Review: Rae Of Hope by W.J. May

How hard do you have to shake the family tree to find the truth about the past?

Fifteen year-old Rae Kerrigan never really knew her family's history. Her mother and father died when she was young and it is only when she accepts a scholarship to the prestigious Guilder Boarding School in England that a mysterious family secret is revealed.

Will the sins of the father be the sins of the daughter?

As Rae struggles with new friends, a new school and a star-struck forbidden love, she must also face the ultimate challenge: receive a tattoo on her sixteenth birthday with specific powers that may bind her to an unspeakable darkness. It's up to Rae to undo the dark evil in her family's past and have a ray of hope for her future.

I was really surprised at how into the book I found myself. I want to say this book has a bit of magic not wand flying type magic but more of the paranormal magic. We follow Rae (which I love her name) as she is thrown into this world of learning her father's past, going to a school where every one knows more about her than she does it seems. She gets some answers to the secrets that have been plaguing her. Rae isn't a normal girl, she is so much more and the Guilder School wants to keep an eye on her. I loved the whole tatú and its meaning. That is a pretty cool twist. 

Now on to some of the characters. I liked Rae at the beginning. But then she started to annoy me. You have repeating at different times on how she was glad Molly was her roommate. Yes we get it, you are so happy/glad/whatever other emotions. Not only that she seemed childish with her jealousy towards Beth Devon's girlfriend. I can understand kind of being jealous because you like the girls boyfriend and what not. But Beth was never totally rude or acting like Haley did. Haley is one of the girls that is in the boarding school with Rae. It seemed as though Rae would seem a bit grown up even though she is still a young teen, fifteen-sixteen. Then turn around and act childish. It was a bit turn off for me liking the character. 

Now Devon a whole other story. He seemed sweet, so willing to help out, I felt he was a bit of a flirt with Rae. 

The other boys wow pretty pushy is the way that I felt with them. 

The other girls, Marie, Molly, the twins you don't get a lot of story with them though they are throughout the story. And they all have their own quirks but not over the top. 

Will for sure be looking into reading book two. I want to see what Rae's future holds for her and will she finally get all the answers she seeks.

Wanita May grew up in the fruit belt of Ontario - St.Catharines. Crazy-happy childhood, she always has had a vivid imagination and loads of energy.
The youngest of six -- four older brothers, and a sister -- taught her at a young age to be competitive in all aspects of life.
At sixteen, she began competing in athletics (track and field) and before she turned seventeen, she was representing Canada in high jump. She continued to compete, breaking Canada's JR High Jump record (1.92m - 6' 3 1/2" for those metric-ly challenged). She attented University of Toronto, and Kansas State University - winning CIAU's and becoming All-American 6x - NCAA Indoors Runner Up + more.
But you're not interested in her athletic career - unless of course you're curious to know she stands 1.70m (5'7") and has jumped 20cm over her head on more than one occassion. She's represented Canada at the World Championships, World Jrs., won Francophone Games, and loved every minute of every competition. From the grueling workouts, the crazy weights she lifted on her back, the days she thought her lungs were going to spit out of her mouth for lack of oxygen, the travelling around the world and the opportunity to read - her favourite past time.
Life continued with her husband (a distance runner from Liverpool, UK, who she met at KSU) and then their first, then second and finally third child. Their house became full of more imagination and stories.
Wanita and her husband run an online business, dealing in antiques and collectables - particularly jewelry and porcelain (one of the business' website: www.wadeincanada.com ).
After her father passed away in 2009, from a six-year battle with cancer (which she still believes he won the fight against), she began to write again. A passion she'd loved for years, but realized life was too short to keep putting it off.
Her first book, Rae of Hope - from the Chronicles of Kerrigan - will be available October 2011 by kNight Romance Publishing.
She is currently represented by Dawn Dowdle of Blue Ridge Literary Agency. Wanita is a writer of Young Adult, Fantasy Fiction and where ever else her little muses take her.