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Wicked Tales & Wild Romances

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Step into a sanctuary of Wicked Tales & Wild Romances, where we explore the most captivating corners of dark fantasy and heart-tugging rom-coms. This is more than just a reading log; it’s a collection of Curated Chronicles for the Modern She-Wolf who isn’t afraid to get lost in the shadows or fall for the monster. ​Whether it’s a slow-burn magic system or a spicy contemporary trope, every story here is chosen to be Wildly Devoured.
  • Song of the Abyss

    Song of the Abyss

    By Makiia Lucier, Pub Date August 27, 2019.

    3.5 Stars. Best enjoyed on a beach or on a boat and with a sense of adventure.

    I’d like to preface this review by stating that although this book is a sequel t0 the Tower of Winds, it is not necessary to read the first book prior to this one. Although the del Marians often elude to events that happened in the first book, the storytelling in this one is not dependent on that and the story does truly stand on its own. Reyna is a mapmaker for the kingdom of St. John del Mar. During one of her adventures, her ship is overtaken by a mysterious group led by a distinctive leader with an interesting sword topped by a chrysanthemum. The men aboard her ship, seemingly in a trance, transfer themselves to the ships of the ruffians that had overtaken them and Reyna escapes into the unforgiving sea. She finds her way to the kingdom of Lunes where she meets a handsome stranger, Levi. This young man invariably turns out to be a Lunesian prince, and he at first distrusts this strange girl who washed up in his harbor and tries to hold her for questioning. After a small coup, she escapes her hospitable captors and returns to St. John del Mar where she puzzles out who could have possibly taken her crew. While home, Lord Elias and her childhood friend, Jaime–two very important people in Reyna’s life–take a ship of their own to investigate the maritime kidnappers…and fail to return. It is up to Reyna to band together with Prince Levi, whose own brother, Asher, also disappears while on his way back to Lunes. They must search for their lost loved ones in the distant, isolated, and lush kingdom that was once thought to be legend, and figure out what this leader did with the people they care about before they are lost forever.

    Overall, Song of the Abyss was pretty good. The first half of it is where most of my issues stem from, and it’s mostly just because it’s super slow up until Levi and Reyna travel. I admittedly struggled to get into it because it seemed like there was a lot of people judging Reyna as only being ‘pretty’ and not recognizing her value as a scholar. Although this is kind of how the world worked in any other time setting, it was nonetheless a bit of a distraction from the adventure itself. There was also a little bit of insta-love, will they/won’t they, which I can take or leave that could have been written better. Maybe that’s a little nitpick-y, but I just wasn’t into it.

    However, the last half of the book really started to amp up and the totality of the story was completely redeemed for me, starting with the maelstrom, which caught my attention and made me snap to attention and took my imagination for a ride. The remainder of the book took place in a once-mythical kingdom and their culture, which seemed to be a mix of Egyptian, Ancient Chinese, and Ancient Central American cultures. This is where palace intrigue, and world building sunk its teeth into me and I couldn’t put the book down until I was done.

    The world, the characters, and the various locations are all described in detail and the main characters are fleshed out nicely. If you need to top off your summer reading list, I recommend this satisfying fantasy that will take you on an interesting adventure.

    Thank you to Netgalley and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for providing an ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review!

  • Fledgling: Sorcery and Society Book 2

    Fledgling: Sorcery and Society Book 2

    By Molly Harper

    4 Stars, best with a cup of tea and a sense of wonder.

    Fledgling is the second book in the Changeling series by Molly Harper and tackles Sarah Smith Cassandra Reed’s second year at Miss Castwell’s Institute for the Magical Instruction of Young Ladies in an alternative Victorian England where the magical ruling class, or the Guardians, rule the non-magical servant class, or the Snipes. Although I did not have the chance to read and review the first book in the series, I was nonetheless sucked into this book and it gave me enough background to feel like I could understand the world that Harper built within the confines of the previous story.

