Book Review: Mortal

Title: Mortal 

Author: Bella Lore

Date: 2023

Quote: "I have no clue what's headed my way next, and I feel like a trapped animal."

Yes, it's another young adult novel written in first person, present tense. Winter Grace's father has just died (or has he really?) and paid for her to attend a really weird school on a Maine island. As if starting at a new school two months into the term weren't bad enough (and when do terms start at this school, anyway?  The weather seems awfully warm for November in Maine), the school is strange because it's a special school for creatures that look human but aren't. 

Winter has always thought she was human but, although nobody's willing to guess what she's growing up to be, she appears to be a berserker. Her classmates' "supernatural" talents aren't all clear yet, either, but she's warned to beware of Alec, who is known to be a vampire. (He can survive on animal blood, he tells Winter.) However, the boy who warns her off Alec is a wimp who sneaks around smoking cigarettes, and one of the girls is a vicious bully, and the other is apparently intimidated by her...and Alec comes to her rescue in times of need. Winter needs help to beat up bullies only when Heather, the girl bully, turns up with a magic talisman that saps her strength.

The school is surrounded by "Silver Hunters," explained as what the descendants of the Salem witch hunters have mutated into. The school seems to be protected from them, but the Hunters break in anyway so that Winter can prove her powers and Alec can prove his love. 

Though not especially short, this novel is part of a series. It ends on a cliff-hanger meant to force readers to buy volume 2, which will be meant to force them to buy volume 3, and so on.

Well, if you like vampire romances, you might not mind buying volumes 2 and 3, so volume 1 might be for you. I'm not a big fan of vampire romances but, for people who like that sort of thing, this is the sort of thing they like.