Status
Available
Call number
Series
Collections
Publication
New York : Tom Doherty Associates, 2010.
Description
After her family is killed, Spirit White is taken to Oakhurst Academy, a combination orphanage and school for those with magical powers, where she and her new friends investigate when students start mysteriously disappearing.
User reviews
LibraryThing member readinggeek451
After a car accident that kills her entire family, Spirit White is sent to Oakhurst Academy, in a remote part of Montana. Not a typical orphanage, although all the students are orphans, and not a typical boarding school, Oakhurst is instead a school for magic users. But unlike her classmates,
Despite her grief, a heavy workload, and an atmosphere of competition, not cooperation, Spirit makes friends and begins to settle in. But something is very wrong at Oakhurst.
An good series beginning.
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Spirit shows no sign of having any powers.Despite her grief, a heavy workload, and an atmosphere of competition, not cooperation, Spirit makes friends and begins to settle in. But something is very wrong at Oakhurst.
An good series beginning.
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LibraryThing member zabet17
This is an interesting read but the portrayal of teenagers is more than a little off. These students, many of whom have lost their entire family, never seem to rage or cry or otherise react to the tragedy in their life. The reactions of the adults running the school are also more than a little
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unbelievable. I am hoping that this is merely a reflection of this being the first book in the series and the authors not wanting to give away anyone's motives. I will give the second book a shot when it is released next year. Show Less
LibraryThing member zabet17
This is an interesting read but the portrayal of teenagers is more than a little off. These students, many of whom have lost their entire family, never seem to rage or cry or otherise react to the tragedy in their life. The reactions of the adults running the school are also more than a little
Show More
unbelievable. I am hoping that this is merely a reflection of this being the first book in the series and the authors not wanting to give away anyone's motives. I will give the second book a shot when it is released next year. Show Less
LibraryThing member puckrobin
Not bad, but not what I had hoped for from these two, whose previous collaborations on the Bedlam's Bard series are some of my favourite brain candy. As usual, Lackey and Edghill create likable characters, but they seem more two dimensionsal than usual (I knew more about Greystone's character in
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the first 5 pages of his appearance in Bedlam's Bard than I did about the main characters at Oakhurst after the entire book). This series has potential, particularly for younger readers, and works as a crossover between mainstream YA fiction that is currently supersaturated with otherworldly and the work of authors mostly known for being found only on the SciFi/Fanasty shelves of your favourite bookseller. For long time Lackey or Edghill fans however, you may need to lower your expectations and have some patience... perhaps the pace and connection with the characters will pick up as the series progresses. If not, we can always hope for a return visit from Eric and the rest of the Bedlam's Bard crew. Show Less
LibraryThing member lprybylo
Grades 7-10
Spirit White is suddenly ophaned after a car accident killing her parents and younger sister. She becomes a legacy at a very elite school called Oakhurst where she learns she may have magic powers. I like Mercedes Lackey's book but this one seemed like the set up of the characters and
Spirit White is suddenly ophaned after a car accident killing her parents and younger sister. She becomes a legacy at a very elite school called Oakhurst where she learns she may have magic powers. I like Mercedes Lackey's book but this one seemed like the set up of the characters and
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location didn't progress fast enough, Kinda of draggie in spots. Show Less
LibraryThing member wyvernfriend
In common with several other reviewers I'm not sure that the characters of the teenager are right. I also found that it occasionally lagged. Spirit White has survived a catastrophic accident that killed the rest of her family and now she is going to a school called Oakhurst Academy where everyone
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there is also an orphan. Everyone there has magic, and they assure her that she has some too but she doesn't know what or who to believe. Everything is strange and things get stranger when one of her classmates disappears, when a second does too she starts to ask questions and gathers a few friends to help investigate. I had some inklings about what was happening but the unfolding did entertain. I hope the pair of authors hit their stride in the sequel. Show Less
LibraryThing member SunnySD
When Spirit White's whole family is killed in a freak car accident, she's in no shape to care about who's paying for her hospital stay and therapy sessions. But when the fancy car arrives to take her to the Oakhurst Academy, her new "school" somewhere in the wilds of Montana, reality starts to get
Okay, so jumping on the Harry Potter bandwagon is a bit trite, the plots more than a little predictable, and the names assigned most of the students are beyond corny. But it didn't read badly for all of that, and it will be interesting to see where two masters (mistresses?) of the fantasy genre take the plot now that the stage is set for bigger things.