    Cassandra Reed, known by only her closest confidants for who she really is, Sarah Smith, is back at Miss Castwell’s navigating the society in which she has been thrust. Between her duties as a student, the Translator (the chosen keeper of the Mother Book, a tome that contains all of the history of the magical world), a new member of Guardian society, and what looks like the start of a courtship between her and Gavin McCray, her plate is overflowing and her secret mission to find more Changelings like herself has to take the shelf for the time being–something that the Mother Book itself resents. However, when the girls decide to try a divination spell during their study group, Cassandra is hit with a horrible vision of things to come if she isn’t able to find the other Changelings she is supposed to be looking for. Cassandra and her best friends Ivy and Alicia take it upon themselves to search out the rumored changeling school situated in Scotland where Alicia’s family summers. It’s a secret and dangerous mission, but the girls are running out of time, and if the visions are correct, the very world they know depends on them.

    I really enjoyed this book a ton. It reminded me of Harry Potter meets A Great and Terrible Beauty. I love stories that are set in Victorian England and I also love stories involving magic. Although this is for a younger group of readers, it really was a fantastic read for any age and I have every intention of going back and reading the first. It had me from get-go. There is also a classist political element to it that I thought was an interesting take, namely the Snipes vs Guardians and the balance on their relationship, and also how Cassandra wanted to find a way to blur the lines and make life better for both sides.

    Fledgling was a great book and I highly recommend you pick up a copy for that preteen in your life.

    Thank you Netgalley & NYLA for an advanced copy in exchange for a fair & honest review!

  • Highland Captive

    Highland Captive

    By Alyson McLayne

    4 Stars. Best enjoyed with a glass of wine behind a locked door. 

    This book is #4 in The Sons of Gregor MacLeod series, although it can be read as a standalone, which is exactly how I read it. 

    Laird Gavin MacLeod is looking for his son who has been lost the last two years after being taken away from the site of a clan gathering following the death of his distant and cold wife from the plague. His single minded search for Ewan MacLeod has turned him into a bitter and angry man, blind to anything other than finding his heir and holding him in his arms again. Little does he know that his young son has been given to the care of Lady Deidre MacIntyre under the guise of him being a bastard son of her own husband. Lady MacIntyre has grown to deeply love the young boy who so lovingly calls her ‘mother’ and the child is the only thing in the MacIntyre estate—in her very life—that she cares about. When Laird MacLeod storms the estate for the boy, Deidre refuses to let the child go without her, and Gavin MacLeod is forced to take his son’s adoptive mother with him, albeit reluctantly. 

    As Gavin gets to know Deidre and sees the love she has for his son, feelings begin to stir deeply within his heart—and lower—feelings he hasn’t had for anyone in quite a few years. Feelings that Deidre’s own body echoes back in secret. However, the kidnapping of Deidre begins the stirrings of a war between the patriarch of the MacIntyre clan and that of her family, while there are also parties in the shadows who have been scheming against Gregor MacLeod and his foster sons, including Gavin. Will Deidre and Gavin’s feelings remain unrequited or will the growing feelings of love and physical attraction give them the strength to conquer all?

    I really did love this story and I’ll tell you what—Alyson McLayne knows how to write a steamy love scene! Good Glory! The characterizations were deep and meaningful and the growing feelings between Deidre and Gavin weren’t instant, which I always appreciate. Both of the main characters had a lot of their own demons to overcome, both inner and outer. I also love stories where the heroine is well read and the Highland Captive delivered this, along with a fierce and protective hero who could seriously rev some engines! 

    The plot was fast paced and many of the characters were both relatable and likeable when they needed to be, and repulsive and unlikeable when it called for it. I had a ton of sympathy for Deidre’s life—she had it rough—but she also more than overcame it with a little encouragement from Gavin and grew to be less timid as the story went on, which is believable and often happens when someone who is pushed into the shadows is brought back into the sun. 

    Although I have not read McLayne’s other works, you can bet that I’ll be picking up the others in short order!

    I received a copy of this book from Netgalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca in exchange for a fair and honest review.

  • Small Spaces

    Small Spaces

    By Katherine Arden.

