The Vow (Lords of Action #1): 3.5 Stars

Author: K.J. Jackson
Length: 292 pgs.
3.5 stars

I picked this up as an Amazon freebie and read it as a Book of the Month with my Freebie chicks!

This was a pleasant surprise of a book. I'm glad it was chosen as BOTM because I wouldn't have gotten to it otherwise and it would just be stewing on my TBR. It tells the story of Ara and Caine, who are brought together after a mistaken rescue at a brothel virgin sale. Ara ends up working for Caine running his household, and together they run a secret operation rescuing other girls who are put up for sale. Over 6 years they rescue countless girls and fall in love in the process.

Of course neither Caine nor Ara admit their feelings for each other, and a lot of the book is frustrating in that they both push the other one away in mistaken attempts to do the honorable thing. This misunderstanding goes on for quite a while and you want to yell at them to JUST TALK TO EACH OTHER. Seriously, a quick honest conversation could clear all of this up.

Fortunately while they're stewing over their suppressed feelings, there are other things going on. Word of their undercover operation may be getting leaked somehow, threatening both of their reputations and putting them and their rescued girls in danger. Caine learns he must find a wife in order to keep his estate afloat. And Ara is haunted by a horrifying secret she's been keeping about something that happened in the brothel all those years ago.

A few nice twists were thrown in which caught me off-guard and enhanced the story. Overall it was an enjoyable historical romance with a little mystery to keep it interesting.

Pestilence (The Four Horsemen #1): 4 Stars

Author: Laura Thalassa
Length: 382 pgs.
This book gave me all the feels.

I was able to read this via Kindle Unlimited. I started reading it mostly out of curiosity – a book about one of the four horseman bringing on the apocalypse? And he gets it on (supposedly) with a human female? And it has great ratings? How and why does all this come about?

Of course it was written much better than that. All my questions were answered and curiosities put to rest. I loved the main characters – Sara Burns and Pestilence (and let’s not forget Trixie Skillz). After Sara’s actions bring them irreversibly together, she and Pestilence journey through mostly evacuated cities as Pestilence spreads plague in his task to wipe out the human race. Along the way, the unlikely pair encounter drastically different members of the human race. They experience hostility, fear, hatred, and-most surprisingly of all-understanding and forgiveness. The author was great at bringing so many emotions to the page, emotions that are in turn seamlessly absorbed by the reader.

While reading this story I laughed, I cried, I felt alternately hopeful and saddened for the human race depicted by Laura Thalassa (which, let’s face it, isn’t so far off from reality). I really wasn’t sure how everything was going to wrap up and what kind of ending I had coming. Fortunately, the ending that we get is so much better than I could’ve hoped for. It was perfect and completely warmed my heart.

4 stars, definitely recommend reading for yourself because it’s hard to review without spoiling everything.

Hooked on the Game (Sterling Shore #1): 3 Stars

Author: C.M. Owens
Length: 204 pgs.
I picked this book up as a freebie and it was chosen for me to read for a March buddy pick. I’m surprised honestly that I downloaded this book because it’s NA romance which is outside of my usual favorite genres but it’s pretty short and I’ll give most anything a try if it’s not going to take up too much of my time.

The story is propelled forward by a series of very unlikely events. Raya is a college…freshman, I think? Living on her own due to her roommates abandoning their shared home for one reason or another. She lives next to a rich boy named Kade who’s constantly throwing loud parties. One day a few of his partygoers actually run a bulldozer into Raya’s home. Her house is destroyed, even her clothes have remnants of fiberglass in them due to the insulation imploding. They go to court and the judge is persuaded by Kade’s father, Paul Colton (who has his own fashion line) to make Raya live with Kade as punishment. He says that Kade will need to cater to Raya’s needs, drive her wherever she wants to go, and ask her for permission to throw parties. No judge would ever take this into serious consideration, but in the world of Sterling Shore it is agreed upon by all parties. Raya agrees because Mr. Colton tells her that if she lasts until the end of the semester, he’ll buy her a house. Heck yeah!

