The Jestivan (Erafeen, book 1)

By David F. Farris

Blurb: 
When birthed into the world as the son of the great Mendac LeAnce, miraculous feats are expected. Mendac was the Fifth of Five, making him the final hero in the Of Five—a five-part series of fairy tales that stretches over 1,500 years.

Bryson, unfortunately, was given the impossible task of following in his dead father's footsteps. And after sixteen years of mediocrity, the only time people notice him is to ridicule his existence. The world has given up on Mendac's son.

But there are two people on Bryson's side: a stone-faced, lifelong best friend who's never expressed an emotion in her life, and a secret-riddled man who has taken care of Bryson since his father's death. They're his rocks. He has learned to appreciate and lean on their friendship, regardless of their more mysterious side … even if those mysteries put Bryson's life in jeopardy.

Things are looking up for the young LeAnce as the new school year at Phesaw begins. He receives a letter informing him of his induction into the recreation of the Jestivan, an elite group of students that had only existed once in the school's history. Its formation presents the opportunity of new friends for Bryson. But when ten highly talented students come together, there is bound to be conflict.

Warring personalities and competitive attitudes are minor hurdles, however; considering the fact that warring kingdoms are more pressing. A 1,500-year war boils over as a traitor turns his back on his realm, threats of a dangerous king rising from the ashes begin to surface, one of the Jestivan goes missing, and someone close to Bryson is hiding something with more regard for the thing being protected than Bryson’s life.

The Jestivan must develop camaraderie, and do it fast. Otherwise, they’re going to have to force it. And that can end in devastation.

Review:
This book and author had been popping up on my Facebook feed for quite a while and the books sounded really interesting. So I started following the author, after book 4 was released I decided that I really needed to add this book to my to be read list. And finally I've got round to reading it, but sadly I was in my reading slump so it took me longer than usual.

The actual story-line of this book is totally unique, and I've never actually come across something like this before. Basically there is a group of young adults/teenagers from different realms that are learning to develop their powers and abilities. But this year they have decided to bring back the Jestivan's traditions which is the strongest male and female students from each realm. They are then split into groups to train and bring out the best in one another and develop in their characters.

Within this book we face many problems with these Jestivan and their past lives are mentioned and we come face to face with some of their past fears and bad consequences happen. It is quite nice to get a background of the majority of the characters and seeing where they came from. It is also really nice to see that several of the characters have a close relationship already and seeing other relationships develop is quite sweet. We also have a hint of a romantic relationship within these main characters which I love and I really hope that they get together in later books.

There is quite a lot of action, adventure and twists within this book too which makes it more interesting and enticing. It is a reasonable paced book that is well written. It is not a usual style of writing for a young adult book, but it is really good. I think this what makes this book even more unique and special.

I really like the different character personalities, there is a mixture of shy, outgoing, classy and sassy. Which makes this book funny at times just with the actions and words that are associated with the characters. While reading this book you don't get lost with which characters point of view you are in because they are distinctive which is really good as most young adult books point of views are really similar.

The whole plot and background of this book is just pure perfection and amazing. I think the only reason why I rated it 4 stars was because I was in a reading slump and it was taking me a long time to read it because it wasn't as fast paced as I am used to and like. But that may have just been purely down to my reading slump, so I'd definitely recommend this book if you are wanting a unique and special book that enhances your reading experience.

Favourite Character: Bryson

Read: 31/03/19 - 29/04/19

4 stars out of 5

Written by Sammie