    4 Stars. Best enjoyed with a handful of trail mix on a chilly fall evening

    Olivia—who prefers Ollie–was different a year ago before she lost her mom. Since then, she quit chess club and most social activities and has retreated into books. On her way home one day after an incident at school involving another girl being teased and a rock thrown well and true at one of the purported instigators by Ollie herself, she stumbles upon a distressed woman in the woods. As the woman holds a small black book over Lethe Creek, Ollie snatches the endangered tome from her and brings the mysterious book home. The story it tells is a strange one involving someone known as the Smiling Man, an entity that makes deals with those who are desperate in exchange for service. The fantastical tale seems to follow her on a class trip the next day, and when the bus breaks down on their way home and the world starts to turn sideways, Ollie, accompanied by her classmates Coco and Brian, needs to use all of her knowledge, wits, and cleverness to get her and the rest of her classmates back to their own world and out of the grip of an entity that seems to have jumped right from the pages of the book she rescued from a watery grave.

    I truly loved Arden’s first foray into children’s fiction. I found the team of young preteens to have some serious moxie and I loved how they got to know one another and use their hidden strengths and talents to survive in a mysterious world where they were hunted by scarecrows that turned out to be more than that. It was a story of love and acceptance and moving forward through grief. The characters had depth and Ollie was my spirit animal and is exactly the kind of kid I hope for someday. Ollie’s dad was also such a cool character with his love of crafts, baking, color, and amazing and corny dad jokes.  I really grew to love Ollie’s companions, Coco and Brian, as well. Their adventures take them from being three very different acquaintances to three members of a survival team who grow to care for one another as friends. The alternate world that they slide into is interesting and well built, and the ending is very surprising. 

    I truly recommend this book to all young girls as a reminder that being smart and brave can make all the difference and to never let anything take their spark or make them go against their moral compass.

    I received a copy of this book from Netgalley and Penguin Group in exchange for a fair and honest review.

  • The Toll

    By Cherie Priest

    2 Stars. Best enjoyed on a hot, humid day with a cool glass of iced tea and a sense of mystery and a lot of patience.

    Titus and Melanie Bell are on their way to their honeymoon in the Okefenokee swamp when they reach a strange bridge that is entirely out of place. In trying to cross the bride, something strange occurs and Titus wakes up in the middle of the road and there is no sign of his new bride.  With no recollection of what happened beyond the strange trip over the bridge, Titus must stay in the nearby and strange town of Staywater while the local police try to piece together what might have happened to his wife. However, Titus wants to figure out the strange occurrences that have taken his wife from him as well, and the residents of Staywater know more than what they are telling him.

    Although the story was alright, there were some spots that were so slow that I really considered DNFing it, but I was determined to know the answer to all the mysteries. The town of Staywater itself was a neatly situated intersection of the supernatural, paranormal, and forgotten, dying backwater town. The characters were interesting and had depth, especially the witchy cousins. There were so many main characters and stories going on at once, though, that at times it was enticing and others it was way too much and it felt like the wrong stories were being focused on. Although I was glad I stuck around to the end and the ‘final showdown,’ it still felt sort of lackluster and unsatisfying to me. 

    Not everything about it was unreadable, though. The best part of the book were the parts with the cousins. I really wanted more of them. Their banter was great, their history was pretty cool, and they reminded me of the mythological Fates from Greece. The town was also very cool, especially the abandoned places and the part of the story regarding the ‘dollhouse’. I felt more could have been done with it. The majority of the other main characters  weren’t very likeable and with the exception of Dave, whom I grew to like a lot more as the story progressed. Cameron was mostly a whiney teenager, though I did enjoy his evolution near the end. Titus kind of sucked and I definitely didn’t get the feeling he liked his new wife, let alone cared if she showed back up. It seemed like it was more of an obligation than anything else. I was really hoping he would show more depth and feeling, but by the end I just kind of hoped he would get taken by whatever was controlling the bridge. 

    Ultimately, the real stars of this book are Staywater, Daisy, and Claire. The rest is just background noise. 

    I received an advanced copy from Netgalley and Macmillan TOR/Forge in exchange for a fair and honest review.

  • The Reluctant Duchess

    By Jane Goodger, Pub July 9, 2019

    4.5 Stars, Best enjoyed in one sitting.

    Rebecca Caine never planned to be a duchess. She never planned to have to be sold to settle her father’s gambling debts. She never expected that she would be brought far north of her St. Ives home and into a dark and foreboding estate, one in which the master, her own husband, was believed to be cursed and ghosts could be heard in the walls. She also never expected the passion she would experience with the man who hid himself in darkness.

