Fallen Academy: Year Four by Leia Stone (Fallen Academy #4)

7/10

The final instalment in Stone's Fallen Academy series provides a satisfying conclusion for fans of YA and paranormal romance. Set in an alternative present day Los Angeles, which following an epic battle between demons and angels now houses the divide between heaven and hell. The combined supernatural power of this event has left all humans in town with two possible life outcomes: demon cursed or angel blessed. Based on which will decide such things as job and housing options. To be more accommodating to the specific needs of humans, magic is implemented to stop an individual’s angel/demon power until their awakening ceremony. This ceremony awakens the dormant supernatural power of a teenager and sets them on their path, starting at either Tainted Academy for those with demons gifts or Fallen Academy for those with angelic gifts. These are essentially randomly gifted with an amount of hereditary influence.

This brings us to our protagonist Brielle, who in the first book undergoes her awakening with shocking results, revealing black angel wings. The series follows Brielle, during her time at Fallen Academy; add a prophecy making her the chosen one, as is standard YA fare coupled with rising tensions between the factions and you have the series in a nutshell.

Oh yeah and there are hunky guys in Fallen Academy, for your supernatural boyfriend needs.

In Year Four we see Brielle separated from her friends, family and weapon (which is sentient and shared a psychic link with her) as Lucifer keeps her imprisoned in an attempt to gain the upper hand in the ongoing conflict. We know our plucky lead will win, but how? Reaching this endpoint does feel at times through the book to be more of a race to the conclusion rather than developing organically.

As briefly outlined earlier, the world building is fun and gives a great deal of variety to work with in terms of all the different types of blessed and cursed humans in addition to the angels and demons generally roaming around with their own agendas. However given that the plot centers on a teen at their new magic school the focus doesn’t often shift beyond interpersonal drama with the impending war between heaven and hell serving more as a backdrop.The strength of the series for me is in its world building. We see glimpses of other cities with similar setups to LA and the world at large, but are brought back into the narrow gaze of Brielle.

The promise of more kept me engaged enough to follow the series from start to finish, but perhaps being a casual YA reader, with no interest in hot supernatural boys, some of the Fallen Academy appeal was lost on me. The series is a good light read, entertaining light action adventure. Bump the score up if you are a fan of paranormal romance.