I've never read anything by Wilson in the past, but I will look for her future books! Besides "Twilight," I haven't read a lot of werewolf books. "Hood Academy" gets off to an action-packed start, and the author's descriptions keep the reader engaged through the final scene. This book has a bit of everything: mystery, friendships, romance, and a few unexpected twists. Sebastian's research added a nice twist to what could have been a typical werewolf story.

This was obviously two books put together in one, which was fine, except it was a bit weird to have the recap of the first part of the book at the start of the second part. The first person POV (Mia) is the perfect fit for this YA urban fantasy novel that is sure to be enjoyed by teens and adults, and I hope Wilson writes more books and makes this into a series.

I received a digital advanced reader copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I am not usually a fan of werewolf stories. Even when Twilight was all the rage, I was always 100 percent team Edward. But I will say.. Hood Academy really grabbed me and held my attention.

I really enjoyed Wilson’s look into this type of fantasy novel. It felt incredibly realistic and really different from most of the werewolf origin stories we usually get.

I actually found myself not wanting the story to end. I really enjoyed the pot and Wilson’s writing style. I could have easily jumped right into book two (if there was one.. Please? Pretty please?? I need more!)

The plot was super fast paced but I didn’t feel like it was rushed at all. Overall, it was well written and I really enjoyed it.

This book was different than most books about supernatural schools. For one there were a lot of fights with werewolves. It was interesting that the wolves lived so close to the academy. SPOILER ALERT; There was a lot of kidnapping by various people who lived & worked at the academy. Poor Miami went through a lot in this book. An abusive father, a mother dying & her brother just leaves her. And that all happens in the first few chapters! After her uncle shows up & takes her to live with him, she finds out he lives in a school. It isn't long before she notices there are some weird things going on. She is way to curious for her own good! As many times as she runs into danger without telling anyone, it's a miracle she's alive in the end. She makes some lasting friends at school & a nasty enemy. When she learns what's really going on at school, she leaves to go live with the wolves. It's hard to know who to trust sometimes. You'll really like this book. I just wanted to let someone know that the editing on my Kindle had some errors. So I am going to list them for you in hopes you can correct them for future readers. Page 2503; Inestled the gold medal into the folds of my jumper, feeling the heavy weight of it against my chest. (It needs to be "I nestled". Page 3147; Atrickle of sweat trailed down the side of my temple, and I swiped at it with a trembling hand. (A trickle). Page 3199; ‘Ohmigod, Mia, that hurt!’ ('Oh my god). Page 3823; Istared at my reflection in the mirror, my eyes flitting from the bruises on my cheek to the cut on my lip. (I stared). Page 3956; Iknew my brother was going to be mad at me when he found out I’d gone, but part of me hoped that he knew me well enough to understand my reasons. (I knew). Page 4908; Iknew my brother was going to be mad at me when he found out I’d gone, but part of me hoped that he knew me well enough to understand my reasons. (I knew). Most of these mistakes were at the beginnings of the chapters.

The cover & blurb drew me in. I didn't know it's a re-issue and that there are actually two books to be found in one. Was that an issue? No.

The opening scene is a pretty brutal one and, to be honest, everything is rather abrupt in this book. The action, I mean. It felt like the author was too eager to finish one scene before she was jumping into the next one.

So, the heroine, Mia has an awful life, to be honest, until her father is murdered and she gets whisked away to this mysterious and eerie academy, by an uncle she doesn't know. All throughout the two books, she keeps finding out more and more things. Yes, Hood Academy has quite the tropes. It reminded me a bit of Twilight-Vampire Diaries-Vampire Academy. Thing is, as I already mentioned, it felt like the author wanted to say too many things, was excited about having all of these ideas that she just had to write down, so she crammed them all into two books [Oath Breaker & Oath Keeper], without fully developing them.

There are so many things happening, I don't want to say anything, so as not to spoil anything by accident, but had the writer taken the time to properly develop all of these ideas, given them depth, Hood Academy would have been one awesome book.

As it is, it's only a 3 stars but that shouldn't sway you in any way. I voluntarily agreed to read an early copy via Netgalley.