    Oliver Sterling, Duke of Kendal, was cursed with an affliction that pushed him into the dark, scurrying about the hidden passages in his own estate, and causing rumors and fear in the servants and nearby villagers alike, who were convinced that to look in the Cursed Duke’s face would turn them to stone. The only person who saw the Duke was his guardian and estate caretaker, Mr. Winters. His affliction made him a very lonely man, wishing only for a wife, a companion, when he sees a painting of a girl from St. Ives and requests that Mr. Winters find her, marry her in proxy, and bring him back to the estate. He only expected a wife in Rebecca. He never expected to find love, and he most definitely didn’t expect that this union would allow him the chance to walk in the light once again.

    This was my first Jane Goodger book, but it will not be my last. I absolutely loved the rich atmosphere and the overall story. The undertones of Beauty & the Beast, one of my personal best-loved fairy tales, only further enhanced it. The characters are well thought out when needed. Rebecca is resilient, Oliver is empathetic, and Mr. Winters is someone you absolutely grow to hate for the part he has played and the other things that he’s done. Rebecca finds her feet under her rather quickly, which says something given that she’s been thrust into a new world and new, much more lofty social status than she ever could have imagined. I’ve always loved a good gothic tale, and this had plenty of that feel even if the cover itself is rather deceptive. It’s atmospheric, creepy at times, scary in others, and both heartbreaking and undeniably romantic. The very estate itself felt real, even with all of its hidden passages and dark chambers, and the reveal of Oliver’s affliction was very surprising and the build up to it kept this reader on her toes. This was an absolutely amazing read. I devoured it in one sitting. ENCORE!

    I received an advanced copy of this book courtesy of Netgalley and Kensington Books in return for a fair and honest review.

  • Game of Spies

    By Pamela Mingle. (Spies in Love, #2)

    3.5 stars, best enjoyed with mulled wine by firelight.

    Isabel Tait has known little of the world outside of her home where she lived with her mother, half brothers, and recently deceased step father, who was not a very nice man, other than the world can be a cruel place. Cloistered all her life, she is both grateful and afraid when her mother tells her that she is getting remarried and her spinster daughter is to be married off or sent elsewhere. Hope comes in the form of Bess Shrewsbury, an acquaintance of her family, who offers Isabel a place amongst the circle of companions for Mary, Queen of Scots. Isabel takes the position and is thrust into a world she has never been a part of, full of plotting, dancing, intrigue, gossip, and secret trysts.

    Amongst those at Shrewsbury is the handsome and beguiling Gavin Cade, a reluctant spy sent on behalf of queen and country to look into a suspected plot to overthrow Queen Elizabeth I, with the Scots queen at the very center. Isabel, who is quickly taken into Mary’s confidence, become a pawn in a game she never wanted to play, and falls prey to Cade’s charms. However, Cade’s own allegiance seems to shift as he gets to know the demure and intelligent ‘Bel’ and finds himself falling for the fiercely loyal young woman. Their love grows even as their lives are thrown into chaos, with an attempted abduction, murder plots, and other unsavory dealings. Apparently, that’s just court life with an imprisoned Queen whose very existence is a threat to the crown.

    I’m a sucker for historical spy romances, especially when the romance was one of the slow burn kind. It’s a super niche interest, but Game of Spies satisfies and checks a lot of the boxes. I was pretty hesitant when it came to this because I recently studied this period in history and Queen Elizabeth and Mary’s relationship is hotly contested, and historians are still trying to figure out whether Mary truly was involved in planning the plots in which she was embroiled and also whether Elizabeth meant to put her to death (spoiler alert–not in the book, but historical spoiler if you don’t know anything about this piece of history). However, Mingle showed her hand and expertise on staying as true as possible to the historical subject matter and did an excellent job of straddling that line, allowing her characterization of Mary to still leave the reader to decide if she was, in fact, guilty. It’s always difficult to take on controversial subject matter like this in a novelization and I was left entirely satisfied.

