Review: The Candidates by Inara Scott

Book: The Candidates (Inara Scott)
Stand-Alone or Series: Series - Delcroix Academy #1)

Pages: 293
Genre: Young Adult
Description (From Goodreads):

Dancia Lewis is far from popular. And that's not just because of her average grades or her less-than-glamorous wardrobe. In fact, Dancia's mediocrity is a welcome cover for her secret: whenever she sees a person threatening someone she cares about, things just...happen. Cars skid. Structures collapse. Usually someone gets hurt. So Dancia does everything possible to avoid getting close to anyone, belieiving this way she can supress her powers and keep them hidden.

But when recruiters from the prestigious Delcroix Academy show up in her living room to offer her a full scholarship, Dancia's days of living under the radar may be over. Only, Delcroix is a school for diplomats' kids and child geniuses--not B students with uncontrollable telekinetic tendencies. So why are they treating Dancia like she's special? Even the hottest guy on campus seems to be going out of his way to make Dancia feel welcome.

And then there's her mysterious new friend Jack, who can't stay out of trouble. He suspects something dangerous is going on at the Academy and wants Dancia to help him figure out what. But Dancia isn't convinced. She hopes that maybe the recruiters know more about her "gift" than they're letting on. Maybe they can help her understand how to use it...But not even Dancia could have imagined what awaits her behind the gates of Delcroix Academy.

 After reading the book description I was eagerly anticipating reading The Candidates. While I enjoyed the idea of the story, the characters seemed a bit off to me. As a reader, characters are what really sell me on book and unfortunately in the case of the Candidates, I was not all that impressed.  


Dancia, the book's protagonist, has the potential to be a great character. She is empathetic and possess some wicked awesome powers. There were certain parts of the book in which I enjoyed Dancia's character but I did have a few problems with her as well. First of all, her characters personality isn't really defined in the book. Sure, she is empathetic to those around her, but she really just goes along with what other people are saying. She never really makes her own decisions, just follows what either Jack or Cam tells her. It bothered me that she relied on what Cam said to make her decisions. This brings me to my second major problem with her; she was kind of a terrible friend to Jack. He obviously needed her and she just dropped him because Cam was "worried" about her. Jack was a tremendous friend to her; he was always there when she needed him; he definitely got the short end of the stick on that one.


Another character I had mad issues with was Cam. I just do not like him or trust him. In fact, I think he is kind of a sleaze bucket. He straight up lies to Dancia and pushes her away from Jack. Then, she catches him in a lie and calls him on it, and then forgives him. I don't know if she was just stupid or if he was using his powers on her. Honestly, I think his powers are creepy. I would not want anything to do with that guy. I don't want to give away what his powers are, but I just would not trust my feelings around him anymore.


Obviously, I felt Dancia's love interest should have been Jack. Jack was a far more interesting character and I felt like he actually cared about her. I am afraid we won't see much of him in the next book, which would really disappoint me. Because honestly, I think the rest of the characters are rather boring. 


However, like I said before, the storyline has a lot of potential. I am really digging the whole X-men boarding school vibe and I think the books could progress nicely. I am hoping that in the next book Dancia will stand on her own two feet and develop a little more personality.