Well, I was hoping to finish The Arc Trilogy by Jesse Daro before writing about it, but I’m still only half way through part 3, and I wanted to get something out before I left on holiday, so here we are.

The Trilogy was recommended to me on Good Reads, and after failing to find it on Kobo, I headed over to Amazon where I had success. Not ideal, as it meant I had to read on the iPad but small sacrifices. Now, a heads up before you go any further; it’s a young adult series, so if that’s not your thing, no need to read any further. Personally I enjoy reading young adult as the stories are usually fast-paced, plus I love to know what my students are reading and I love to find books to recommend to them.

So, Book 1 of the trilogy (Skins) sucked me in immediately probably because it opened with “The bullet struck Naomi from behind, spraying blood onto the chipped blue-and-white tiles above the kitchen sink, thickest at the center and spackling upward in a thinning arc, like a Jackson Pollock painting”. Nothing like starting with a bang (sorry…). The story continues as it begins, and I was up far to late. But hey, it’s summer break so who cares.

The story is an easy read without being juvenile, and the world-building is vivid. The main character, Seth is well-developed and proves to be an entertaining narrator. He also happens to be a Werekin, a warrior descendant of an alien race who can transform at will into a jaguar. I know, I know stop rolling your eyes. Warriors, alien races, fighting animals, all over done yes, yes. Somehow, I wasn’t thinking that as I read it. Probably because of Seth. He’s such a genuine character. Actually, he reminded me of Syd in Alex London’s Proxy (go, read, right now). Independent, quick-witted, observant and completely sympathetic.

On the run his whole life, Seth has just lost the closest thing he has to a mother (the above-mentioned Naomi of the splattering brain), whose dying words send him to his natural mother. Once there, Seth realizes he’s out of options and has no choice but to stay with “mom” and her new family. Meanwhile it’s getting more and more difficult to keep his secret as he starts high school, meets the boy next door and realizes no one is to be trusted. Add in an I-want-to-take-over-the-world despot and a growing resistance and you’ll find yourself wondering what can possibly happen next.

Each character is fully developed and we are never told what they are like, we are shown (a basic but often over-looked necessity of a good story). I quickly grew to care about them and never found myself skipping or skimming as has been a practice of mine lately (due to some of the drivel I’ve been subjecting myself to).

Eventhough I didn’t devour Parts 2 (Blood) and 3 (Bone) as quickly as I did Part 1, they are equally as entertaining, and I’m quite anxious to see how everything turns out. Everyone better survive!!