Kade and Raya butt heads immediately but eventually he warms up to her when he realizes she’s being teased relentlessly for moving in with him. I found the teasing to be a little exaggerated since this is a college setting and not high school, but basically the town they live in is all about appearances and status.

I liked watching Kade and Raya grow close, although it does irk me with these type of stories that the male character starts off so over-the-top assholish (pretend that’s a word for the purposes of this review) and inevitably transforms completely into a doting gentleman, even before there is an official romantic relationship in place. But on the other hand, Owens did give us some explanations for Kade’s behavior that weren’t included in my first assumptions and made me look at him differently.

Raya is definitely someone who’s insecure and her second-guessing the intentions of everyone around her and misconstruing them so badly definitely grated on my nerves after a while. She is convinced everyone’s looking down on her, including Kade. Even after he makes completely obvious romantic overtures, she still manages to wallow in self pity and rejection.

There is a very unlikely misunderstanding between Raya and Kade towards the end of the book that sends them on a path towards the inevitable reconciliation. I actually found the last 15-20% of the book to be the most interesting as Raya has to take matters into her own hands to solve a problem. This part was exciting, it made me wish that more of the book had been the same way.

Overall it was an okay read for me, I’m sure others who enjoy YA romance will like it more than I did.

Black Annis: Demon Slayer (Revenge of the Witch #2): 4 Stars

Author: Aubrey Law
Length: 102 pgs.
This is the second installment in the Revenge of the Witch series, and I jumped right in to this after finishing up #1, not even moving from my spot on the couch between books. This is novella length so I tore through it in less than an hour.

This book is just as exciting as #1, even more so as Aubrey Law adds yet more fantastical creatures to the story (who would’ve thought frogs would be so deceitful?). Annis is somewhat in hiding due to the events that unfolded a the close of the first book and she finds herself in constant danger from one magical being or another. As I said in my review of book one, it’s so much fun being on this adventure with Annis. Her dark powers range from being able to explode hearts with the snap of a finger to imploding a body or causing all the blood in someone’s veins to drain from their orifices. She is an extremely powerful ancient Black Witch, but how long can her power and kill spells save her from the demons, Arch Demons, necromancers and vampires that are after her?

Short review here but this was a very short book, and ends on another giant cliffhanger. I’m dying to find out what happens and continue on with the series the but I don’t think #3, Demon Destroyer, is out yet although #4 already has a title (Demon Punisher). THIS IS VITAL INFORMATION so if anyone knows more about the release date of #3 PLEASE LET ME KNOW IMMEDIATELY. =) In the meantime I will check out Aubrey Law’s other series as I have become an instant fan!

Black Annis: Demon Hunter (Revenge of the Witch #1): 4 Stars

Author: Aubrey Law
Length: 206 pgs.
This was such a fun book!

I picked this up as a freebie on Amazon and I download a ton of freebies every few days, but this one stuck out to me and I made a point to get to it sooner than later. It begins with our main character Annis, a Black Witch, who was executed roughly 400 years ago. She’s been hanging out in the Lake of Fire ever since, just, you know, being tortured and stuff in Hell. One day a girl named Ashley, who’s being kept as a sex slave by members of the deranged Priesthood, is attempting to escape her prison and accidentally opens a Hellgate in her desperation. Annis is waiting behind the door – and immediately snatches up Ashley’s body as her own, thus returning to the land of the living.

From there, the adventure never stops. Annis tears through priests and demons alike, exacting her long-awaited revenge. She befriends Sonja, Ashley’s friend and fellow prisoner, though she explains that Ashley no longer really exists. Together they bust out of their prison and begin Annis’s mission of punishing everyone (or in some cases at least the descendants of everyone) who had a had in her torture and execution.

