*I received a free copy in exchange for an honest review*
This was an interesting YA with a really imaginative background full of wonders. The characters are quite three-dimensional and the plot complete. The thing I liked the most was that the rest of the saga is even better, so this is just a taste!

I am really upset. I was looking forward to this but I was unable to read it as there were so many words missing and it didn't make any sense. It's odd that it seems to work for some, yet not others. If this gets fixed please email me at wishingwings@hotmail.com and I'd love to give this another go once errors are corrected.

Akarnae really surprised me with how much I actually enjoyed this book. This has become one of my favorite books of all time. At first the book jumps into this world pretty quickly, and that threw me off at first, but once I got into it, I was thanking the author because I craved more and more from this amazingly interesting world. All of the characters were so well written, and I completely ship Bear and Jordan together. Also, Fletcher is probably one of the most adorable characters I have ever read in a book! I found myself laughing, and smiling throughout this entire story. I liked that, even though this is set in another world, with classes completely different than in real life, I found that I could relate to some of the situations that Alex was put through. I did predict one or two things that happened, but other than that, the plot kept me guessing, and I was so engrossed in the story I forgot I was in the Freya and not Medora! I want to continue learning about this world, and the characters, and I can not wait to continue this series because it is just so good.

I was pulled in right off the bat and could not put this book down!
This is my new favorite series, it's kind of a mix of Narnia meets the lunar chronicles mixed in with some Harry Potter.
I think this should be on everyone's wish list!

Alex is a girl who has been homeschooled and traveled the world with her parents for their job. But now that they have a new assignment in a dream location, the only downfall is Alex can't tag along. so she is sent to boarding school. So after a little miss hap and not looking forward to attending her new school, she is waiting in her headmasters when a bright light and door appear. She makes the choice and steps through. Alex is then thrown into a new world. one she falls quickly in love with. With new friends, fun adventures and a little suspense, this book had me on the edge of my seat waiting to see what happened next.

I can not wait to read the next book!

Whenever possible, put the good things about a book or author up front.
Criticize the book, not the author, if you don’t like what you’ve read. Explain why.

This book is amazing! I absolutely loved this book. Very well written, creative, it flows well, loved the characters and story. I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy of this book from Netgalley.

I was presently surprised with how fast the action begins in this novel. It continued this pace and delivered an exciting story that kept me intrigued. I'm not usually a huge fantasy fan but this book was easy to follow and had great characters. I can't wait to read the next book in the series!

I was intrigued by the premise of the story. I normally love stories where the main character travels to another world/realm. The book started out well, but unfortunately, I did not become interested in the main character. The plot seemed to be a bit formulaic and there was a bit too much for me about the day-in and day-out of high school life. I think I would have enjoyed it when I was younger, though.

...................................................

Instead of spending a year at the International Exchange Academy, Alex Jennings stumbles through a doorway into the magical world of Medora. While in Medora Alex attends a boarding school (Akarnae) for teens with magical powers. The characters are well written, and the story moves along nicely. I would recommend to young teens or teens that are new to the fantasy genre.

Overall I rate this book 3.5 out of 5 stars. I know this rating is very specific and that's because though overall I found the premise of this book quite enjoyable I wasn't as engaged as I wished to be.
Akarnae is a book about a girl who finds herself at a boarding school for the gifted in an alternate world. Those who go to this school have gifts such as mindreading or invisibility and this book follows the adventures of Alex as she navigates this new world with her friends and trying to figure out her destiny.
I LOVE books when they take place in boarding schools so when I found this book I was super excited to read it. Here are my pros and cons
PROS
- I liked the setting and the world building was solid and understandable.
- I enjoyed the personalities of the different characters.
- The attention to detail in this book was spot on.
CONS
-Some parts of this book seemed to drag on and on and the author dragged out some sequences and some occasions that did not need to be dragged out.
-The characters were quite two-dimensional. I was able to understand them enough to like them but they weren't explored in a way for me to truly understand them.
- The author sometimes over-explained things to the point of where she was telling not showing instead of showing not telling.

All in all, this book was a solid read, however, the shortcomings of the syntax, the drawing out of everything, and the two-dimensional characters forced me to be unable to enjoy this book to it's fullest potential.
I received this book on Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I found the summary for this novel to be very intriguing, and although the execution was not completely polished, it was still an enjoyable read.

it was different yet entertaining. a fantasy for delight.

I was unable to read the book and sent information concerning the issue to the publisher so I am giving the book a neutral review.

Im not sure if I got a incorrect copy of the book but nothing makes sense. It's like the entire chapter was copy and pasted wrong. None of the first or second chapter made sense. Since I can't make sense of the first book I won't be able to read the second book. I'm very disappointed because I was really excited about these books.

Unfortunately I had to stop reading the book after a few pages because, as some other reviewers pointed out, the Kindle file had formatting errors such as missing words or jumbled up sentences. Consequently, my star rating doesn't reflect the story, but only the problems I had with reading it.

"I received this copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review"

I was so worried when I started this book that I would find it a boring read. All I can say is MAN WAS I WRONG !!!!
This book was amazing and I could not seem to put it down. Here is my list favourite things about this book:
*The library
*The food court (I really want this to be in our world now)
* Bear and Jordan
*The classes

What I did not like:
* That the book is over

I am so glad I finally read this and I have already downloaded the second book and brought the phyical book. I gave this amazing story 4 out of 5 stars

Fortunately, it seems that I got a later edited version than most of the other reviewers. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I'm excited to read the rest of the series. Snarky teenage comments, check. Silly yet endearing friends, check. And of course alternate worlds, check. We get to see the world of Medora through the perspective of Alexandra who fell through a doorway from "our Earth" into this new land, and fortunately (?) she gets to attend the high school for the gifted. The writing style was engaging, and I didn't lose track of what was going on or get distracted with the world building. It helped of course that Alex was seeing everything for the first time and had some friends who knew she was from "Freya" so explained many of the differences. Some of the explanations or details are a bit weak, but thus far none of the rules have been broken or loopholes made so I'm content. Like any young adult novel, Alex comes to find out that she has special abilities. I love novels that have characters discover and build on their untapped potentially, but what I really appreciated was the lack (for the most part) of the "everyone loves me and I don't understand why" syndrome. We even get to avoid the love triangle, hallelujah. This book is really its own thing. I want to say harry potter says hi to x-men and acknowledges LOTR, but it really doesn't encompass the feel of the book.

3,5 stars

I really enjoyed this. Yes, this book has some flaws like the oh so convenient absence of parents which was explained in a rush, or that the plot dragged a bit and rather concentrated on Alex' daily school life, or the rushed ending.

I didn't mind it that much, though, as the characters were well written and I liked the focus on the friendship between Alex, Jordan and Bear. The worldbuilding was ok, there were instances of info dumping but nothing too heavy. Also, no romance, just a little hint and that was so refreshing!

I am very much looking forward to the next book!

This has adventure, and danger, and friendship (after one book it already feels like one of those series where you fall in love with all the characters and how they relate to each other). I feel like this is 'suitable' for the younger end of the YA range, and would be a good read for fans of books like The Invisible Library and maybe Harry Potter too (I feel like I've said that about a few things lately, but it's that set in a school, friends, magic, adventure feeling that I'm thinking of).

I really tried to get into this book. I did, but it was just not complete for me. It has promise and with a few rewrites I am sure it can be a fantastic book. Unfortunately due to formatting, plot, and underdevelopment of the characters this just wasn't an easy read.