Introductions Review (Ghost Bird #1)

Hi everyone!!! I’m finally posting a review! I read this book back in June, and I’m just now posting this even though it has been in my drafts for about a month! And, since June, I’ve reread book two (and have yet to start the review). Anyway, the plan is to reread all of the books that are currently out and to post reviews of them (while patiently waiting for book 13 to come out).

Introduction by C. L. Stone

Synopsis:

“With an agoraphobic mother and a barely-there father, Sang abhors the isolation keeping her in the shadows. The only thing Sang craves is a fresh start and to be accepted as ordinary by her peers, because for her being different meant being cast out alone. 

When her family moves to a new school district, Sang infiltrates a group of boys nearly perfect in every way. Grateful for an influence outside of her parents’ negativity, she quickly bonds with the boys, hoping to blend in and learn from them what it means to have a natural relationship with friends. 

Only the boys have secrets of their own and they’ll do anything to keep her safe from the knowledge of the mysterious Academy that they’ve sworn allegiance to. Bit by bit, Sang discovers that her friends are far from the normalcy she expected. Will her loyalty change when she’s forced to remain in the dark, or will she accept that she’s traded one house of secrets for another?

Meet Kota, Victor, Silas, Nathan, Gabriel, Luke and North in a story about differences and loyalty, truth and mystery, friendships and heart-throbbing intimacy. 

The Academy, ever vigilant.”

Review:

4.5 Stars

This is a series that I’ve been dying to review for so long! It’s one of those under rated books that made me want to start a blog, and I’m so excited that I began my reread a couple of months ago!

You know those books/series/author(s) in a particular genre where no other book or series can even compare to this particular set of books, and every other book will never live up to the love that you feel for those books? Well the Ghost Bird series is that series for me in the reverse harem genre. For those of y’all who don’t know what this is, it’s a genre where the female MC has several love interests at the same time (normally 3-5). This book is the first set of RH books that I’ve read, and every other RH book doesn’t even compare even if the RH book isn’t contemporary like the Ghost Bird!

Introductions is just what the title suggests. This story is all about Sang meeting these nine compassionate guys that are trying to figure out the monsters in Sang’s closet and save her before something happens. With each turn of the page, I found myself falling for this story again.

“It worried me that perhaps my voice was permanently damaged. I couldn’t stand to think that was the case. I would be Sang, the girl with nothing to say, and no voice to say it.”

This is the third time that I have read this particular book in the GB series and honestly, I picked up on things that I missed during the first to reads or things that I had forgotten over the course of the series. Apparently while some people do yearly reread of the Harry Potter series, I reread the GB series over the summer because once you start the first book by the time you realize it, you’re already on book seven. Yes, the series is addictive.

I’ll be honest, the first two books (yes two because books one and two were supposed to be one book) are kind of slow because Introductions is mainly Sang meeting the guys and seeing the big parts of their personality. First Days (book two) pick up speed somewhat because they start school which is crazy since the school is over populated with trouble makers, but trust me the series gets up at lot of steam in book 3! So, if you stick with it, I highly recommend that you try to get to book 3 before you decide not to read any more. And note when I say that book one and two are “slow”, you could probably read both of them in a day and a half since they are short (and addicting).

The series doesn’t “become” a RH book the very end of book 3 (even though there are some very subtle hints in the first two books) I think when two of the guys goes and talks to another team that has a group of guys with one female because up to this point of the story; that is when some of the guys really think about this being a possibility for them. The guys and Sang are trying to build a friendship built on trust. Sang’s upbringing is one of the main factors as to why this series is such a slow-burn (because tbh she doesn’t get her first official kiss until book 6). Sang’s mother has drilled in her head that all males are rapist and will only want her for physical stuff, yet despite her mother’s over exaggerated warnings, Sang find herself trusting these guys that she has just met.

There is a total of nine guys, seven of them are Sang’s age while the other two are 19 and watch over the group of guys. Introduction picks up a couple of days before the start of school when Sang gets tackled by Kota’s dog, Max, one night while she was trying to escape the confinement of her house. During the following days, Sang meets the rest of the guys her age (Victor, Silas, Gabriel, Luke, North, and Nathen) and Dr. Green and Mr. Blackbourne towards the end of the book!

Each of the guys are a unique background that has left them with their own scars that some are still working through. It’s their difficult past that binds this unique group of guys together and make them want to help others in similar situations. The guys have a place on the team and lend some kind of ability that betters the team. The guys see that Sang is broken, and it’s one of the main reasons why most of these guys want to help Sang because they see parts of themselves in this small girl who wears her heart on her sleeve.

The guys work for this secret organization, The Academy, that is located through out the Charleston where they help people in need and take down the bad guys. In the Ghost Bird Series, Sang learns a little bit about it in book one, but she doesn’t know the full premise of the organization. In the Scarab Beetle Series (a new adult series in the same world with older MCs in their 20s), the book jumps right into what the Academy is, but the way that it is presented in that book makes it sound more sketchy. So depending on which series you read will make you see the Academy in different lights.

Another thing that might bother some people is that the character in the GB series are kind of bland in the description area. Like everyone has a set hair and eye color, body type (lean, muscular, etc.), accessories (glasses, piercings, tattoos), and even smell, but when it comes to things like height it’s always a head taller than somebody or whatever it’s never a concrete number. I had read on C. L.’s blog that she had designed it that way so people have a little bit more freedom so the reader so “see” the characters differently. Personally, it doesn’t bother me because I always end up picturing characters while I read and most of the time I forget the description that author wrote, but I know how some people are.

Is this the best book written in the YA world? No, but it has so many themes like dealing with mental and physical abuse and isolation that aren’t fluffed. Sang is such an open main character that you can’t help but want to stick by to make sure she makes it out of her current home because she describes every punishment her mother throws at her and how her upbringing has caused the way she acts. And the biggest theme in this book is that families can be created and isn’t necessarily those who share the same blood as you. Which is something I love!

I recommend this book if you are wanting to test the water so to speak with the reverse harem genre because I feel like these relationships are very natural and nothing seems rushed (because let’s face it, Sang doesn’t get her first kiss until book 5 or 6).

Book one is free on most ereads, so if you’re interested in this book, you can try it out without much commitment!

This is my Review of the Month for the review collection on LovelyAudiobooks.info

Happy reading until next time,