    Additionally, Mingle used the actual places that Mary was during that period, which only added to the realism of the story. It’s also pretty fantastic to be able to see pictures of the actual places and get a sense of what it was like. One such example is Tutbury Castle. Although the castle isn’t exactly intact 500 years later, recent pictures nonetheless still lend credence to the events that took place and also allow the reader to visualize what it looked like for these historical players and their fictional counterparts, bringing us further into the story.

    https://www.hauntedrooms.co.uk/tutbury-castle-staffordshire

    Although the book admittedly seems to drag around 75% of the way through, I was invested enough in knowing how it turned out and also enjoyed reading the author’s interpretation of Queen Mary, which helped me keep my pace. Overall, Game of Spies was an enjoyable read, and the only reason I didn’t read it all in one sitting was because I looked up and it was 3am on a ‘school night’ and I’m sure my husband was getting tired of the light from my e-reader.

    It’s the perfect season for an escapist read like this one. If you’re into historical romance I recommend you pick up a copy for a summer escape!

    Thanks to Netgalley & Entangled Publishing for this advanced copy in exchange for a fair review!

  • The Grace Year

    By Kim Liggett, Pub Date Oct 9, 2019

    5 Stars. Best enjoyed with a handful of berries and clean glass of water

    I. AM. BLOWN. AWAY. Don’t let the pink cover fool you like it did me at first, although it’s a perfect representation of the world that Liggett built: pink, pretty, but also with a very gritty vibe. Things aren’t always what they seem.

    I finished this book at 4 am yesterday and it’s been invading my dreams and thoughts ever since. Other reviewers have said that it’s a cross between Handmaid’s Tale and Lord of the Flies, and I agree, but it’s also got a healthy dose of MK Ultra and survival horror, but it also fully feels like this could happen in our world and this preys on the fears of many women these days–which makes this a wild and visceral experience. I’m a complete sucker for survival horror.

    Tierney is 16. In our world, that means sweet 16 birthday parties, getting to drive, and finding freedom. In Tierney’s world, in ‘the county’, that means becoming a women in a society where women are seen as dangerous and only have a chance at few jobs within society: as a wife, as a servant, or as a laborer, working in factories or the fields. Otherwise, they are dispelled into the Outskirts to work a sex workers. Women aren’t allowed to wear their hair down, or dress immodestly, gossip, or even dream. It doesn’t help that society and the magic of the Grace Year have seemingly pitted them all against one another.

    During their 16th year, they are sent to ‘the encampment;’, an unforgiving fenced-in island far in the woods away from the county, to dispel the magic that crawls under their skin and makes them irresistible to men. If you come back and haven’t dispelled your magic, it means death. They call this the ‘grace year’. And the grace year is like fight club: You don’t talk about it. You don’t talk about what happens there, and no one escapes without scars.

    Tierney just wants to get through her grace year. She’s always rebelled in small ways against the way things are, and the last thing she wants is to become a wife. She’d rather work in the fields, where she can reach into the dirt and do something real. But even the best laid plans often go awry, and Tierney finds herself going into the grace year with a target on her back, as if avoiding starvation and the poachers, sons of the Outskirts women that hunt grace year girls down to carve up their bodies to sell back to the county in bottles–for the ‘magic’, of course–wasn’t enough.

    If it seems like there’s a lot going on in this book, there is. The world building is amazing and the story is absolutely enrapturing. I went through the entire gamut of emotions with this one and when I started reading, I could not stop. I had to know if my hunches were correct. I had to know if they would make it out alive. I had to know how this would end, but I also was left wanting more.

    I think when the release date hits and more people have the chance to read this, I will most likely have to post more. There is so much to say about this story, but I don’t want to give too much away. All I will say is that we have power and we need to start using it.

    Thank you so much to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing me with an Advanced Reader Copy in exchange for a fair review ❤

  • Sparrowhawk: A Graphic Novel of Faerie (Originally Released in 5 Installments)

    Sparrowhawk: A Graphic Novel of Faerie (Originally Released in 5 Installments)

    https://www.boom-studios.com/2018/09/07/sparrowhawk-1-first-look/

    Written by Deliah S. Dawson, Illustrations by Matias Basla

    3.5 stars. Best Enjoyed on an empty stomach and FAR from a mirror.