This was fun to read for many reasons, one of them being that Annis has so much power that we get to watch her destroy demons, kill supernatural beings and some humans with different spells and weapons in her magical arsenal. It’s fun being on the powerful end of things when we’re normally reading from the point of view of the character who has all the odds stacked against them. And while there are many odds stacked against Annis, she’s too powerful for them to stop her completely. Watching her get around the obstacles that are in her way is exciting. Aubrey Law’s creativity here makes the book a blast to read.

The world building with its many different supernatural creations is enthralling. We’ve got everything from the everyday vampires and werewolves to fallen angels, dark cherubs, goblins, demons and Archdemons, necromancers, Hellhounds, and many other beings, and pretty much every one of them is after Annis for one reason or another. The excitement doesn’t stop for a second which is great for the reader, not so much for Annis and Sonja.

Speaking of, Sonja was not really my favorite person. She became quite grating after a while, although I understand the purpose of her existence. She was just sort of unlikable and Annis is drawn to her, though she’s not sure if that’s due to the lingering remnants of Ashley’s soul or because Annis herself genuinely likes her.

This book ends on a giant cliffhanger and you can pick up the second for free, but fair warning that book ends on a cliffhanger as well. However you won’t be able to stop at just one, so make sure you have #2 downloaded before beginning this one! I am hooked and will be looking out for the third book as soon as it’s released!

Rolling in the Deep (Rolling in the Deep #.05): 4 Stars

Author: Mira Grant aka Seanan McGuire
Length: 128 pgs.
"They saw a great adventure. They saw a glorious and entertaining hoax. They saw profit, ratings, everything but the disaster that awaited them. The Atargatis sailed blithely on, out of the harbor, and into history."

Rolling in the Deep is a novella-length prequel to Mira Grant’s novel Into the Drowning Deep. It revolves around a network documentary crew and a group of scientists who sail via the Atargatis into the Mariana Trench to try to verify the existence of mermaids. They sail there, but they don’t ever come back, and they’re never seen alive again.

The Mariana Trench is something that truly fascinates me. If you aren’t familiar with it I’ll give you the basics. It’s the deepest part of the ocean in the world. Per Wikipedia, if Mount Everest were dropped into the deepest part of the Mariana Trench (called the Challenger Deep) its topmost peak would still be over 1 mile underwater. Its contents and depths are shrouded in mystery and darkness.

Maybe this doesn’t interest you. If that’s the case you definitely won’t be fascinated by the premise here as I was. Actually I purchased Into the Drowning Deep first, which follows another expedition seven years later. I haven’t read the novel yet as it’s been buried under several other titles on my TBR, so when I stumbled onto Rolling in the Deep on Goodreads and saw that it was a novella prequel, I purchased it so that I could get a taste of the story before attacking the novel.

Other reviewers say that the tone here differs from Into the Drowning Deep which I can’t attest to. I will say that Rolling in the Deep, once the danger becomes apparent to the unfortunate souls aboard the Atargatis, is satisfyingly creepy. I would’ve liked more detail, more graphic violence at some points, and I felt it was kind of a cop-out how the exact details of one big scene at the end were left to the reader’s imagination. But I understand that this is a prequel, and I hope that my desire for more gore is satisfied in the full-length book. This novella serves its purpose; I gobbled it up quickly and it definitely whet my appetite for what’s to come. Chill-inducing.

Pure Healing (Pure/ Dark Ones #1): 4 Stars

Author: Aja James
Length: 248 pgs.
Pure Healing is an elegantly written dark fantasy novel about a vampire-like race called the Pure Ones. They’re different from vampires in many ways however; there’s no feeding off humans in dark alleys or anything like that here. The Pure Ones are a more refined group of beings, and the tale of their origin is just one of the many unique elements that add to the book’s world building.

The world building is what I really enjoyed here. Even the ages-old vampires were given an interesting twist that sets them apart from other books in this genre, with a truly creepy genre-blurring villian in their midst. I loved reading about how everything came to be, how each character got to where they are now. Everyone has a story, a gift, and a specific purpose in the organization that serves their race.