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a bit weird. Especially when she learns that all the students at Oakhurst have a magic talent - and that nobody seems to care when they disappear. For Spirit and her new friends, surviving means not only hiding their friendship, but figuring out just what is behind the disappearances, before they're next to be taken.Okay, so jumping on the Harry Potter bandwagon is a bit trite, the plots more than a little predictable, and the names assigned most of the students are beyond corny. But it didn't read badly for all of that, and it will be interesting to see where two masters (mistresses?) of the fantasy genre take the plot now that the stage is set for bigger things.
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LibraryThing member jjmcgaffey
Fun read. It took me a little while to get into it - the first couple of chapters I was slogging a bit - but by the time Spirit and Lach met Mr. Ambrosius I was hooked. It's very definitely the start of a series - there are a _lot_ of unanswered, and even more unasked, questions. I wonder if
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Muirinn and Addie could even see the scratch? Spirit should ask about that - things like that. And I wonder just what Mr. Ambrosius is. Spirit's name might be a clue to her power, and the throwaway line (at least, they don't come back to the question) about whether Oakhurst is teaching them everything might be a major part of many answers... There are several nice bits. The 'team' doesn't instantly assemble - it's kind of by accident and with some adjustments to make, much more reasonable than most school stories. Spirit's grumbles about the way the school is run. The wildly different back-stories of the kids...and nobody seems to have noticed that the parents aren't around to answer questions about their having been at Oakhurst too (a couple more questions that haven't been asked yet). I have a nasty suspicious mind, at least when it comes to stories, and this book (this series) seems to feed into that very nicely - there really is a conspiracy. Or two, or three... One thing that bothers me, though - was Oakhurst fighting the tithing at all? If so, Spirit and her team are way-out-of-place powerful...and if not, it feeds into the conspiracy question. So I hope the latter. Definitely reading the next book. Show Less
LibraryThing member erleen
Title: Legacies
Author: Mercedes Lackey & Rosemary Edghill
Genre/s: Young Adult, Urban Fantasy, Mystery
Synopsis:
Spirit White has survived from a deadly car crash that has killed her mother and father and her sister. She has been discovered by a school with special talents, called magic. A couple of
My Thoughts:
I really don't like the way everything seemed to be Harry Potter-ish and the only difference was that the protagonist here is a girl. It was so much like Harry from the beginning where she lost her whole family in a tragic accident and she was the only survivor and also the way there was a secret school for people with Legacy. But I admit that the Oakhurst Academy is kinda cool, it's modern, high-tech and state of the art.
The plot is okay. I wasn't thrilled about them fighting the Wild Hunt. I find it really annoying that their Legacies were useless in elves, ghost and demons. And speaking of Wild Hunt, a demon in an SUV? Seriously? You have a really expensive Wild Hunt there. It's a funny read, I laugh the whole time when they were sprinkling salt on the Wild Hunt. Hilarious.
Overall, it was an okay book. I wish the next installment would be much better than this.
Author: Mercedes Lackey & Rosemary Edghill
Genre/s: Young Adult, Urban Fantasy, Mystery
Synopsis:
Spirit White has survived from a deadly car crash that has killed her mother and father and her sister. She has been discovered by a school with special talents, called magic. A couple of
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months after staying, people begin to disappear, some vanish to be never seen again, so Spirit and her new friends begin the investigation. But will they find out the truth of what is going on? Or will Spirit and her friends suffer a terrible fate from which they don't know about yet? My Thoughts:
I really don't like the way everything seemed to be Harry Potter-ish and the only difference was that the protagonist here is a girl. It was so much like Harry from the beginning where she lost her whole family in a tragic accident and she was the only survivor and also the way there was a secret school for people with Legacy. But I admit that the Oakhurst Academy is kinda cool, it's modern, high-tech and state of the art.