    I had the opportunity to get one of my Netgalley wishes answered. Thanks to Boom Studios and Netgalley for providing me an advanced copy of the compendium to be released on 8/20/19 in exchange for a fair review.

    Sparrowhawk is a collection of comics-come-graphic novel detailing a young woman’s fall into faerie and the subsequent journey she had to take to escape it and save her own world from the Unseelie Queen who took her place. A picture is worth a thousand words, and this story is all pictures and color, portraying much, betraying little.

    Artemisia is the adopted mixed race daughter in a family in dire straights. Although her father and sister love her, her stepmother is a complete pill, wishing to marry her off to her deceased older sister’s betrothed in order to save the family. If Artemisia disagrees, her stepmother has threatened to marry her beloved younger sister, Caroline, to a wealthy elderly Baron. However, before Artemisia can make a choice, the Unseelie Queen, bent on destroying the world (starting with Victorian England), reaches through the mirror and switches places with her.

    https://www.boom-studios.com/2018/09/07/sparrowhawk-1-first-look/

    Artemisia, now stuck in faerie with little knowledge on how to get out, is greeted by Crispin, an abomination created by the evil Unseelie queen. Crispin offers to strike a deal with Artemisia: to help her through faerie and get back home in exchange for her most treasured memory. Anyone who knows anything about faerie or faerie lore also knows how terrible of an idea this is, but Artemisia agrees. Crispin, in turn, tells her exactly what she needs to do to get out:

    Grow Stronger. By Killing.

    But she better hurry, because the Wild Hunt is on her trail.

    https://www.boom-studios.com/2018/10/11/your-first-look-at-sparrowhawk-2-from-delilah-s-dawson-and-matias-basla/

    During her journey, she struggles to remember the important memory she gave away to Crispin in exchange for guidance. Artemisia must kill other faeries in order to get back to her own world while also trying to maintain some semblance of her humanity. Along the way they meet an Unseelie prince who abhors the evil world his mother has created and detests that Artemisia must kill to save her own, and Dean, a giant pig like monster who, at times, is reminiscent of Falcore from Never-ending Story.

    I enjoyed the illustrations. The comic covers which were peppered throughout the compendium were illustrated by Miguel Mercado and absolutely enhanced the overall story. The story itself at times felt a little disjointed, but that’s to be expected when it comes to graphic novels about faerie, especially given that they were originally released in individual sections, and there was a lot of ground to cover so you really need to rely on the illustrations to guide those missing pieces into place. There were some dream sequences that sometimes felt oddly situated and I didn’t really understand the rhythm of them until literally the last one, which was definitely jarring, but then I got that they were referencing the memory she had lost and does not regain until the end. But I won’t spoil it, you’ll need to pick this one up for yourself.

    Overall, although I was expecting more and it felt a little shallow during the first read through the more I sat with it the better it got. It was a fun read and I think it’s well worth the time spent. I have a feeling I’m going to be dreaming in lime green, teal, and purple for awhile.

    https://www.boom-studios.com/2018/10/11/your-first-look-at-sparrowhawk-2-from-delilah-s-dawson-and-matias-basla/
  • The Girl Who Could Move Sh*# With Her Mind

    The Girl Who Could Move Sh*# With Her Mind

    By Jackson Ford. Pub date: June 18, 2019.

    3 out of 5 stars. Best enjoyed with a black coffee and some good sushi or Phó.

    MY FIRST ARC! Thanks, Netgalley! I received an advanced copy of this book in exchange for a fair & honest review. Paying the reaper in spades:

    The Girl Who Could Move Shit With Her Mind focuses on our protagonist, Teggan, a devil-may-care-Deadpool-esque early-twenty-something who somewhat mysteriously has an X-Men-level mutation in her genetics that causes her to have PK, or psychotelekinesis–the title says it all: she can move sh*# with her mind. She works for a super secret military organization that goes after bad people while fronting as a moving company called China Shop. Her rag tag team of what basically amount to the Expendables includes Reggie, a super smart hacker whose time in the military left her as a paraplegic, clean-cut office manager Paul (or as Teggan calls him “Agent Whiteboard”), Teggan’s best work friend Carlos, the Mexican ex-pat getaway driver outrunning his past, and Annie, a street tough former inmate who is super secretive about her personal life, and for good reason. The teams works for Moira Tanner, who is honestly a conspiracy nut’s wet dream/worst nightmare, and whom is seemingly obsessed with the greater good.

