Despite my love for old Greek tales, I just couldn't get into this one. For some reason, I never really settled into the story, like there was some kind of barrier.

Perhaps it was the way it was written. There is a lot of redundant sentences and retelling information that is sometimes within the same paragraph. For example, there is a sentence that essentially "They were killed. They are dead." Wow, this guy has won awards for storytelling? Could have fooled me.

As a retelling it seems fine. It never tries to be more than what it is. And yet, maybe this hurts it. I was really looking forward to a possible relationship between Leander and Orestes, but it never became anything more than vague queer-baiting.

I probably won't read anything more from this author. If this book is anything like his others, they probably aren't really my taste.

I've been a fan of Kenyon's for years now and I've always loved immersing myself in her worlds. I was so excited to see that she had a new series coming out and, since I've been so behind in the DH series, I thought this would be a good opportunity to read something without having to worry about the current continuity. Though I was right, this book has its own baggage.

The exposition dumping was so intense I had to make mental chart of who was what species, what that species was like, and the various customs and ideologies of all of them. We're introduced to at least three new races in this book and Kenyon feels the need to explain most of them at once. Back when she was just starting the DH series, it was all simple. The first book just laid out the groundwork of the Dark-Hunters, who they were and what they did. She didn't try to explain all the history and background of the entire race. She kept it simple the first time and expanded upon it with each new book. This book, with all its explanation, was just so much more complex than it needed to be.

Also, one would think Cameron, the first person we focus on, would be a major character and yet her perspective gets dumped 1/3 through the story. It was so awkward seeing the book transition to another character's POV after a ways into the book.

And man, there are just too many characters in this book. I understand that a ship needs a full crew, but there is no way you can give each character their due. There were so many interesting new people to meet and I feel like I didn't really get to know most of them. Some only have a line or two and just stick to the background the rest of the book. Hopefully the next one is a bit more fair to these characters.

Other than that, I liked it. It holds promise as long as all that exposition dumping is out of the way and the next book can focus on the characters it has and not introduce too many new ones.

I just want more of Kalder, Simon, Kat, Sallie, Valynda, Sancha, and Roach. Please?

Spoiler free review here https://theyoungatheartreader.wordpress.com/2017/07/13/book-review-pennyroyal-academy/

It is very seldom that a book with a dragon on the cover steers me wrong. Pennyroyal Academy is a mess of a book, with dull characters, an uninspired story, and perhaps even some gender issues.

Spoiler free review Here!

Simply an enchanting, amazing read. A brilliant use of language and such wonderful illustrations.

Truly an Alice in Wonderland for a new generation.