The plot is okay. I wasn't thrilled about them fighting the Wild Hunt. I find it really annoying that their Legacies were useless in elves, ghost and demons. And speaking of Wild Hunt, a demon in an SUV? Seriously? You have a really expensive Wild Hunt there. It's a funny read, I laugh the whole time when they were sprinkling salt on the Wild Hunt. Hilarious.
Overall, it was an okay book. I wish the next installment would be much better than this.
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LibraryThing member ZabetReading
This is an interesting read but the portrayal of teenagers is more than a little off. These students, many of whom have lost their entire family, never seem to rage or cry or otherise react to the tragedy in their life. The reactions of the adults running the school are also more than a little
Show More
unbelievable. I am hoping that this is merely a reflection of this being the first book in the series and the authors not wanting to give away anyone's motives. I will give the second book a shot when it is released next year. Show Less
LibraryThing member DarkFaerieTales
Review courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales.
Quick & Dirty: Fun magical book filled with mystery, interesting characters, and murder. The plot was a little convenient, and there were parts that dragged but overall it was a good read.
Opening Sentence: Someone was moaning.
The Review:
Spirit White has just
Spirit has never believed in magic, but now she has no choice. Every student there has some sort of magical ability, but Spirit can’t seem to figure out what hers is. The normal tests don’t trigger it and she is starting to wonder if she has any magic at all. Then students start to disappear, and people are getting suspicious. Spirit and her new group of friends decide to investigate, before one of them is next, and they realized that the school might not be the safe haven that they thought it was.
Spirit is the protagonist and I had mixed feelings about her. She is really depressed for a large portion of the book and I understand that she went through a horrific experience, but her attitude about it got on my nerves after a while. Once she finally gets settled into the school and finds a reason to get past her pain, she gets a little better. She is a very loyal friend and most of the time I liked being in her head. She makes fast friends with Burke, Muirin, Adelaide, and Loch.
The first one that she meets is Loch they travel to the Academy together. Loch comes from a rich family and he is very confident. Spirit is instantly attracted to him and it is easy for her to talk to him. Next she meets Muirin who is a very blunt girl that doesn’t really have many friends. She has an attitude and she likes to be different, but she doesn’t always go about it the best way. Adelaide is the sweet one in the group. She is pretty shy, but very smart. Last we have Burke; he is the strong and silent type. His magic makes him a master of any type of weapon so no one wants to mess with him. He is also an honest, fair person that wants to do the right thing. He and Spirit seem to have a slow attraction that may turn into more.
I enjoyed this book, but I felt that everything was just too convenient. There weren’t really any surprises in the plot and everything just ended up working out. I did enjoy the characters for the most part; a few had some annoying traits but nothing too bad. There were a few times when the pacing dragged a little bit, but for the most part it flowed pretty well. The ending left you satisfied, and there was a good set up for the next book in the series. Overall, this was a fun good read, and I would recommend it to anyone that is a mystery fan.
Notable Scene:
“Right,” Ms. Smith said, nodding. “Now, scientifically, there are one hundred seventeen elements, but the ancient world believed there were only four. Earth, Air, Fire, and Water, which aren’t really elements at all. But for the purposes of magic, we treat them as if they are, and your Mage Gift will probably fall into one of what we call these ’Elemental Schools.’”
“Probably?” Spirit asked.