Mia is 15 years old and feels like an outsider. She has led a hard life in that her mother died when sh was very young. Her brother looked out for her as her father became very abusive to her. Her brother leaves when he is in in his teens leaving Mia alone with her father. She begs him to take her but says no and that he will come back to get her. As her father was going to beat her, a giant wolf appears and kills her father. The wolf looks at her for a few moments and then leaves. While the police try to figure out what to do with Mia, a stranger appears and says he is her uncle. She is taken by him to the boarding school where he works as the headmaster. It’s an unusual school in that it teaches the students how to defend and kill werewolves. They are to be “hunters” of werewolves. Why? At first Mia doesn’t believe in werewolves. What causes her to change her mind? Mia meets someone who knew her mother when she was alive. Will she tell Mia what she wants to know about her mother? Will she find her brother?

The novel is filled with action. There are secrets revealed, friendships are forged even while the plot twists and turns making me wanting to know if Mia will ever stop feeling like an outsider. There is romance in the book with information about the werewolves. There are spooky science experiments being done underground. There are alliances made and broken. It’s a story that moves!

Thank you to Netgalley for giving me the chance to read and review, "Hood Academy" by Shelley Wilson. It has been such a long time since I have read a book with werewolves in it! Based on how much I enjoyed this book, I would say it has been way TOO long. Hood Academy is full of twists and turns. There was never a dull moment. I really enjoyed the first book in this novel but the second one did not truly give me the same level of thrill. As far as YA goes, this book had all the usual elements that people look for in YA. I would love for the author to take a swing at writing adult novels about werewolves.

Hood Academy was your typical YA werewolf book for the most part. Hood Academy stuck pretty close to the "original werewolf" story. Full moon turning, pack community and following the alpha's orders. I think that Shelley put her own twist on the so called rivals to the werewolves. Which is really the only thing you can do in a place where there are so many stories based on one topic.

The writing for Hood Academy was super easy to read. I finished the book in two days and only because I needed to pace myself or else I would have sat around and read the whole book in one sitting. I personally am a huge werewolf fan, they are one of my favourite creatures to read about. So, when I saw Hood Academy, I knew I had to read it. Which could possibly make me biased about the book, however, it was pretty generic where a werewolf story goes. Something would have to be pretty remarkable to get a 5 star with as many books about werewolves as there is.

I'm getting tired of authors making series that are 5 and 6 books long, and I'm glad that Shelley made this one a stand alone. I would definitely interested to read more about the werewolves of Ravenshood, but with different conflicts or about different characters from the book.

I really liked the twists and turns in this book, for a horror book it really wasn’t gruesome though.

The entire story is based on Werewolf and Hunter, in which a school called the Hood Academy, was established to train hunters who would, well, hunt werewolves.

I loved the whole story in its entirety, not as gory as I thought it would be but interesting read nonetheless.

Would I recommend this book? Yes I would, for all those interested in thriller.

Read more: https://lifeofamaka.wordpress.com/2019/09/02/arc-review-hood-academy/

Hood Academy was a well paced novel with characters that actually have a bit of depth (for the most part at least, looking at you Felicity). The descriptions got me sucked into the story and the various settings, which is a good thing. I also liked that the author didn't just scratch the surface in regards of werewolf-transitions, she made a point on how painful it actually was.

Hood Academy is overall a well written novel and I would highly recommend it.

Ok I'm going out on limb here and suggesting that this might have been previously published as two separate short books because that's how it feels with a second half that kind of reprises some things. That didn't bother me but oddly the pacing actually did.
I applaud the author on having such an original idea and she actually throws so much into this that if brutal it felt like overkill. I did really enjoy the story but oddly thought it would have had much more depth if it was expanded and turned into three separate books. Everything happens too quickly, the reader gets whiplash as yet another revelation is heaped upon them. I wanted more suspense, I wanted more character development, I'd have liked more information about the Werewolves but most of air wanted the author to slow down !

This book was amazing. It immediately pulls you in and it keeps you wondering "What's next?!" The characters were well put together and the entire book flowed flawlessly. Definite 5 stars!

I really wasn't expecting to get much out of this book. But it was good. It's been awhile since I've read a werewolf book (can we bring back vampires and werewolves pleasseee). I felt like the first half of the book was strong. But the second half felt rushed and confusing.

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

WHERE WOLF? THERE WOLF! THERE CASTLE!

I really liked this book! Mia is a likable strong character who dealt with horrible abuse.

Then her abuser is attacked by a werewolf.

Suddenly she's taken to a school to train in fighting werewolves and discovers the things she thought were good may not be.

