Review: The Year of the Great Seventh by Teresa Orts

Title: The Year of the Great Seventh
Author: Teresa Orts
Genre: Young-Adult, Fantasy , Mythology
Series: The Tropic of Cancer #1

Trade-paperback, 295 pages

Publication: July 6, 2013 by Drayton Press

Source: I received a review copy from the author in exchange for a honest review. 

Buy the Book
|AMAZON|

Sophie has always felt out of step — an outsider, even amongst friends in her high school with all the hype about celebrity culture. Her life in L.A. seems to have been already written for her, but when her junior year starts, it all takes a drastic turn. When she crosses paths with the school's heartthrob, Nate Werner, they fall for each other in a way neither can understand. What they don’t know is that by giving in to their desires, they are unlocking an ancient Egyptian prophecy that threatens to return Earth to the dark ages.

To undo the curse, Nate and Sophie embark on an adventure that takes them across the country. But their quest is not only to save the world as they know it. It is also a fight for their very survival. Behind the scenes, there are those that are counting on them to fail.

The Year of the Great Seventh is narrated by sixteen-year-old Sophie Bennett, a junior at West Hollywood High.  Everyone around her is in the movie industry, from her mom to her two best girl-friends or if they’re not they’re awestruck by the idea of it. Not Sophie. She can care less about celebs and fashion, all she wants is to leave sunny California and go to NYU to study anthropology like her dad.  It’s always been just Sophie and her friends but suddenly the school most popular and beautiful guy Nate seems to catch her attention or vice versa. Nate who never noticed Sophie’s existence before seems to bump into her everywhere she goes…but the thing is there’s a weird connection between them but Sophie doesn’t bring anything but the worst out of Nate.

The first half of the book was just the usually hustle and bustle of high school life and the Hollywood movie industry. It was a pretty slow start, introducing the characters and laying out the facts and clues to the mystery behind Nate’s odd behavior.  Nate is extremely extra violent ever since he met Sophie, unable to control himself and harming innocent people as the result. Sophie does some digging, trying to find a plausible answer to why Nate is acting the way he is and why he thinks he’s going insane which leads her to an Egyptian prophecy.  The scattering of Egyptian clues at the start of the book don’t make any sense till the last few chapters. I loved how everything tied together in the end, because I was pretty lost on the whole Egyptian mythology/history at the beginning of the book. 

I enjoyed the majority of the book, but my only flaw is the heroine, Sophie. Sophie had her moments, but overall is the type of heroine I prefer not to read about.  I was close to giving up because of Sophie’s voice. Sine Sophie met Nate, her only thoughts were of him…thoughts of college and friends went on the back burner. Day in and day out, Sophie only thought about Nate even though she didn’t really know him or talk to him. She put Nate’s well-being above herself, and does things she would never consider of doing for him. From start to end, it was Nate this and Nate that. I don’t like girls who throw their future away for a boy (example: Sophie went from being a straight A student to getting C’s and even a F). 

The Year of the Great Seventh is a great start to a new series. I love the Egyptian mythology/history aspect of the novel since I haven’t come across many young-adult that incorporates it. While the first half of the book was slow it wasn’t so bad, I just felt like the characters were just going through the motions of high school. The last half of the book is where the story picked up, more action and revelations. I’d rate this book 3 ½ stars, 3 stars for the first half and 4 stars for the last half.