“It’s possible that you have Gifts from two different Schools,” Ms. Smith said, “Though in that case they’re less likely to be strong Gifts. While a Mage can have an entirely elemental Gift-such as being a Fire Witch-they can also have a power that belongs to an Elemental School without controlling its underlying element. For example, I know you’ve met Burke Hallows. Hid Mage Gift is Combat Magic, which has an affinity with the School of Earth. Knowing the supporting School to which you Mage Gift belongs will be important when you go on to study magical theory. And you’re wishing I’d stop nattering on at you and get to the testing part of things aren’t you?”
Spirit glanced up, guilty and a little alarmed.
“Oh, I’m no mind reader,” Ms. Smith said gently. “But I’ve administered a great number of these tests. This is how it works: the items here on the table symbolize the Four Elements. You should feel a resonance-an affinity- with one more than another. Take your time. And remember, there aren’t wrong answers here. This isn’t a test you can fail. We already know you’re a magician, or you wouldn’t be here.”
FTC Advisory: Tor/Macmillan provided me with a copy of Legacies. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review.
Quick & Dirty: Fun magical book filled with mystery, interesting characters, and murder. The plot was a little convenient, and there were parts that dragged but overall it was a good read.
Opening Sentence: Someone was moaning.
The Review:
Spirit White has just
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had a terrible accident, where her whole family was killed. She was left severely wounded and has been recovering for the last month. Now she is being sent to the Oakhurst Academy. She has never heard of it until the accident, but supposedly her parents said that if anything were to happen to them she would be sent there. Turns out her parents also attended the school and the students there have magical powers.Spirit has never believed in magic, but now she has no choice. Every student there has some sort of magical ability, but Spirit can’t seem to figure out what hers is. The normal tests don’t trigger it and she is starting to wonder if she has any magic at all. Then students start to disappear, and people are getting suspicious. Spirit and her new group of friends decide to investigate, before one of them is next, and they realized that the school might not be the safe haven that they thought it was.
Spirit is the protagonist and I had mixed feelings about her. She is really depressed for a large portion of the book and I understand that she went through a horrific experience, but her attitude about it got on my nerves after a while. Once she finally gets settled into the school and finds a reason to get past her pain, she gets a little better. She is a very loyal friend and most of the time I liked being in her head. She makes fast friends with Burke, Muirin, Adelaide, and Loch.
The first one that she meets is Loch they travel to the Academy together. Loch comes from a rich family and he is very confident. Spirit is instantly attracted to him and it is easy for her to talk to him. Next she meets Muirin who is a very blunt girl that doesn’t really have many friends. She has an attitude and she likes to be different, but she doesn’t always go about it the best way. Adelaide is the sweet one in the group. She is pretty shy, but very smart. Last we have Burke; he is the strong and silent type. His magic makes him a master of any type of weapon so no one wants to mess with him. He is also an honest, fair person that wants to do the right thing. He and Spirit seem to have a slow attraction that may turn into more.
I enjoyed this book, but I felt that everything was just too convenient. There weren’t really any surprises in the plot and everything just ended up working out. I did enjoy the characters for the most part; a few had some annoying traits but nothing too bad. There were a few times when the pacing dragged a little bit, but for the most part it flowed pretty well. The ending left you satisfied, and there was a good set up for the next book in the series. Overall, this was a fun good read, and I would recommend it to anyone that is a mystery fan.
Notable Scene:
“Right,” Ms. Smith said, nodding. “Now, scientifically, there are one hundred seventeen elements, but the ancient world believed there were only four. Earth, Air, Fire, and Water, which aren’t really elements at all. But for the purposes of magic, we treat them as if they are, and your Mage Gift will probably fall into one of what we call these ’Elemental Schools.’”
“Probably?” Spirit asked.
“It’s possible that you have Gifts from two different Schools,” Ms. Smith said, “Though in that case they’re less likely to be strong Gifts. While a Mage can have an entirely elemental Gift-such as being a Fire Witch-they can also have a power that belongs to an Elemental School without controlling its underlying element. For example, I know you’ve met Burke Hallows. Hid Mage Gift is Combat Magic, which has an affinity with the School of Earth. Knowing the supporting School to which you Mage Gift belongs will be important when you go on to study magical theory. And you’re wishing I’d stop nattering on at you and get to the testing part of things aren’t you?”