So. I really did like this book but there were a few things that struck me as off.

A character is very upset at the idea of werewolf hunting. Another character doesn't even consider that they could be a werewolf.

It's strange because this character was shown to be pretty intelligent before that.

It's been a while since I've read a book featuring werewolves (Twilight maybe?), so I was excited to get into this novel.  And the cover designer did a magnificent job at capturing readers' attention.

This novel starts out with a heart-pounding sequence when Mia witnesses a werewolf killing her father.  From there, the plot takes off at a fast pace and rarely slows down.  Mia is a strong protagonist, occasionally leaping into action before thinking things through, and she's suffered the loss of her mother, abuse from her father, and feels abandoned by her brother.  Without giving away spoilers, the author did a fantastic job at introducing conflict to the story, and Mia's loyalties are pulled in several directions.  

The transformation of human to werewolf is described in detail with vivid imagery, including both the immense pain involved and the feeling of power and animal instincts upon completion.  Being a science nerd, Sebastian's research fascinated me and this is an angle I haven't seen explored in other werewolf books.  I also enjoyed the loyal friendship between Mia and Elizabeth and, lacking a female presence in her life since the death of her mother, her relationship with her teacher, Miss Ross.

Something I missed was more interaction between Mia and a character from her past who turns up again.  In the beginning of part two of the book, part one was summarized, giving the impression of two separate books being combined.  As I read an ARC, this is something that may change in the final version.

If you're a fan of fast-paced urban fantasy with likeable characters and strong friendships, add Hood Academy to your TBR.  It also boasts some pretty cool werewolves!

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

This is a great YA story, with likeable characters.. I always enjoy a good werewolf story and this one delivers big time. It kept me reading from start to finish. And I appreciated the strong female lead character. Definitely a must read for YA horror fans in general and werewolf fans in particular. Grab and enjoy this book with the lights on.

The suspense about what happened to Mia's family and the details surrounding what happened to her family was interesting. The characters were fun and complimented each other well. I liked the shift in tone in part 2. The relationship of Mia and Ari was a great sisterly bond. I absolutely loved the description of the transformation to wolf form. And the ending was perfect, wrapped everything up in a nice little bow. I teared up a bit.

However, I do wish there was more world and relationship building. She went from never trusting anyone to immediately telling 3 people all her secrets. Also, more time at the academy with detailed training and experiences in classrooms would have been fun.

Overall, I really enjoyed it. I'd give it 3.5 stars. The Hood Academy was a fun, quick and entertaining read.

I don't read a lot of YA anymore, but I do like to read this sort of story occasionally, and I think it is fairly well done. Readers who enjoyed the Twilight series, should enjoy this one.

Shelly Wilson’s new young adult novel, Hood Academy is an interesting premise that takes a tire old premise and turns it around for a modern young audience with winning reward for the reader.

The novel starts out with Mia, after the death of her father, is escorted to Hood Academy by Sebastian, her benefactor. Wilson moves the story at a very quick pace and we enter a world of hunter against werewolves with the line very blurred of who is good or who is bad. This leads credibility to the story and as in real life, things are very rarely black or white.

The characters are deliciously well drawn with human faults playing against their ability to try to do good. There are some cases where the main villains of the piece tend to be a bit cartoonish and would have worked better if they were drawn out a little bit better. A reason why they are doing what they are doing or a better understanding on their hatred but this is small criticism considering the large cast are all well drawn and are very multifaceted within their personalities.

The plot moves at a very fast pace and keeps the reader involved which provides a page turner. I am not sure if this was originally produced in two volumes but there is a strange chapter that starts out Book Two where we have a total breakdown of Book One. Again, this is a small criticism and doesn’t take away from the overall novel in any way.

Overall, this is worthwhile read and should be a winner with the young adult readers. For an adult reader, I was entertained and I enjoyed entering the world that Wilson created. I loved the atmosphere and keeping it in a realistic setting with her narrative passages bringing the story to live. Written in the first person, sometimes it gives an idea of the outcome of Mia as far as in her life and death situations. I am keen to discover more work by Wilson and she is well accomplished writer that shows her true craft to afford a rewarding read.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a free copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.


