Gryphon Series Book 1
All 18-year-old Celeste Garrett wants is to head off to college and make those fun, yet ill-advised, choices college kids are known for. And maybe to spend some time with the hot cameraman she just met. Instead, because of a pact her ancestors made in the 17th century with a mythical creature, she has to save the world.
While normal kids are slamming energy drinks and … energy drinks and cramming for exams, Celeste will get her adrenaline rush fighting a fire breathing dragon. She wants to meet friends in the quad to exchange lecture notes, but first she must exchange blows with a shapeshifting demon on the rooftop. Life isn’t always fair for a superhero, but at least she doesn’t have to do it alone. With her brother and sister as sidekicks, they alternate between saving lives and getting on each others’ nerves. Together the trio encounters unspeakable odds, mystical forces and comes face-to-face with an image that will haunt them forever—their grandmother in a leopard print bikini.
“Okay, little side note here. If a psychopathic killer asks if you want to see a trick, say no. That’s the smart thing to do. I, on the other hand, responded, ‘Bring it’.”
-excerpt from THE CONDUIT
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As dysfunctional families go, the Garrets are actually doing pretty well considering the Garret kids, now teenagers and young adults, have been displaced from their home and are now living with their retro grandmother, as their mother stays behind to pick up the pieces after the death of her husband and their father. Even with that consideration, Celeste is a pretty good big sister, Kendal is almost the perfect little sister who just happens to be beautiful, and Gabe could be a lot worse, seeing as he’s the middle child and the only boy. But then one day the evil Barnabus decides to exact a century’s old revenge and the Garret kids receive an inheritance they’d rather leave to the dogs. With superpowers, shapeshifting, and young adult hormonal disillusionment, The Conduit is a fascinating, thrilling, and at times, hilarious read.
I really didn’t know what to expect when I started this book, but I’d heard good things about it. I knew it was a YA fantasy series, but that was about it. I also knew I loved the artwork of the Gryphon on the cover of the book, but sadly, that cover has been discontinued…at least I like the new cover and the series’ covers match now.
From beginning to end, The Conduit was an exciting read. Even when the author had to slow down to explain something, the characters are so neurotic that the explanations come off as action-packed. The only time the action slowed down was when the sarcastic humor of the author spilled out through her characters offering abundant laughter. There were a few touching moments in the story, but they were so perfectly paced that the flow of the story was a constant wave moving forward towards the end. Not that this book was terribly long, but it also wasn’t that short. I enjoyed reading this book so much, I finished it much quicker that I had expected.
When I purchased the Conduit, I thought I was just testing out this new author and had no intention of reading further, but halfway through this one, I bought the sequel and can’t wait the get the next one after that. I’m not an avid reader of YA fantasy and tend to toe the line when it comes to liking it, but this book is great.
Younger children may not get some of the references, but if this were a movie I’d give it a PG-13 rating; it’s good for the whole family, dad may not be interested…at first.
This was awesome! Thankfully I have book 2 already!
This was a great introduction to the series! We got to know the characters pretty well before things started getting weird. Stacey did a great job pulling me into the story. I read this pretty quickly, on to the next one!
Overall this was an entertaining read. For a published book, there was a lot of proof-reading errors. The flow was not as smooth as I would have liked. It definitely wasn’t a “fast & furious” read or a “can’t put it down” read, since I did get to bed on time with half the book to finish the next day, where the “can’t put it down” types can keep me up all night in spite of having to work the next day. I felt the overall relationship between siblings felt realistic for the most part. Their acceptance of their new powers was too easy in my mind. Most people would have a bit more of a freak-out over it than they did. I think this is supposed to be a Y/A book, but for me (I’m 56), I felt some of the gore might be better for an upper ages of a Y/A group than the lower ages.
The Conduit is an amazing book. Any girl can relate to Celeste in this book. Crazy embarrassing things happening. But what this book has that no other I have read in a while is that Celeste doesn’t need a guy to save her, she is hard core and kicks butt. It’s empowering to girls and tells them they can be who they want to be and don’t need to rely on a guy to make them feel special.
Stacey Rourke has captured her audience with a very well written story that make you keep turning pages. The detail that is written makes you feel that your standing right next to the action, and getting to watch first hand of everything that is happening. It’s truly an amazing book!!
I can’t wait to read the second book in this series to see what kind of an adventure that Celeste and her siblings will have.