The story alternates between viewpoints so we get a little bit of everyone’s perspectives, even the villain’s. I see other reviews comparing it to Black Dagger Brotherhood but for me, Pure Ones was better. I found that it just resonated more with me and elicited more of an emotional reaction than the three BDB books I’ve read, especially at one point towards the end when one of the characters tearfully begs another to stay. I won’t lie and say I wasn’t sobbing at that part.

There is action here, but there’s also foreshadowing and build-up to the next installment in the series, with a certain character giving me the heebie-jeebies so I just know something is going to happen there unless my instincts are way off. Must. Keep. Reading!

If you are looking for a superficial, quick urban fantasy read with a cross-species instalove storyline (so, like, any other vampire story), this is probably not the book for you. If you want a carefully thought out, layered fantasy novel with seamless prose, I would recommend Pure Ones.

Enthrall Her (Enthrall #2): 5 Stars

Author: Vanessa Fewings
Length: 364 pgs.

I received a free copy of this book for an Author of the Month Read & Review, I LOVED the first book and was eager to see what happened next.

Enthrall Her is like a delicious treat. It gives you everything you want, and things you didn’t know you wanted. Some things I didn’t even know existed until seeing them through the main character Mia’s eyes.

This book is even better than its predecessor in my opinion, not just because Mia has embraced her own power but because it gives us so much more Cameron. We met him in Enthrall and it’s obvious at that point that he and Mia have undeniable chemistry. However, it’s Richard who she falls in love with, and Enthrall tells the story of overcoming their own personal obstacles to build a relationship together. But nothing that Mia feels for Richard can erase the fact that she’s inexplicably drawn to Cameron. And who can blame her? He oozes sensuality, power, masculinity. He’s the ultimate alpha.

In this second installment in the series it’s decided between Richard and Cameron that Cameron will use his special set of skills to train Mia as a submissive. He also vows to unlock her suppressed childhood pain to help her overcome inner conflict. She’s to stay for two weeks at Chrysalis – where she was strictly forbidden from going in book one– and return to Richard when it’s all over. But a lot can happen in two weeks.

I absolutely love Vanessa Ewing’s writing style. It was so easy to read for ages without coming up for air. The dialogue flows seamlessly. She manages to write Mia as an inherently sweet person without making her seem naïve. In this book Mia has a stronger voice and isn’t afraid to stand up for herself more often (one scene involving her, Cameron, Shay, and a water hose had me laughing out loud).

Cameron is also a well thought out character with his own inner conflict going on. He can’t deny his feelings for Mia, but he tries to mask them with dominance and sternness because Richard is his best friend. Over their time together, however, it’s hard not to forget about Richard and root for Cameron and Mia, who at times seem much more suited. But maybe it’s just the fact that the spotlight is on these two this time around that has me saying that. The readers may find themselves just as confused as Mia in this aspect. In fact when her “training” is over, even Richard is confused. He realizes this agreement he made with Cameron may have backfired and his regret is palpable when we see him understand that Mia is slipping through his fingers.

The erotica here is mind-blowing and fun. I was just as curious as Mia to find out what actually goes on in Chrysalis. Enthrall Her does not disappoint in this aspect. It’s like unwrapping a decadent piece of chocolate…every little piece is a tiny explosion.

I admit, I fell hard for Cameron in this book and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t rooting for him. I’m excited to see where the third book will take everyone and can’t wait to read it!

Where Darkness Falls: 3 stars

Author: Bella Jewel
Length: 257 pgs.
What to say, what to say….

Well, to start off I did like this book. I just didn’t like it as much-nearly as much- as its predecessor, Enslaved by the Ocean. I’m a sucker for pirates and sea adventures so I snatched up the kindle book and accompanying audio for $3. This book picks up right where Enslaved leaves off, when the heroine Jess is kidnapped by a pirate Dimitri right off the ship where she lives. I prepared for another adventure on the open waters to begin. So imagine my disappointment when Dimitri immediately takes Jess to California where they dock his ship. That’s right…they spend about 5 minutes in the beginning on the actual pirate ship before heading to L.A. So basically this was a story about a docked pirate who, due to a years-long misunderstanding, is using Jess to get back at his longtime enemy Hendrix.