“Hood Academy” starts out with a mystery that grasps your attention and sets the mood for the whole book. Mia has witnessed a gruesome murder of her father by a werewolf and her whole life is turned upside down. It wasn't a good life to begin with, since her mom died when Mia was little, her older brother left a year later, and she was stuck with her abusive father and no friends. Now that her father is gone, her uncle has agreed to be her guardian and is taking Mia to live with him in a private school - Hood Academy - where he is the headmaster. The revelation about werewolves existing and the mystery of her father's connection to them are taking over Mia's life and create a basis for the novel.

I liked that the story was fast-paced and action-packed, but I did have issues with the character development and constant info-dumping. That's why I wasn't able to give “Hood Academy” higher rating. There's a lot of exposition throughout the book, and the reveals felt underwhelming, I think that if they were more subtle, and if the readers were left to come up with their own conclusions, I would have connected with the story more. The only thing that we were unsure about is Mia's role in the werewolf/hunter community - all the heroes and villains were obvious as soon as they were introduced. The characters' motivations also jumped all over the place, and there seemed to be no clear progression and character growth.

Another thing that threw me off was how trusting Mia turned out to be throughout the story. I like her friendship with Lizzie, but it was again underdeveloped and rushed. It seems unrealistic that someone who had no friends and was raised in an abusive household would so easily accept someone new into her life and be ready to share her secrets and plans.

Overall, “Hood Academy” unfortunately didn't leave a lasting impression, but I think it would be good book for when you're in a mood for something light and don't feel like thinking too much.

I received a free advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Even though this book was classed as a horror, it was not. That does not mean, however, that it was not exciting. In Trinidad & Tobago folklore, the closest thing we have to a werewolf is a lagahoo. Lagahoo stories are still horrifying and many of us still shiver at the thought of confronting one. Werewolves, on the other hand, have evolved to become sexy and non-threatening. I am still not too sure how I feel about that. However, the book was still a good read.

In Hood Academy, Shelley Wilson illustrates the fact that even though werewolves are scary, they are still human beings. And, to kill one would mean you’re a murderer. Mia’s world is turned upside down when her father is killed by a werewolf in the middle of one of his abusive rages. She is then taken in by his brother, her uncle, who runs a school. But Hood Academy isn’t like any other school we know. This is a school which trains werewolf hunters. Mia instantly finds a new friend, Elizabeth aka Lizzie, and determines that her favorite teacher is Miss Ross. Antonio, one of the workers at the school, and also Elizabeth’s boyfriend, quickly becomes one of her closest friends as well. However, Felicity, who’s descended from a long line of purebred hunters instantly dislikes her, for reasons which become clear later on. While exploring the school and the nearby town, Mia realizes that things are not what they seem, and, maybe the enemy is not what or whom she thinks. She also learns something about herself which drastically changes her life as she knows it. Maybe, a family is more than just blood ties. Maybe, it’s about a shared bond between a community.

The character development could have been a little better. For example, in Felicity’s case, they kept mentioning what happened to her mother but there were no details. After realizing what her father was like, I found myself wondering if everything she said was true. And, in Elizabeth’s case, we knew absolutely nothing about her or where she came from. I’m not certain if this is going to be a series, but if it is, I would love to find out more about the characters’ backgrounds.

I am guessing that is a remake of the series the author started to write some time ago. This looked like a combination of the two first books. As a result, we ended up having an unnecessary recap in the middle of the book. There were also some unnecessary explanations during the second half of the book. When I started reading the second half, I was at first confused as to why she was repeating what I already knew and it was quite irritating.

I liked the fact that the author did not shy away from the descriptions of the humans turning into wolves. She spoke about the pain, and she didn’t gloss over the fact that their clothes would be unable to stay on. Don’t get me wrong, I know that the older versions of werewolves needed to wear shorts when they reverted to human form for decency’s sake. But, scientifically, we all know that if the clothes were ripped during the transformation, they would have to end up naked when they became human again.

In many books, the topic of domestic abuse is often skimmed over. However, this is something that happens often and people are not as ashamed as they used to be to talk about being a survivor of abuse. I like the fact that the author attacked that very sensitive topic head-on without holding anything back.

The plot moved quickly. I was spellbound from the beginning to the end of this book. The author gave clear descriptions of characters and events, without being too wordy.

This book is clearly aimed at teenagers and young adults. It discusses a lot of issues teenagers would have. Mia learns about life, love, and friendship in this story. She grows up and finds her power during this tale. However, anyone of any age who likes a good story about werewolves will enjoy this book. It was a good, solid paranormal book.