Elite

By: Rachel Van Dyken

Narrated by: Sarah Franco

Length: 7 hrs and 39 mins

Publisher's summary

For Tracey Rooks, life with her grandparents on a Wyoming farm has always been simple. But after her grandmother's death, Tracey is all her grandfather has. So when Eagle Elite University announces its annual scholarship lottery, Tracey jumps at the opportunity to secure their future and enters. She isn't expecting much - but then she wins. And life as she knows it will never be same…

The students at Eagle Elite are unlike any she's ever met… and they refuse to make things easy for her. There's Nixon, gorgeous, irresistible, and leader of a group that everyone fears: The Elect. Their rules are simple. 1. Do not touch The Elect. 2. Do not look at The Elect. 3. Do not speak to The Elect. No matter how hard she tries to stay away, The Elect are always around her and it isn't long until she finds out the reason why they keep their friends close and their enemies even closer. She just didn't realize she was the enemy - until it was too late.

©2014 Rachel Van Dyken (P)2014 Hachette Audio

Critic reviews

"This is by far the best book I have read from this talented author." (The Book Whisperer)

Story has potential. Narrator is awful!

Overall, the story is okay, but with a little more work this could’ve been a great book.

I’m not sure how I feel about an unbelievable mafia based precedence in a college atmosphere that feels just like high school.

How am I supposed to believe that college students would ever act like high school students? The characters act and speak like young teens.

The heroine is a naive space cadet. She’s initially presented as strong and witty, but acts stupid almost all the time. And if it’s possible she seems to get dumber as the story goes on. She even blurts out incriminating secrets about everything at the wrong times.

And don’t get me started on Nixon. He’s supposed to be a mafia leader but he’s running around a college making rules? Then he magically falls for the girl that is getting dumber every moment. I guess it could be that the chemistry is missing.

It feels like the book was rushed and published after the second draft. It needs to be polished. The book has so much potential, but needs a major overhaul in editing. It’s obvious that the author jumped around in writing scenes and never really lined up how the information was given. The characters are weak, but are interesting enough for me to want to know more.

The narrator is awful! Her delivery is just bad. The heroine is always whiny and adolescent. The mafia students are portrayed as surfer boys. The grandfather sounds like a dying old lady. I can’t believe I was able to listen all the way through.

Amazing...just wow!

For my first audio book I can't say I was disappointed. Can't wait for more!

The more you read, the better it got!

It was tough for me to score this story but it’s a 3.5 stars for me. I think I really didn’t like the female main character, Tracey. I mean, at times she stand for herself and then the next minute, she’s so weak, crying a lot.... lack of confidence. I dig stronger and bad ass female leads vs damsels in distress. I guess the bullying is a bit much,too and I just don’t believe that could happen in the real world, too unbelievable. Yup, I just struggle her push and pull emotions but maybe that’s what she was written as...very young and native personality. So, She slowly grew on me. Sarah Franco did okay as the audio narrator...she is kinda weak, clueless and whiny but I think that’s what Tracey kinda is. Lol. As for Nixon and crew, they were quite interesting characters and probably why I continue reading page after page. The more you read, the better it got. I want to know more about about the students and how things run there- Nixon and crew just rule the school and secretly, discovering they are in MIA family wars. I heard the next book is Enforce - Nixon/men’s point of view. This book 1 was her point of view.

Great story, ok narration

Love the story, but the narration is not the greatest. Weird accents make some of the characters sound like surfers. There is also weird intro and outro music that plays over the narration. I would recommend the physical book, but probably not the audio version.

Best Series Ever

I absolutely love this series and wish the rest would be put on her so I can hear them over and over again!

Ok storyline, but...

Little juvenile for my taste, and I'm a bit sad I wasted a credit. Van Dyken's description of the setting was similar to a co-ed boarding school rather than a college/university campus, and the characters had the maturity level of high school students. Her character development lacked imagination and the storyline was riddled with techniques I consider as lazy writing. Not only did she used every cliche known to describe her characters, she also compared their appearances to Abercrombie models and celebrities. I surely hope Van Dyken has grown up a bit and her writing techniques improved since publishing this book.

sign me up for classes!

Whether it's your first time or 15th time with the Eagle Elite, you will want to enroll before you even finish!
I have read and reread this book so many times I can count. This was the first time I listened to it. Though I miss my "interpretation" of Trace's voice, I still loved hearing on of my favorite books come to life.

Rachel Van Dyken made me a fan for life with this book and 4 years later I'm still devouring her every written word!

Elite is an NA novel that starts an epic adventure you can only wish to be a part of. Despite my lack of funds or connections, I will continue to reapply to Eagle Elite until I die or they take pity and make me custodial staff!

Learn with Trace just how not "normal" Eagle Elite University is.

Good - Some mixed feelings

*3.5/5 for the story itself* I went into this book knowing it’s the first installment of a fairly lengthy series, so I didn’t really have any set expectations. I felt that, overall, it was a good story and did a good job at sort of introductory world building. I wound up liking Nixon by about midway & adored Chase. I loved the aspect of the childhood connection between him & Trace. I guess I’m just a bit unsure about what’s next based on the sneak peak of book 2. This series definitely has promise & my favorite book blogger swears by it, so I will absolutely continue!

Bad narration

The narration was absolutely awful! One of the worst I've heard. I'm not sure where the surfer accents came from but they were a fail. The story was good although unrealistic to the extreme.

Meh

If you could sum up Elite in three words, what would they be?

I love this story. I had read the books previously so I knew I loved them. The audio did NOT work for me.

What other book might you compare Elite to and why?

Anything mafia, modern day Romeo and Juliet type story.

Would you be willing to try another one of Sarah Franco’s performances?

No. I thought she did a TERRIBLE job with the male voices. It was like she tried to over do it and it was just not working.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No.