Spirit glanced up, guilty and a little alarmed.
“Oh, I’m no mind reader,” Ms. Smith said gently. “But I’ve administered a great number of these tests. This is how it works: the items here on the table symbolize the Four Elements. You should feel a resonance-an affinity- with one more than another. Take your time. And remember, there aren’t wrong answers here. This isn’t a test you can fail. We already know you’re a magician, or you wouldn’t be here.”
FTC Advisory: Tor/Macmillan provided me with a copy of Legacies. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review.
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LibraryThing member AshleyLynch
Why this book is not a best-seller is a mystery to me. It has a little bit of everything- a little mystery, magic, mystery, great characters, good setting, a brewing romance, and some plain old teen angst just for good measure. Yet, the plot is not over-whelming. Amazing.
Spirit White is a backdoor
I love the dynamic between Muirin and Addie. Muirin's sarcasm and biting remarks are well-balanced by Addie's kindness and reluctance to break the rules. Bottom line: Addie is best friend material and Muirin is the friend I'd love to get into trouble with.
As for the guys, Burke definitely scored points for me with Spirit. Helping her with her fighting so she didn't leave class bruised and bloody, asking her to dance TWICE. So sweet. Meanwhile Loch had some moments. Perhaps he's a bit more reluctant to make a move? Guess we'll find out.
The plot moved along nicely, and the Whatever was unexpected. As a team, the five main characters worked well together. I foresee a great group forming.
Spirit White is a backdoor
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heroine. She lacks in confidence, being without magic and all, and doesn't have high hopes that she can save herself, much less her friends. Still, she proves at the end of the story that she can contribute, and her friends can depend on her. Also, the girl is stubborn, and I have to admire that. She isn't distracted from her goal and does everything in her power to ensure the safety of fellow students, especially her close friends.I love the dynamic between Muirin and Addie. Muirin's sarcasm and biting remarks are well-balanced by Addie's kindness and reluctance to break the rules. Bottom line: Addie is best friend material and Muirin is the friend I'd love to get into trouble with.
As for the guys, Burke definitely scored points for me with Spirit. Helping her with her fighting so she didn't leave class bruised and bloody, asking her to dance TWICE. So sweet. Meanwhile Loch had some moments. Perhaps he's a bit more reluctant to make a move? Guess we'll find out.
The plot moved along nicely, and the Whatever was unexpected. As a team, the five main characters worked well together. I foresee a great group forming.
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LibraryThing member Steph1203
I picked this up because one of the authors is Mercedes Lackey and I really love her books but I had a hard time getting into this one. It felt different from her other books and I don't know if I'll go looking for the rest of the series.
LibraryThing member jamespurcell
Not Lackey's best. Shallow characters and oft used plot. Better books, on my wish list, likely preclude my continuing the series.
LibraryThing member niaskywalk
This is a decent juvenile story. it is typical of the author and I expect it to develop in a similar way. still I also expect it to be a good suspenseful story for those not familiar with the writing. Only after the whole series is completed will I be able to discern the overall quality.
LibraryThing member lexilewords
Legacies is (yet another) teenage boarding school paranormal where seemingly average girl goes off to mysterious and slightly too good to be true boarding school, finding herself smack dab in the middle of an evil plot. I couldn't tell you how many books I've read this year alone with this idea,
In many respects I wasn't let down by the book. I went into it expecting Spirit to find out something supernatural about herself, to have doubts about the school/orphanage she would be living at, to make friends of various points of archetypal interest. So I wasn't let down by any of that. I did have an underlying feeling of 'tell me more' however throughout the entire book. There is quite a bit of time spent on Spirit's survivor's guilt, some time spent on the 'how' each of her friends ended up at Oakhurst, more time spent on researching what was going on and then very little spent on development.
