Southland Academy for Supernatural Youth by Sandra Tentler
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The Southland Academy for Supernatural Youth is a school for supernaturals of all kinds, it is a safe place where they can learn all the usual subjects plus subjects related to their particular nature and this is where six friends meet for the first time and the bond which is created between them is a strong one, the six friends are Vlad, Devlin, Amber, Sakana, Lily and Fiona, the most unlikely of friends and allies you can imagine.

Devlin is a typical high school kid, he is successful at sports and popular with both the girls and the boys, but when he wakes up on his thirteenth birthday and he is covers din a thick carpet of hair all over his body, he is shocked and appalled and asks his mum to get his dad to ask him about shaving, however, when his dad comes in, he asks Devlin to come to the breakfast and he will explain what is going on. So as Devlin stuffs his face with pancakes, he learns that all the males in his family have been cursed with the werewolf gene since one of his ancestors was bitten, however, it skips generations and his dad was hoping that it would skip him too, however, they had prepared for this eventually anyway. As they explain what is happening and that he will be changing school and that his stuff is already packed so they will set off as soon as possible, he is not happy about it, but when he gets there and meets his roommate, it seems like things might not be as bad as he thought.

Next we meet Lily, she is the daughter of a warlock and also the High Priest of the Coven of the Hallowed and has been sent to the Academy so that she can work on her spell casting, she is so nervous around other witches that she stutters and mixes up her words which means that her spells backfire with sometimes awful consequences. Her father says that she is an embarrassment to the Coven and that she has to improve or she will be transferred to another coven, this is the last thing that she wants, but she has no idea what to do, she doesn’t want to be recognised, but she also know that that isn’t going to happen, she looks too much like her father, so when she meets the student who is going to show her around and help her settle in, she isn’t sure at first, but eventually relents and after spending the first evening alone in her room and joins some of the others for breakfast.

Vlad is Devlin’s roommate and he is a vampire from a very well known and high ranking vampire family,in fact, he is the vampire behind the legends of Dracula in everything apart from the name, but he has some quirks of his own, he cannot stand the sight or taste of blood, he is completely uncoordinated and is just hopeless at being a vampire in general. His father is also disappointed with him and Vlad wishes that he could be more confident and less accident prone, but he is smart and welcoming and has a feeling that he will get on with his new roommate, despite all the hair.

When Vlad, Devlin and Lily go down to breakfast, they are all introduced to the others on the table by Amber, she is a chatterbox, friendly and full of energy, she is also happy all the time and just wants to be friends with everyone around her, she is also a ferret shifter. Fiona introduces herself, she is a snowy owl shifter and is as wise as they come, but also quiet, reserved and a tutor at the Academy. As everyone gets into the routine of the school and the group of friends help each other with their studies, the students start complaining that things are going missing, it starts off with trousers, shoes and socks, but soon books, jewellery and other trinkets start going missing too, but the professors have no idea what is going on, meanwhile Lily is shocked when one day a cat called Sheba appears in her room and says that she is her familiar and is there to help, so the six friends devise a plan to catch the culprit while keeping up with all their schoolwork, but will they be able to do it and retrieve the items before the students families realise they are missing, or will it all go to pot and the culprit continue on its thieving rampage? This is a paranormal, coming of age comedy where things are not as they seem and mysteries keep popping up, it is entertaining and will keep you guessing the answers until the end.

Reviewed by @roxsannel

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