, this book had such a large number of spelling and grammar mistakes throughout that it really hindered the reading experience. It's as if this book never got a single round of editing. At first I thought it was an arc but now I realise others have pointed out that this was a copy of the final book? Either way, I find it quite unacceptable. Yes, this was a free copy but it is in exchange for an honest review and I think readers deserve and expect a little better.

I absolutely loved this book. It's a bit like Harry Potter, but for Creatures. There's a magical school where Creatures go in Kentucky. Some Creatures are half human, but almost all are waiting for the change when their true creature identity emerges. The children are a mix of various different types of Creatures. What they will truly emerge into could be anything.

At the school, when their true nature emerges, the teachers and administration will know what to do to help them harness their powers and keep them under control. Because there's nothing like a group of teenagers with newfound powers running all over the place.

Alex Ayers hasn't seen his father in such a long time. He ran out on him and his mom when he was young. When Durant, a friend of his father's, turns up at his home to whisk him away to this magical school, Alex is not thrilled, because it takes him away from his school, his best friend and his mother.

Alex quickly adjusts to this new school. What Durant did not tell him is that candidates to become the next Scion are being killed all around the world - and Alex is a candidate. Only he and his cousin are left, the only two heirs to the Scion. When they reach their senior year, they will fight each other to become the Scion. They must create a ciorcal of Creatures that will fight alongside them. Raina has her way of doing things, but Alex is more interested in creating a ciorcal of friends that he can trust.

Book one is freshman year for Alex and his friends.

I cannot wait to read the rest of this series. I am very interested in seeing how this plays out for the kids.

Highly recommend, especially if you are a Harry Potter fan!

https://librarytalker.blogspot.com/2020/01/join-or-die.html

Alex Ayers is a regular kid with a bit of a temper, a best friend, a single mom, and a pretty good life in Las Vegas. That all changes when his absent father's best friend shows up and tells him he has to leave to attend an exclusive magic school before he Changes into some sort of mythological/magical creature.

At 14, he doesn't have any choice, so he's sent off to Fios Academy to learn about his past, his present, and his possible future as the next Scion who, with his ciorcal of friends, keeps the Creature community in line.

He's got competition for the Scion job, though, and also a few Creatures who aren't happy with any Scion being in charge.

Alex has to learn about his own half-Creature self and history before things get out of control.

Final thoughts: I enjoyed the book while reading it, but I can't help comparing it to Harry Potter. He's about the same age. He si half-human (Muggle) and half-Creature (Wizard). He's a Chosen One. There are forces against him from the start from competition in the school to dangers from without. There's a barrier to protect the school from outside harm. There's a mysterious headmaster. He's forming a circle of friends who all specialize in different things that he'll need as time passes. The list goes on and on. But, again, I enjoyed the read. If I see the sequel pop up, I'll probably read it, too. And it does look to be at least a few books if it goes year-by-year at the school.

Rating: 4/5

Thanks to NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for the ARC.

This novel has a lot of potentials if the author played around with the creatures a bit more because there is supposed to be a depressed vampire having an identity crisis, but he only has an issue with who he is and dresses in black. There is a boy with a very bubbly personality who gets overlooked because the creature is only on the female side, so there is the suspense of waiting to see what kind of monster he will become.
The prologue needs to be clarified if it is from Alex's perspective or the scion who got murdered before Alex even knew any of this existed. Also, this book could use another few rounds of editing because there were a lot of sections that I had issues with because I was too busy trying to decipher what the author wanted to say.
I could have finished it in a day, but life happened.
If people like mythologies this is definitely a book to check out as long as you are aware that the book is not perfect.
4 out of 5 stars

Bar a few episodes of violence and the handling of death that should be noted, this was a good YA book and worth reading. It stood out to me as being a solid read.

A bit of a slow start with all the introductions of characters and world building/background. Alex's past and new life are still a bit of a mystery. We get some answers in this book but I expect there will be more in the next. I really enjoyed the scavenger hunt part and wish it was a bit longer. His group of friends (and enemies) are varied types of creatures from myths, horror stories, legends. Overall a good read

Great for fans of Percy Jackson and the such like. Nothing amazing but a solid, enjoyable text that I think lots of kids would enjoy.