I did like the back and forth between Jess and Dimitri; you know they’re going to fall for each other you’re just not sure how or when. They did bond over some similar traumatic events they’d both experienced, but not until later in the book when Jess was forced due to some outside circumstances to share her past with him.

I was disappointed that there was no real sense of danger at all until the end of the book when some very unlikely events bring Jess back into the hands of a man who terrorized her as a child. But even when she’s first kidnapped by Dimitri, there’s really no fear that she’s not safe. Nothing bad really happens around her, the “pirates” seem more like a rowdy group of friends hanging out. It’s basically a lot of talking, getting to know each other, eventual removal of the clothes and what not, until Jess is re-kidnapped by someone else and thrown into an underground women’s wrestling league.

You read that correctly, lol. I enjoyed the nice little twist there and how Dimitri was suddenly replaced by an actual bad guy who does bad things. Once Jess’s life was in actual danger things got exciting. But that was at maybe 75-80% through the book and was pretty much just a means to propel us towards the inevitable HEA.

So while I liked this book, I’d have to stick with Enslaved by the Ocean as my favorite of the series, since it takes place on the actual ocean with actual pirates whom we don’t know and can’t trust. Dimitri is a character who’s mentioned in the first book and just never holds that level of threatening unfamiliarity as the book’s mysterious male MC. I liked Jess as the heroine and they were a good pair at the end but it just wasn’t as fun as the first book.

Owned (Decadence After Dark #1): 3 Stars

Author: M. Never
Length: 237 pages
Hmmmm so I just finished this book about 2 minutes ago and I'm trying to figure out what rating I want to give it. I think I'll go with 3 stars and here's why.

Based on the synopsis anyone going starting this book should be aware it's pretty dark: the main female character, Ellie, is kept isolated, chained up, collared and forced into submission by the alpha, Kayne. And thanks to the spelling of his name, I kept reading it as "Kanye" for the entire book, even after I realized on the third or so page that it was pronounced CAIN. But the damage had been done so he remained Kanye for the duration.

I haven't read a ton of BDSM so I liked seeing all the little chains and gadgets that Cain (sorry, Kayne) liked to use. It was always something new and kept my interest. Kanye/Kayne at least knew what he was doing in that department and I loved seeing him open Ellie up to things she hadn't even known existed.

We're told that Kayne has his reasons for holding Ellie against her will, but the explanation that comes at the end of the book lacks practicality and doesn't make him at all sympathetic. So maybe that could've been thought out a little more.

The external storyline involving Javier and the drug trade was not as interesting (although Javier made a formidable rival). It was almost like an afterthought in order to take us outside of the room where Ellie and Kayne would do their thing. There was a shocker at the end involving Javier that really caught me off-guard, and I thought, oh wow I am definitely going to have to read the second book if this is where it's headed! But that excitement was squashed a few paragraphs later when the complication was wrapped up tidily. That was a slight bummer; if things had gone in a different direction there I would've continued the series.

I did enjoy the book, but I guess I'm not personally invested in Ellie & Kayne's storyline enough to find out what ultimately happens between them. This was a fun, quick read though for anyone looking for dark erotica or BDSM.

Heir of Fire (Throne of Glass #3): 4 Stars

Author: Sarah Maas
Length: 576 pgs.
Audiobook length: 20 hours 39 minutes

WOW. Wowee wow wow. This was SUCH an improvement on the second book - Crown of Midnight (review here.)