Spirit is resilient and not quite the same as everyone else. Lachlan felt nothing following his father's death and is rather peculiar in terms of emotional detachment. Burke likes to help out and make people feel comfortable. Muirin has a perpetual chip on her shoulder and likes to 'flaunt' authority. Adelaide is a studious student and has a dry sense of humor. This is the sum total of what we learn about their personalities.
A lot of suspicious activity abounds in this book--not just from the Academy itself (which seems two steps removed from reckless child endangerment on good days), but from Spirit's so-called friends. The only one who seems at all who and what he seems is Burke, but that makes him a flatter character overall. Everyone is just a little bit too much of whatever their part is supposed to be. Muirin is too angry, Adelaide is too prim, Lachlan is too detached and Burke is too safe.
As for the mystery itself, I freely admit to both confusion on how the kids eventually came to the conclusion they did and how they 'defeated' it. The book would spend half a chapter or so describing their discovery than its off to see Spirit fail at magics or Muirin get upset over the lack of forward momentum or Burke trying to teach Spirit self-defense. Not only that, but the idea that the school is setting the students up to all feel competitive towards each other and not make friendships is handled awkwardly. Extremely so. To the point where I wondered if Spirit wasn't also a paranoid person because the plot went almost nowhere.
As a first book this leaves a lot to be desired. As a new insert to the ever growing boarding school supernatural books this leaves a whole lot more to be desired. And I'm disappointed in two of my favorite authors. I will read the next book, to see if things improve, but at the moment I'm wary.
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but I will tell you I was excited to see Rosemary Edghill and Mercedes Lackey together on this. Been a long time fan of both and though they've worked together before (Bedlam's Bard series) I was interested to see how they would work out as a young adult duo.In many respects I wasn't let down by the book. I went into it expecting Spirit to find out something supernatural about herself, to have doubts about the school/orphanage she would be living at, to make friends of various points of archetypal interest. So I wasn't let down by any of that. I did have an underlying feeling of 'tell me more' however throughout the entire book. There is quite a bit of time spent on Spirit's survivor's guilt, some time spent on the 'how' each of her friends ended up at Oakhurst, more time spent on researching what was going on and then very little spent on development.
Spirit is resilient and not quite the same as everyone else. Lachlan felt nothing following his father's death and is rather peculiar in terms of emotional detachment. Burke likes to help out and make people feel comfortable. Muirin has a perpetual chip on her shoulder and likes to 'flaunt' authority. Adelaide is a studious student and has a dry sense of humor. This is the sum total of what we learn about their personalities.
A lot of suspicious activity abounds in this book--not just from the Academy itself (which seems two steps removed from reckless child endangerment on good days), but from Spirit's so-called friends. The only one who seems at all who and what he seems is Burke, but that makes him a flatter character overall. Everyone is just a little bit too much of whatever their part is supposed to be. Muirin is too angry, Adelaide is too prim, Lachlan is too detached and Burke is too safe.
As for the mystery itself, I freely admit to both confusion on how the kids eventually came to the conclusion they did and how they 'defeated' it. The book would spend half a chapter or so describing their discovery than its off to see Spirit fail at magics or Muirin get upset over the lack of forward momentum or Burke trying to teach Spirit self-defense. Not only that, but the idea that the school is setting the students up to all feel competitive towards each other and not make friendships is handled awkwardly. Extremely so. To the point where I wondered if Spirit wasn't also a paranoid person because the plot went almost nowhere.
As a first book this leaves a lot to be desired. As a new insert to the ever growing boarding school supernatural books this leaves a whole lot more to be desired. And I'm disappointed in two of my favorite authors. I will read the next book, to see if things improve, but at the moment I'm wary.
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Language
Original publication date
2010-07-06
Physical description
320 p.; 22 cm
ISBN
9780765327079
Local notes
Shadow Grail, 1
DDC/MDS
| Fic SF Lackey |
Other editions
Legacies by Mercedes Lackey (Ebook)