The Scholar by J. J. Anders

The Scholar by J. J. Anders is the first of two books in The Genoa Chronicles. It is a YA fantasy story about Anna a young girl who has never fit in on Earth. She knows she is different, all she has to do is look in the mirror and see her white hair and translucent skin to confirm this. She also has this unique magical gift where she can acquire all the knowledge in a book just by touching its cover.

Despite searching all her life, Anna has never found another like herself. She has absorbed knowledge from books in libraries all over the world and successfully avoided capture by the military in her quest to learn about herself.  It appears her luck has run out, or maybe she has become complacent, because she has been spotted in the library and must flee to avoid capture.  Just as the military surrounds her and Anna thinks all is lost, a young man, Leian, comes to her rescue.

Leian claims he is a wizard and she is a princess that has been in exile and he has come to take her home to Genoa. As it turns out, home is a world Anna no longer remembers. It is full of magical creatures and others with magical abilities. Home is not exactly welcoming either, since it is not long before she is again running to avoid capture from an evil monarch that wants to steal her magic.

The Scholar has all the things I love in a great book, clever characters, an intriguing story, and a fast moving plot with surprises throughout that keep the reader turning the pages. In addition, the authors did a superb job with the world building, which is must for me. I am already looking forward to the next book, especially so because it ended on a cliff hanger. In short, this is a great start to a new YA series.

I will have to buy a copy for my grandson who loves YA fantasy. I highly recommend this book to readers who like YA and fantasy stories. I urge you to add this one to your TBR list, you will not regret it.

I received a free copy from the publisher, via NetGalley, in exchange for my honest review.