Whereas Crown of Midnight was almost like a history lesson on Celaena’s world (with a little action and a devastating loss thrown in), Heir of Fire is so chockfull of action, betrayal and mischief that there's hardly any room to breathe between chapters. It's also where we witness Celaena completely come into her own and transform from the emotionally disabled assassin into the woman she is meant to be. It was time for her to grow up and it seems like such a natural progression.


We’re introduced to many new characters, one of whom is Manon, heir to the powerful Blackbeak witch clan. It’s amazing to me the thought that goes into the creation of all these characters with their rich, realistic personal backstories and extended history, unique behaviors, traditions and beliefs. The addition of the witches to the story is an example of this, and it’s not just Manon’s clan we meet but the Yellowlegs and Bluebloods as well. And why they are all together is something I won’t spoil here but gives me chills thinking about how it will eventually all play out. This is a story well over 500 pages and yet there’s so much more to come on this front.

Another character who was introduced is Rowan. He’s unlikeable at first, and wants to be that way. Yet, the bond that slowly forms and changes and grows between him and Celaena throughout the book feels completely real. By the end of the book I was emotionally affected by their friendship and the way that they rescue each other from various situations. It’s also Rowan who helps to unlock Celaena’s heart.

Shit definitely hits the fan in this book. No one really feels safe (as in, not to be killed off) except for Celaena, and that’s only because I already know her story continues, otherwise I might question even that. At the end of the book, the ever-present danger shows itself in an oh-shit-now-it’s-going-down way, and we know from that point that things are going to be WAY different moving forward.

It’s a combination of the emotional character transformations, the new relationships that are formed (some of which are painfully extinguished), the solid new characters that are introduced, new information that shines a light on so many things we’ve already seen and learned in this series, and the events that unfold in Heir of Fire’s conclusion that make this book pack such a powerful punch. I think I need to take a break and listen to some lighter fare before moving on to the fourth book, but I definitely will be reading that soon because I can’t wait to find out how everyone comes out on the other side of this.

Those Girls: 4 Stars

Author: Chevy Stevens
Length: 385 pgs.

It’s been a while since I read Chevy Steven’s debut novel Still Missing, and I still remember how creepy and disturbing it was. I saw Those Girls on sale for 2.99 and immediately picked it up. It did not disappoint!

The book focuses on three sisters: Jess, Courtney and Dani. Their dad is an abusive, neglectful alcoholic and they mostly have to fend for themselves. One night their dad comes home drunk yet again and things quickly turn from bad to worse. The girls find themselves on the run.

It was hard, at that point, to read about how the girls had been living: no money, little to no groceries, working on a their landlord's farm to try to make up for the rent that their father was paying late again. Their mother died a few years before, and since then things had deteriorated to the point where they had to take care of themselves, feed themselves breakfast/lunch/dinner (assuming there was enough food in the house to do so), tuck themselves in at night...any mom's heart would break at the thought. Their memories and feelings are visceral, told from Jess's (the youngest sister) point of view, so it's easy to bond with them.

Despite how bad they have it at home, it doesn't get any better once they hit the road. There’s not much assistance to be had for three underage females with no money, unable to go to the police and without any additional family. Their truck ends up breaking down and they’re lucky (?) enough to be offered help by a few people who are passing by. Like one of those eerie movies that takes place in a remote area, the tension slowly builds until we’re convinced-as the girls are-that something terrible is about to happen, something worse than what they’re running from.

Their worst fears are realized-and, after putting themselves in even more danger to get to safety, they find themselves on the run yet again. This time they seek immediate shelter and change their names.

The book then takes an unexpected time jump about 16 years or so in the future. We see how each girl moved on-or didn’t-from their horrifying shared experience. There’s a new character introduced, one who will force the women to face the very real and scary demons from their past. And here is where the second roller coaster begins. The reader’s barely recovered from everything that happened in the first half of the book when our sisters are plunged into danger once again.

I liked the different personalities each sister had and how those contributed to the story. They each carry the weight of their secrets differently.