    When their current mark is found dead in a way that only someone with PK could have accomplished, all eyes are on Teggan. But she knows it wasn’t her, which means she has to prove she’s not the only one out there with these abilities–a prospect that is both exciting and terrifying to her. However, Tanner has put an expiration date on her head–prove in 24 hours that there’s another person who could have done this, and she and the team are spared. Fail, and end up in the darkest hole the government can drill. Commence the superhuman-charged high-octane detective story you didn’t even know you needed in your life.

    I will admit, it took me a couple of chapters in to really adjust to the writing style and get absolutely hooked, but I did. Ford does a good job at keeping the reader on their toes. Like every book, though, it had is pros and cons:

    PROS:

    • I don’t usually enjoy more than one POV in a story, but the bounce between Teggan and Jake, the other person with PK abilities who is only committing the murders because he wants to know where he comes from (not giving anything away with that, it’s pretty clear from the first perspective change), is actually really engaging. They’re both anti-heroes who have been dealt a seriously messed up hand. Teggan was experimented on as a kid while Jake has been bounced around the foster system. Life is tough even with superhuman abilities. You really want to root for both sides on this one. I love the level of grey we get with these characters.
    • There’s something that Jackson Ford absolutely nails that even grizzled veteran writers don’t always hit on, and that is that his characters are really well fleshed out, even the auxiliary ones. I could almost see the corded muscles on Annie’s arms, the glint on Reggie’s glasses, and hear Africa’s laugh. That’s a huge plus. I felt invested in what happened to these people. Even Jake. Some characters, like Tanner & Chuy, were purposefully elusive. The only character I have a real complaint about is Nic. I really wish he had been more fleshed out. He didn’t even seem like that important of a character when we first encounter him, so when he comes back into the picture it’s kind of like “um…okay? Who is this guy, again?”
    • The banter between the characters is seriously hilarious at times. As much as it seems that Teggan got on a lot of people’s nerves, she didn’t get on mine. I get why her personality is the way it is. She’s just super jaded with life and is absolutely limited on choices with very short leash and little free will. Of course she’d end up being a smarta$$–her words are the only way she can actually rebel and she’s got to keep that cushion of humor going or it’ll let the despair in. It’s very clear as the book goes on that she really does care about the people around her, even if she is sarcastic and exhausting at times. It just makes her feel more real to me.

    CONS:

    • As much as I liked the book overall, the beginning really was difficult to get into. It felt a bit like it was trying too hard, which made it a bit of a slog until you get to the high-stakes part. It also makes you question some of the better parts of the book. I won’t mention anything super specific because *spoilers* but ***SPOILERS***: suffice it to say that the weight limits on her powers are a tad questionable when you add velocity into the mix. Why was she able to stop two people from falling from the sky yet no one questions why she only has a 300# weight limit on her powers? However, this requires a cursory knowledge of physics so not every reader will be as keen on this. It’s also not a deal breaker–this is a work of fiction, not a textbook.
    • There’s a slight romance between two characters but it honestly fell super flat. However, not the focus of the book. I just wish that relationship had been a little more well laid out or just ignored all together. It just seemed really hasty and felt like it was a last minute addition to reach a different audience. I am a stickler for romance, but this one I couldn’t care less about.
    • (Also may change in the final copy edit:) There were a couple of moments when I think the writer might have made an editing mistake that was missed in post. There was a particular situation where it seemed like an entire paragraph of dialogue was missing because one character asked a question and then the next character responded and the response was clearly for something else that should have be said. It was only blatantly obvious one time and it was a minor situation that I just kind of glossed over, but there were also a couple of situations where words were omitted which kind of messed with the sentence structure. These items are very minor and although they are jarring when you’re trucking along enjoying an action packed book, they weren’t enough to make me stop reading.

    Although it took me a bit to get into it, I’m super glad I did. It was a seriously wild ride. However, there was also a cliff hanger ending that has made me really wonder where else the author plans to go with it. It also seems kind of hastily written, but it nonetheless has left me intrigued.