Steven fosters a masterfully creepy environment, creating a small town I sure as hell wouldn’t want to break down in. The people who live there aren’t any better and the whole thing just gives me the shivers. I had the thought "Get out of there!!!" pop into my head on more than one occasion.

I wasn’t sure how things were going to go, having only read one book by Stevens before this, so I didn’t know if I should anticipate a happy ending or if the characters’ lives were going to continue the pattern of tragedy. I cried with the characters and bit my nails at the events that unfolded over the second half of the book. Like the sisters in the beginning, you KNOW something bad is going to happen, you just aren’t sure how or when.

This was a definite page turner for me. I read it when I was home sick for 4 days and it was the silver lining of a crappy week. And this time I won't wait so long before reading the next Chevy Stevens book!

Warcross: 4 stars

Author: Marie Lu
Length: 353 pgs.

Wow this book was fun to read!

The action starts immediately, with author Marie Lu introducing us to the world that Warcross exists in via the life of the main character Emika Chen. Emika is a hacker who makes a paltry living by working as a bounty hunter. She’s notified by police when someone is wanted for betting on a virtual reality game called Warcross. Real betting on this game is illegal and Chen spends her time tracking down the people who are wanted for this reason. In the beginning pages, she’s on the search for one such fugitive, and we immediately see the differences between her world and ours.

”A smattering of students and tourists sit at the tables. When I point my phone’s camera at them, I can see their names hovering over their heads, meaning none of them have set themselves on Private.”

Warcross is a way of life in this world – most people play it, or use the virtual reality world as a means of relaxation and escape from real life. It was created by 21-year-old billionaire Hideo Tanaka, and culminates in a yearly Warcross Championship. Emika, after being cheated out of collecting a reward on a bounty, skulks home to watch the opening ceremony with her roommate. During the ceremony, she decides to use her hacker talent in a way that accidentally ends up placing her on the radar of every single person who is watching the ceremony- including Hideo Tanaka himself.

Emika’s immediately whisked off to Tokyo at the behest of Tanaka, who informs her that someone’s messing with his Warcross code and sabotage is suspected. He’s got other hackers on the case, but Emika agrees to help locate the person-or persons-responsible. As a cover, she’s enlisted as a rookie pick for the Warcross Championship and finds herself thrown into a completely different life, one filled with media attention, a lavish apartment and clothes, new Warcross teammates who may or may not be the guilty party she’s searching for, and danger.

Can she survive in the championship long enough to get the job done? Can she trust her teammates? Who’s trying to sabotage Warcross-and why?

In the midst of all this mystery and drama, we get to witness the tampered reality that Chen exists in. With the help of special new contact lenses released by Tanaka, everyone basically walks around in a virtual reality version of the real world. It’s delicious and half the fun of the book to see brought to life the vibrant world Lu’s created.

Another interesting aspect is the introduction of the Dark World. It’s the virtual reality version of the dark web, and Emika finds herself there a few times in the book with very interesting outcomes.

Now, about Hideo himself. When he and Emika first met and I started seeing the indications of a potential love match, I found myself rolling my eyes. I thought it would be an unnecessary addition of a cliché storyline, I just hoped it wouldn’t get overly cheesy. By the middle of the book, though, I was rooting for them to get together. The chemistry was palpable and I wanted more than Lu was giving me!

”I’m very aware of our proximity to each other, as if I could feel the ghost of his presence against my skin."

This is my first book by Marie Lu, and I wasn’t sure if I could trust her not to take this sweet little romance away from me. I won’t reveal the answer to that here!

I spent a few nights staying up late reading this book. The action of the Warcross championship combined with the bounty hunter storyline and the semi-relationship that was developing between Emiko and Hideo kept me chomping at the bit for more.

Fair warning that this book ends with a cliffhanger. In a series we never get what we want in the first book so it is what it is. I was saddened and a bit disbelieving at the events that unravel within the last few pages, but it was definitely a fun read overall and I loved it. Better yet, I can add Lu to the list of writers whose other books I need to read!